Tian Xia characters

[Zoken44]

Just thought we could talk about the different Tian Xia characters we came up with and want to play.

I had an idea for a Yaoguai Ranger named Cam Tre. He is the spirit of a bamboo grove that has been harvested for generations by the Nong family. He has seen parent teach child to responsibly tend the grove, and the child in turn pass those lessons onto their offspring for many generations. However, it's been a while since he was harvested or tended. Worried for his friends, he has left his grove to seek out the fate of the Nong family... only problem is he has trouble remembering that his time scale is different from others, and frequently asks about people who have died hundreds of years ago. He's a happy-go-lucky sort who's been well cared for, and just wants to make sure his friends are okay.

[Chocolate Milkshake]

Yaoguai Unfurling Brocade Magus that used to be a robe or some other garment belonging to a celestial or the subject of a fairy tale. Unfortunately, as much as I like the aesthetic, Magi don't sound very fun to me based on what people have said about them, so this idea probably won't see the light of day.

Hot-blooded Tanuki Investigator who really hates being seen as the little guy and uses illusions to expose corrupt politicians and the like.

Linvarran Guardian/Fighter/something who is a total westaboo and romanticizes Avistani knights and will probably have a mental breakdown once they meet a Hellknight and realize they're just cops. May or may not be a Starlight Sentinel.

And, lastly, a Quainese (or whatever the demonym is) Wizard who lost a family member or someone important in a fight between two Grandmasters and is now a huge proponent of Anti-Cultivator Legislation while studying magic to become powerful enough to actually hunt them down.

[HenshinFanatic]

Peachchild Leshy Ranger Beastmaster. Basically Momotaro at home. He's inspired by the legendary figure, but has completely different animal companions. Thinking maybe insect animal companions to get some Issun-boshi kind of motif. So starting with maybe a beetle for an early mount that can travel hella fast (companion's cry plus beetle's advanced maneuver let's it Stride four times), no idea what additional companions though beyond maybe a Giant Wasp for aerial support. Options seem pretty slim from what I can find.

Courageous Tanuki swordsaint wielding a liuyedao. Waffling between Obedience Champion and Aloof Firmament Magus. Master of transformation using Ancestry Paragon variant rule to get both Everyday Form and Teakettle Form lines. Probably can fit in both Ponpoko and Ponpoko-pon as well.

[moosher12]

Sylph Awakened Ferret Air Kineticist with the Fan Dancer archetype, who worships Arshea. They wield a pair of performance fans, not fighting fans, mind you, as a focus for their air kineticism.

His name is Akiyama Naoto. He is a traveling dancer from Minkai. In his animal life, he was the mascot of a Minkaian dance troupe, whose efforts to teach him tricks, and diligent pampering triggered his awakening into his new form.

When I read the Awakened Animal in Howl of the Wild, one of the first thoughts I had was to do a kamaitachi, based on my old love of the anime Naruto, which taught me about that youkai, and whose multitude of air practitioners inspired his fighting style, from fan-based blasts to creating invisible blades where none would be. He was alike inspired by the Japanese onnagata tradition, of putting a male actor in female roles, as I wanted to explore LGBTQ themes with the character. He was mostly complete, minus the fan dancer archetype or an origin to how he gained his form (was originally going to archetype him into Bard), but when I saw the Fan Dancer archetype, and the Yaoguai ancestry (or I guess in Naoto's case, Youkai), I knew what direction to take him.

I was originally going to let him be a private character for personal theory crafting, as since I have spent my entire PF2E career as a GM, I simply did not have a place to use any of my myriad character concepts. One of my players, thankfully, offered to run a game, to which I was invited to play. I had another character in mind, a bard, but another, newer player wanted to play a bard, so I decided Naoto would be a splendid fit.

Now properly awakened. he is, to say the least, a bit of a diva. Sassy, teasing, and a bit of a metaphorical goblin at the best of times, but whiny and bratty at the worst, but they mean well, and are serious about their artistic expressions. The sort of character who in a fight would dodge around and taunt their enemies to get a rise out of them, before blasting them away with a gust from a fan sweep, or slicing them up around air-blades emanating from their performance fans.

[Sibelius Eos Owm]

Before I had read any of Season of Ghosts aside from the Player's Guide, I had the idea for a Samsaran Monk who had lived at the monastery in their past life before its decline. In their current life they chose to travel back to Willowshore because they have unusually vivid memories of their life at the monastery, with notable omissions including their latter days. They're mute and carry a khakkhara to announce their presence (namely because lore of this weapon was a strong inspiration for the character in the first place) and today study the myriad of faiths practised in the town, in part because of their realization that they know almost nothing of what life would have been like just outside their monastery. Privately, they believe their lack of voice is a scar leftover from some event they don't remember in their past life, and struggling to put leave it behind them.

I have yet to come up with another character that feels like it ties into the themes SoG quite so well, even now that I'm much more acquainted with spoilers.

--

Characters I want to make based on TXCG options include yaoguai and tanuki and magi and fan dancers and it would be nice if I could settle for a second and form a cohesive concept but there's TOO MUCH COOL in this book and I might be hyperventilating about it just a bit.

Lately I have been toying with the idea of a character whose familiar has the Master's Form ability and goes around as twins. A kitsune seems like a natural possible fit for this, but I've not thought anything through.

[WarDriveWorley]

My next character is going to be a Wayang Bard with the Fan Dancer archetype (We use FA) who bases his performances off blending illusions with dance.

I also really want to play a Tanuki Magus that focused on using spell strikes through a belly unarmed attack

[Zoken44]

I was thinking a Wayang who is definitely just the local town gossip. What? Him, planning revolts against the corrupt local lord... never... (Rascal Swashbuckler)

and maybe a Karen Tanaka/Dream/K situation. an absolute Goth/Emo girl setting out to right the wrongs of the world and reap bloody vengence for the wrongs she says happened to her (no her parents are not dead peasants, they are good nobles back home, they love and support her, but don't know what to make of this phase of hers) and she is chose by as a Starlit Sentinel with as much pink and glitter and bright gold as possible. so maybe a human fighter Starlit Sentinel

[keftiu]

I wonder if Valash Raj has any Mystics or Witchwarpers?

[pixierose]

When commander comes out we are totally gonna play a Tanuki Commander... but think less commander and more Team Mascot. Gonna say inspiring things to allies and cheer them on and call out their special attacks in excitement.

Another idea we have is a born from Celestial Yaoguai who is either a champion or Exemplar with the spirit warrior archetype...(maybe also soulforger eventually?) With almost no memory of their past life they were pretty much a wanderer but eventually fell into a group of Tsukiyo worshippers who helped them be content with who they are now, even if they don't have their memories.

[Veltharis]

Still in the proverbial larval stages, but the Hungerseed heritage and Spirit Warrior archetype have tapped into my inner weeb to the point that I - a lifelong caster main - am seriously considering a "straight-up" fighter for the purposes of putting together a shounen-manga-style swordsman/samurai.

Possibly two, actually... The Hungerseed idea started it, but it also helped revive a much, much older non-TTRPG "samurai" character concept I've had, which then proceeded to pick up some lightning flavoring by way of the Dragonblood heritage and the imperial sky dragon from PFS's expanded dragon options table, in the process absorbing elements of an unrelated blue dragon draconic sorcerer concept that had been languishing ever since chromatic dragon options were deprecated with PC2.

If you are detecting the influence of One Piece - and more specifically, of the Wano arc - in there, that is absolutely intentional.

[The-Magic-Sword]

Working on my Tanuki Ranger, uses a bandolier of dueling pistols for at least the first few levels, followed by a Tripod Barricade Buster (courtesy of a house ruled level 6 advanced weapon feat) but the real piece-de-resistance is that it's heavily based on Unexpected Sharpshooter-- launching Precision Gravity Weapon Accidental Shots, having a jacked Deception, with all the fixings and eventually following it up with Dandy Dedication.

The hard part is that the Tanuki have too many amazing feats-- I'm straight torn between each thing I can do.

[Ritunn]

I've had some Tian Xia characters I've been waiting to fully put together for a while, but the main one was a Yaoguai Cultivation/Flame Druid. Heavily tea themed, started out as a tea plant, has a tea leshy familiar, focuses on using fire/plant magic to grow and make tea, ect.

Though I initially made them for an Abomination Vaults game with the mind to use Yaoguai when it came out, the release of options like the Cultivation Order and Familiar Sage really brought the build together. A minor focus on Crafting to make magical potions and teas given by the Cultivation order. While Familiar Sage provides a nice way to get Enhanced Familiar and some other neat feats like Phoenix's Flight which really brought the idea where I wanted it.

Otherwise, I have a Lady Jingxi/Kofusachi Cleric I really want to play that's all about collecting stories and a Monastic Weaponry Bo-Staff Monk with strong Wukong vibes I'd love to try out.

[Albatoonoe]

Yaoguai Mountain Stance Monk. A cooking pot brought to life (a Narigama) that is a hulking brute and martial artist. Appears as a muscular man wearing a cooking pot for a helmet.

Purnama, a Wayang shadowcaster Wizard returning from PF1, is an arrogant, know-it-all jerk. Good at what he does, though.

[Matheren]

My group's like 3 sessions into Strength of Thousands and I'm the first character death, so I was thinking of a Jinin Elf Magus/Fighter from the Pavilion of Falling Flowers. But the more (I think) I understand that particular Hybrid Study, the less great it sounds. Might just go with bland old Inexorable Iron instead.

[Archpaladin Zousha]

One idea that has REFUSED to leave my head since I learned tsukumogami would become playable in the Character Guide is a hahakigami cleric who dutifully tends to the shrine they were used to clean before awakening, but now sees it as their duty to "sweep" evil and mischief from the community at large and keep it equally tidy, whose enthusiasm somewhat eclipses their actual competence and the amount of evil within their home to banish. "Evil BEGONE! Shooshooshooshooshoo! Away with you!"

Despite their sometimes pompous attitude, they're still a noble and generous spirit, running errands and doing odd jobs (and of course keeping homes orderly and dirt-free) in the neighborhood. They're never, however, tasked with drawing water from the local well. Not since the incident.

[25speedforseaweedleshy]

hungerseed streetfood vendor giant barbarian

prepare enough alcohol for oni cosplay

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Another concept I've had evolving in my head: this exacting heavenscribe kobold was born to an illustrious bureaucratic family in Po Li, and his auspicious Test of Fate all but confirms his potential as an Oracle of the Lore mystery. The Oracular Council snapped him up immediately and brought him to school in Tuotuo, where his potential blossomed. Upon completing his training, he was ushered to the Imperial City, where his understanding of both the mystical Path of Numbers and more mundane figures steered him to a position in the Office of Revenue and Taxation.

He developed a reputation among his oracular peers for his meticulous record-keeping and his ability to sift through mountains of records to find singular errors or dates, which allowed him to rise in the Bureau, but as he ascended his own skills started to work against him. He began to notice...inconsistencies among the numbers. Taxation errors seemingly being ignored, funds being allocated inefficiently, shortfalls from bad harvests that should have been predicted years before. He would bring these concerns to his colleagues, only for them to be brushed off as fate, as something that would resolve itself when the Eternal Emperor's reincarnation was found. He watched as incompetent people were elevated to positions of power and responsibility they either weren't ready for or didn't deserve, while clever and industrious people's prospects were dashed before their eyes due to the Tests of Fate. He grew frustrated as his department would change course on investigations and policies seemingly overnight because of a vision someone had had.

Finally, he declared something that would burn all the accolades he had earned and even turn some of his own family against him: "It doesn't matter WHO the Eternal Emperor is reincarnated as if he doesn't have an educated and competent bureaucracy to help him!" This sentiment shocked his colleagues, prompting many reprimanding letters and visits from the Lapis Watchers. His own oracular power and his mundane charisma and skill kept him from being outright charged with blasphemy, but he was officially censured and demoted, which he considered a small price to pay for being right. He was surprised to find the attention and challenge of defending himself exciting, and noticed it made others take the little inconsistencies he complained about more seriously, if only as a means to try and prove him wrong.

He began engaging in adovcacy among the Oracular Council, lobbying for tax reform and greater public education, and found his demotion gave him more spare time that he began using to broaden his own more mundane skills, finding his analytical mindset took to the study of internal and external alchemy very well. He still believed in the Eternal Emperor, still believed that his reincarnation would appear, but he realized now that no Emperor, no matter how wise or strong, could singlehandedly run an empire alone, and if they truly were meant for greatness, surely they would demonstrate it with or without a Test of Fate. The other oracles finally decided they'd had enough of his incessant criticisms, and gave him a "promotion" to Ambassador of the Oracular Council to Lands Far Distant, a position all knew was a soft form of exile. He took this development in stride, no longer caring about his status in the state hierarchy, and he soon evolved from a mere traveller to an adventurer in his own right, now wishing to learn from other lands in Tian Xia, grow in power both mystical and mundane, so that one day he might return to Po Li and prove that passively searching for the Eternal Emperor's reincarnation was nothing more than a waste of time and effort that had left Po Li dead last among Lung Wa's successor states. Who knows? Maybe HE'LL be the one to discover the Eternal Emperor out there!

I may have gotten carried away with writing this one...<_<