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Well-met netizens of Paizo! My chosen nom de guerre is Pasha of the Nightsands- but please, just call me Pasha- and I've been wanting to run something that's a little too spicy for my local group. It's not really worth getting too granular with the details at this point, but just hear me out on the half-dozen or so things that need talking about and see if you're picking up what I'm putting down, as they say.
Let's start by ripping the bandaid off and talking about the gestalt. This isn't a vanilla gestalt game, no siree. Those can be far too bland for my tastes. No, this game has a special caveat to its gestalt: one side of the gestalt must be 100% third-party. No half-hearted one level dips or slapping third-party archetypes onto first-party classes will suffice. I want to see fresh concepts and the three-billionth Oradin just ain't it.
Since everyone is starting off with a single mythic tier, I'd be a fool to not mention that your mythic path is also gestalted. Before people panic, don't worry, I'm not requiring one of the paths be third-party. Now I am allowing people to take third-party mythic paths like the Hollow One, Overmind, or Worldsinger if they so choose, but they're not required. Some variation of mythic fixes will also be in play, but don't sweat the details about that right now.
One last mechanic needs explanation and that's for a set of options called Epic Boons. Players at this level are unique and exceptional and Epic Boons are meant to represent that mechanically. Players get their choice of two of these when creating a character and the things they can do are as varied as they are powerful, such as: having an extra million GP and both land and followers, owning one major artifact or two minor artifacts that have been pre-approved by yours truly, being able to select from a pool of pre-approved templates that they can split between themselves and any class feature companions they have, getting free features from a set number of prestige class levels that they don't necessarily need to qualify for, and being able to replace part of their build with a full-on CRed monster, albeit with certain limitations and my approval.
That's all I'm planning on discussing right now with regards to rules and all that jazz, so let's move on the topic of the campaign itself. The idea I have in mind is my own revamped take on Rite Publishing's Coliseum Morpheuon campaign module which, contrary to both the name and the fact that it has an arena arc, doesn't completely focus on gladiatorial stuff and instead goes deep with the planar weirdness and has a plotline that will have the characters squaring off against a nigh-on god by the end of it. I have done a LOT of work on expanding the game and bringing it up to my standards and that's something I want to elaborate on.
First things first, I've completely re-written almost every NPC and encounter to suit my spicy tastes and this game's increased power levels. Just how much did I alter it? Well, let's use one canon NPC as an example. This certain NPC in the original was a sentient psionic robot who believed in a concept called the Universal Pattern and was represented as a Lifespark Psi-Killer Construct Cleric of Law (can't remember the exact class level offhand). I took that NPC and, in trying to keep with its themes, ended up turning it into an Insane AI (a scaling third-party mythic template for those not in the know) Psimech Lifespark Psi-Killer Construct Cryptic20/Dread Juggernaut2 / Machinesmith12/Ioun Angel10 gestalt with several of the Artificial Intelligence deific universal spheres talents from the spheres wiki. THAT is the level of work I've put into changing NPCs to better suit my tastes, the veteran players I hope to attract, and the greatly evolved Pathfinder landscape that has changed so much in the years since the original module was written.
Speaking of NPCs, I've added dozens of them to the game. Probably the most notable of the bunch are the NPCs from the Faces of the Tarnished Souk supplements that were meant as canon additions to Coliseum Morpheuon. All of those NPCs have also been revised and organically incorporated into the game. I've also added many NPCs that are entirely of my own making such as a mysterious wooden karakuri ronin in search of treasures that flow both gold and red, a risen succubus songstress whose heart-wrenchingly beautiful music taps into the primordial magic of the Dreamlands, and the self-proclaimed "King of All Leshies" whose quixotic ideals of royal chivalry are backed up by quirky charm and a panoply of tiny floating soul blades.
I've also taken the liberty of adding in a LOT of extra content in both the main plotline and the many optional side plots of the game. Some of these will take the PCs to exotic places such as the City of Brass, the Heaven's Reach Mountains in the third-party Lands of the Jade Oath's Xianguong region, the Brightlands that are home to the fey, Valhalla, and the Fields of Asphodel in Hell's first layer, just to name a few.
There's one last thing I need to mention before we wrap things up: the plot hook. The party are all members of the Circle of Wardens- and by extension, members of one of the Parities that run parallel to Planescape's Factions- in the planar metropolis of Hyraeatan. They are all visited in their dreams by a mysterious woman who claims to represent the Oneirobound Lords of Dingue and extends an invitation to the party on their behalf to visit the Dreamlands and meet with them. She assures them that the matter is of great importance to both parties, one that could have far-reaching implications for not just the Dreamlands, but many other planes as well. They are each gifted a single key of glowing, opalescent energy that the woman claims will allow them to travel bodily to Alliala the City at the End of the Dream. When the PCs awaken, they find that they are still clutching those keys.
Whew, that was a lot to cover and I appreciate everyone who has stayed invested long enough to reach this point. So how about it? Did I manage to pique your interest so far? Are you willing to take the plunge and give a game in the spirit of old-school Planescape a shot?
Ahem. I beg your pardon. I will likely submitting a character with one of Rogue Genius Games's Godling classes, as those on the forum know of me.
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3pp game? Well, one would have to at least consider playing a dargon when then opportunity presents itself.
Oho, so there are people interested in this spicy little game? Glad to see that all the talk about higher power levels and planar weirdness didn't scare people away! I've already got a rough draft prepped, so it shouldn't take too long to add in a few finishing touches, toss it all into a blender, and whip up a recruitment.
@TheWaskally: HAHA, YES! I can tell from your enthusiasm that you're a player who appreciates a bit of spice! This is probably the perfect game for you to play as a full-on demigod too since the power levels and narrative all line up perfectly enough where it just feels natural.
@Critzible: Glad that you think so! Hopefully the full writeup will prove to be the same once I get around to posting it.
@Crisischild: I have a taste for the exotic in my games and a dragon PC definitely fits that descriptor, especially if there's some cool twist to set them apart from a 'normal' dragon. I mean really, who doesn't like dragons?
@TriOmegaZero: Oho, could it be that you're familiar with the vanilla version? I consider it the gold standard for higher level modules and NPC design in general.
@Zahir ibn Mahmoud ibn Jothan: It's technically my second post here- the first was on an interest check where a user was thinking about running a Dark Sun, Faerun, or Way of the Wicked game that I expressed interest in- but I get where you're coming from. I've ran plenty of these kinds of games- mostly with my old group that only meets up every once in a blue moon when our schedules align, but a few online games as well. If you want, I can post a statblock or two that I've made for this game to show off my epic-level, mythic GM chops. Or if you don't want to be spoiled, I can dust off one of the statblocks from my mythic, epic-level gestalt homebrew rewrites of the City of Brass boxed set, The Grande Temple of Jing megadungeon, Sentence of the Sinlord adventure, etc.
Well this sounds super heckin awesomesauce and hella epic(literally, lol)!!
Consider me quite interested!!
Do I *need* another game right now? Not really. Does this 100% have my interest? Yes, yes it does.
O yes please, this looks amazing, so DOT its
This is Commander Azal-Ki-Lin, A
FEMALE DROW: [Outsider {native}] BLACK THORN KNIGHT
CLASSES LEGENDARY CLERIC+PLANAR ENVOY L20 -- CLASS LEGENDARY INVESTIGATOR L20 MYTHIC PATHBONDED T1 Path Of The Mystic T1
Description-Personality-Undercover
The Legendary Commander Azal-Ki-Lin sometimes called 'Azal The Damned'. 'Azal Mistress of Blades, Lady Azal-Ki-Lin. Standing some 9'6"' White Hair, blue grey Skin, red eyes, with a large number fine line magic tattoos. All make her as a Drow. She tends to wear a simple well made Noble uniform {Kn Noble DC40 to know that its black Rose insignia on it, Indicates she's is a Black Thorn Knight. Azal seems to have no Armor or weapons. Personality wise she tends to be very strong willed, practical, Deadpan, pragmatic and at times Grimly ruthless with her Dark humor.
“Be polite, be professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet.”
Is a saying she uses.
Alt Identity, Azal The Damned AKA Aroden's Avenger, the infamous Black Thorn Knight. In this form her clothing change it covers her whole body, face mask to gloved hands, {In a very Hell Knight look}. Dark Contract her Bonded Hell Blade appears in her hands. Azal The Damned is known for fighting the destructive powers of Chaos. {Kn History DC20, To know its said that Azal The Damned was there when the world wound came into being and has spent years there. Working with the forces of law}. She is well know to the with in Black Thorn Knight and Hell Knights ranks, as well as Drow Cultures, Both with respectful renown and some amount of Infamy depending on who you talk to.
Secret: Before Aroden made Azlanti Diamond, he made a number of test swords, one such was The Bound Diamond, now know as the blade "Dark Contract" It was found in the underdark, came into the Azal possession.
I just got Coliseum Morpheuon. I'll read it over the weekend, so I get a better understanding of the campaign.
Think Call of Cthulhu Dreamlands meets planescape :)
From experience I'll say this: epic gestalt games with third party allowed = automatic interest. I haven't ever seen one actually last...but it is *alot* of fun making said character. And who knows? Perhaps this will be the unicorn that dreams are made of. :)
I'd recommend making the recruitment thread if you are serious on running the game. There will be enough people to run it.
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Heavens help me, I've almost got the recruitment finished! There's a few updates that I wanted to share now that I decided to call it quits for the day.
The definitive list for what classes can be taken on the dedicated third-party side of the gestalt is finished and it's massive. Unless I goofed up and miscounted, there's 194 unique classes on the list. Just about every niche imaginable is represented at least a little: spheres, psionics, path of war, akasha, gonzo, tech-oriented stuff, heavily-themed casters, several necromancy-centric classes, a few luck or misfortune oriented classes, godlings, dragonriders, monstrous racial paragon classes, and even a monster-catching class. That's not even close to covering everything though, just showcasing how big of a spread there is.
I'm also changing it up on the non-dedicated gestalt side so that players can generally mix and match it with levels taken from five different categories: legendary versions of Paizo classes, the rare Paizo classes that don't have a legendary variant, something else third-party, or prestige classes (obviously). Hopefully that doesn't bother people overmuch, I just felt that it fit the game better to replace all the vanilla classes with their legendary counterparts. If there's a problem with archetype incompatibility, we can hash out a fix.
And that brings us to the final topic and a decision that I didn't want to make: axing the ability to play as a full-on monster. Players can still play 'monstrous' races like the Trox or those from Rite Publishing with racial paragon classes, but monsters from the bestiaries are off the table. There's no way to implement that in a way that doesn't cause a headache for all parties involved in the recruitment and so I ended up giving that idea the Old Yeller treatment, much as it pained me to do so. Still, the existence of the monster racial paragons means that players can select from a pretty nice spread of monsters as it is: medusae, gargoyles, celestials (which will have a few tweaks for their class), fiends, genies, undead, dragons, treants, unicorns, fey, giants, etc.
That's it for now folks. I should have everything ready to go within 48 hours if the fates are kind. Stay tuned for more!
I'm not sure if I'll have the bandwidth to join, but definitely sounds interesting. Could be a fun character to just build too.
Well the good commander, fit all that, will need to tweaking but I think she is close.
Lets hope this one has legs.
It's finally finished! I posted it in a separate thread, so please migrate over to that one if you'd be so kind. It's very dense, so I tried to separate topics and place them under spoilers to make looking for a specific morsel of information easier.