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The world is not ending, it already has. The sun hangs behind a pale curtain of ashes, remnants of the First Scouring. The fiends broke up through their realm into ours, and tore down the heavens. Slayed the gods and drowned the world in oceans of their blood. It wasn't the quick death of an apocalypse, but a slow cumbersome bleeding out.
And yet, some pockets still endure. Bastions of mortal hope, each with their own unique way of fending off the nightmares and fiends that prowl the dark. On jagged cliffs above the rolling tides, but a scant seven hundred souls fight the end of the world in a way only mortals can. They scrape by and do what they have to in order to have some form of life. This new world has been christened 'Mournfall' as long as any still living can remember, and it is quite obvious why.
Each of you, for some reason or another, has been given an invitation to the Emberwake, a once-a-year ceremony where the priests of High Ember re-sanctify the Pyre Below in a crucial ritual necessary for the bastion's survival.
Ashes Beneath the Tide is a dark, low-magic sandbox (with a general story in mind) set centuries after a slow apocalypse. The world did not end in glorious fire, instead slowly bleeding out. The sun dimmed, the seas rose, kingdoms drowned and burned. Humanity survives in scattered bastions carved into mountains and cliffs. Cinderwake is one of them: small, strained, and quietly fracturing.
This game will be darker than your usual Pathfinder game, and contain dark themes (within reason). You are not heroes in this world, you are survivors and desperate adventurers.
- Demons, mutated sealife, and worse roam the drowned lands beyond the walls.
- The bastion survives because of a great Pyre that burns beneath it.
- The sun grows dimmer each year, behind the ever-present cloud of ash hanging over the land.
- Other bastions may yet remain...though few travelers return from their attempts.
- Food, water, and space are limited in the bastion, and every citizen needs to physically pull their weight. Not counting those in the High Ember Monastery above the city, of course.
Classes: all Paizo approved, except for the important clarification that no 9th level spell caster classes are allowed.
Wealth: standard by class
Races: all core, plus tieflings, ifrit, and dhampir allowed. Additional races available by request, but aasimars are completely banned.
Ability Scores: 20 point buy, nothing below an 8 after racial adjustments.
Alignment: against my usual tendencies, all alignments are allowed. If you bring an evil character and are a problem, then you will be removed.
Traits: two normally, can take a drawback for a third. One must be from the 'campaign traits' I have created for this game (see below).
Skills: we will be using the extra Background Skills rule.
Changes to Spells: any of the 'survival beating' spells (purify/create food and water, goodberry, etc.) are banned. This list is not all inclusive and I reserve the right to expand upon it should any spells become a problem.
Corruption: Each of you will be receiving the benefits and downsides of one Corruption, with a few alterations to fit the flavor to the worlds' lore. We can talk about the specific manifestations of each character's corruption during the character creation process and after selection.
Dawn-Vowed: Your oath to rekindle the sun steels your resolve. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Will saves against fear effects. If the fear effect originates from an outsider with the evil subtype or undead, the bonus increases to +2.
Lightbearer’s Discipline: You were drilled to stand firm when others falter. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves. Once per day, when reduced below half your hit points, you gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls for 1 round.
Sunfire Scholar: You study lost rites and ancient celestial lore. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (religion) and it becomes a class skill for you. When identifying abilities of outsiders or undead, you gain a +2 bonus instead.
Ashen Crusader: You have fought beyond the walls of the bastion. Gain a +1 trait bonus on weapon damage rolls against outsiders with the evil subtype. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Survival checks made in ash-choked or ruined environments.
The Drowned Choir Traits
Penitent Voice: You speak with the weight of moral certainty. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy checks when influencing creatures who are frightened, guilty, or grieving. Diplomacy becomes a class skill for you.
Tide-Touched: You have spent long hours in red surf and storm. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves against disease. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Swim checks, and Swim becomes a class skill.
Quiet Confessor: People unburden themselves to you. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks. If a creature has shared a secret with you, you gain a +2 bonus on Sense Motive checks against that creature.
Herald of the Drowning: You believe destruction is inevitable and prepare accordingly. Gain a +1 trait bonus on saving throws against emotion effects. Once per day, when you fail a saving throw against a fear or compulsion effect, you may reroll it and take the second result.
Tidewatch Traits
Watchridge Sentinel: You have stood long hours scanning the horizon. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Perception checks. Perception becomes a class skill for you.
Beacon Keeper: You were trained to respond quickly to threats. Gain a +2 trait bonus on Initiative checks when within sight of a settlement or defensive structure.
Law of the Cliff: You enforce order in tight, vertical spaces. Gain a +1 trait bonus on combat maneuver checks to trip or reposition. Gain a +1 bonus on Acrobatics checks made on narrow or unstable surfaces.
Quiet Interrogator: You know how to extract truth without violence. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Intimidate checks. If you spend at least 1 minute questioning someone, gain a +2 bonus on Sense Motive checks against them for the next hour.
Ember Council Traits
Council Aide: You have access to minor records and procedures. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (local) and it becomes a class skill. Once per session, you may declare familiarity with a minor local official or bureaucratic procedure.
Whisper Network: You overhear more than you should. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Sense Motive checks. Once per day, you may reroll a failed Bluff or Diplomacy check within Cinderwake.
Ledger-Keeper: You understand supply and scarcity. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise checks and Appraise becomes a class skill. You may determine the rough ration value of goods with a DC 10 check.
Court Survivor: You’ve learned how to avoid blame. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Reflex saves. Once per day, when an ally within 10 feet fails a social skill check, you may attempt the same check as an immediate action to replace their roll(using your own modifiers).
Flame Seekers Traits
Ruin Delver You’ve ventured beyond the walls. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Survival checks, and a +1 trait bonus on Perception checks made in ruins.
Relic Appraiser: You know the value of lost things. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise and Knowledge (history) checks. Appraise becomes a class skill.
Ash-Hardened: You’ve survived storms outside the bastion. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves against environmental effects (cold, heat, ashstorms, inhaled toxins).
Tide Runner: You move confidently in dangerous terrain. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Acrobatics checks. Ignore the penalty for the first 5 feet of movement through difficult terrain caused by rubble or uneven ground.
Saltcrusted Traits
Brine-Hardened Flesh: You’ve hauled nets and ropes soaked in poisoned seawater until your hands cracked like coral. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves against poison and disease. You gain a +1 trait bonus to CMD against grapple attempts. However, your skin is scarred and coarse — you take a –1 penalty on Diplomacy checks when dealing with nobles or officials.
Tide-Blooded: Saltwater flows through your veins; you’re almost adapted to it. Gain a +2 trait bonus on Swim checks, and Swim is always a class skill. You can hold your breath for twice the normal duration. Once per day, when submerged in water (or blood-water), you may reroll a failed Fortitude save against environmental hazards.
Dockrat Survivor: You grew up beneath the terraces where the Tidewatch never bothers to patrol. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Reflex saves and on Acrobatics checks to move on narrow or unstable surfaces. Stealth becomes a class skill for you. Once per day, when reduced below 0 hit points, you remain conscious and staggered for 1 additional round.
Salt-Eaten Resilience: Your body metabolizes toxins poorly, but pain is familiar. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves vs. fatigue and exhaustion effects. Whenever you succeed on a Fortitude save against a disease, you heal 1 hit point. You suffer –1 on saves vs. dehydration or thirst (your body needs more water than most).
Ash Farmer Traits
Soot-Lunged: You’ve breathed ash storms since childhood. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saves against inhaled toxins, smoke, and suffocation. You can ignore the first round of the sickened condition caused by environmental smoke or foul air each day. However, your lungs are scarred — you take a –1 penalty on Constitution checks to run for extended periods.
Char-Tilled Hands: You know how to make dead soil live. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Profession (farmer) and Knowledge (nature) checks. Knowledge (nature) becomes a class skill. Once per day, you may treat poor or infertile soil as normal soil for the purposes of survival or long-term crop growth.
Emberwise: You understand controlled burns, kiln heat, and the fine line between warmth and disaster. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Reflex saves against fire effects. You take –1 damage per die from nonmagical fire (minimum 1 per die). You gain a +1 trait bonus on Survival checks made in arid, scorched, or burned terrain.
Terrace Runner: Ash farms climb the inner cliffs — falling means death. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Acrobatics and Climb checks. Acrobatics becomes a class skill. You treat narrow ledges and sloped rooftops as one category less severe for movement penalties.
Bone-Mix Tender: You work soil blended with cremation ash. Death feeds life. Gain a +1 trait bonus on Will saves against fear effects. Once per day, when within 30 feet of a recently deceased creature (within 1 minute), you gain a +1 morale bonus on your next attack roll or saving throw (you remember what feeds the soil). You take a –1 penalty on Diplomacy checks with those uncomfortable around death rites (many nobles, some Order members).
Background Questions: I'd like you to take a look at these 20 questions and answer them. This is meant to help both you and me understand who your character is.
1. What is your character’s name?
2. How old is your character?
3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?
7. Do you have any other family or friends?
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?
9. What is your character’s alignment?
10. What is your character’s moral code?
11. Does your character have goals?
12. Is your character religious?
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?
14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
15. Why does your character adventure?
16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
18. How does your character get along with others?
19. Is there anything that your character hates?
20. Is there anything that your character fears?
Classes that receive their divine powers from gods normally, instead receive them from 'concepts', like druids do. Just about any concept could fit, just make sure to mention it ahead of time.
Factions:
- Ember Council: ruling body at the center of Cinderwake, controls what is left of religion and what passes for the law in the bastion. Maintains the Pyre Below, keeping the city safe from supernatural threats outside and below. Classic noble caste, out of touch and sometimes overbearing in the name of enforcing peace and safety.
- Order of the Last Dawn: group of what paladins and holy men are left in Cinderwake, they believe (to varying degrees) that the secret to rekindling the sun and 'saving' the world is still out there. In the meantime, they protect the people of Cinderwake from threats outside (fiends and mutated monsters) and inside (criminals, undead attacks). Work with, but are not beholden to, the Ember Council.
- The Drowned Choir: so-called 'doomsayers' by those outside their ranks, the Choir is made up of people who believe the current state of the world is punishment for mortal sin. They seek to atone as much as possible (to a wide variety of successes) and implore the nonbelievers to repent. They are also devout believers in mortal strength and fortitude, however, and many are trained in the art of medicine.
- The Tidewatch: Cinderwake's city guard equivalent. They patrol the streets for criminals (who are usually harshly punished) and have the responsibility of maintaining Watchridge, the bastion's beacon and watchtower.
- Flame Seekers: archivist and explorer faction, usually employed by the Ember Council to find sacred prepared ashes and other relics (usually bones) to fuel the Pyre which maintains Cinderwake's protective force.
- The Saltcrusted: poor class of Cinderwake that have been exposed to the poisonous waters of Mournfall for too long. red salt crusts on their skin (hence the name) and they are usually outcasts outside of extreme circumstances.
- The Ash Farmers: These are the terrace growers, fungus-tenders, rooftop soil-mixers, and charcoal orchard keepers who coax life from cliffside earth and crematory ash. They feed the bastion, and breathe its death.
Districts:
Cinderwake itself is layered, physically and class-wise. There are five main 'districts' in the city:
- High Ember: the highest, safest point of the city. Nobles and ruling class. Holds the High Abbey of the Last Radiance, where the Order of the Last Dawn are stationed.
- Cliff Terraces: middle class tradesman housing, merchant families and the like. Cramped housing and hard work define the life here, but it most certainly could be worse.
- Watchridge: home of the Tidewatch. There's a beacon system for alerting other bastions, but none have signaled or replied for decades now.
- Low Docks: poor district. Homeless and those unable to pull their weight. Jobs down here are dangerous (usually involving some form of fishing) and usually result in the workers becoming saltcrusted.
- Ash Farms: most isolated district. you live here, you work here, you rarely see anything else. grows plants and raises 'safer' fish for the bastion, and then ships it up in baskets attached to rope pulleys to the Cliff Terraces above for processing and distribution.
Life in Cinderwake:
Life isn't easy in Cinderwake, even for those in High Ember who are comparatively well off. Food and water is scarce, and most people are too thin, with a few notable exceptions.
Food: Only a handful of options exist for food; Ashroot (a strange root topped with an even stranger grain) is used in the making of ashbread, and the roots are eaten as vegetables. Cliffleaf greens are anything but green, a blackish horrifying leafy food similar to spinach but tasting slight of dirt. Emberfungus is a mushroom grown in the caverns below the cliffs of Cinderwake, tended to by the ash farmers. The tidefish pens down in the Ash Farms is the only reliable source of meat in the bastion. Of course, rumors of more extravagant and rich quality foods being served in High Ember have always existed.
Water: Water is even more restricted than food, with your only option being the bastion's tightly-regulated wellspring or collecting water from the numerous rainfalls each week; assuming it isn't bloodrain that is.
Work & Labor: Everyone works, if not as laborers, then as servants, scribes, guards, or artisans. Physical work is harsh: climbing terraces, tending ash farms, hauling nets, or cleaning cisterns. Most jobs are routine but dangerous; injuries are common. Many roles are inherited (Saltcrusted become dockers, Ash Farmers tend terraces).
Housing & Shelter: Space is tight, even middle-class houses are small and shared. Saltcrusted live in crowded, low-lying terraces near the docks or Undertide access points. Ash Farmers live on terrace plots near the ash terraces and farms; dust and soot are constant. Nobles occupy sturdier stone buildings on the highest terraces in High Ember.
Health & Hygiene: Disease is common: brine, stagnant cisterns, ash, and overcrowding. Minor injuries often fester. Baths are rare luxuries — mostly for nobles. Saltcrusted and Ash Farmers have physical signs of exposure (cracked skin, lung scars, mineral residue).
Entertainment & Rituals: Public entertainments are rare — songs, chants, and small plays on rooftops. Religious or semi-religious rituals mark tide changes, Pyre cycles, or solar observances. Pleasure is fleeting: food, warmth, touch, storytelling, illicit gambling, or daring trips into ruins.
I know that's a lot, and if you got this far then thank you! I plan on keeping this recruitment running for two weeks, so it'll end and I'll make my decisions on February, Saturday the 28th.
Let me know if you have any questions!
The world may have ended, but your lives have not. Yet, anyway.
Very well thought recruitment, bigrig! Sorry if it's a dumb question but - is this Pathfinder 1, or Pathfinder 2? I assume it's 1, in which case I'll go over the details and maybe propose a character :) Do you plan on using things like the Elephant in the Room rules? What about VMC and ABP?
oooo I'm interested
How does a LE Dhampir Investigator "cop" with the Vampirism Corruption
she is evil because she drinks blood, but only bad guys, she has a strict code she follows.
Sound
@Lapyd: It’s Pathfinder 1E, yeah. I don’t plan on using EitR or ABP this time, but VMC seems fine to me. Just be sure to keep to the theme of lower magic and all.
@Lady Onyx: sounds like a good start! Get her fleshed out a bit and we’ll see what we have.
Your setting is very interesting and has my creative juices flowing…. I’m thinking inquisitor would be perfect… I should have some ideas fleshed out this weekend to bounce off you. The crunchy bits will take longer to come together.
Dot
There you go GM she is done just needs a once over
This is the alias for smiles-a-lot’s submission. As of now there is nothing in the alias, I’ll be working on the crunch and repost when here when it is done. Below are the answers for the 20 question. Let me know if you would like more information or if I need to make changes to better fit the setting. Thanks.
1. What is your character’s name? Cyrus Dawnforged
2. How old is your character? The imposing Inquisitor looks older than his years and carries himself with an air of confidence. While only 28 most would guess he was at least a decade older.
3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
Cyrus stands a little over 6 feet tall and is thin like most residents of Cinderwake. However, his lanky frame is well muscled, like a greyhound, broad in the shoulders and narrow at the waist and he carries himself with the swagger of a veteran. The inquisitor’s flame colored hair is cut short with a well groomed goatee of the same startling color that frames his harsh face.
The human’s warm complexion has golden under tones which accentuates his smoldering coal black eyes that appear as caring as the pits of hell. While his gloomy, intense, almost sinister face gives him the feral predatory appearance of a fanatic.
Cyrus is often seen wearing a red cloak over a breastplate bearing the mark of the Order of the Last Dawn. While his hands are never far from his weapon (sword?) and shield. There is an engraved ring on his left hand depicting a rising sun.
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)? He speaks with a loud booming voice like stone breaking. His gaze seems to miss little.
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who? Born and raised in High Ember by his parents, Alyn and Yen but at age 8 he was turned over to the Order of the Last Dawn and trained by the hand of the High Inquisitor.
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living? Cyrus’ parents are both alive the are nobles heavily involved in the bureaucracy, intrigues, and politics of Cinderwake.
7. Do you have any other family or friends? Yes, He has several cousins among the aristocracy of Cinder wake. Since his wife’s death Cyrus has withdrawn a bit and focuses on his duty to the Order of the Last Dawn. (He may consider one of the other PCs as a friend)
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids? Cyrus is a widower. His wife, Lydia, a paladin of the Order of the Last Dawn, was killed three years ago while dealing with an undead attack within the city walls.
9. What is your character’s alignment? Nuetral
10. What is your character’s moral code?Yes, The ends justify the means.
11. Does your character have goals? His duty keeps him alive but he secretly yearns to be reunited with his wife.
12. Is your character religious? Cyrus is a serious and ardent disciple of the Order of the Last Dawn.
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs? The inquisitor’s personal beliefs mostly align with his orders doctrine.
14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)? He is shrewd and untrusting as if he weighs each word that is given to him.
15. Why does your character adventure? Cyrus views adventuring as a means of bringing the world one step closer to rekindling the sun.
16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer? First and foremost Cyrus views adventuring as a calling.
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)? Cyrus is what many in Cinderwake call sun-kissed. He has vibrant flame colored hair.
18. How does your character get along with others? He works well with others but views them as tools to be used.
19. Is there anything that your character hates? Undead that have plagued Cinderwake. These abominations killed his wife, Lydia, a paladin of the Order of the Last Dawn.
20. Is there anything that your character fears? Necromancy and the thought of becoming undead.
1. What is your character’s name?
Lady Onyx Bonomo
2. How old is your character?
110 years
3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
Onyx is shot at 5'3" slender, but well dressed, with light Armor bodis, boots, overcoat all in black and red, Marking her as noble from High Ember. Her hair is black skin pail . Eyes black, a japanese look.
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?
Her skin is alabaster white/gray, and when she looks at you, she gives off a cold logical predatory look.
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?
High Emner in the House Bonomo
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?
Lord Bonomo and lady Bonomo {see Below}
[b]7. Do you have any other family or friends?
She she has an extended family {see Below}
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?
Single {she killed her last lover when she find out he was cheating on her}
9. What is your character’s alignment?
lawful evil,
10. What is your character’s moral code?
In the Halls of Power there is only the Law and ruthlessness. She is a pragmatist, keep the masses happy, and keep the rule of law.
She will do whatever it takes to protect herself, her family and civilisation.
11. Does your character have goals?
{see Below}
12. Is your character religious?
religious is for the ignorant masses.
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?
"Never underestimate the power of a few informed individuals to rule over a mass of uninformed ones."
14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
She is paranoid by default {drawback} She wheres smocked glasses in lit areas.
15. Why does your character adventure?
Wealth, and to find tech power so the family can exploit it
16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
An agent of High Amber, reporting back to her family there.
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
she is oddly clean and well kept.
18. How does your character get along with others?
Yes if one wants power one must learn to get along with others, so that if one want to use them in the future one may be able to.
19. Is there anything that your character hates?
lawlessness, the rabble and those seeing to destroy civilisation.
20. Is there anything that your character fears?
The end of civilisation.
Bonomo family {Vampire clan} have a long history with in the high Ember, Of the Senatorial class, The family have members thought out the government. So the family as a whole has a vested interest in the status-quo and keeping the all safe. Lady Onyx Bonomo is from a lesser branch and as such her feather Thaxus Bonomo is close to the hard of the family, Uncle Plinakus Bonomo, Thaxus he lives in the hope that one of his six daughter will marry well. (he has no sons yet). Of the six daughters Onyx is the oldest and she should have web, but after being tested but the church, she was found to be 'Gifted'. Thaxus and Helinda Onyxs mother (died in child barth) where told she was to be have to be enrolled in the Syndicates Allacosta Academiae Primus Mentalis, for the honor of the family. Years spent leaning lead in the end to her graduating, her family connections gained for her the Civic rank of Investigator Empirical, Warranted to the Syndicate, this Office rank means she gets a government yearly Stipend, and can rent a small cell like room at the Syndicate command as her living space and office. As an Investigator Empirical she has work in a number of Syndicate investigations her most notable case success was uncovering a small group of lesser regional officers using magic to adulterate grain reserves for profit. The artifact involved was handed over to the labs and the lesser officers found themselves at the wrong end of a rope.
With Onyx is not about the Money is all about the family, she was born to rank and as such is held by her tightly restrictive duty to.
1: NOT harm the family name
2: Advance her rank, she little more than a spinster government officer
3: Protect the civilisation, that's the same as Protect family in her view.
4: Keep her virtue and honor.
Hi GM - Here's Lapyd's submission for the game! All details can be found in the profile, though I'm still working on mechanics and tweaking here and there the backstory.
1. What is your character’s name?
Evelyn Dhorn.
2. How old is your character?
17 years old.
3. What would somebody see at first glance?
Evelyn is a slight, ash‑pale half‑elf girl with a wiry, underfed frame hardened by years on the terraces. She stands just under average height, with long, dark hair that hangs in uneven strands as if shadow clings to it. Her eyes are a muted gray‑violet, always scanning, always wary. Her skin carries the faint soot‑stains of the Ash‑Hardened, and her movements have a strange softness to them — as if she’s never fully solid in the light. She wears practical, soot‑colored clothing and carries an exotic hornbow across her back. When fused with her eidolon, her silhouette becomes a shifting outline of branches and dusk, a living shadow‑tree wrapped around her form, branches that move like legs and slam like large arms.
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character?
Evelyn speaks quietly, rarely wasting words. Her tone is flat, almost hollow, as if emotion has to fight its way through layers of numbness. She avoids eye contact, keeps her back to walls, and flinches at sudden movement. Her mannerisms are small, controlled, and defensive — a girl who expects danger even in safety. When her eidolon stirs beneath her skin, her shadow moves a heartbeat out of sync with her body.
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?
She was born in the lower terraces of Cinderwake, in the ash‑choked districts where soot falls like snow. She was raised by her parents — an elf mother and a half‑orc father — who did their best to keep her safe in a place where safety is a myth.
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?
Her mother is an elf who once worked as a terrace‑scribe and wind‑reader, studying ash patterns for signs of storms. Her father is a half‑orc hunter and bowyer who taught Evelyn to use the hornbow. Both are alive, though Evelyn keeps her distance now — partly to protect them, partly because she no longer knows how to be their daughter.
7. Do you have any other family or friends?
No close friends. The shadow‑tree incident and her corruption isolated her early. Her eidolon is the closest thing she has to companionship — a strange, protective presence that understands her in ways mortals can’t.
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?
None. She’s seventeen, emotionally withdrawn, and deeply uncomfortable with intimacy.
9. What is your character’s alignment?
True Neutral. She isn’t cruel or malicious — just numb, cautious, and focused on survival.
10. What is your character’s moral code?
Survive first. Trust slowly. Harm no one unless they mean harm. Never let yourself be used again. Protect the few who prove they deserve it.
11. Does your character have goals?
She wants to understand what she has become — the corruption, the fusion, the shadow‑tree’s nature. She wants to avoid the shadow‑fey who once tried to claim her. And beneath all that, buried deep, is a quiet wish to feel whole again.
12. Is your character religious?
Not in any traditional sense. She believes in forces older and darker than gods — the things that lurk between planes, the shadows that whisper. She respects them, fears them, and refuses to be their victim again.
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?
Beauty is dangerous. Light lies. Shadows tell the truth. People are unpredictable, but patterns in the dark are honest. Survival is earned, not granted.
14. Does your character have any personality quirks?
Yes — she is deeply paranoid, emotionally flat, and socially withdrawn. She avoids touch, avoids crowds, and avoids bright light. She often pauses mid‑sentence as if listening to something only she can hear — the eidolon’s presence brushing against her thoughts.
15. Why does your character adventure?
Because the Flame Seekers need her — and because she owes them for taking her in when no one else would. Because the shadow‑fey who once hunted her may still be searching. Because staying still feels too much like waiting to be taken again.
16. How does your character view her role as an adventurer?
She sees herself as a tool — a scout, a shadow, a quiet presence that slips into places others can’t. She doesn’t think of herself as a hero. She thinks of herself as necessary.
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks?
Her skin has faint, branching discolorations — like the silhouette of roots or veins of shadow beneath the surface. Her eyes reflect dim light strangely, and her shadow sometimes moves a fraction too late.
18. How does your character get along with others?
Poorly at first, almost aloof. She is distant, guarded, and slow to trust. But once someone proves themselves reliable, she becomes loyal in her own quiet way — protective, watchful, and willing to risk herself for those few she accepts.
19. Is there anything that your character hates?
She hates being watched. She hates bright light. She hates false kindness. And she hates the shadow‑fey who tried to turn her into prey.
20. Is there anything that your character fears?
Yes — losing control of the corruption. Being found by the shadow‑fey. Being separated from her eidolon. And, most of all, being helpless again.
I have Onyx's Languages as
High Ember,
Common Ember,
Ash Farmer,
Nosferatu
GM is the sun getting Smaller as well as Dimmer?
@Lady Onyx: the languages in this world are similar to the established Pathfinder ones. People in the bastion speak Common, and there’s Infernal and Abyssal and the like.
As for the sun, that kind of thing will be explored in game. Giving away any more info than I put in the setup would be spoilering! To that end, I just don’t know if your character as-written will work for this game. I don’t mind accommodating minor changes to the world (by adding in a single family of four or something to the ‘canon’), but an entire vampire clan springing up out of nothing and taking control of the government doesn’t really fit the general theme I’m looking for here. Dhampirs existing is another one of those unexplored mysteries we’ll get to in game, so feel free to keep the race part, just not gonna warp the setting around their backstory so much.
@everyone: As a general statement, my bias for picking characters for this game are characters that will have struggles in this post apocalyptic hellscape. As I said in the first post, you are not special heroes for this game, but rather ‘survivors and desperate adventurers’ fighting against the dying light of your world.
Just be sure to keep that in mind!
oki-doki GM i will alter background, with your notes. :)
fixed she was adopted ibto an fel noble house, becouse of who and what she is. she dose not know her real parents or if any other like her.
Real evocative world!
Questions:
Are the Demons genocidal? Manipulative? Do they sometimes stick to their deals?
@Slayde77: I actually have a 'regional' map of Cinderwake. The people of the bastion believe it's an island, yes, but in real world terms the bastion sits on the top of a small mountain about 16,000 feet above the former sea level. As you can tell, that is no longer the case.
As far as animal companions work, most of the food eaten in the bastion is sourced from easily renewable sources; fish farms, ashroot, sparse greens and mushrooms. Hunting really isn't that viable of a food source. Domesticated animals (mostly goats) do exist but are rare and would likely be a novel sight, but there are wild predators that live and prey on vermin and (rarely) people. So if you wanted something like a goat or a small cat or something, it'd make sense. There are birds, rats, snakes, the smaller options. Hope that helped!
@Liliyashanina: Thank you! I put a bit of work into the opening setup.
The fiends by all accounts are most certainly a bloodthirsty brutal horde and the new masters of this world. Not a lot is known about what exactly they are and what they specifically want, but most conversations on the topic center them squarely as adversaries. As with every population of individuals, there might be exceptions to the rule, but your viewpoint as a mortal in Cinderwake is absolutely "if I ever see one, I must be ready to fight for my life".
@NotEspi: Names are fairly open, yeah. Just stay away from joke names or anything like that.
Not sure the specific angle of a noir PI works (it won't be a crime scene investigation game or anything), but a failed Tidewatch can work as someone who tried but didn't have the guts for it or something. Ending up as some other sort of necessary job.
Also, great question. Kineticist is considered a full caster and therefore banned. Forgot it existed! The rest of the psychic non-full caster classes are still available though.
Ideas:
Pessimistic human skald, sings of the past glories. Increasingly makes up stuff, but the stuff he makes up could actually plausibly work, technologically.
Ex-Human tiefling Abyssal Bloodrager, transformed after having fought a demon and gotten somehow poisoned by it.
How would you feel about a hobgoblin?
@Critzible: sounds good! Excited to see the final product. Be sure to justify why a tengu should be allowed, as it is outside the allowed races.
@Liliyashanina: both of those ideas sound great, the bloodrager corrupted by demons specifically has great potential. I will say, for the human, that the world ended somewhere around 200-300 years ago (it's unclear, really), so no one alive today outside of older elves would have any first hand knowledge of the World Before. And those older elves are certainly rare.
@ElbowtotheFace: Would need pretty extreme justification for that one, honestly. Not saying don't, but you'll have to wow me with a good story and why he's allowed.
Working up a human inquisitor.
Changed PC Alt GM,
Gone: Lady Onyx Bonomo of a nobel family,
Meet new Alt: Onyx Bonum: A foundling, raised in a orphanage, a poor counsel aid {informant}, running a side hassle of adventuring for the fast cash. So she can pay the truly poor for a 'Blood fix' no questions asked. Her personality is all about self control, rules and never losing control into blood frenzy.
x10 = 100gp starting gold.
I love the concept of this campaign.
Name
Thurin Ironfist
Class
Deep Walker Ranger
With VMC Wizard. For an ioun wyrd familiar. As explained below he got his corruption after being trapped in a cave-in. He has kept a rock from the encounter. As he levels up, he can’t stop the nagging feeling that the rock is somehow talking to him. That it is somehow linked to the corruption. As an ioun wyrd can’t talk, it feels fitting and horrifying.
I haven’t fully decided yet. But I’d like to makes sure the concept works first. Still, I’m leaning towards this.
Corruption
Promethean
1. What is your character’s name?
Thurin Ironfist
2. How old is your character?
55
3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
A stout, squat, dwarf. Visibly a miner, from his helmet with a candle on it, to the heavy pick that hangs from his belt. On closer inspection, the soot and dirt on his skin might be more than that...
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?
A face that almost never smiles, as if though his features were carved from stone. Eyes that glimmer in the light like polished stone, and skin which is a shade too coarse and rough.
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?
Thurin was born and raised in Cinderwake. His grandparents had not planned to stay, but the end of the world was as good a reason as any. For when the apocalypse occurred, a short trip had become a permanent one.
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?
Ori and Helga Ironfist. Miners and masons, the two were part of the efforts to make the chamber of the pyre beneath the town, and they led the efforts to maintain the tunnels. For should the tunnels collapse? Then the town would be doomed.
7. Do you have any other family or friends?
No other family, but Thurin is friends with a number of human miners who also work beneath the surface.
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?
Single. He has yet to meet a fellow dwarf that he has such feelings for.
9. What is your character’s alignment?
Lawful Good
10. What is your character’s moral code?
To protect his community, even if it comes at great cost. He was raised on tales of 'the world that was', along with the great holds and cities of his people. He truly wishes to live up to the ideals of a world that has long since died.
11. Does your character have goals?
To rise up into the ranks of the Ember Council. To do more than just support the tunnels that lead to the pyre, but rather to take a role in maintaining what he sees as the support beams for the entire community.
12. Is your character religious?
In general, yes. He prays to the idea of the lost gods of his people, and to the Flame. For while Flames can go out, they can also be rekindled. They bring light to the darkness, they burn the impure, and the warm the needy. And through it all, to keep a Flame from destroying all, it must be tended to and cared.
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?
That hard work and dedication are a fine substitute for hope. He truly believes that the world is doomed, and that if the Gods are gone, that death is an inevitable end. There is no hope. But that is not an excuse for giving up. For to be 'good', as one believes it, means doing the right thing even when there will be no reward or punishment.
14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
Despite his good heart and strong work ethic, he can (and often does) come across as cold. Or at least, intense in the way that he looks at people and his body language.
15. Why does your character adventure?
Because it needs to be done. And if someone has to do it, why not him?
16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
As a miner he digs tunnels for the community so that it can prosper. As a stone mason he shores up tunnels, and builds homes when needed, so that the community has proper foundations to grow. And as an adventurer he protects all that they work for.
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
Skin that always looks like it is covered in dust and soot, but in reality it truly is turning to stone.
18. How does your character get along with others?
He is unfailingly polite, but almost never warm.
19. Is there anything that your character hates?
The living who turn their backs on the community. The idea of someone assisting demonkind? Undermining the lives of others? Hastening the inevitable end? He dests that.
20. Is there anything that your character fears?
Being once more trapped in the dark. A decade ago, a cave-in nearly claimed his life. It was when he was trapped down there, alone in the dark, that his skin began to change. It had started when the fear truly gripped him, and while he was recused, he knows that something important inside of him still remains trapped beneath the earth. And he fears, more than anything, a repeat. Especially should he not be rescued again...
GM: Does all of this work? I'd like to know before I make the character.
@Thurin: Yeah, that’s all perfect for the vibes I’m going for here. The only slight reflavoring I might do is to have the ioun wyrd prefer to not use its fly speed, just to not have the magical stone flying around you at all times. But the idea of a lawful protector turning into something they don’t want to be and losing part of their protectiveness is perfection. Build away!
Foe to your six, host The voice said
Valten pivoted, bringing his Falchion up against the restless dead, who, inspite having mostly been cleaved in twain, just decided he, she, probably it, wasnt quite dead yet
Just what are you? Demon? He thought back
Currently I am mostly interested in your survival. You are too weak for me to take over, not without becoming... minor, feeble, decrepit, funny how that works eh? Your weakness protects you, your soul, mortal, needs to grow.
Also, you need to flee from here... these restless dead, I know what is controlling them. An invidiak is above your abilities to oppose, for now. And it would so enjoy finding me in such a state. Not that this would be to your advantadge, there are ways of making a pilot feel the pain of his host, and it would know some of those.
You seek to fatten me up? To devour me?
Devour? Make one with me? Not quite, some of you would remain, so that I adapt, based on what was succesfull for you.
But there are other shards of me, stuck in others. Competition spices things up... You could of course frustrate me, go into hiding, even kill yourself to grow your soul no longer but...
Even while holding that conversation, Valtens trained muscles moved of their own, performing a devastating overhead slash on another restless dead, stepping over him, and then relieving another guard of the foe fighting him with a backhand diagonal swipe that left the zombie-like thing cleaved in twain. He struck with a savagery, power and ferocity he never had before the... incident, even if the strike was wildly executed.
How many of your kin, your friends, your allies would die without you? They distrust your altered shape, but they rely on you all the same
Gritting his teeth, Valten fought on
Altruism... perhaps the true moral distinction between our kinds. Powerful in principle, yet so easily exploited.
If you want your seargeant to sound an orderly retreat, tell him you saw the following thing from the edge of your vision
Cool concept! I have some questions.
How would an alchemist work in the game? In the sense of science, research sources are kind of important, but would such a library exist in Cinderwake? It seems that the closest would be the Flame Seekers faction, but even they seem to be focused on other stuff.
Perhaps the very difficulty to find usable scientific knowledge is a hardship an alchemist would have to go through. Among the corruptions, I like Aboleth for my guy. He's aware of being corrupted, and his search into science is his way to try and understand what is happening to him, he's always afraid he is a sleeper agent who is going to betray everyone he knows one day, and he must find an answer before it happens.
A small mechanical question. Do you have a planned level cap for the game? The reason for this question is to plan ability scores distribution (whether to leave one odd or not).
Wonderful! I’ll get him build up. :)
As for the ioun wyrd, I’m 100% on board. It will be for all intent and purposes a simple rock that is always on him. Maybe not always where he remembered it being, but always there. And it will have the sage archetype, giving him knowledge. But of course it isn’t his knowledge, and it leaves him wondering how he knows what he does.
Settled on Ranger, with Trapper and Wilderness Medic. Figured that trading out spells fits the campaign style. Going down healer hands and incredible healer route for healing as well.
Thematically, this is a person who uses whatever can be found to survive. From supporting tunnels, setting desperate traps, to surviving in the deeps based on whatever he can forage. And that includes patching himself up (which fits into the promethean corruption)
Gunslinger?
@Veniir: Great question! I intentionally left alchemist in as a flavor-fitting 'caster' class, so if I have an alchemist player then I will accommodate them with appropriate resources for formulae and components and the like. It will be a challenge to get higher level ones, sure, but at the very least there is likely to be a small library with a single formulae book in it or something that you'll be able to earn as a reward, that kind of thing.
Aboleth corruption sounds very interesting, but I will say that obviously your character wouldn't know/remember that it was an aboleth. It might not even actually be an aboleth, that'll be something I figure out as we go if you're selected.
I am aiming to get to around level 12, as that's when I find even the more martial focused classes get a little bit ridiculous for a harsh survival setting.
@Thurin: Sounds good! Did you imagine the rock being an 'NPC' in that I have control over that knowledge it gives you? That's how I'd like to handle it, obviously.
@ElbowtotheFace: Another great question and another class I forgot. Gonna say no to gunslinger, sorry! So many things to think about when designing your own world, some things slip through the cracks.
“ Thurin: Sounds good! Did you imagine the rock being an 'NPC' in that I have control over that knowledge it gives you? That's how I'd like to handle it, obviously.”
Sounds perfect. I’d love it if you picked out what skills the familiar gets. While it might not be optimized the way I would do it, it would really sell the “NPC” feel, and that it really isn’t part of Thorin himself.
Also, the profile needs better formatting and editing. But is more or less built out to lvl 12, so you can see how he will advance
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Or maybe a child corrupted of the Noble class left abandoned in the depths and raised the poorest of the poor. A cursed and wretched thing not demonic not angelic just avian. So he lives and sees things others cant. The dead the dying. Seeking rest I which they cannot reach. A cold truth he holds. A curse of a Crow, ancient and sacred animal of ushering others to the realm of the dead. He strange as it sounds seeks to gice the dead peace, even with all the death and decay about him. Thus tortured with how to stop desecrating the dead, but not at the expense od condemning the last of Humanity. While struggling with the animal and supernatural inside.
Like, mechanically, my character is absolutely an Abyssal bloodrager, but the actual corruption source could be anything.
He will also not fully understand his abilities beyond
"I got stronger, more charismatic, but I feel dumber, and math got hard" and
"If I get very angry I perform prodigal feats of violence, but I am also easy to hit and fatigued afterwards"
"I grow claws, but I hide them under my gauntlets"
"I have fangs now. Spoiler, most stuff you bite in combat tastes like crap."
While he would be more effective as a natural attacker, he will initially try to hold on to his main melee weapons.
When the level 4 Bloodrager power kicks in and he doubles in sizes I expect him to freak out.
I would be considering a dip in fractured mind (psychic 6 caster) spiritualist/exciter, representing his corruptions influence over him (spooky limited telekinesis) as well as the "NO THATS MY MEAT BAG GET THE F$## OUT" aspect of a spiritualist resistance to mind affecting shenanigians.
This would likely happen after something sufficiently traumatic.
In terms of what the corruption is, it could be anything that a) talks and b) wants him to get stronger for its own selfish means.
Something that also crossed my mind. The mentioned corruption - should that happen BEFORE the game? As in, in the backstory? Could be kind of important.
If not, is it a randomised thing to look forward to in the future?
I had imagined it having happened in backstory, yeah. If you want to start the game without the bonuses and penalties and then get it shortly after starting, that can be arranged.
It is very much not randomized, this is a story about existing in this horrible gritty world and surviving the specific ways it changes you. I may make suggestions as to which corruption you'll end up with, but it'll ultimately be us working together to choose.
I leaning towards the Possessed corruption. Cyrus believes it is the spirit of his wife guiding him. I’m not sure right now but it might be something more sinister. To compliment this I’ll probably take the possessed hand line of feats.
I'll admit I'm interested in this. Question regarding the corruptions, though--they do run the risk of players losing control of their characters for good. Will that be a hard-and-fast rule or will you think of something else to do with them?
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Definitely figure something out to do with them, with the guaranteed corrupted start I don't want to have every character die. Will it be bad to fail a lot of the saves? Yeah, probably. Insta-die/become NPC? Nah.
They're a fun way to get some bonuses/penalties and also some flavorful storytelling potential.
GM, what are your thoughts on automatic bonus progression? As this is a low magic campaign, it might be appropriate to have the usual bonuses happen with leveling up, so that magic items and the like can be even rarer (and thus feel more impactful).
If used, it would look like this:
4th Armor attunement +1, weapon attunement +1
5th Deflection +1
6th Mental prowess +2
7th Physical prowess +2
8th Armor attunement +1/+1, resistance +2, toughening +1, weapon attunement +1/+1
9th Armor attunement +2, weapon attunement +2
10th Deflection +2, resistance +3
11th Mental prowess +4
12th Physical prowess +4
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Actually yeah, I think you have convinced me. We'll use ABP for this, that does make a lot of sense.
Application List:
Partially Completed, at least:
- Lady Onyx Bonomo (Johnny_Panic) Dhampir Psychic Detective (Vampirism)
- Cyrus Dawnforged (Smiles-a-lot) Inquisitor? (Possessed)
- Evelyn Dhorn (Lapyd) Half-elf summoner (synthesist) (Shadowbound)
- Thurin Ironfist (Grumbaki) Deep Walker Ranger (Promethean)
Ideas:
Mightypion: human turned tielfing bloodrager (Demonic)
Veniir: ? alchemist (aboleth)
Critzible: Tengu Spiritualist (Lich)
Looking good, folks!
GM, I’ve got a couple of questions:
1. How do you want to handle proficiency with a deity’s favored weapon? (I don’t have a weapon in mind)
2. Some traits require worship of a specific deity, are they off the table? (Just looking at options)
Thanks
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and he is convinced to work for the flame seekers and venture into the ruins outside the walls.
So the main mission of the Flame Seekers is actually to venture down into the ruins under the bastion. There are old crypts and catacombs and other dungeons that the Seekers search for relics and remains to feed the Pyre. They do sometimes form expeditions to head into the outside world, leaving the bastion behind, but these are exceedingly rare and dangerous. Only the Ember Council can approve those.
@Cyrus: the way religion works in this world is interesting (to me, at least). When the Scouring happened and the majority of the gods of the old world died, most of their worshippers and priests lost their magic. Those who tended towards venerating the gods more as 'concepts' rather than specific entities kept their magic.
So, for example, a religious character might worship 'The Flame', thanking it for keeping Cinderwake safe in these awful times. Or a farmer's wife might say a prayer every night to 'The Harvest', in an attempt to make sure the ashroots' next season is a plentiful one. Religion is very fluid and personal, and as long as you truly believe in the cause or concept you pay heed to, you'll get power from that source.
All this to say that if you have a specific weapon that you think fits your characters' preferred 'source' of spells, we can work with it. Same with the traits; if they fit the theme of a worshipped concept, then it's acceptable. Hope this helped explain it a bit!
Makes sense. Thanks.