Yikes! That's nine applicants so far. I'll probably choose the first six or seven who come up with an interesting character (not necessarily with all the crunch intact), and keep the rest as reserve if they like.
Shay - don't forget a telepath as well!
I agree on the character role thing - it's not so much having two of the same class, it's having two with the same focus. Having a beguiler and an enchanter in the same party would probably cause more ructions than two wizards.
Ambrus: I think I'll go with +2 Cha to both types of Faen. Dex or Int are the most likely candidates but that kind of defines the difference between Loresong and Quickling so I don't want to touch that. Loresong would be your best choice for a magic-using one. Erm, you *could* use the fey-blooded sorcerer from PF, but that would be the *third* sorcerer suggestion so far. Maybe a cleric with charm or community domains, or an enchantment specialist wizard would also do the trick. Dragonfire Adept seems okay to me, no real problems compared to PF core classes.
Valthosian: I'm happy to include you, see first paragraph to this post. I don't know about others, but I usually check daily (except weekends). I tend to allow at least 24 hours before moving the game on, to allow the post to "pass around the world", although I'll sometimes address specific points straight away. So geographic location isn't really a problem.
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Yikes! That's nine applicants so far. I'll probably choose the first six or seven who come up with an interesting character (not necessarily with all the crunch intact), and keep the rest as reserve if they like.
Valthosian: I'm happy to include you, see first paragraph to this post. I don't know about others, but I usually check daily (except weekends). I tend to allow at least 24 hours before moving the game on, to allow the post to "pass around the world", although I'll sometimes address specific points straight away. So geographic location isn't really a problem.
Cool well, I'll have to try and bust off the rust and come up with something interesting then
Here's my secret-ish character concept, in brief, for the DM's consideration:
Dr Simons
I'm considering playing a loresong faen dragonfire adept with the intention of metamorphosing into a spryte at 3rd level. That's the mechanics side of it at least. Storywise, I'd likely ditch most of the background flavor and nomenclature of the faen race and dragonfire adept class in lieu of a unique backstory of my own. That's to say that my character wouldn't be descended from dragons or ever refer to himself as a loresong. His breath weapon attacks would, for reasons of flavor, take the form of scorching or freezing winds which he could unleash at will. And, though I'd use the ability scores and modifiers for being Small sized during 1st and 2nd level, I'd prefer to describe my character as being tiny-sized from the beginning rather than have him later shrink down at 3rd level.
I'd like to try portraying a fey spirit of sorts; a modern incarnation of the ancient nature spirits that inhabited the area before the coming of humans and the founding of the city of Korsova three hundred years ago. At his core my character would be a creature of nature, but having incarnated within a heavily urbanized cityscape, he'd be out of synch with his true nature and heritage. That's to say that he wouldn't at first be consciously aware of his origins or able to fully tap into his fey birthright abilities. He'd be a stranger in a strange land so to speak.
I imagine that my character, being alone in an alien city like Korsova, would have naturally incarnated into a form that blends in with his modern environment. He'd appear to others as a juvenile halfling boy, roughly knee high to an adult human. With no parents he'd naturally take on the role of a guttersnipe street urchin, most likely having been adopted as a "Little Lamm" by Gaedon early on to perform larcenous activities. After a few years of not growing or visibly aging however, along with a few other uncanny occurrences around the boy (thanks to his class abilities manifesting as natural phenomena), Gaedon and his other Lamms began to grow distrustful of the odd halfling in their midst and ran him off.
Now my character finds himself alone in Korsova and at odds with Gaedon and his gang and with only a muddled and incomplete understanding of his birthright. With every day that passes however, his uncanny ability to control the elements grows and even he doesn't know why. Whether he'll ever fully grasp what he is, and whether other fey may find and enlighten him is left mostly up to you.
This may be a little unusual character-wise, so let me know what you think of it and whether you'd enjoy trying to work it into the campaign or not.
Sen is a level 1 human rogue who will be multi-classing into a Rogue/Artificer.
Sen, a human rogue, was born into the lap of magic, unfortunately he himself seemed somewhat lacking. His mother and father, a sorceress and wizard respectively were neither particularly powerful, they did however expect that their brood of children would all grow up to be archmages since they had had the good grace to be born to two magic wielding parents. Sen it seemed was cut from a different cloth. No matter how hard he tried or they forced it upon him, he simply could not cast the spells they tried to teach him and there wasn’t a hint of innate capacity like his mother’s. In desperation to fit in and not be assaulted by his siblings, he found another avenue. The path of the rogue is one of trickery, deceit, self preservation, and the use of other people’s toys. In short, it was perfect. Sen began by using his intelligence and bluffing to make it appear that he could make things happen by extraordinary means, he moved on as time passed and his family grew skeptical, to stealing magical items.
His scam was becoming difficult to maintain while living at home and using only his own family’s goods, so he worked his way toward the big city in order to feed his need for new and varied magical tools. Entering into a partnership with a local thieving magnate, he honed his skills and returned home increasingly rarely, although on each trip he delighted his parents at his “progress”. In truth, however, he had sensed something in the meantime, an affinity with these magical items, and when he had time and items to spare, he was going to investigate just what that might entail. Unfortunately, he just visited home and spent everything he had maintaining his deception, now is a good time to find a new job offer and spend some time away from the folks while replenishing.
You might think that he’s a real momma’s boy but in truth, with 2 magically adept parents and 6 siblings cut from the same cloth, it’s healthier to hold up appearances. He’s looking for a way to prove once and for all that he’s “got it” and then fade out of their lives and find a change of scenery.
Physically, Sen is a slender human with a ragged mop of black hair and intensely blue eyes that rarely stay focused in one place too long unless he’s analyzing some bit of magic or language. He carries a scattering of burn scars on his hands from both acid and fire, one reason he is less than interested in long term relationships with his siblings other than one that could provide revenge. He is excellent at forming surface relationships but avoids deeper ones, he’s not yet ready to overcome a childhood dominated by conflict, weakness, and hiding everything that was important to him. From deep down, he has an intense need to prove himself to himself but he needs a little more maturity before he’s ready to walk away from his family with his head high.
Sen is a neutrally aligned character with no deeply held religious beliefs.
Current Stat Block: S11, D17, C10,I14,W10,C15, 20 point buy with human 2 point bonus to dex.
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Magical Aptitude.
Skills: Acrobatics, Appraise, Bluff, Climb, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Knowledge(Arcana), Linguistics, Perception, Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Use Magic Device.
Last edited by Valthosian; 18th September 2008 at 01:51 AM..
Dr. Si, I'm unusually busy this week but that will end after the weekend and I should be able to make the character early next week. I hope you don't hold that against me.
I'm thinking a human Taldorian wizard (conjurer) but that could change.
Well, I had a great write up. EN World ate it. Here's a summary.
Khadmeade came to Korvosa from Janderhoff to help his brother Norhin with his business, serve the priesthood of Torag, and hopefully make a name for himself in the process. He ended up serving as a glorified babysitter for his nephew Roin. Khadmeade is now stuck looking for Roin who went missing while Norhin is away on a business trip back to Janderhoff. Khadmeade suspects Gaedren Lamm has something to do with the dwarf boy's abduction and plans to make him pay.
LG male dwarf cleric of Torag
Domains earth and protection
extra turning
appraise will be maxed; other skills spread between sense motive, diplomacy, spellcraft
What sort of money do we have to purchase equipment?
I'll review Mage blade in more detail, I'm traveling today and it's unlikely I'll be back today, so tomorrow I'll review the rules and you can approve or reject duskblade in lieu of Mage Blade. Except for BAB there is not some great difference...for Athame: please google "pc_soulblade.pdf" and tell me what you think...it progresses by it's own levels instead of upgrading as mage blade does...
Ambrus: It's an interesting concept, not sure how much the campaign will do it justice but I'm happy to include him. One note:
Ambrus
Gaedron Lamm and his cronies are cruel taskmasters. The orphans that they have under them are badly mistreated so the character probably would not have merely been "run off" but would have more likely narrowly escaped with his life (perhaps after surprising everyone by manifesting his powers)
Valthosian: That's fine, you'll need to refresh me with further details of the artificer when you come to it as I sold my copy of Eberron. You'll also need to tie his background in with Gaedron Lamm a bit more (see Crimson Throne Player's Guide pdf).
Airwalkrr: Concept is fine. As for money, erk, not looked at how they do it in PF. I reckon average starting gold for your class. Normally I do maximum, but the PCs are meant to be a bit stuck in the lower recesses of Korvosan society at the start of game.
Note that in PF, all bought skills can only the same as your level (i.e. 1 rank). Class skills get a +3 bonus, cross-class skills don't. In other words, you don't do the multiply by 4 thing at first level, you just buy a number of skills equal to your skill point total.
Kinem: No worries, but be warned that the game may fill up!
Neurotic: Duskblade seems fine, it's probably easier to use that than mess about further with trying to fit in an AE class (where the spellcasting works differently anyway).
Anyone *not* going for some kind of caster?
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Heh! I was only joking. It just reminded me of strip #4 from this webcomic. (Written by a former Creative Conclave contributer, BTW)
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As usual, I have several ideas that I'll shotgun out to try to narrow the focus a bit.
1) A celestial bloodline sorcerer who was raised in a convent or monastery most of her life and has thus been well educated, but also very sheltered. Circumstances have changed of late, compelling her to leave this protected enclave and venture out into the world. Perhaps there was some kind of attack, and it was deemed unsafe. Or perhaps it was even destroyed, with only the most fortunate of circumstances allowing her to survive. Or maybe there was simply a calling to go forth. I'll leave the specifics open for now. The character is unfailingly polite and almost ridiculously compassionate and just plain nice. Despite her upbringing she's not a zealot, nor particularly judgmental in a religious sense...though she has no truck with cruelty. She's delighted to actually see the things she's only read about on musty old scrolls, and tends to be annoyingly perky; prone to see the best in any situation, however grim. Probably a "summoner" sorceror, with secondary focus on buffs and utility.
2) Draconic bloodline sorcerer (possibly with draconic heritage feats or feats from Dragon Magic if you permit) who has been part of a traveling 'circus' of sorts, using magic to assist in the spectacles and of course moonlighting as The Astounding Snake Woman and various other monikers. Again, the reason for her leaving this environment is flexible, but I imagine it could easily just be a desire to accomplish something of consequence. This character is more troubled; oscillating between almost manic bouts of hauteur as she glories in her superhuman abilities and maudlin moments of depression as she wallows in her limitations. She has good basic values, but struggles sometimes to do the right thing against temptations of power, riches and knowledge about her favorite subject: dragons. I'm thinking this sorcerer would focus on personal augmentation/transformations, with some blasties as well.
3) Air elemental bloodline sorcerer; the product of an ancient noble line now fallen and scattered that consorted with djinn in days now long gone. This could be Shoanti, perhaps, representing a descendant of the old kingdoms that dotted this land before its colonization from outside. This character is a study in contrasts. Quite literally 'airy' and flaky, but who considers any sworn oath to be an unbreakable bond. Self-centered, but compelled to perform random acts of kindness. Resentful of these intruders to her people's lands, but disdainful of the Shoanti's slowness to adapt and unite. She loathes what has become of her people, but freely works with Varisians and others to try to understand their strengths...and weaknesses. In time I could see her choosing to try to bring the tribes of Shoanti together and forge them into a real power, perhaps eventually attempting to carve a Shoanti nation that can defend itself from these foreigners. This would be an "artillery" sorcerer, primarily.
Those are the main ones, though I have other ideas I can develop if none of those appeal.
Would you allow a standard Tiefling as pathfinder race without LA? They already have a +2 in two abilities and the standard races got a boost.
I would like to play an Acadamae Guard (class: rogue) who entered a forbidden love with a student. Suddenly she disappeared. One of her collagues used drugs and had contact to Gaedren. (Love Lost: Widowed backround trait).
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Gaedron's violence and an unexpected manifestation of powers sound good – nicely gritty and dramatic, just the way I like it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr Simon
Anyone *not* going for some kind of caster?
I could pitch a different character concept based on the final makeup of the party, what we're missing and whether I make the cut or not. So has it been settled who's playing yet? Seems we've got a rogue, at least one martial character and plenty of arcanists up for consideration. A who's who list to clarify things would be helpful.
Given what people all seem to be leaning toward, I'm going to toss out a character concept for a half-orc barbarian in the next couple hours, it seems we need something a little less squishy
I feel like I had better post something before all the spots fill up.
I'm still working on fleshing out the particulars in my mind, but this is it in a nutshell.
She is a half-elf, the result of a short tryst between a minor noble woman and an elf from the elven ambassador's enclave. Even though she might have been considered a stain on the family's honor they raised her as one of their own, despite this she's always felt seperated by her heritage and this wasn't helped by the onset of strange sorcerous powers. This sense of seperation has let her to explore a more bohemian lifestyle amoung the radical students, artists, writers, and other ne'er do wells, who frequent shady bars and pontificate on the corruption of the establishment. One of her closer friends in this group, a student and writer, became involved with a certain unsavory character over a sum of lent money. After an increasing escalation of attempted debt collection and inability to pay her friend it would seem that our dear Mr. Lamm decided he'd frame her friend for murder as punishment. And so our young sorceress has become imbroiled in this affair after watching her friend's life be destroyed by this horrible little man.
She, feels like a person out of place, trapped between worlds of heritage and social standing, and values. She would be either arcane or fey bloodline, I've not quite made up my mind yet.
Not very slick at this point, but that's the basic idea.
__________________ Oni
"Each man, one way.
Each horse, one stance.
Each church, one buddha.
Each master to his own technique."
Shayuri - all look fine to me. I guess you and Oni need to hash out roles between you. The latter two backgrounds would mesh with the campaign in interesting ways. Don't forget to work on a tie to Gaedran Lamm.
WD - Hm, reckon a tiefling wouldn't hurt. The resistances are possibly slightly more powerful than the standard race package, but perhaps not too much as they have little else.
In strict terms of who expressed interest first, I'm going to give first shout to:
Shayuri
Kinem
Airwalkrr
Walking Dad
Halford
Oni
Neurotic, Ambrus and Valthosian you are currently in reserve. If any of the above don't get a character sorted (at least the basics) by Monday then you're in, or you can hang around in case somebody drops out. Sorry about that folks, but I think it's fairer than having to judge on the basis of character concepts.
Current character concepts are:
Shayuri - sorceress (celestial, draconic or air elemental bloodline)
Kinem - human wizard
Airwalkrr - dwarf cleric
Walking Dad - tielfling rogue
Halford - something martial
Oni - half elf sorcerer (arcane or fey bloodline)
Neurotic - duskblade
Ambrus - faen dragonbreath adept
Valthosian - human rogue or half-orc barbarian.
Actually, the other option would be to run an Alpha and Beta game, with a pary of four and a pary of five, through the same adventure. Once the set-up is established that won't be too much work.
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Edit: I suppose that's fair. Shame, I was getting rather excited at the though of this campaign.
Another concept I could offer if it'd fit in better would be a Romani-esque Varisian bladed-scarf warrior / dancer; a downtrodden member of a marginalized and persecuted race. He'd be rustic and superstitious in nature, but also possessed of a charming romanticism. He could either be a straight fighter (if we need the muscle) or possibly a bard (if we need the extra healing and group support) or possibly something more unusual such as a Soulblade or an AE Witch of one sort or another. I can further flesh it out if given the go ahead.
Re: Tiefling - One thing to watch out for is that they have the Outsider (Native) creature type, making them immune to effects that target "persons," like most low level enchantments. This is not an issue at higher levels, but is often overlooked when doing comparative analysis.
As for ties to the campaign's villain, I have ideas. Will update shortly.
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