Hi all. As you can probably guess I'm new to this forum (so if I step on anyones toes I apologize in advance). I love PF and have been playing it for quite a while. I'm working on a custom PF campaign of my own but this other PBP forum I'm hosting it in is somewhat slow. I'm looking for a more fast paced game so I figured why not expand? And thus here I am.
The campaign is a solo one (with NPC allies of course) because I've noticed that games where the GM
C ratio is more than 1 tend to bog down. Anyone who can guarantee they can post at least 1/day and won't quit at the first bump in the road send me a PM and we'll start the game. And speaking of the game, here are the details on it:
You start at level 3, fast XP progression, 25 point buy, no stat dumping, 2 traits, no drawbacks (consult with me if you want a flaw or major drawback), 3000gp, no evil nor chaotic alignment, almost all 3rd party materials are allowed but check with me before using them. If you play as human, you are allowed to swap your racial 1st level feat or your Skilled racial trait (or both) for a +2 racial ability score bonus (or two +2 bonuses).
The world
The game takes place in a custom world rather than Golarion (we're merely using the PF system). Magic in this world is uncommon (especially outside larger settlements) but still very much a part of life. You will meet spellcasters a lot less often than you would in a normal D&D or other PF games, so being a spellcaster is a big deal in this world. The game has an eastern flavor to it (since it is based on a Chinese novel) so other things besides magic (such as mysticism, Shintoism, Ki and stuff) will be more common. The world still has elves, dwarves, orcs, dragons ect... Technology and science is extremely rare (the occasional crazy inventor and such) and most people might mistake it for magic, likewise guns are just about unheard of and, on the off chance they see one, most people will think they're magic wands. Religion ranges from kami and spirits to your standard concept of deities, but overall they take a backseat in this world interfering very little with it, if at all (as far as anyone knows). This means divine type magic users and divine magic are even rarer than arcane (so being a cleric and stuff like that is a VERY big deal). Some people don't even believe that kami, spirits and deities exist at all.
The Major political powers of the world (I'll provide a picture once the game starts)
The eastern half of the known civilized world is dominated by a large, rather xenophobic and elitist oriented human empire calling itself the "Golden Empire" which is ruled by a Aurum royal family (Aurum means gold in latin. Latin is considered the official language of the Empire, but it's used extensively only by the upper class and in administration. Common Empire folk prefer to use the common trade tongue as their language of choice.
The western half is composed of an Alliance between 5 sovereign states (Tolan, Yuzna, Stoneaxe, Kento and Merdrarel the elven country). The populace composition is about 50% human and 50% other races. Each state has a different philosophy and political system, and they bicker among each other a lot, but are generally significantly less xenophobic than the Golden Empire.
These two are the world's superpowers (just as Macedonia and Persia were the only nations of consequence during ancient times, or like USA and Soviet Union during the cold war). There are other nations, but they are inconsequential since their military/cultural/economic might doesn't even come close to ether of the above mentioned superpowers.
You will notice that the Empire's names will mostly be Latin or westernized. The Alliance names will diverse, but they will lean more towards Japanese (or simply eastern) sounding names.
This will be your character's background (yes, unfortunately in this game you don't get to choose your character's origins):
Up until 12 years ago a great war was waged between the Golden Empire and the Alliance.
After the war was over, General Ichinohe (the greatest general of the Alliance) was banished in shame to Kyoto village (his hometown). The Kyoto region was originally part of the Alliance territory, but because of something Inkaku did during the post-war peace negotiations, it became Golden Empire territory.
You are the adopted son/daughter of General Ichinohe. He took you back home with him when the war was over. Who your real parents are is unknown or even if they are still alive. In Kyoto he raised you along with his niece/nephew (your step-sister/brother Maiko/Ryu) who was left orphaned during the war. Though your adopted father was tolerated (just barely) in Kyoto, you and Maiko/Ryu took a lot of crap from the other kids and villagers since you were the "children of the coward general". One kid however befriended you, Jirou of the House of Andertharius (the high nobles of Kyoto. Notice the mixed lineage?).
Jirou became your best friend and you two have been inseparable ever since. He wasn't the stuck up rich boy you'd expect from a noble house that so aggressively tried to climb the social ladder (not easy for "provincial" nobles), and spend more time with you at your dojo, and with sensei Inkaku, than he did at home. He's always treated you as an equal and not once have you seen him lord his status over anyone.
Two years ago Ichinohe died. Because you admired Ichinohe and wanted to clear his name through your deeds. And so you entered the Golden Empire's military academy in Kyoto. Jirou joined the academy as well, though mostly because his family forced him to (having a family member in the military service opens a lot of doors in the Royal Court after all. Very useful in court intrigue).
Because yours and Jirou's skills were way beyond whatever they taught at the academy (seeing as how you've both been personally trained by Ichinohe while growing up) your training was wrapped up in just a year. After that, as part the mandatory active military service every soldiers of the Empire has to fulfill, you and the other rookie graduates (who were mostly spoiled brats from rich families) were sent on sentry duty at Shinzan pass. There is peace between the Golden Empire and the Alliance so this was just a formality. Well to be honest it was more of a payed vacation really.
It's been almost a full year since then. The game starts on the last day of the assignment. (BTW, your character needs to be a young adult)
To account for the rarity of magic in the world, and your own rigorous training while growing up, your character cannot have an average BaB growth of less than 3/4 (that means he can't be a pure spellcaster class, like a wizard or sorcerer, because their bab growth is 1/2. You may however multiclass, for example a level 2 fighter / level 1 wizard. Hybrid mage/fighter classes such as the Magus, Paladin, Ranger, Archon, Spellblade, Battle scion, Vanguard, Direlock, one of those weird quingong monk archetypes ect... are a good alternative). Also, clerical and technology-based classes are banned at least in the beginning (due to the lack of technology world and the distant attitude of deities). So is the rogue class (due to your character's background), but you may use the ninja class as an alternative to the rogue. If you want to play barbarian it'll have to be with the Urban Barbarian archetype. And please no wimpy classes (like Artisan or Alchemist or Artificer). You were trained by the greatest general in history for crying outloud. If you're ganna play a bard then make sure its with some badass archetype like Arcane Duelist.
Magic items, due to the scarcity of magic, tend to be more precious in the world (about 25~50% more expensive), except in large communities where magic is more common.
The campaign is a solo one (with NPC allies of course) because I've noticed that games where the GM
C ratio is more than 1 tend to bog down. Anyone who can guarantee they can post at least 1/day and won't quit at the first bump in the road send me a PM and we'll start the game. And speaking of the game, here are the details on it:You start at level 3, fast XP progression, 25 point buy, no stat dumping, 2 traits, no drawbacks (consult with me if you want a flaw or major drawback), 3000gp, no evil nor chaotic alignment, almost all 3rd party materials are allowed but check with me before using them. If you play as human, you are allowed to swap your racial 1st level feat or your Skilled racial trait (or both) for a +2 racial ability score bonus (or two +2 bonuses).
The world
The game takes place in a custom world rather than Golarion (we're merely using the PF system). Magic in this world is uncommon (especially outside larger settlements) but still very much a part of life. You will meet spellcasters a lot less often than you would in a normal D&D or other PF games, so being a spellcaster is a big deal in this world. The game has an eastern flavor to it (since it is based on a Chinese novel) so other things besides magic (such as mysticism, Shintoism, Ki and stuff) will be more common. The world still has elves, dwarves, orcs, dragons ect... Technology and science is extremely rare (the occasional crazy inventor and such) and most people might mistake it for magic, likewise guns are just about unheard of and, on the off chance they see one, most people will think they're magic wands. Religion ranges from kami and spirits to your standard concept of deities, but overall they take a backseat in this world interfering very little with it, if at all (as far as anyone knows). This means divine type magic users and divine magic are even rarer than arcane (so being a cleric and stuff like that is a VERY big deal). Some people don't even believe that kami, spirits and deities exist at all.
The Major political powers of the world (I'll provide a picture once the game starts)
The eastern half of the known civilized world is dominated by a large, rather xenophobic and elitist oriented human empire calling itself the "Golden Empire" which is ruled by a Aurum royal family (Aurum means gold in latin. Latin is considered the official language of the Empire, but it's used extensively only by the upper class and in administration. Common Empire folk prefer to use the common trade tongue as their language of choice.
The western half is composed of an Alliance between 5 sovereign states (Tolan, Yuzna, Stoneaxe, Kento and Merdrarel the elven country). The populace composition is about 50% human and 50% other races. Each state has a different philosophy and political system, and they bicker among each other a lot, but are generally significantly less xenophobic than the Golden Empire.
These two are the world's superpowers (just as Macedonia and Persia were the only nations of consequence during ancient times, or like USA and Soviet Union during the cold war). There are other nations, but they are inconsequential since their military/cultural/economic might doesn't even come close to ether of the above mentioned superpowers.
You will notice that the Empire's names will mostly be Latin or westernized. The Alliance names will diverse, but they will lean more towards Japanese (or simply eastern) sounding names.
This will be your character's background (yes, unfortunately in this game you don't get to choose your character's origins):
Up until 12 years ago a great war was waged between the Golden Empire and the Alliance.
After the war was over, General Ichinohe (the greatest general of the Alliance) was banished in shame to Kyoto village (his hometown). The Kyoto region was originally part of the Alliance territory, but because of something Inkaku did during the post-war peace negotiations, it became Golden Empire territory.
You are the adopted son/daughter of General Ichinohe. He took you back home with him when the war was over. Who your real parents are is unknown or even if they are still alive. In Kyoto he raised you along with his niece/nephew (your step-sister/brother Maiko/Ryu) who was left orphaned during the war. Though your adopted father was tolerated (just barely) in Kyoto, you and Maiko/Ryu took a lot of crap from the other kids and villagers since you were the "children of the coward general". One kid however befriended you, Jirou of the House of Andertharius (the high nobles of Kyoto. Notice the mixed lineage?).
Jirou became your best friend and you two have been inseparable ever since. He wasn't the stuck up rich boy you'd expect from a noble house that so aggressively tried to climb the social ladder (not easy for "provincial" nobles), and spend more time with you at your dojo, and with sensei Inkaku, than he did at home. He's always treated you as an equal and not once have you seen him lord his status over anyone.
Two years ago Ichinohe died. Because you admired Ichinohe and wanted to clear his name through your deeds. And so you entered the Golden Empire's military academy in Kyoto. Jirou joined the academy as well, though mostly because his family forced him to (having a family member in the military service opens a lot of doors in the Royal Court after all. Very useful in court intrigue).
Because yours and Jirou's skills were way beyond whatever they taught at the academy (seeing as how you've both been personally trained by Ichinohe while growing up) your training was wrapped up in just a year. After that, as part the mandatory active military service every soldiers of the Empire has to fulfill, you and the other rookie graduates (who were mostly spoiled brats from rich families) were sent on sentry duty at Shinzan pass. There is peace between the Golden Empire and the Alliance so this was just a formality. Well to be honest it was more of a payed vacation really.
It's been almost a full year since then. The game starts on the last day of the assignment. (BTW, your character needs to be a young adult)
To account for the rarity of magic in the world, and your own rigorous training while growing up, your character cannot have an average BaB growth of less than 3/4 (that means he can't be a pure spellcaster class, like a wizard or sorcerer, because their bab growth is 1/2. You may however multiclass, for example a level 2 fighter / level 1 wizard. Hybrid mage/fighter classes such as the Magus, Paladin, Ranger, Archon, Spellblade, Battle scion, Vanguard, Direlock, one of those weird quingong monk archetypes ect... are a good alternative). Also, clerical and technology-based classes are banned at least in the beginning (due to the lack of technology world and the distant attitude of deities). So is the rogue class (due to your character's background), but you may use the ninja class as an alternative to the rogue. If you want to play barbarian it'll have to be with the Urban Barbarian archetype. And please no wimpy classes (like Artisan or Alchemist or Artificer). You were trained by the greatest general in history for crying outloud. If you're ganna play a bard then make sure its with some badass archetype like Arcane Duelist.
Magic items, due to the scarcity of magic, tend to be more precious in the world (about 25~50% more expensive), except in large communities where magic is more common.
