I saw the edit after I posted that. I hadn't even looked at a lot of the later powers since characters start at level four (I'm not much of a character career planner). I can see some ideas to tweak those (tie Fast Recovery to hit dice somehow etc...), but I don't want to have to work through redesigning a class. That's just going to delay getting into the game. The flavor that I got excited about was a character that had a relationship with Loas that impacted his mood and interactions with people and the world. I'm pretty sure I can do that within your rules (maybe a Loa patron fortune) without having to drag down the game. Would it be ok if I grafted some of that flavor onto a PHB class as a roleplaying hook without mechanically monkeying around with the system?
[5e] Spell & Crossbones
- Thread starter Quickleaf
- Start date
Quickleaf
Legend
[MENTION=20005]Matthan[/MENTION] I guess what I'm challenging you to do is make the build suit your character, not the other way around. I'm totally fine with you re-skinning parts of a class, just give it some thought and see what your creativity comes up with.
Shayuri's PC Nia is a druid and her theme is a "sea witch" so being creepy, controlling wind and waves, that's more her style. I think what your aiming for is sufficiently differentiated.
Anyhow, I just reviewed the Knight of the Sacred Seal (archetype), Primal (pact tradition), and the 4 "Loas" (vestiges) you mentioned. The archetype and pact tradition look well-balanced.
The vestiges, however, I've red-penned those parts that stood out to me as likely imbalanced / over-powered. I'll give it more thought later and come up with some revisions that I think would help balance it out.
Shayuri's PC Nia is a druid and her theme is a "sea witch" so being creepy, controlling wind and waves, that's more her style. I think what your aiming for is sufficiently differentiated.
Anyhow, I just reviewed the Knight of the Sacred Seal (archetype), Primal (pact tradition), and the 4 "Loas" (vestiges) you mentioned. The archetype and pact tradition look well-balanced.
The vestiges, however, I've red-penned those parts that stood out to me as likely imbalanced / over-powered. I'll give it more thought later and come up with some revisions that I think would help balance it out.
Quickleaf
Legend
Haha, now you tell me! Sure, that's fine by me.
pathfinderq1
First Post
Anyone else have a vote or thoughts on my concept ideas? Yea/nay/what about this? The weekend kind of got away from me, but I'm still whittling the contestants into shape.
I can foresee interesting interactions with Half Dead John or Serafina both. Of the two, I think Half-Dead John interests me more, and has more potential for 'positive' RP if that makes sense. 
So I like him. But I think they're all pretty cool, so this is not a strong preference.
So I like him. But I think they're all pretty cool, so this is not a strong preference.
Queenie
Queen of Everything
I can foresee interesting interactions with Half Dead John or Serafina both. Of the two, I think Half-Dead John interests me more, and has more potential for 'positive' RP if that makes sense.
So I like him. But I think they're all pretty cool, so this is not a strong preference.
I agree with Shay here. I also somewhat lean towards John but Serafina is really interesting too.
Here's where I'm at. I'm thinking a Paladin (oath of vengeance) and gear him towards Surgeon or Master Gunner depending on which concept patherfinderq1 goes with. He's posted his ideas first, and I want to make sure he gets to play the one he wants.
I'm still trying to read up to make sure the character fits the time period and area. Maybe you can help fact check some of what I've got. Saint-Domingue was the French colony on the western part of Hispaniola (Haiti today). At this point, coffee hasn't been introduced and they're still producing sugar cane as their cash crop. Saint-Domingue at this point also has a strong slavery presence on their plantations. The conditions of slavery is thought to be behind the development of the Petro loa in Haitian voodoo (a hotter group of loa versus the cooler Rada). I want to play off of that idea of harsh conditions giving birth to harsh spirits with a D&D spin.
Blocked for space:
[sblock]My basic idea is a small cult made a deal with the devil for financial fortune. Instead of fulfilling their deal directly (when would he ever?), he took the opportunity to poke at distant Bondye through his servants and provide a temptation of further corruption to the people. He gave them a ritual that allowed them to bind two loas into two humans and in a profane act forced the loas to procreate. The new born loa would be a source of great power, but still be weak due to its age, and able to be permanently bound and subdued. The trapped Loa's power could then be used to bring success to the cult and ruin to their enemies.
The cult went through the process and using the power of the newborn and trapped Loa, they hid themselves from the reprisal of the two Loas they abused and set up a sugar cane plantation in Saint-Domingue roughly 20 years ago. They abused the power of the loa to take the free will of their slaves making them function as automatons. The fact this also allowed the cult to use their slaves in increasingly perverse and wicked ways without any resistance meant that the cult's appetite for evil only grew.
The loa's power made their crop more bountiful than normal and brought ruin to the neighboring plantations. Every few seasons, another neighbor had been so progressively ruined that he was forced to sell his land to the cult who, of course, were able to bring its production in line with theirs.
This scheme was well known in the area after the first few plantations failed and were bought out. People gave reports of seeing slaves who worked like zombies and rumors of black magic being behind the success of the cult's plantation were a well known rumor, but any time that someone tried to find proof or bring an accusation, they disappeared and their family fell into ruin.
5 years ago, another plantation was bought and a new neighbor knew what was awaiting him. He found a brash and reckless young man who boasted far more than his skills could back up. The owner hired the young man to sneak into the cult's home and discover what gave them their fortune and steal it or destroy it. The young man managed to do what no other had done before and found an egg shaped diamond as large as a man's fist hovering in the basement of the cult. Reaching out to grab it, his fingers brushed the surface as an unseen cult member behind him clubbed him into unconsciousness.
He woke up as a slave without any control over his physical body, but completely and wholly aware of his actions and surroundings. For a year, his body was forced to work the plantation during the day while at night, he was subjected to the wicked desires of the cult who controlled him like a puppet. Over the course of the year, he began to hear a whisper in his mind. It took months before the whisper was loud enough to be understood in his thoughts. The trapped loa had formed a connection to him when he touched its prison and it had taken months for it to work its magic through the prison along the tether of their connection to speak with him and offer a proposal.
The loa could use its power and their connection to free the man, but he had to pledge to free the loa and bring vengeance to their captors. The catch was that the loa's nature had been altered by the ritual that birthed and imprisoned it. It knew that it would have to have a vessel to survive until it could find a way to be what it was meant to be. The man would have to serve as that vessel. The man filled with rage readily agreed. That night, the agreement was carried out and every cult member was left dead and the slaves freed.
Four years have passed and since that day, the man has brought vengeance down upon slaver and slave owner that he can. The loa desires to find its parents to see if they may know a way for it to be whole. Together, they traveled to the place where the cult performed the ritual. The loa's first memory is seeing it's parents bound to two diamond amulets worn by the cult's performers. It knew that the amulets could not still be holding its parents, but believes that the event should have left enough of their essence to enable it to discover their identity and track them down. It also knew that the cult left everything but its cage behind so that it could not be used to trace them.
When they arrived at the location, they found it had already been looted. Asking around, they discovered that a band of fortune hunters had discovered and looted it years before. They followed every lead trying to discover where the treasure might lie now. The final discovery pointed to a miserable truth. The twin diamond amulets had been a part of the treasure carried by La Gloriosa del Mar.[/sblock]
Essentialy, a paladin powered by a loa that is present in him and influences him. Due to the loa's origin, it shifts from cool to hot and can drag the character along with it. In game, what I would like to do is the first time the character uses a paladin power, I will roll on a chart I make to determine what the Loa is like in that moment and how that influences the character. That trait will persist until the character takes a rest (even if other powers are used) when the character's full personality can reassert itself. Rules wise, it will show up as the Loa Patron fortune when I finish up the character.
I'm still doing some reading to get the details right. The character needs a French name that fits the time frame for example and I want to see if I can find a Creole name that will work for the loa. Anyway, does that look good so far?
I'm still trying to read up to make sure the character fits the time period and area. Maybe you can help fact check some of what I've got. Saint-Domingue was the French colony on the western part of Hispaniola (Haiti today). At this point, coffee hasn't been introduced and they're still producing sugar cane as their cash crop. Saint-Domingue at this point also has a strong slavery presence on their plantations. The conditions of slavery is thought to be behind the development of the Petro loa in Haitian voodoo (a hotter group of loa versus the cooler Rada). I want to play off of that idea of harsh conditions giving birth to harsh spirits with a D&D spin.
Blocked for space:
[sblock]My basic idea is a small cult made a deal with the devil for financial fortune. Instead of fulfilling their deal directly (when would he ever?), he took the opportunity to poke at distant Bondye through his servants and provide a temptation of further corruption to the people. He gave them a ritual that allowed them to bind two loas into two humans and in a profane act forced the loas to procreate. The new born loa would be a source of great power, but still be weak due to its age, and able to be permanently bound and subdued. The trapped Loa's power could then be used to bring success to the cult and ruin to their enemies.
The cult went through the process and using the power of the newborn and trapped Loa, they hid themselves from the reprisal of the two Loas they abused and set up a sugar cane plantation in Saint-Domingue roughly 20 years ago. They abused the power of the loa to take the free will of their slaves making them function as automatons. The fact this also allowed the cult to use their slaves in increasingly perverse and wicked ways without any resistance meant that the cult's appetite for evil only grew.
The loa's power made their crop more bountiful than normal and brought ruin to the neighboring plantations. Every few seasons, another neighbor had been so progressively ruined that he was forced to sell his land to the cult who, of course, were able to bring its production in line with theirs.
This scheme was well known in the area after the first few plantations failed and were bought out. People gave reports of seeing slaves who worked like zombies and rumors of black magic being behind the success of the cult's plantation were a well known rumor, but any time that someone tried to find proof or bring an accusation, they disappeared and their family fell into ruin.
5 years ago, another plantation was bought and a new neighbor knew what was awaiting him. He found a brash and reckless young man who boasted far more than his skills could back up. The owner hired the young man to sneak into the cult's home and discover what gave them their fortune and steal it or destroy it. The young man managed to do what no other had done before and found an egg shaped diamond as large as a man's fist hovering in the basement of the cult. Reaching out to grab it, his fingers brushed the surface as an unseen cult member behind him clubbed him into unconsciousness.
He woke up as a slave without any control over his physical body, but completely and wholly aware of his actions and surroundings. For a year, his body was forced to work the plantation during the day while at night, he was subjected to the wicked desires of the cult who controlled him like a puppet. Over the course of the year, he began to hear a whisper in his mind. It took months before the whisper was loud enough to be understood in his thoughts. The trapped loa had formed a connection to him when he touched its prison and it had taken months for it to work its magic through the prison along the tether of their connection to speak with him and offer a proposal.
The loa could use its power and their connection to free the man, but he had to pledge to free the loa and bring vengeance to their captors. The catch was that the loa's nature had been altered by the ritual that birthed and imprisoned it. It knew that it would have to have a vessel to survive until it could find a way to be what it was meant to be. The man would have to serve as that vessel. The man filled with rage readily agreed. That night, the agreement was carried out and every cult member was left dead and the slaves freed.
Four years have passed and since that day, the man has brought vengeance down upon slaver and slave owner that he can. The loa desires to find its parents to see if they may know a way for it to be whole. Together, they traveled to the place where the cult performed the ritual. The loa's first memory is seeing it's parents bound to two diamond amulets worn by the cult's performers. It knew that the amulets could not still be holding its parents, but believes that the event should have left enough of their essence to enable it to discover their identity and track them down. It also knew that the cult left everything but its cage behind so that it could not be used to trace them.
When they arrived at the location, they found it had already been looted. Asking around, they discovered that a band of fortune hunters had discovered and looted it years before. They followed every lead trying to discover where the treasure might lie now. The final discovery pointed to a miserable truth. The twin diamond amulets had been a part of the treasure carried by La Gloriosa del Mar.[/sblock]
Essentialy, a paladin powered by a loa that is present in him and influences him. Due to the loa's origin, it shifts from cool to hot and can drag the character along with it. In game, what I would like to do is the first time the character uses a paladin power, I will roll on a chart I make to determine what the Loa is like in that moment and how that influences the character. That trait will persist until the character takes a rest (even if other powers are used) when the character's full personality can reassert itself. Rules wise, it will show up as the Loa Patron fortune when I finish up the character.
I'm still doing some reading to get the details right. The character needs a French name that fits the time frame for example and I want to see if I can find a Creole name that will work for the loa. Anyway, does that look good so far?
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