Paridon Book II: A Taste For Power (Closed)

[InVinoVeritas]

I'm already in one urban/investigators type game here on EN World, and in a run of Eberronized Ravenloft game as well- this looks like an interesting combo. As far as inspiration, I'm thinking of books like The Alienist or Perdido Street Station- are those about the right tone?

Yes, that will do nicely.

 

[InVinoVeritas]

After seeing the roster for the game, I had to rethink my character concept to fit better.

Dwarven Bardarian... No that is not a misspelling. He is half Bard and half *rawwwwwwr*. (Barbarian)

Cliff Hammerstriker- 3 Bard, 2 Barbarian

Grew up under the watchful eyes of a Tavern Keeper, and learned his ways from the guests in the bars and the brawls fought on his turf.

From using anything and everything he could find to 'improvise' his way out of any situation, to singing a ballad that would cause the most stonehearted man to shed tears. He grew in his ways. Through these ways he became a 'legend' amongst the bouncers in town, and eventually amongst all the brawlers in the city. After a fairly nasty brawl within the tavern, Cliff moved out on his own.

By day, he was a 'sweat of his brow' worker, and by night, he worked the streets. Singing hope into the hearts of the populace, and beating the rhythm of justice onto the heads of the wicked.

I'll post the character sheet for review tomorrow. Should I post this here? or in the RG?

Post characters here, please. Care to have been a bouncer at a place called Little Diversions?

History would be fairly straightforward. His parents were part of semi-nomadic tribe, traveling between cities for trade and living off the land. They maintained ancient traditions and stories about mighty dragons.

I'll presume much in adding steel dragon into the city (they are those that a) like humans b) live essentialy whole of their lives in human form and c) never betray themselves to humans, they pose as mages, sorcerors or simple sages and alchemists. If you don't like the addition replace him with 'normal' sage/alchemist/whatever fits you

His parents separated from the tribe over some perceived slight (they were banished) and he grew up on the streets of Paridon. Being outsiders there was precious little his parents could do, but their knowledge of natural herbs and ancient cures served them well. After several lean years they set up a shop and are doing quite well. In the years that followed they attracted several wealthy patrons and one of them was local <insert dragons position>. Another one was Edithomas, gnome alchemist of some renown. Young <insert PC name here> was fascinated with old traditions of his people and was reading all he could about it and pestered his parents about them. In time, adolescent <PC name> showed signs of blessings of the Ancient Ones and his parents knew they cannot teach him anymore. As they don't have access to tribe shamans they turned to their well learned and traveled patron. He took <young padawan> and tought him how to be true dragon heir. <PC name> is stickler for justice and while he looks forward to restoring his family honor once the tribe appears again at Paridon, he joined law enforcement so he could keep the streets vileness of which he felt more then once, as clean as possible.

It could work. I don't believe the dragon needs to live within the city for it all to work, if you like. Continue the fleshing out, let's see how it looks.

IVV, do you have Heroes of Light? Would you allow the Detective PrC from that book? (The PC would only have the 1st level in it, probably an Ari4/Detective1 or Rog4/Detective1, modeled after the picture in Heroes of Light of the Dwarven Detective. He'd probably be an emigrant from Darkon an aristocratic dwarf moving in Paridon's gentlemanly high society, who emulates the methods of the Great Detective. )

Do you have any access to the Ravenloft feats? Another ENWorlder provided this handy link for RL reference material for players (RL feats, equipment, domains etc) in the Delving the Mistst PbP OOC thread. Would you consider allowing those feats? Do you use RL's rules for Fear, Horror & Madness? Dark Power Checks ?

Do you allow the Ravenloft Caliban race ? (essentially the half-orc with a new look, think hunchback of notre-dame, igor the henchman etc) My other PC idea would be a caliban urban druid4/rog1 or druid3/rog2 with most of the druid alternate class features of the cityscape web enhancement. (see the link in the post above) He would be a rag-clad street-living prophet of the city called on a vision quest-like mission, perhaps an exile from the mysterious undercity.

Nothing wrong with the Caliban, since yeah, that's like a half-orc. I'll review the RL material, but I'd like to keep the extra sources to a minimum, if possible. It'll take me a bit of time to fully review. Calibans are okay, though. I don't have Heroes of Light, so no Detective, sorry.

As for Fear/Horror/Madness, it's included, but I try to keep the effects melded with the narrative, so you might not ever notice the rolls--just the difference in how it's portrayed. Powers checks do exist.

Question about the firearms: Can they be made of different materials? Like say... a mithril dragon rifle? On that note, can they be masterwork and enchanted? I'm looking at the SRD now to see if I'd be able to figure out an enchanted weapon. Also, would feats and effects that apply to bows apply to guns?

Rhiannon Fleetwood,Half-Elf Urban(if allowed) ranger 2/monk 1/Rogue 2. Ranged support specialist and sniper.

Rhiannon's mother was a Paridon native who happened to have a brief but passionate fling with a traveling elven ranger. During this brief fling, Rhiannon was conceived. Her father departed not knowing what had happened, though he had vowed to return to the woman one day. When he did, 5 years later, he was surprised to find a young girl of around 5 years old with the woman he'd left. Upon discovering his daughter, he stayed for awhile to bond with her, and taught her some of his skills, before needing to depart from the city once more. Rhia emulated her father well, and learned to move as he did, though she adapted his teachings to her own environment. This drew her much ridicule from her peers, and various kinds of verbal and physical abuse as she grew older, because she was different.

In attempts to deal with her anger and confusion at such treatment, Rhiannon had briefly stayed in a temple, and had picked up on a few of their martial skills during her brief stay before she realized she couldn't deal with the restrictions on her actions, and she slipped away, moving onto the streets once more. Having decided that Ascetic enlightenment wasn't her way, Rhiannon resorted to learning the streets, and using those smarts to her advantage. As Rhiannon came fully of age, she sold her services as a freelance tracker, finding people who did not wish to be found for a price. Due to her ability to notice things some others don't, and her ability to locate people, Rhiannon was contacted by the Constabulary for possible employment...

The background will definitely fit.

As for guns, they can be made from special materials (although the shot needs to be the special material to have the required damage effect), masterworked, and enchanted.

 

[Theroc]

What archery feats will apply to guns? Or crossbow feats?

Just wanna make sure I don't look up a heap of feats for a gun, then discover they won't apply. I do intend on using a bow as well, but primarily I'll be using a gun or some form of melee weapon(if they close in and my gun is empty).

Question; Sorry if this sounds stupid, but does the SRD fully explain how to buy an enchanted weapon? The materials and Masterwork seemed fairly simple, but how do I get the +1 or higher enhancement portion on it?

Does each +1 enhancement bonus on the magic item cost 1/2 the items original price?

Wanna make sure I plan my budget accordingly...

Also, do you care what format is used for the profiles?

I will probably tweak the LEW one and put in any additional details needed.

Edited questions:
The Urban Ranger was approved, yes? Would I also be able to take the Passive Way variant of the Monk Class(also in the Unearthed Arcana)?

Additionally, is there a feat or feats in the Complete books which stop me from being precluded from taking levels in Monk later, by allowing me to multiclass between monk and one other class type? I may consider taking it to prevent burning bridges... >.>

 

[Neurotic]

Theroc, feats in questions are Ascetic knight (for paladin), Ascetic whatever for other classes (I believe rogue, ranger and swachbucker have their version). Not sure about the others.

Weapon enchantments cost 2 x (enhancement x enhancement) x 1000gp thus:
+1 sword costs 2 x (1 x 1) x 1000 = 2000gp + cost of masterwork weapon
+2 sword costs 2 x (2 x 2) x 1000 = 8000gp + cost of masterwork weapon

I believe that is SRD formula. Not familiar if Ravenloft has it's own rules.

As an addition to Jeremiah Tomesh (dragonshaman PC) - I'd like to include small reputation as great teamplayer. When he's around everything feels more vivid, senses sharp and reaction fast. He may not be good for looking over the scene for clues, but is good at getting information from both gutters and nobles alike. He doesn't believe in taking personal glory (due to his upbringing) and will always (or mostly) step aside and let the group take the credit (or put somebody else on the spotlight)

Here is steel dragon description

Should I change breath weapon to acid? I'd use Brass dragon shaman statistic as it somewhat matches this one, maybe exchange survival with craft (alchemy) or spellcraft to reflect change from his original tribe (and dragon) to new one?

I'm thinking of taking Leadership at 6th, that would give me in-game reason to call on parent's shop without having to invoke some tragedy in life that would explain why they live in the same city and never provide info or help. And of course, a henchmen (faerie dragon? I wish for an apple pie.)

 

[Theroc]

Your explanation doesn't seem to jive with what I'm reading from the SRD... unless I'm really misunderstanding things. I hope this doesn't annoy anyone, but I'm going to bring in little snippets and see if I understand them each correctly.

"Only a masterwork weapon can become a magic weapon, and the masterwork cost is added to the total cost to determine final market value. Additional magic supplies costs for the materials are subsumed in the cost for creating the magic weapon—half the base price given on Table: Weapons, according to the weapon’s total effective bonus."

Alright, a Masterwork weapon costs 300 more GP in addition to the original weapons price. Making say, a repeater rifle masterwork would make it cost 2,300 GP. Then making it magic would cost another 1,150 gold on top of that, right? Since that would be half of the base price? That gives me the +1 (magic)enhancement, right?

Or am I confusing something here.

Apologies if my ignorance is irritating, I've never actually dealt with this portion of the system at all before(even lurking the SRD about it before I came across this thread).

 

[industrygothica]

Powers checks do exist.

Yes... yes they do.

 

[Neurotic]

No, no. Half the base price is for when YOU create the item in question. Look at the link you provided. there is price of 2000gp for +1 enhancement. This is buying price. Creating it would cost you 1000.

That is just cost of enchantment. On top of that you would pay normal item cost (in your example 2300)

Thus to buy such rifle would cost you 4300gp.
To buy masterwork rifle and enchant it would cost you 3300gp.
And to create one from scratch, you'd have to make one with craft skill incuring whatever cost for that is and then paying additional 1000gp for enchantment

 

[Thanael]

Nothing wrong with the Caliban, since yeah, that's like a half-orc. I'll review the RL material, but I'd like to keep the extra sources to a minimum, if possible. It'll take me a bit of time to fully review. Calibans are okay, though. I don't have Heroes of Light, so no Detective, sorry.

Fair enough. I'm cobbling together the stats and backstory of the half-orc/caliban then. What about the urban replacement class features for the druid ? Will you allow them? Here are the short description:

Voice of the City (1st) Lose wild empathy, gain ability to convey communication w/o language. Cityscape WE
Urban Sense (1st) Lose Nature sense, gain +2 to knowledge (local) and Sense Motive. Cityscape WE
Urban Companion (1st) lose animal compainion, gain familiar. Cityscape WE
Crowd-Walker (2nd) Lose Woodland Stride, your movement is less impeded by crowds and debris. Cityscape WE
Go to Ground (3rd) Lose Trackless step, you are now unable to be found via urban tracking. Cityscape WE
Iron Constitution (4th) Lose resist nature's lure, gain Strong Stomach feat, +2 on saves vs. disease. Cityscape WE

And here's the the feat that is referenced in the last one:
Strong Stomach Con 13, Endurance Reduce nauseated and sickened conditions by one step Cityscape

Though I'm probably only taking a few of those.

 

[Theroc]

No, no. Half the base price is for when YOU create the item in question. Look at the link you provided. there is price of 2000gp for +1 enhancement. This is buying price. Creating it would cost you 1000.

That is just cost of enchantment. On top of that you would pay normal item cost (in your example 2300)

Thus to buy such rifle would cost you 4300gp.
To buy masterwork rifle and enchant it would cost you 3300gp.
And to create one from scratch, you'd have to make one with craft skill incuring whatever cost for that is and then paying additional 1000gp for enchantment

Oh... I feel dumb. I thought 'create' meant putting together what I was doing. That's what I get for trying to figure it out late at night. Thanks Neurotic

 

[Tiali]

Character Sheet:
[sblock=]

Cliff Hammerstriker Tiali
Bard 1, Barbarian 4 ECL 5 (10,000 xp)
Dwarf Neutral Good
Diety: Moradin

HP = 57 (9 for bard, 48 for Barbarian)
AC = 19 (10base + 1dex + 3shield + 5armor)
Initiative = 1

Str 14 +2 : 16 +3 with Gauntlets
Dex 13 +1 (+1 4th level) starting stat 12
Con 16 +3 (+2 dwarf) starting stat 14
Int 12 +1
Wis 10 +0
Cha 12 +1 (-2 dwarf) starting stat 14

Fort 7 (4base + 3con)
Ref 4 (3base + 1dex)
Will 3 (3base + 0wis)

B.A.B +4
Basic Melee Attack +6 : +7 w/ Gauntlets
Basic Ranged Attack +5
Grapple +10 (Feat: Improved Grapple +4)

Attacks:

2 Dagger = 1d4+3/+7 attack
Masterwork, Morningstar = 1d8+3/+8 attack
Crossbow, light (20 Bolts) = 1d8/+5 attack
Masterwork, Battleaxe = 1d8+3/+8 attack
Masterwork, Greataxe = 1d12+4/+8 attack

Skills:

Skill = Base Skill + modifier = total
escape artist 3 + 1 = 4
gather information 4 + 1 = 5
hide 6 + 1 = 7
intimidate 6 + 1 = 7
knowledge dungeoneering 2 + 1 = 3
knowledge geography 2 + 1 = 3
knowledge local 2 + 1 = 3
listen 6 + 0 = 6
move silently 6 + 1 = 7
perform (Singing) 4 + 1 = 5
sense motive 6 + 0 = 6
use magic device 1 + 1 = 2

Feats/Specials:

armor proficiency light
armor proficiency medium
martial weapon proficiency
shield proficiency
simple weapon proficiency
Trap sense
Uncanny dodge
Fast movement, rage
Bardic music, bardic knowledge
countersong, fascinate
inspire courage
F1: Improved Unarmed Strike
F2: Improved Grapple

Languages:

Common
Dwarven
Undercommon

Bard Spells Known

Detect Magic
Ghost Sound
Mending
Summon Instrument

Equipment:
[sblock=]
2 Dagger 1d4 4g
Masterwork, Morningstar 1d8 308g
Crossbow, light 1d8 35g
20 Bolts 2g
Masterwork, Battleaxe 1d8 310g
Masterwork, Greataxe 1d12 320g
Masterwork, +1 Mithril Chain shirt +5ac 2100g
Masterwork, +1 Shield, large, steel +3ac 1170g
Backpack 2lb 2g
Block n Tackle 5lb 5g
10 Candles .1g
10 Chalk .1g
Crowbar 5lb 2g
Fishhook .1g
Flint/steel 1g
Grappling hook 4lb 1g
Ink 8g
2 Inkpen .2g
5 Paper 2g
5 Parchment 1g
Pick, miner's 10lb 4g
5 Piton .5g
Pole (10ft) 8lb .2g
Pouch, belt 3lb 1g
100ft Rope 5lb 2g
Signet ring 5g
Waterskin 4lb 2g
Whetstone 1lb
Entertainer's outfit 4lb 3g
Gauntlets of Ogre's Strength +2 4,000g
4 Lesser Healing Potions (1d8+1) 200g
2 Alchemist Fire 100g
2 Acid 100g
8690.2 spent 309.8 remaining

[/sblock] [/sblock]

I feel like im missing something, but i've went over it 3 times now, cant figure out what.

Backround (edited to include Little Diversion tavern name per IVV suggestion):
[sblock=]
Grew up under the watchful eyes of the Tavern Keeper who ran the Little Diversion, and learned his ways from the guests in the bars and the brawls fought on his turf.

From using anything and everything he could find to 'improvise' his way out of any situation, to singing a ballad that would cause the most stonehearted man to shed tears. He grew in his ways. Through these ways he became a 'legend' amongst the bouncers in town, and eventually amongst all the brawlers in the city. After a fairly nasty brawl within the tavern, Cliff moved out on his own.

By day, he was a 'sweat of his brow' worker, and by night, he worked the streets. Singing hope into the hearts of the populace, and beating the rhythm of justice onto the heads of the wicked.[/sblock]