Summoner: I like it. I'm worried it'll be like Skull from Pvponline (Scott Kurtz), or what have you. That might work, though, from an RP point of view.
suggestion, while bouncing ideas: what if we went more bloody with the Eidolon, and younger with the summoner? Like, the Summoner is a kid and the Eidolon is his/her imaginary best friend (who kills things and eats people)? I picture the Troll as a big, blue giant with a long grey beard and horns of some sort. Ever see the White Wolf game 'Changeling: the Dreaming"? The Trolls were the big, honorable warriors.
Another option: what if you went with a bloodthirsty mastodon-creature? Like Mr. Snufflupagus, but if he was in Robert E. Howard? What would *that* be like, eh?
The potential for the class is that you can have creatures like out of an S&S story, or out of a Conan comic, or what have you. I just finished reading the Mignola issues of the Busiek/Dark Horse Conan series, and there's a massive frog that eats him, twice. Other issues have giant snakes, as well as a weird elephant-man-sorcerer-butterfly, blue behemoths... it's fun stuff.
Just so you know, I don't mind whatever you go with (so long as you like it enough not to vanish without saying so). I want my players to be happy, ultimately, and get along. I can for sure be draconian, but I prefer to go with honey first. That said, yeah, I should voice my opinions now: honesty is a good thing.
In terms of the way I wrote the background, it was an attempt largely to tie us all together in the narrative, to help create that cohesive element that binds the group together before we start. Without that, there are a couple of PCs who don't seem to immediately fit the group dynamic, but if we handwave a little of our past history, then that is more easily glossed over.
The witch telling the tale - if it wasn't clear to anyone else - is the same Hag who set Keepiru on his path. I was (hopefully) giving the GM an opportunity to have her appear in the game if you want; and now there is a Witch class in PF, how can you resist![]()
I hope I didn't offend anyone by using that device - if so, I apologise unreservedly. It was no more than a hook, and I realise the potentially unpleasant connotations to it.
Having recently been reading Robert Jordan's 'Conan Chronicles' I'm rather familiar with that particular trope.no problem.
Ah, RJ's take on Conan!
As far as race goes, the character was written for another game that didn't come off. When I jumped into the recruiting thread, the question of everyone being male and human had been raised, so it offered some diversity. Race is the least part of the concept though, it works equally well in my mind as a human so I have no issues changing that. The extra feat and skills will be welcome, and I can re-work the stats to reflect the different modifiers.
That could be good. Skipping the Trope aspect, which I understand; I wasn't thinking that particular trope (awesome though it may be), but I humbly suggest a human female. The trope is fun, but my experience of Conan was that the women had less going on upstairs than our monk/fighter likely does. Excepting specifically Red Sonja, and other warrior women who tend to have nothing to do with the other kind of "action". I'd only really be able to stand such a character for so long before banging my head against the monitor (likely after the first "don't ask me, I'm just a girl")
There's a lot going on for humans in Pathfinder, so *if* you opt for this, it would be good. In this case, I think a human female would just be able to... do more than a dwarven female. At least with this concept.
Glasseye: Honestly, most of that was questioning what you may be thinking. I don't mind one way or the other, really. As long as you don't say "half-jack and celestial dire boar: I choose you!" whenever you summon, I think you're great.
And I heartily recommend the Conan Comics by Darkhorse. really good title. The art, by Cary Nord, is some of my favourite art out there. The books themselves are just plain fun also.
In fact, if you get a chance, look up Mike Mignola's take on "Fafrhd and the Grey Mouser" (spelling?). It's one trade, and covers the Lahnkmarr stories really well. Great art, and the stories really inspired the Pathfinder designers. Also folklore and history across the board.