stonegod's Expedition to Castle Ravenloft: Ch. I [OOC]
- Thread starter stonegod
- Start date
stonegod
Spawn of Khyber/LEB Judge
Okay, I've been giving it some thought, and I think a behind the scenes edit of Janis could work both in RP and whatnot. I think a moderate Child of Winter would be workable, especially if she saw herself as less of the "hasten winter" group and more of "its inevitable" group. I feel she'd probably take a more arcane/academic approach to the natural arts and be more of a "city" druid than anything (I can't really see here traipsing about the Eldeen reaches). In all cases, I think her level 1 class would have still been wizard, with the rest depending on option.
So, different ways to play:
- Wiz 1/Druid 6: An okay option. She'd obviously would have had to use a scroll/wand/whatever to do the one real lightning bolt she has cast. It would explain wild shifting as she would have only gotten in 5th level
- Wiz 3/Druid 3/Mystic Theurge 1: Not optimal, but an option. No wild shifting problem here.
I think there are a couple of alternate class features which could be interesting:
- Elemental Companion [Complete Mage]: Would explain lack of wild empathy and animal companion, though does not explain why she may not have summoned it yet
- Root Walker [Dungeonscape]: Explains why she has not used wild empathy, woodland stride or resist nature's lure and fits with Child of Winter. Grants vermin empathy, ease of movement over stone and natural debris, and resistance to aberration magics instead of fey.
There are still some holes (acidic druid spells?), but its a start. James, if you can flush out a new Janis here, I can take a look assuming you still want to go this path.
So, different ways to play:
- Wiz 1/Druid 6: An okay option. She'd obviously would have had to use a scroll/wand/whatever to do the one real lightning bolt she has cast. It would explain wild shifting as she would have only gotten in 5th level
- Wiz 3/Druid 3/Mystic Theurge 1: Not optimal, but an option. No wild shifting problem here.
I think there are a couple of alternate class features which could be interesting:
- Elemental Companion [Complete Mage]: Would explain lack of wild empathy and animal companion, though does not explain why she may not have summoned it yet
- Root Walker [Dungeonscape]: Explains why she has not used wild empathy, woodland stride or resist nature's lure and fits with Child of Winter. Grants vermin empathy, ease of movement over stone and natural debris, and resistance to aberration magics instead of fey.
There are still some holes (acidic druid spells?), but its a start. James, if you can flush out a new Janis here, I can take a look assuming you still want to go this path.
stonegod
Spawn of Khyber/LEB Judge
Dramatis Personae has been updated with Danovich's and the Monstrosity's entries.
James Heard
Explorer
If she were traipsing around the Eldeen then it would be more in her capacity of "the common people are the only honest and good people in the world" than in "Mistress Janis, the Destroyer of (very small, moderate hit points only) worlds."stonegod said:
I'm probably going to go with this. There's no sense in crippling her spellcasting any more than I have to.
Yeah, I thought Babau Slime and Blinding Spittle had the [Acid] descriptor, but I was obviously mistaken.
James Heard
Explorer
Alright this is the finalized proposal for the revised Janis.
Janis Stormhand (ir'Sandal)
Female Human Wizard 1/Druid 6
N Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +2; Senses Listen +9 Spot +9
Languages Common, Druid, Mabran, Draconic
AP 11
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AC 15 , touch 13, flat-footed 13; + 2 dex, +3 Leather Armor +1, Glamered
hp 42 (7 HD)
Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +10
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +5 Masterwork Quarterstaff 1d6 or +1/-3 1d6/1d6
Ranged +6
Special Actions Spontaneous Casting (Summon Nature's Ally), Wild Shape 2/day, Storm Bolt (Create line of electricity 1d6 damage/spell level, range 20ft)
Base Atk +4; Grp +4
Combat Gear Eternal Wand: Lesser Orb of Acid, Eternal Wand: Mirror Image, Lightning Gauntlets, Scroll of Lightning Bolt, Scroll of Halt Undead
Wizard Spells Prepared (3/2, CL 1st, +6 ranged touch, +4 melee touch):
Abilities Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 17, Cha 10
SQ Nature Sense, Wild Empathy, Woodland Stride, Trackless Step, Resist Nature's Lure
Feats Child of Winter, Heroic Spirit, Mysterious Magic, Scribe Scroll, Storm Bolt
Skills Concentration +7 (5 ranks), Diplomacy +5 (5 ranks), Handle Animal+5 (5 ranks), Heal + 6 (3 ranks), Knowledge:Arcana +6 (4 ranks), Knowledge:History +6 (4 ranks), Knowledge:Nature +12 (8 ranks), Knowledge:Nobility +6 (4 ranks), Listen +9 (6 ranks), Spellcraft +8 (6 ranks), Spot +9 (6 ranks), Survival +9 (4 ranks)
Experience Points: 23003
Possessions combat gear plus Everlasting Rations, healer's kit
Spellbook
0—all PHB
1st—Alarm, Disguise Self, Lesser Orb of Acid, Mage Armor, Magic Missile
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mysterious MagicSecrets of Xen'Drik: The DC to identify your spells with the Spellcraft skill is increased by 5. This increase is also applied to Spellcraft checks used to identity a spell's school of magic though detect magic or similar effects. In addition, the DC to dispel or counter your spells is increased by 2.
Heroic SpiritEb: +3 action points per level.
Storm BoltCM: Create line of electricity 1d6 damage/spell level, +1 CL on electricity spells.
Child of WinterEb: Treat vermin as animals, add vermin to summon nature's ally list.
Orwell (deceased)
Male Magical Beast, Viper. Tiny Magical Beast
Note: Janis may not summon another familiar for a year.
Edi
Animal, Magebred Donkey:CR1;Large Animal ; HD 3d8+15 (Animal); hp28; Init +1; Spd 40; AC:16 (Flatfooted:14 Touch:11); Atk +5 base melee, +2 base ranged; +4 (1d6+4,2 Hoof); SQ: Low-light Vision (Ex), Scent (Ex), Excellent Learner, Swift Breed; ALN; SV Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +1; STR 18, DEX 15, CON 21, INT 2, WIS 11, CHA 6.
Skills: Listen +5, Spot +5.
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Improved Natural Attack.
Description: A donkey is similar to a light horse, but slightly stronger and more surefooted.
Carrying Capacity: A light load for a magebred donkey is up to 300 pounds; a medium load, 301-600 pounds; a heavy load, 601-300 pounds. A magebred donkey can drag 4,500 pounds.
Appearance
Janis ir'Sandal is a tall, pale and ethereal looking woman just shy of being pretty, but with a face that instead most people would gracefully call "interesting". Her stark white hair would not be out of place on an albino, but is instead a novelty of her heritage and family. Janis is thin to the point of being painful-looking, and for that reason she favors clothes which obstruct that fact somewhat. To make her thin frame and hair even more plain, she maintains a permanent hidden smile that sits under a prominent nose and large, luminous green eyes. While always looking somewhat distant and mad-looking, Janis' eyes are liquid and clear emerald pools that occasionally spark with arcs of cyan electricity. Despite her frail appearance, anyone with any sense can tell that Janis is as tough as nails and doesn't blow over in a rough wind.
Background
The Sandal family was long a member of the political opposition party of the House of Wyngarn in Cyre, fostering dissidents and socially progressive legislature over the years that always seemed to be just a few years too soon for the adoption by the crown. As such it maintained much support among the common people of Cyre even through the war, and that and its notoriety in the arts and arcane research did much to blunt any possibility of real reprisal from the crown. So entrenched in Cyran politics were the Sandal family that they began to conceive of a rather more expansive interpretation of their "duties" and very discretely began to plot against the crown in rebellion.
Unfortunately for them, the Sandal plots were discovered by Cyran agents and instead of a more severe punishment, many chose to enlist to serve in the Cyran army, to casually venture to far away provinces of the world such as Xen'drik, and in Janis ir'Sandal's case to work her way across the borders into Breland where she arrived only a few months before the Day of Mourning.
Janis spent her requisite days of shock and horror along with the rest of the Cyran expatriates, and then she began to compensate. Janis decided that her most worthy goal was to remake a Cyre such as Cyre always was to her, but her political inclinations and upbringing couldn't bring her to participate in the machinations of Prince Oargev in Breland fully, a fact which she voiced to the wrong people at the wrong time. This proved to be a mistake, and Janis found herself once again fleeing the reach of House Wyngarn, this time to parts unknown. These days she's much more reticent about voicing her opinions on Cyre and the world in general, simply as a measure of self-defense.
After spending many long years studying in the reserved and dubiously social high society scene of Cyre's more prestigious private schools and in the presence of several tutors of distinction, Janis began studying magic from the standpoint of the natural, and unnaturally natural, order itself. As such, her studies have pushed her more and more into a deeper understanding and philosophical empathy with certain druidic sects and teachings.
Primary Role/Distinguishing Abilities
Janis is a blaster thanks to her magic items and Reserve feats, with some significant options from her Druid levels inside and outside of combat.
Quirks
To most people, Janis seems to be a somewhat mousy, unattractively thin woman with a talent for magic. This is indeed the case. Janis is more comfortable with books and the dissection of strange new creatures than with people. Still Janis deeply desires the ability to be one of the charismatic people that she so admires. Added to that fact is that Janis has an incredibly high opinion of her own intelligence and basic value, sometimes in the past she has felt a sense of entitlement beyond her actions. Now older, Janis' dark inclinations have been mellowed into a deep and abiding cynicism.
Janis likes to maintain a cloak of mystery about herself almost as a matter of course. She will talk about Cyre because a Cyran who won't talk about Cyre might provoke interest, but she reveals little else about herself if she can help it. Deeply wounded by more than the Day of Mourning, Janis clings to nihilism as an answer. After all, if it ends (and it all will), it will end badly. Better to be prepared for the worst, and protect others as best you can - even if you don't won't let anyone close to you, even if there are few people worthy of protecting.
Tactics:
Janis enters combat under the guise of mirror image if at all possible and tends to utilize her Storm Bolt reserve feat and Lightning Gauntlets more than actually casting greater magics.
[sblock=Advancement]
L1>Wizard 6 HP: 6 (4+2) SP: +20
Skill Concentration 4 ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 4 ranks, Knowledge (Nobility) 4 ranks, Knowledge (History) 4 ranks, Spellcraft 4 ranks
1st Feat:Heroic Spirit, Wizard Bonus: Scribe Scroll, Human Bonus: Mysterious Magic
Languages: Common, Draconic, Mabran
L2>Druid 1 HP: 6 (d8+2) SP: +7
Skill Concentration 1 rank, Diplomacy 1 rank, Knowledge (Nature) 1 rank, Listen 1 rank, Spot 1 rank, Spellcraft 1 rank, Survival 1 rank
L3>Druid 2 HP: 6 (d8+2) SP: +7
Skill Diplomacy 2 ranks, Knowledge (Nature) 1 rank, Listen 1 rank, Spot 1 rank, Spellcraft 1 rank, Survival 1 rank
3rd Feat: Child of Winter
L4>Druid 3 HP: 6 (d8+2) SP: +7
Skill Diplomacy 2 ranks, Knowledge (Nature) 1 rank, Listen 1 rank, Spot 2 ranks, Survival 1 rank
L5>Druid 4 HP: 6 (d8+2) SP: +7
Skill Knowledge (Nature) 3 ranks, Listen 2 rank, Spot 1 rank, Survival 1 rank
L6>Druid 5 HP: 6 (d8+2) SP: +7
Skill Knowledge (Nature) 2 rank, Listen 1 rank, Spot 1 rank, Handle Animal 3 ranks
6th Feat: Storm Bolt
L7>Druid 6 HP 6 (d8+2) SP +7
Skill Heal 3 ranks, Handle Animal 2 Ranks, Diplomacy 2 ranks
Abilities: Str 10 (2pts), Dex 14 (6 pts), Con 14 (6pts), Int 14 (6pts), Wis 16 (10pts), Cha 10 (2pts)
0000 traveller's outfit (one free outfit to hide naked adventurers)
0600 quarterstaff, masterwork
3860 + 1 Leather Armor, Glamered
0820 Eternal Wand: Lesser Orb of Acid
4420 Eternal Wand: Mirror Image
0350 Everlasting Rations
1000 Lightning Gauntlets
0750 2 Scrolls of Lightning Bolt
0750 2 Scrolls of Halt Undead
0030 spellbooks
0005 spell component pouch
0175 glamerweave noble outfit
0050 healer's kit
0005 signet ring
0005 identification papers with portrait
0110 everburning torch
0016 magebred donkey
0005 pack saddle
0010 riding saddle
0002 bit & bridle
00.1 bedroll
00.5 winter blanket
0010 tent
0001 waterskin
----
4.4 GP
[/sblock]
Janis Stormhand (ir'Sandal)
Female Human Wizard 1/Druid 6
N Medium Humanoid (Human)
Init +2; Senses Listen +9 Spot +9
Languages Common, Druid, Mabran, Draconic
AP 11
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AC 15 , touch 13, flat-footed 13; + 2 dex, +3 Leather Armor +1, Glamered
hp 42 (7 HD)
Fort +7, Ref +4, Will +10
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +5 Masterwork Quarterstaff 1d6 or +1/-3 1d6/1d6
Ranged +6
Special Actions Spontaneous Casting (Summon Nature's Ally), Wild Shape 2/day, Storm Bolt (Create line of electricity 1d6 damage/spell level, range 20ft)
Base Atk +4; Grp +4
Combat Gear Eternal Wand: Lesser Orb of Acid, Eternal Wand: Mirror Image, Lightning Gauntlets, Scroll of Lightning Bolt, Scroll of Halt Undead
Wizard Spells Prepared (3/2, CL 1st, +6 ranged touch, +4 melee touch):
- 0th— (DC 12) Disrupt Undead (x2), Prestidigitation, Detect Magic (x2)
- 1st— (DC 13) Lesser Orb of Acid, Magic Missile
- 0th— (DC 13) Cure Minor Wounds , Mending, Virtue, Naturewatch, Sandblast
- 1st— (DC 14) Obscuring Mist, Produce Flame, Shillelagh, Speak With Animals
- 2nd— (DC 15) Barkskin, Mass Snake's Swiftness, One With the Land, Scent
- 3rd— (DC 16) Call Lightning x2, Mass Lesser Vigor
Abilities Str 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 17, Cha 10
SQ Nature Sense, Wild Empathy, Woodland Stride, Trackless Step, Resist Nature's Lure
Feats Child of Winter, Heroic Spirit, Mysterious Magic, Scribe Scroll, Storm Bolt
Skills Concentration +7 (5 ranks), Diplomacy +5 (5 ranks), Handle Animal+5 (5 ranks), Heal + 6 (3 ranks), Knowledge:Arcana +6 (4 ranks), Knowledge:History +6 (4 ranks), Knowledge:Nature +12 (8 ranks), Knowledge:Nobility +6 (4 ranks), Listen +9 (6 ranks), Spellcraft +8 (6 ranks), Spot +9 (6 ranks), Survival +9 (4 ranks)
Experience Points: 23003
Possessions combat gear plus Everlasting Rations, healer's kit
Spellbook
0—all PHB
1st—Alarm, Disguise Self, Lesser Orb of Acid, Mage Armor, Magic Missile
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mysterious MagicSecrets of Xen'Drik: The DC to identify your spells with the Spellcraft skill is increased by 5. This increase is also applied to Spellcraft checks used to identity a spell's school of magic though detect magic or similar effects. In addition, the DC to dispel or counter your spells is increased by 2.
Heroic SpiritEb: +3 action points per level.
Storm BoltCM: Create line of electricity 1d6 damage/spell level, +1 CL on electricity spells.
Child of WinterEb: Treat vermin as animals, add vermin to summon nature's ally list.
Orwell (deceased)
Note: Janis may not summon another familiar for a year.
Edi
Animal, Magebred Donkey:CR1;Large Animal ; HD 3d8+15 (Animal); hp28; Init +1; Spd 40; AC:16 (Flatfooted:14 Touch:11); Atk +5 base melee, +2 base ranged; +4 (1d6+4,2 Hoof); SQ: Low-light Vision (Ex), Scent (Ex), Excellent Learner, Swift Breed; ALN; SV Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +1; STR 18, DEX 15, CON 21, INT 2, WIS 11, CHA 6.
Skills: Listen +5, Spot +5.
Feats: Alertness, Endurance, Improved Natural Attack.
Description: A donkey is similar to a light horse, but slightly stronger and more surefooted.
Carrying Capacity: A light load for a magebred donkey is up to 300 pounds; a medium load, 301-600 pounds; a heavy load, 601-300 pounds. A magebred donkey can drag 4,500 pounds.
Appearance
Janis ir'Sandal is a tall, pale and ethereal looking woman just shy of being pretty, but with a face that instead most people would gracefully call "interesting". Her stark white hair would not be out of place on an albino, but is instead a novelty of her heritage and family. Janis is thin to the point of being painful-looking, and for that reason she favors clothes which obstruct that fact somewhat. To make her thin frame and hair even more plain, she maintains a permanent hidden smile that sits under a prominent nose and large, luminous green eyes. While always looking somewhat distant and mad-looking, Janis' eyes are liquid and clear emerald pools that occasionally spark with arcs of cyan electricity. Despite her frail appearance, anyone with any sense can tell that Janis is as tough as nails and doesn't blow over in a rough wind.
Background
The Sandal family was long a member of the political opposition party of the House of Wyngarn in Cyre, fostering dissidents and socially progressive legislature over the years that always seemed to be just a few years too soon for the adoption by the crown. As such it maintained much support among the common people of Cyre even through the war, and that and its notoriety in the arts and arcane research did much to blunt any possibility of real reprisal from the crown. So entrenched in Cyran politics were the Sandal family that they began to conceive of a rather more expansive interpretation of their "duties" and very discretely began to plot against the crown in rebellion.
Unfortunately for them, the Sandal plots were discovered by Cyran agents and instead of a more severe punishment, many chose to enlist to serve in the Cyran army, to casually venture to far away provinces of the world such as Xen'drik, and in Janis ir'Sandal's case to work her way across the borders into Breland where she arrived only a few months before the Day of Mourning.
Janis spent her requisite days of shock and horror along with the rest of the Cyran expatriates, and then she began to compensate. Janis decided that her most worthy goal was to remake a Cyre such as Cyre always was to her, but her political inclinations and upbringing couldn't bring her to participate in the machinations of Prince Oargev in Breland fully, a fact which she voiced to the wrong people at the wrong time. This proved to be a mistake, and Janis found herself once again fleeing the reach of House Wyngarn, this time to parts unknown. These days she's much more reticent about voicing her opinions on Cyre and the world in general, simply as a measure of self-defense.
After spending many long years studying in the reserved and dubiously social high society scene of Cyre's more prestigious private schools and in the presence of several tutors of distinction, Janis began studying magic from the standpoint of the natural, and unnaturally natural, order itself. As such, her studies have pushed her more and more into a deeper understanding and philosophical empathy with certain druidic sects and teachings.
Primary Role/Distinguishing Abilities
Janis is a blaster thanks to her magic items and Reserve feats, with some significant options from her Druid levels inside and outside of combat.
Quirks
To most people, Janis seems to be a somewhat mousy, unattractively thin woman with a talent for magic. This is indeed the case. Janis is more comfortable with books and the dissection of strange new creatures than with people. Still Janis deeply desires the ability to be one of the charismatic people that she so admires. Added to that fact is that Janis has an incredibly high opinion of her own intelligence and basic value, sometimes in the past she has felt a sense of entitlement beyond her actions. Now older, Janis' dark inclinations have been mellowed into a deep and abiding cynicism.
Janis likes to maintain a cloak of mystery about herself almost as a matter of course. She will talk about Cyre because a Cyran who won't talk about Cyre might provoke interest, but she reveals little else about herself if she can help it. Deeply wounded by more than the Day of Mourning, Janis clings to nihilism as an answer. After all, if it ends (and it all will), it will end badly. Better to be prepared for the worst, and protect others as best you can - even if you don't won't let anyone close to you, even if there are few people worthy of protecting.
Tactics:
Janis enters combat under the guise of mirror image if at all possible and tends to utilize her Storm Bolt reserve feat and Lightning Gauntlets more than actually casting greater magics.
[sblock=Advancement]
L1>Wizard 6 HP: 6 (4+2) SP: +20
Skill Concentration 4 ranks, Knowledge (Arcana) 4 ranks, Knowledge (Nobility) 4 ranks, Knowledge (History) 4 ranks, Spellcraft 4 ranks
1st Feat:Heroic Spirit, Wizard Bonus: Scribe Scroll, Human Bonus: Mysterious Magic
Languages: Common, Draconic, Mabran
L2>Druid 1 HP: 6 (d8+2) SP: +7
Skill Concentration 1 rank, Diplomacy 1 rank, Knowledge (Nature) 1 rank, Listen 1 rank, Spot 1 rank, Spellcraft 1 rank, Survival 1 rank
L3>Druid 2 HP: 6 (d8+2) SP: +7
Skill Diplomacy 2 ranks, Knowledge (Nature) 1 rank, Listen 1 rank, Spot 1 rank, Spellcraft 1 rank, Survival 1 rank
3rd Feat: Child of Winter
L4>Druid 3 HP: 6 (d8+2) SP: +7
Skill Diplomacy 2 ranks, Knowledge (Nature) 1 rank, Listen 1 rank, Spot 2 ranks, Survival 1 rank
L5>Druid 4 HP: 6 (d8+2) SP: +7
Skill Knowledge (Nature) 3 ranks, Listen 2 rank, Spot 1 rank, Survival 1 rank
L6>Druid 5 HP: 6 (d8+2) SP: +7
Skill Knowledge (Nature) 2 rank, Listen 1 rank, Spot 1 rank, Handle Animal 3 ranks
6th Feat: Storm Bolt
L7>Druid 6 HP 6 (d8+2) SP +7
Skill Heal 3 ranks, Handle Animal 2 Ranks, Diplomacy 2 ranks
Abilities: Str 10 (2pts), Dex 14 (6 pts), Con 14 (6pts), Int 14 (6pts), Wis 16 (10pts), Cha 10 (2pts)
0000 traveller's outfit (one free outfit to hide naked adventurers)
0600 quarterstaff, masterwork
3860 + 1 Leather Armor, Glamered
0820 Eternal Wand: Lesser Orb of Acid
4420 Eternal Wand: Mirror Image
0350 Everlasting Rations
1000 Lightning Gauntlets
0750 2 Scrolls of Lightning Bolt
0750 2 Scrolls of Halt Undead
0030 spellbooks
0005 spell component pouch
0175 glamerweave noble outfit
0050 healer's kit
0005 signet ring
0005 identification papers with portrait
0110 everburning torch
0016 magebred donkey
0005 pack saddle
0010 riding saddle
0002 bit & bridle
00.1 bedroll
00.5 winter blanket
0010 tent
0001 waterskin
----
4.4 GP
[/sblock]
Last edited:
stonegod
Spawn of Khyber/LEB Judge
My brief glance only picked upon nit---if she is still planning on using Mirror Image, she'll actually need to take it (unless she has a wand that I missed). I"ll take a more detailed look tonight/tomorrow.
Is she considering any of the options I listed above?
Is she considering any of the options I listed above?
James Heard
Explorer
Eternal Wand of Mirror Image (2x day)stonegod said:
No. I haven't really read through Dungeonscape yet, and for some reason Janis with a pet pile of rocks, or puddle of water just doesn't do much for me. If she had the ability to summon the pet puddle of water though, she'd have already done it by now I think.stonegod said:
I'm going with her paranoia - with her mysterious magic feat she's already hard to pin down, but without her running around with a Dire Wolf she's a lot harder to peg as a Druid and maybe she was a little more attached to Orwell than any stupid animal anyways so she decided to go with personality more than firepower in the past. Basically, she's been voluntarily holding back a lot of her abilities to maximize her concealment. I dunno, maybe it's because Children of Winter are a pretty unpopular sect; or maybe it's because the dots are easier to connect her back to her political enemies if she's not just "some former student of an exotic school of wizardry" but also "who embraced the druidic cult of Winter later on."
James Heard
Explorer
Done.
