[PF-1e] Rise of the Old Ones

[CrystalMists]

WIP
Name: Unknown TBD
Race: Human
Classes (Side 1): Spirit Mender Druid 8
Classes (Side 2): Incanter[/TT] 8
Intended Role: Healer w/ Defender Companion, Minor in Blastnomics
Source of Mythic Power: Air Elemental Lord on Behalf of Gaia
Alignment: Neutral
Traits: Born Healer (Faith), Practiced Aim (Combat)
Flaws: N/A
Oaths: Oath Against Artifice (1), Oath of Candor (1), Oath of Celibacy (1)
Oath Boons: Inhuman Resilience, Enhanced Abilities

 

TBD

 

TBD

 

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TBD

slapping together the most base healer didn't seem to help. oh well..enjoy the game peeps

[dbaque]

[LeoByron]

[dbaque]

[LeoByron]

Originally Posted by CrystalMists

slapping together the most base healer didn't seem to help. oh well..enjoy the game peeps

Sorry to see you go! Maybe next time!

[Toptomcat]

I'm definitely interested, but I have a few questions. Not all necessarily apply to the same concept- right now I'm just trying to figure out what works.

First: are you going with the horror convention that many or all sources of supernatural power are inherently corruptive or dangerous? Is it some but not others, i.e. divine abilities aren't and arcane abilities are/might be?

Second: it seems like all PCs with casting abilities are Spheres-focused. Are more conventional casting classes discouraged?

Third: can you tell me more about the political context of Emperor Khaine and the central Empire? Is the nature of his immortality known? Is it a multipolar thing where there's a royal family heavily dependent on coalitions with a collection of surrounding royal families, a unipolar thing where all power and authority flows from Khaine, something in between?

Fourth: What's the power scaling of the world like? Is it a Forgotten Realms-type situation where the median king of a small to medium-sized country might be a 12th- or 15th-level character and dozens of epic-level movers and shakers vie against each other on the world stage, an Eberron-type situation where a 10th-level character is a Really Big Deal on a continental scale, something in between? Is the median town guard a 1st-level warrior, a 1st-level Conscript, a 4th-level Armiger? How extraordinary are we, as 8th-level gestalt characters with mythic tiers?

Fifth: would you be open to the Pactmaker and/or the True Xenotheurgist as part of a 'scholar of forbidden lore' concept, or is delving into Things Man Was Not Meant to Know for NPC opponents only?

Sixth: would you be open to the idea of a monstrous PC, either using the loosey-goosey Pathfinder 'CR = level' estimate for one side of the gestalt and normal class levels for the other or by using 3.5 LA/RHD mechanics? The idea of a True Dragon or other interestingly intelligent monster directly tasked by Gaia to fix things is one that interests me. If I go with the True Dragon concept, I would also probably be asking to import some stuff from the 3.5 Draconomicon.

[LeoByron]

Originally Posted by Toptomcat

First: are you going with the horror convention that many or all sources of supernatural power are inherently corruptive or dangerous? Is it some but not others, i.e. divine abilities aren't and arcane abilities are/might be?

That may depend on what you mean by corruptive or dangerous. As stated in the Accepted Sources section of the advert, we are using the Sanity Rules so there are some DM adjudicated dangers involved with exposure to the horrific.

If you are referring to corruption in the sense of Alignment and morality, I will tend to leave that more to the realm of role playing to a certain degree, though excessive use of obviously evil effects, items, magic, or simply egregiously evil acts or disregard for life will certainly have a corrupting effect on alignment. The degree would be determined on a case-by-case basis and probably serve the story and narrative rather than adhere to strict mechanics in most cases.

Mere exposure to supernatural power could not really be inherently corruptive in a setting where magic and other supernatural forces are relatively prevalent and nearly common in some areas of the world, but some forces might attack sanity if they are sufficiently alien and shocking to "normal" sensibilities.

I hope I answered that adequately. Let me know if I misunderstood in any way.

Originally Posted by Toptomcat

it seems like all PCs with casting abilities are Spheres-focused. Are more conventional casting classes discouraged?

Not discouraged at all. Spheres of Power is just really cool and people seem to prefer it for this game so far. Feel free to go Vancian and/or core. It is possible that the limitation I imposed of only having 1 Tier 1 class is encouraging the bias towards Spheres.

Originally Posted by Toptomcat

can you tell me more about the political context of Emperor Kaine and the central Empire? Is the nature of his immortality known? Is it a multipolar thing where there's a royal family heavily dependent on coalitions with a collection of surrounding royal families, a unipolar thing where all power and authority flows from Kaine, something in between?

There is a tremendous amount of mystery surrounding the figure of Emperor Kaine. The official story is that the same man who took power close to 600 years ago is still in power to this day, though the nature of this longevity remains publicly unknown (and unknowable with knowledge checks, for now.) There are many rumours which have circulated over the years, ranging from those which suggest he may be an Elf or that he succumbed to lust for power and transformed himself into a lich or other undead such as a vampire, some rumours say that he formed pacts with demons or devils and there is even a rumour that the original Kaine is long dead and that a powerful council rules in secret and uses the mystery surrounding the figure of the emperor to maintain greater control over the population.

His coalition of power involves political arrangements made with various monarchs or mayors throughout the empire who long ago signed treaties to join his empire in exchange for military protection, paying taxes for the privilege, but the emperor also has a powerful order of Overseers who are nearly as shrouded in mystery as the emperor himself. They are dark robed, hooded figures with powerful psychic abilities who are universally feared throughout the empire. Few are those who faced the wrath or justice of an Overseer and survived to tell the tale.

They have powers of judge, jury and executioner over every citizen of the empire and are said to speak with the voice of the emperor himself. They seem to always know whether someone speaks truth or lies and can often extract the thoughts of those they interrogate by force.

They are the true key to the emperor's power.

Originally Posted by Toptomcat

What's the power scaling of the world like? Is it a Forgotten Realms-type situation where the median king of a small to medium-sized country might be a 12th- or 15th-level character and dozens of epic-level movers and shakers vie against each other on the world stage, an Eberron-type situation where a 10th-level character is a Really Big Deal on a continental scale, something in between? Is the median town guard a 1st-level warrior, a 1st-level Conscript, a 4th-level Armiger? How extraordinary are we, as 8th-level gestalt characters with mythic tiers?

I would say the power scaling in the world has a curve that is heavily weighted towards the lower end. Most citizens would be commoners and very low level if they have classes at all. Kings, monarchs or mayors will vary greatly in personal power depending on the mechanism through which they obtained power since every kingdom or city-state has their own ways of determining who rules each particular region. Some are kings with hereditary rule, some have chieftains who rule by strength of arms, some are elected democratically and some are appointed and supported by various allying factions. The empire is a collection of kingdoms and city-states which all fall under the rule of Kaine, but the emperor does not dictate how each leader is determined so long as imperial law is obeyed and taxes are paid out. This means some kings could be relatively low level with only NPC class levels while some chieftains who rule through fear or personal might at arms could be very high level warriors or casters.

That said, most rulers will have champions, generals or soldiers who are mid to high level (8th to 13th level, though the upper echelons (14th to 20th) will be very rare. The exception to this are the Overseers. They seem to have some variance in power as some do seem to hold more authority than others, but they are universally very high level (15+) and some are probably epic level and mythic.

As 8th level Mythic characters, the PC's are decidedly at the high end of the curve in terms of averages, but most large areas will have some individuals who can outmatch them, and Overseers are almost certainly beyond their current ability without special circumstances which might give them an advantage.

So in short, I guess more like Forgotten Realms than Eberron.

Originally Posted by Toptomcat

would you be open to the Pactmaker and/or the True Xenotheurgist as part of a 'scholar of forbidden lore' concept, or is delving into Things Man Was Not Meant to Know for NPC opponents?

I might be open to the Pactmaker but I am not very familiar with them. I do like the concept of the "Binder" quite a bit so I am willing to give it a try. I'll confer with EvilTedzies and Unforgiven (the currently accepted players) and get back to you soon on the Pactmaker.

Xenotheurgy seems too alien for me to contemplate at the moment so that would be a hard no.

[Unforgiven]

If you want a dragon, there is a third party suppliment on the pathfinder srd that allows you to be a true dragon.

[LeoByron]

Looks like I missed the 6th question added as an edit after I started answering the others heh.

Originally Posted by Toptomcat

would you be open to the idea of a monstrous PC, either using the loosey-goosey Pathfinder 'CR = level' estimate for one side of the gestalt and normal class levels for the other or by using 3.5 LA/RHD mechanics? The idea of a True Dragon or other interestingly intelligent monster directly tasked by Gaia to fix things is one that interests me. If I go with the True Dragon concept, I would also probably be asking to import some stuff from the 3.5 Draconomicon.

The short answer is no. I have other applicants who are working or worked on monster PC characters but the route I suggested to accomplish this was to take the Mythic ability from Spheres of Power called Mythic Sphere Mastery: Alteration. Linking directly to it is tricky but it reads:

Originally Posted by Mythic Sphere Mastery: Alteration

Mythic Sphere Mastery: Alteration
You may transform into a different form as if you possessed the Transformation, Hybrid Transformation, and Improved Transformation feats, except that the form you choose may be one that normally costs one or more spell points. You do not need to pay spell points to transform into the form provided by this ability. You may take this ability even if you already have any of the feats listed above—this transformation is separate from the one normally granted by those feats.

This would involve delving into the Spheres of Power system, but it seems to be a great way to incorporate a Monster-ish PC without being a true version of the monster. There is another Mythic Boon from Mythic Traditions called Form of Power, but I'd prefer players not select this if they end up with a permanent form with it. I don't mind temporary forms, even if they are at-will, however.

I find it difficult to care about characters if they are too monstrous, from a story standpoint, so I prefer characters to be somewhat humanoid in nature and find it ok if they can transform.

If you find another way to accomplish monster forms, I would be open to having a look, but the 3rd party material suggested by Unforgiven would not be acceptable, sadly, nor would 3.5 ways to play as a dragon or other monster.

[ranmaga]

Application withdrawn. Very interesting game, but I won't have the time to play this year.

[LeoByron]

Originally Posted by ranmaga

Application withdrawn. Very interesting game, but I won't have the time to play this year.

Sorry to see you go. Thanks for letting me know. Have a happy 2021!

Originally Posted by Toptomcat

would you be open to the Pactmaker

After looking it over and conferring with Tedz and Unforgiven, I see no problem with the Pactmaker class as found in Spheres of Power 3pp material. I will include this allowance in the advert.

[SelfAwareNPC]

[LeoByron]

[SelfAwareNPC]

[LeoByron]