[PF-1e] A Great and Terrible Burning

[CatCanCook]

@17 -

You assumed Annie was Wiccan, but she is written as the leader of the Buddhist community of Topanga:

Annie, one of the elder ladies of the canyon, a woman of unsurpassed kindness who was always cooking up something tasty to share, despite the sometimes crushing poverty of Topangan tribal life. She also had a fine book collection, and your youth was filled with hours spent at her teas, cookies, and books.

Annie was buddhist. She taught compassion, wise negotiation, and calm attention to both the inner and outer worlds. She was revered among the tribe for her wisdom and sensible judgment. While Trina most directed the day-to-day life of the tribe, it was to Annie that people turned when they ran into real trouble.

Minor tip. When if comes to getting wealth for selling gear, the Bloodline Arcana for Vestige will give a boost to Appraise, and when it comes to earning wealth, it will boost Craft skills, so you might train some craft skills for a tiny notch extra income. Also stacks with your trait.

On the clerical variant multiclassing:

Deity: At 1st level, she must select a deity within one alignment step of her own. She gains the cleric's aura, bonus languages, code of conduct, and restriction from casting spells of opposed alignments. She also gains the cleric's spontaneous casting ability, which she can use with any prepared casting classes that have the appropriate spells on their spell lists.

Domain: At 3rd level, she selects one domain her deity grants, gaining that domain's 1st-level granted power, treating her character level as her effective cleric level.

Channel: At 7th level, she gains the ability to channel energy as a cleric of her character level – 6 a number of times per day equal to her Charisma modifier + 1.

Improved Channel: At 11th level, her ability to channel energy improves to that of a cleric of her character level – 4.

Improved Domain: At 15th level, she gains the additional domain power of her chosen domain, treating her character level as her effective cleric level.

Greater Channel: At 19th level, her channel energy ability improves to that of a cleric of her character level – 2.

The level 1 "Deity" is not going to cost you a feat. "Deity" counts as a disadvantage as it put constraints on your alignment, allows you to be detectable via your aura, puts strong moral or code-of-conduct constraints on your action.

For the other abilities -- each on that list costs 1 feat, but per my game-specific rules, they come unchained from the listed level requirements - except they have to be taken at a character-level *after* a full class character would take it.

So the allowed sequences are:
* Domain (min level 2) ==> Improved Domain (min level 2)
* Channel (min level 2, but only useful at level 7) => Improved Channel (min level 2, but only useful at level 5) => Greater Channel (min level 2 but only useful at level 3.)

You might just want the one domain ability -- but if you want the whole spectrum you can get it by 5th level.

So first of all your first feat is best off starting a Greater Stance, not spent on variant multiclassing.

If you take Commoner at level 2 and at level 3, you can get your two Clerical Domains by 3rd level using those bonus feats. (If you even want the 2nd one.)

You would be best off putting Chanel, Improved Channel and Greater channel into your third great stance. At character level 5 you could put all three into your 3rd greater stance, and from that point forward you could channel as a cleric of your HD-2, which given a Charisma build gives a lot of uses per day. You'd need to assume that stance to channel, of course, but you can do it in one round (move=> assume the position, std => channel.).

[CatCanCook]

Arcady Darell Arcady answers the call, joining Willow and Mattas Haru, taking their side boldly and confidently. "I'm going," she announces. In the past, Trina had chastised Arcady for her use of magic. Follower her lead, most of the tribe had shunned Arcady, treating her like a woman polluted, a sinner. In the last year as her powers blossomed, she had been turned out of all the major tribal events. However, there was a younger generation who had come to respect her as the first of the new generation to break through and claim magic unabashedly as hers. Now, Trina just gives a sigh. Estrella puts her arms upon the shoulders of the two ladies -- Willow and Arcady. "You'll do great," she enthuses. "Watch each others backs, ladies. There's some ... bad fellas ... in the wastelands. Matas Haru, you'll keep an eye on your tribe-sisters for me, wont you?" Trina says, "They will need more than a few kinds of skills on this journey. Who do we have strong of body, resolute of will, who can complement these three's skills?"

17fromGreatness, with Arcady Darell, is accepted. Please post to the character folder.

The three accepted characters can start player meet and greets in the games OOC threads, or character meets and greets in the story thread.

We will add 2-5 more players before New Years, and then at that point the adventure proper can begin.

[CatCanCook]

Here's our status:

Player	Character	Campaign Trait	NPC Class(es)	Adventuring Class	Status
OneDarkness	Willow	Missionary (Wiccan ) / Living Geiger Counter	Adept	Druid	Accepted
17FromGreatness	Arcady Darell	Black Sheep	(pending)	Sorcerer	Accepted
mightymcnoneshot	Matias Haru	Orc Hater	Commoner	Hawkguard-Warder	Accepted
PsychicNomad	Dorita Gutiérrez	Detect Elder Darkness, Fantasy Buff ??	Adept	Zealot	Work in progress
Acathala	Siegfried	Fantasy Buff / Mentored by Trina	Aristocrat	AdventuringClass	Work in progress
RasterFarian	Riddley Walker	Outlander's Child	Expert	Shaman??	Work in progress
HashtagBryn	CharName	CampaignTrait	InitialClass	Occultist??	Expressed interest
Maghnuis	CharName	CampaignTrait	InitialClass	AdventuringClass	Expressed interest
BrainTitan	CharName	CampaignTrait	InitialClass	AdventuringClass	Expressed interest
PlayerName	CharName	CampaignTrait	InitialClass	AdventuringClass	Status

Dorita and Riddley are close - but need to finish/confirm aspects of their builds.

[17fromgreatness]

@CAT - I'll amend the write up on the names - (I couldn't find the info as I typed)

As far as the variant multiclassing Feat - I will have to review your post - I'll have a question or two - (I thought this feat needed to be taken at 1st Level.).

In the end, Arcadia's goal is to be able to create/fix "things". The Vestiage Bloodline felt like it fit for various reasons. I figure the "Cleric" dip can be managed well enough with a Greater Stance and the boost of "Divination" (spels) and effects on Vestiage seemed to compliment each other as well. (Who couldn't use a little positive energy?)

[RasterFarian]

Wait for me! I'm almost there! : ) Quick question: the option to retire character in chapter 4. Is that option at the beginning or end of Chapter 4?

[CatCanCook]

Wait for me! I'm almost there! : )

At 3 accepted I'm definitely looking for at least +2 more, and might accept up to +5 more. Your character is close RasterFarian ... just don't be commitment-phobic when it comes to choosing details. :-)

Nine days to go, sometimes people crop up right at the last minute and some people might have time during the holidays to crank out a character quickly. :-)

Quick question: the option to retire character in chapter 4. Is that option at the beginning or end of Chapter 4?

Interlude after 4th at the earliest.

I am imagining that Players may wish to replace their PCs for chapters 5 and 6. This may not be necessary for PCs who are spellcasters and not too reliant on physical stats, but for your warrior-types it may be a good idea.

The concept is that this switchover can be "lossless" -- your elders retire and pass on gear to their heroic offspring or cohorts, you get to have your replacements without losing levels.

You can have narrative continuity by these being generationally your family members, or younger NPCs you've introduced when you take the Leadership feat. (Most Pathfinder DMs ban Leadership but I like stories about communities and characters who are leaders and shapers not just hackers and slashers.)

[RasterFarian]

Riddley Walker Introduction Riddley Walker Age 16 Human Male, Chaotic Good Outlander's Child, Expert to Cleric Verily, wisdom is like hunger. Perhaps it is a very fine thing, but one does not willingly partake of it.” Introduction: Journal Entry 01: Life is short and burtal so I’ll try to write quick my paper witness the events of my life and the Tribe Topanga. Walker is my name and I am the same—walking my questions wherever I go, walking them now on this paper. I don’t think it matters where you start the telling of a thing. You never know where it began. Not really. No more than you know where you began yourself. But my passage day when Sara and I come 16 is a good start. I went front spear and kilt a wild boar. He was probably the last wild pig on the Boggy Downs off Backbone Trail. It was three days after that the Uruks kilt my Da and totaled Dead Horse …” -excerpted (modified) from Riddley Walker by Russel Hoban

Riddley Walker Backstory Background Riddley belongs to the remnants of a once prosperous clan of salt merchants, the Walkers of Kanan's Drop. The original Walker extended family was all but wiped out by the Uruks. Two brothers, Jacob and Benjamin, were the only Walkers to survive the attack. The brothers made their way to Dead Horse bringing with them precious supplies and skills for evaporating sea water to make fresh water and salt. Years before, the original Walkers of Kanan's Drop found perfectly preserved rolls of precious industrial plastic that they stretched over portable troughs to make solar stills. In time they salvaged glass as well for more permanent installations. The Walkers were on their way to becoming a small dynasty, but as happens often in this desperate world, the Uruks showed up to ruin it all. Riddley's father Benjamin met and married Maria there at Dead Horse 17 years ago. They had seven children, four of which survived, including fraternal twins Riddley and Sara who share an almost empathic bond. Sadly the Walkers were again the victims of savage Uruk Hai death squads with their flying guillotines. The Uruks snuffed out Dead Horse in a single brutal night of slaughter. Jacob, Maria and three of her children were returning from water collection when they heard the screams. They witnessed only a small fraction of the vicious program before Jacob and Maria fled with the children deeper into Topanga Canyon eventually merging with other refugees of the tribe. Personality Riddley begins play angry and bitter at what happened to his fmaily and village—the whole tribe. The pain and fury at the slaughter acts as a kind of emotional crucible burning away adolescent defects, accelerating his emotional growth and laying the foundation for a centered, compassionate individual. The pain and rage could have pushed him in either directon. He still has a ways to go to full maturity, but his need to support and protect his family takes precedence over his more self centered inclinations. He's a bit of a brooder, balanced out by his light hearted sister who accuses him of being too serious. Recent events have not improved him in that regard. All the same, he still enjoys time with family and friends, haggling and playing Hutch. In better times while on the road, Riddley loved to read. He and Sara shared all their books and spent hours pretending to be various people in the stories they read. Riddley played the somber brooding types and Sara played the lighter roles as befit them. One book they charished wasn’t so much a story as a manual. The book ignited the twin’s imagination and did as much to form their personalities and personal code as the supportive upbrining they were blessed with. This book, The Jedi Path, the twins read over and over until it was lovingly worn and imprinted on their souls. Description Riddley’s appearance reflects his mixed caucasian/latino heritage. From his mother he inherited black hair that he wears moppy, a reflection of the sad, scrappy world he lives in (and a staple of yout' fashion). Like his mother, his eyes are dark, soulful pools of brown. The rest of his facial features come from his father and reflect a northern European ancestry. Riddley is average height with a slight, tough build often hidden beneath baggy, drab-colored clothing or robelike blankets. He wears “the mourner’s face paint,” in memoriam of his lost family and tribesmen. He is distinguished by an odd blemish above his right eye.

---

Starting Stat Block Name: Riddley Hernan-Fernando Walker Campaign Trait: Outsider's Child Str: 10 Dex: 10 Con: 14 Int: 13 Wis: 16(H+) Cha: 12 Ethnicity: Caucasian/Latino Size: Medium Age: 16 Alignment: Chaotic Good Faith/Patron: The Force (Holy Book: The Jedi Path) Level 1 class: Expert Traits: Magical Knack, Birthmark Level 1 feat: Greater Stance/Alertness

[CatCanCook]

Riddley Hernan-Fernando Walker Willow speaks up next. "Riddley Walker," she says. "I think we need him." She is a thoughtful young lady and can foresee some of the perils and needs the expedition may face. The suggestion is commonsense to her. Now it is Estrella's turn to frown. She hasn't put too much trust in outlanders and foreign blood. The tribe has been close knit since the beginning, and outsiders have been dangerous. Willow immediately hastens on. "Who else knows what's in F'nando Valley? The Walkers have been up there. " "True 'nuf", says the young salt-trader. Riddley has been struggling with grief, as so many are, but he steels his countenance for the burden ahead. "It should be the Andrade trading post we head for first. F'nando's dangerous place. But the Andrade's -- not half bad. Odds are someone there can point us to some place the tribe can resettle. Without being all made slaves or bein' put into a cooking pot." Trina nods. "This is a sensible choice." "Well, if you're going, I'm going! says Riddley's twin, Sara Walker." Estrella and Trina meet each others eyes. They elder ladies understand each other, even if they don't always think alike. Trina says, "Wisdom says we don't put all our eggs in the same basket. If this first mission fails -- and it may -- we will need a guide to the Andrade Trading post when the whole tribe has to up and flee." (She says this bravely and steadfastly, foreseeing a time of great trial: her injured leg is likely to leave her a straggler and critical risk of her own life.) "Your skills duplicate your brother's; you add little to his mission and your leaving would put us at increased risk." Sara stammers and protests, but the tribal elder's perception of this matter is firm. The siblings must be parted, for a time. Whatever her feelings, they are overruled by pragmatic concerns.

RasterFarian playing Riddley is accepted. Please post to the character folder, and you can join in on meets and greets.

OOC: Riddley Hernan-Fernando Walker will get access to a map of F'nando Valley before any other characters get to see it. At some point, buy a sharable map (as it will be helpful for side quests and mini-stories you tell.)

[CatCanCook]

Now with a Druid, Sorcerer, Cleric and ranged fighter (Harbinger/Hawkguard) accepted -- the team should add:

a strength-based frontliner
a skillmonger of some sort

The team has two divine spellcasters plus a variant multiclass cleric -- so no more need for divine casters. Also, at three vancian casters, there is room for a couple more path-of-war builds or other martial types.

We could meet the remaining gaps from unfinished applicants -- but competing new applicants are still welcome!

[OneDarkness]

yeah we need us a barbarian or ranger type probably

[HashtagBryn]

Not going to have it written tonight, but I'll try to get a defense-focused frontline melee app on the board tomorrow.

[HashtagBryn]

Basics Name: Hope Romo Gender: Female (she/her/hers) Ethnicity: Afro-Chicana Age: 16 Size: Medium Alignment: Neutral Good Faith: Humanist / None

Attributes Attribute Points: 16 / 10 / 12 / 14 / 10 / 8 (15 point buy) Racial Adjustment: +2 Int Planned Chapter 1 Bonus: +2 Dex, +2 Con (+5 point buy) Planned Chapter 2 Bonus: +2 Int (+5 point buy) Planned Leveling Bonuses: All to Str

Mechanics Campaign Trait: Unlike base Occultist, Battle Host meets the prereqs here.Canny Hunter Traits: Blighted Physiology, < Pragmatic Activator is the default Occultist choice, of course, but I'm not sure that's a great option in a relatively low magic item setting. I'll suss this out if I'm selected and need to firm up the skill list.pending > Class: Occultist (Battle Host) [FCB: +1/2 Mental Focus for all Occultist levels] Adventuring Class Option: I hate giving up on the Feat Tax Fix, but this build loses access to Trappings of the Warrior and so would never Power Attack very effectively. Most of the other Feat Tax options just aren't directly relevant. And Mental Focus is life, so... there we are.Bonus Feat (Extra Mental Focus) Level 1 Feat: Greater Stance (Default) [Toughness] Planned Level 2 Class: Warrior [FCB: +1 HP for all Warrior levels] Planned Level 3 Class: Warrior Planned Level 3 Feat: Greater Stance (Combat Defense) [Shield Focus, Mobile Bulwark Stance], Greater Stance (Default) [+TentativelyGodless Healing]

Background Always a bright and irrepressible youth, Hope somehow found time between her martial studies to become a voracious reader -- at least, as much as any Topangan can be, with the community's limited resources. She was especially fascinated by tales from before the Burning, and quickly made the connection that the creatures that plague the land now seem strangely connected to the stories that people told and read and wrote then. While others who have been enlightened to this strange reality might view it with trepidation -- after all, have the worst elements of human imagination not been given physical form? -- Hope believes it's a path to a better future. As a small child, she had helped to explore a collapsed building in search of supplies. Dangerous work to be sure, but sometimes unavoidable; a smaller body can enter spaces a grown man could not. In one such chamber, largely sheltered from the elements for countless years, Hope came across a handful of tattered story pages, the bright colors of their illustrations now yellowed and faded. Small remnants of tales written about heroes conceived of in another age, tantalizing hints of greater stories about Diana Prince, and Carol Danvers, and Riri Williams. The naysayers believe that mankind's twilight days have come, that not even heroes can save Topanga from raiders and sickness. And maybe they're right. But Hope believes that by calling on the memories of all the wonders that mankind has created, all the passions and fantasies and dreams that have been dreamt, the survivors of the Burning can be something more than heroes. She might be crazy. But the suit of armor she now wears is beyond the resources or craftsmanship of Topangan metalworkers, and is clearly fitted precisely for her. And with that armor on, she has already learned to work magic. Imagine what else there is to learn.

Description and Personality Hope Romo is darker-skinned that most residents of Topanga. In a different age, she might have identified as Afro-Chicana or Blaxican. Now, of course, she's a human. A survivor. Her mother said that their family have always been survivors, since even before the Burning. That they once endured life among the warring angels of the The Watts Towers, famed architectual curiousity of South Central Los Angeles."What Tower". Hope has never believed in angels -- warring or otherwise -- at least not in the religious sense. She's never believed in much in the religious sense; if there are gods, surely they owe their origins to mankind's boundless imagination just as do orcs and centaurs and aspiring comic book superheroes. Unfortunately, generations spent being "survivors" have left a mark. Several firm nodules are visible beneath patches of pebbly skin along her back, upper arms, and legs. She's rather self-conscious of these abnormalities, choosing clothing that covers them as best she can, although they're nowhere near as extreme as the mutations that some others suffer. And while her unusual biology doesn't usually cause her discomfort or -- so far at least -- appear to compromise her lifespan the way more serious mutations do, it interacts strangely with newfound curative magics that attempt to restore her body to "normal". For better or worse, Hope;s never that. Through it all, Hope is a consummate optimist, true to her name. She believes in the fundamental goodness of people and the capacity of dedicated individuals to truly make a difference. She's not, however, much of a leader. For all her belief in humanity, she sometimes has difficulty connecting to others. Combined with her soft-spoken manner, public speaking easily beats out orc raiders on the list of things Hope is truly uncomfortable with.

[HashtagBryn]

Hrm. It occurs to me that this may have some role overlap with the Hawkguard, a character I'm honestly not very familiar with. If so, please let me know, and I'll ... do ... something else.

[CatCanCook]

Hope Romo Among the younger generation, one person stands above all the others in terms of martial skill combined with unusual gifting. It is Hope Romo, one of the tribe's more talented young hunters, and known for her contributions to the recent successful boar hunt. In the last few years, the optimistic young girl has blossomed in her seemingly intuitive understand of how to wield all sorts of weapons, not well known to most others among the tribe. She has also been lucky. She found that one of the pre-war Topangan's had been a wealthy and eccentric "survivalist". But despite that ancient's cult-like obsession with survival, he had been away from Topanga when the bombs fell and the world changed. He never returned. Within the basement of his house, the young lady had found a fantastic suit of armor, as well as a trove of assault rifles, hand-grenades and other implements of the pre-war world. Alas for the tribe, all of those wonders and terrors of the ancient world were inoperative, the chemistry that once propelled their deadly power of no use. So ... some Topangans have particularly fancy clubs now; that's all. Well, this wunderkind was abundantly welcomed by her peers. Her standout gear and inspired ability to use it would add immensely to the hardiness of the band as it ventures forward. Trina says, "We will miss your hunting skills; but you are of all of us best suited to stand toe-to-toe against what threats the expedition must likely face. Will you accept this mission?"

Hope Romo is accepted. There is not substantial overlap with the hawkguard. They will play out rather differently, and more so as levels advance.

With five characters, the one role that remains not covered is skill-monger.

Also only one of five is path of war.

I suggest we add +1 more player, who is both a high-skills class and a path of war class.

* Stalker - roguelike with 6 skill points. In particular the Vigilante is Int-based so extra high skill points, plus access to inspiration and an investigator's talents - so potentially a very top notch skilled character.

* A Rubato bard is a high skilled character, who swaps traditional bard powers for a lot of Path of War options. With Bardic Knowledge at higher levels this would become the party librarian.

* The Ambush Hunter is a solid ranger archetype with decent skills, who swaps spells and favored enemy for path of war abilities.

* The Hidden Blade is a path of war rogue, which gives up very little to be a straight up superior rogue.

* The Polymath template can stack on an Investigator, which is already one of the best skill based builds, for more combat oomph with reduced alchemy.



I don't particularly need players above six; but if there are some highly motivated lurkers - step up and throw your hats into the ring!

[triedtherest]

A Post-Apocalyptic Vigilante?

That kinda makes me want to apply with....THE SILVER SHROUD!