[PF-1e] The Forsaken Plane: The Plane of The Elder Evils

[Xian]

Team,

Thanks for the interest in my game! Phase I of the application process is now closed! The souls have been chosen by The Powers for the coming trials!

All traffic and announcements will be made in the Phase 2 Application thread. Thanks again!

Cheers, Xian

[Xian]

Recruitment for replacement players! Recruiting for 1-2 replacement players to join an ongoing campaign through 28 January 2018 (for now.) For those that are interested in joining this game, please read the campaign tone and information that is contained in the original advertisement for an understanding of what this game is about as it is not your typical D&D / Pathfinder foray and good triumphs over evil. This Pathfinder campaign is a labor love based on my absolute favorite setting of all time, Ravenloft, and set to capture not just the Gothic atmosphere but its core themes as well. This game is very much role-play over roll play, although the dice themselves will play a factor in more than just combat and ability checks. The narrative of the character you create will be most important factor for both selection and gameplay itself. If you ask any of the current players, I am more than willing to make mechanical accommodations (within reason) to fit an excellent concept or idea. The current character level for the party is 5 and progression will be event/story based vice a tally of experience points, but good role play will reward with in story accommodations and this world's version of hero points to reflect the resilience of our heroes or measure their descent. For the most part not a fan of third party material, but like I said before, if it fits well within an excellent character narrative, I will consider its inclusion. I will set the tentative date for application consideration at midnight of 28 January 2018, but may shorten or lengthen the suspense based on the number and quality of applicants. Again thanks for your interest and look forward to seeing what you got!

[Xian]

Permitted Resources Paizo Pathfinder materials are baseline. Essentially, anything Pazio on the Pathfinder SRD is pre-approved with the exception of races. Still, I reserve the right to restrict anything that I feel is not consistent with the game world. (very, very rare and unlikely that it will ever be invoked... ) Will consider requests for use of other / third party material or adaptation of existing 3.5e material, especially if it is related to Ravenloft, but inclusion will be based on Role Play potential vice Roll Play potential.

Writing Standards Writing standards. Instead of restating what has been said so well by others I refer you to this link reference the famous Art of the Two Paragraph Post article. This is the standard that we all should collectively strive for with every post.

Character Creation - Application I do not want to make this too intense of a writing exercise where you flesh out an in depth history in the application. My preference would be for you to do this IC in the game or during the rest of the application process. (see below) You do not need to make a character sheet and in fact should not until accepted (I would hate for you to do all of that work), but some people visualize better so here are the basics: UPDATE: The starting level of the game will be 3rd level 5th level. Multi-classing will be permitted. 20 point character buy. Races: All Paizo Core and Uncommon and Featured Races (15 RP or less). All others by DM approval only. Classes: Any Paizo class - Any Archetypes that you are considering Alignment: Any - this should be tied to your character concept and personality and how you intend to role play it. Basically, alignment should be a guide and give me an initial idea of your character's tendencies, but not a rigorous rubric of behavior. It is also used for alignment dependent effects. Appearance and Personality: Should be a simple extension of the above, but provide a very BRIEF description of the appearance (can use an image) and personality, noting any odd mannerisms. (2-3 sentences max) I want to see most of this fleshed out in the posting and interaction with others. Most of the time I am surprised with how some of my character turn out in terms of personality after interacting with others. Place of Origin: Where does the character come from? Essentially, this breaks down into those born on the Forsaken Plane and those that get brought here from other places in the multiverse. If born in the Forsaken Plane, simply state Forsaken Plane - equivalent Golarian location. If from external to the Forsaken Plane then state indicate where in Golarian they were taken from. I am familiar with other settings, so if you want to go wild and be from Faerun or Eberron let me know. (This does not automatically mean that those racial type available in those settings are available.) The selection means that certain things and skills operate differently for you, especially divine casters and summoner. Character Concept: Use the ten minute background - but really make it 10 minutes and not 10 hours. For each thing, no more than a short sentence or bullet, just enough so that I understand what it is. The only additional item for the 10 minute background is what aspect of your character attracted the attention of the Dark Powers to your character, especially for those from the outside of the plane? Initial Sample Post: Write an introductory post for your character and what he/she/it was doing just prior to being brought to the in the Forsaken Plane and their response once discovering themselves in the strange new place. For those that reside in the Forsaken Plane, describe a single event in the day in the life of your character and interact with one of the characters mentioned above in your 10 minute background.

[WhiteStag]

Hello Xian. Thank you for the opportunity.

Do you have any preferred classes or character roles in mind?

[Xian]

Originally Posted by WhiteStag

Hello Xian. Thank you for the opportunity.

Do you have any preferred classes or character roles in mind?

The current party consists of a barbarian, a witch, a cleric, and an inquisitor with an NPC cavalier, but I have no preferences nor do I want to limit players by imposing roles. Choose what you want and make a compelling character narrative... that and not the class and mechanics will be the determinant for selection for the game.

Appreciate your interest and look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[Xian]

LordRuthven,

Appreciate the application and will provide some comments to you. Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[dbaque]

Xian, you had to tickle that peculiar story itch, did you? A promethean alchemist, a elven scholar who researches and fashions constructs as part of the faculty of the University of Lepidstadt. His particular line of research is using alchemy/construct methods to prolong & restore life; his prototype is his homunculus. To throw a little extra pathos, his wife died tragically, and he used her remains to fashion his homunculus, the daughter they never had; however, all "grown up," she has different ideas about their relationship, worse (& more obsessive) due to the forsaken plane's influence. Anyway, before fleshing this out further, this sort of build needs a lot of downtime (& plenty of resources) to make use of his construct crafting. Might there be a place for this?

[Xian]

Originally Posted by dbaque

Xian, you had to tickle that peculiar story itch, did you? A promethean alchemist, a elven scholar who researches and fashions constructs as part of the faculty of the University of Lepidstadt. His particular line of research is using alchemy/construct methods to prolong & restore life; his prototype is his homunculus. To throw a little extra pathos, his wife died tragically, and he used her remains to fashion his homunculus, the daughter they never had; however, all "grown up," she has different ideas about their relationship, worse (& more obsessive) due to the forsaken plane's influence. Anyway, before fleshing this out further, this sort of build needs a lot of downtime (& plenty of resources) to make use of his construct crafting. Might there be a place for this?

@dbaque,

This has gothic tragedy literally exuding from it... as far as resources they can be made available, but it will be dependent on your character to choose if he is willing to pay the price for it...

In general, the majority of the populace is very phobic of this sort of thing... but a few outsider on the fringe dabble in this... skirting the edges of necromancy, but most will see no distinction.

This character narrative has a lot of potential here... very similar to our previous alchemist, who unfortunately could not carry on.

Look forward to what you come up with...

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[Xian]

@dbaque,

Additionally, in terms of the time requirements, means will be made available to expedite this process... but it will not be without cost and likely a difficult decision attached to it. Additionally, do not be surprised if the construct thus created will not act 100% to their master's wishes...

Like I said before, the relationship and interaction with this character and his homunculus "companion" hold a tremendous amount of potential....

@LordRuthven,

Great initial app... and you have plenty of time to to tinker and tweak the concept through.

[WhiteStag]

Hi Xian,

I am strongly thinking about Bloodrager/Magus(Eldrich Scion) blend > Angelic Aasimar race with Golden Draconic bloodline. A very conflicted man with Aasimar desires for righteousness, troubled with this deep up-welling of Draconic tendencies...

Will this configuration be admitted?

Currently brooding over the backstory. Standby. And thank you again for the opportunity.

[grifter730]

I've got a couple of ideas for this, and I'm glad that there's some time yet for recruitment before it ends, since I'm about to fly overseas. Anyway, I haven't thought of much beyond the description below. I'll see if I end up liking one idea more than the other while thinking about them more in-depth. Briefly, the ideas I had are:

1. Summoner (Twin Summoner archetype):

The character’s twin brother died from a wasting disease when they were children. In his grief, he became obsessed with research into life and death: what makes the living live, and what happens after death. His research led to a dark breakthrough. He learned to summon his brother, or perhaps some essence of him, that it may as well be him. This led them to be treated as outcasts from society, for who would want the dead to walk amongst the living? That kind of unnatural activities led to several fights, and eventually the brothers were driven out of town. Together they're now on a quest to permanently cross the spirit over from what he thinks of as the land of the dead to the side of the living.

The characters are used to being mistreated, and thus they have little reason to trust people and their trust is very hard to earn. This character's gothic horror inspiration is light, but the closest would be Frankenstein (calling the dead to life, dealing with human nature as outcasts). There's also a strong bond between these brothers, and I would love to play on not only their similarities, but also their differences. I want their bond to be so strong as to be disturbing, but at the same time I want it to also feel tragic (who wouldn't want a loved one back?)


2. Bard (Flame Dancer archetype):

A handsome promising young musician survived an opera fire, but came out physically and mentally scarred, so much so that his voice was damaged and altered. His entire life changed that night. He could no longer face the beautiful lady he was to wed. He could no longer perform on stage. Now he seeks to restore himself back to his former self, and swears that he would gladly accept the scars if he could only gain his voice back, but in the dark moments he's not so sure whether he truly only wants his voice back, or if he would trade away his talents for his unblemished skin.

This character would be a haunted broken musician. He's vain and bitter, but tempered by having been humbled by fire. Yet people are people, and such vanity is not so easily discarded or covered, even masked as he is. His body has bandages wrapped around several parts, and the top half of his face is badly scarred, so he often wears a mask of some sort. There's some hints of Dorian Gray (vanity, quest for youth), and the Phantom of the Opera (masked, musician, tragedy, heartbroken). I didn't want him to be a typical scarred-by-fire-so-he-fears-fire type, so I went the opposite route and made him face fire head on, and now commands it to do his bidding.

[Xian]

Originally Posted by WhiteStag

Hi Xian,

I am strongly thinking about Bloodrager/Magus(Eldrich Scion) blend > Angelic Aasimar race with Golden Draconic bloodline. A very conflicted man with Aasimar desires for righteousness, troubled with this deep up-welling of Draconic tendencies...

Will this configuration be admitted?

Currently brooding over the backstory. Standby. And thank you again for the opportunity.

@WhiteStag,

Like I mentioned previously, I am more interested in the character narrative than the mechanical aspects of it, but the premise is acceptable. Just to let you and the other applicants know, the more exotic a character' appearance and origin, the more of a prejudice they will experience in this world. Even aasimars who are human like in appearance experience prejudice and persecution.

@grifter730,

I love both narratives and they can both do well in the game... but I find myself more interested in your fire bard character narrative. It has the angst and tensions of a Gothic character... I particularly like the reference to Dorian Gray, one of my all time favorites...

I very much look forward to what you come up with.



@All - Thanks for all of these great concepts! Keep up the great work!

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[Zealot]

I have a mechanical build idea but need to look into how it will work in terms of fluff.

Would there be any form of blood sports or games in Ravenloft, be it boxing based or gladiatorial?

[Xian]

Originally Posted by Zealot

I have a mechanical build idea but need to look into how it will work in terms of fluff.

Would there be any form of blood sports or games in Ravenloft, be it boxing based or gladiatorial?

In short, yes. Anything that is in mainstream Golarian is also in the Planes, albeit with a different name and may be twisted/different in this plane, though you may not participate actively in those games. As an aside, one of our current players has a gladiator background.

Also my advice is to focus on the fluff and the backstory of your character before investing too much in the mechanical build. Please take a look at the flavor of the campaign, as it may help. Thanks for your interest and I look forward to what you come up with!

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[Xian]

Team,

I will likely be out of pocket tomorrow, so if you post up and don't get a response from me that is why. Rest assured that I will get to you on the day after... following the College Football bowl playoffs...

Onward!

Cheers, Xian