[PF-1e] Goldmyr's Rise of the Runelords

[cappucina]

Jedda Name: Jedda (no last name) Alignment: Lawful neutral is the best alignment she can be at this point because it means you can be reliable and even honorable without being a zealot or motivated only by doing good, but there is a weird rule about lawful barbarians losing their rage ability. I was thinking lawful as she has made efforts to play by rules though those rules were terribly misguided, but right now Neutral is going to work best. She is not Chaotic even though she has been a thug most of her life. I see it as more like soldiers orders even though it was criminal enterprise because that was her "family".)Neutral Race: Half Orc Class: Barbarian Appearance: Jedda is a half orc that could almost pass as a human except for the slight green and gray mottling of her skin, head to toe, and some very slight facial structures that hint at some exotic hereditary traits like a more prominent brow line. Her eye color is a pale greenish yellow, which could also hint at her orc heritage except her eye shape and how her eyes are deep set are all typical human structures and so really camouflage that strange iris color unless you study her eyes up close. She has a face tattoo that also detracts from the greenish yellow eye color. First it was the mark of the Khazd, which was just three small runes underneath each eye. She found a tattoo artist to cover and blend them into a whole new design of a connecting arc pattern that goes over her forehead and a few other flourishes to make it look similar to some of the tribal orc facial art from a whole other part of the world different from where she came from and passes over and through her eyes, even her eyelids are inked where the tattoo arcs. She has a wicked looking scar between her nose and her upper lip on the left half of her mouth; you can see how someone tried to sew it up or use metal pinchers to keep the wounded flesh together but probably only made the scarring worse because those sutures made their own scars and stand out way more than just the original cut scar. Personality: Totally stoic and reserved. Facial expression rarely changes no matter what the situation. She's thoughtful and even coldly calculating. Always trying to save money, she'll hunt and sleep rough rather than spend even when she has coins. Seems to have a care or a plan. Except when raging. It's like a switch flips and she's the opposite of herself. Motivation: Oddly enough, looking for a stable life of some kind, but what exactly this stable life means is very vague and hazy. It's just a feeling for now. Her current skill set and her background makes that seem like a distant goal and it can stay hazy for a while. She might be satisfied to be a bar bouncer for a while, or a caravan guard, or something. But these muscle for hire jobs pay only enough for hand to mouth. What happens when she can't bounce or fight? She'll eventually become a beggar if she lives to an old age - hard no. She would rather take on a risk for a bigger reward, the dangerous jobs suits her as long as it pays. Traits:(Combat) Benefit: When you wear armor of any sort, reduce that suit’s armor check penalty by 1, to a minimum check penalty of 0.Armor Expert and (Racial)Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus to Will saves and a +2 trait bonus to saving throws versus divination effects.Carefully Hidden Flaw*: Effect: Whenever you fail a Diplomacy check, you become shaken for 1 hour.Dependant for (Religious) Benefit(s): You aren’t flat-footed during a surprise round that you don’t get to act in or before you get to act at the start of a battle.Defensive Strategist *Jedda has seen trusted brother turn on trusted brother and now believes words such as promises or oaths or rules spoken are all influenced by cunning, greed, or straight out lies. How does she know for sure if someone is being sincere? She never does. Not until they act on their words. Jedda has trouble making deals with people because she doesn't tend to believe people when they give their "word." She only trusts actions. Sometimes, during deals or negotiations, she becomes paranoid and worried. Background: Jedda had a good job working mainly for the little brother of the boss of the Khazd Khâzash, a casteless Dwarvish Mafia headquartered over in Dust Town. She started out as an "Orzrik" basically a dwarven term for foot soldier but in reality that meant she was a true grunt within the organization. Grunts, however, were the backbone of the organization, true enough. She learned the ropes fast. She did all kinds of work - deliveries, intimidation, bribes, cash pick ups, protection, and of course...all the various crimes as per her orders. She'd smash up her boss's enemies or burn down their businesses - whatever she was told to do, she did. She stuck her neck out often, took calculated risks, and made a name for herself. She rose up in rank to "Forg." This is the Dwarven word for Captain. She was a bodyguard some, an enforcer some still....but also given a crew of roughly 20 Orzriks to monitor. Her play in all this was to stay loyal, do exactly what the bosses wanted, never put a toe out of line, keep her crew in close check. But, then it all went to hell. The little brother made a dirty move on the older brother. She had to pick sides between them. She was much closer to the younger brother, but the older brother maybe had longer and deeper ties. But, who knew which way the other underbosses would swing. She wasn't sure, she was too low in the ranks to be able to know their private conversations amongst each other. She decided to back the older brother. Go with loyalty to the foundational structure of the Khazd - after all that is what was feeding her, that was what she knew worked - over loyalty to the little brother that she knew more personally. She picked wrong. She was lucky when it all went down and everyone who was meant to get murdered was murdered, she was still alive. She slunk away from Dust Town in the middle of the night, got on a boat going downriver and just got as far as she could as quick as she could. After the boat, she has walked from town to town, trying to put even more distance between her and the Khazd territory. Before entering one town, she cut off her long, shaggy hair. Even severely cut...it still looks shaggy. At another she found a tattoo artist to help her hide those 6 dwarven runes. At another, she ditched all her mountain clothing and bought new to look like a typical coastal mercenary. At another, she got some ear pierces and put on jewelry for the first time. It was not expensive, just a polished rock on a leather cord around her neck and some simple copper rings in her ears. But, Jedda was just making small change after small change, paced out, not all at once as she travels. She's just been trying to change her appearance best she can in case anyone is looking for her. She doesn't think anyone is bothering. She wasn't too important. Still, she is thoughtful about doing everything she can to not cross the path of any Khazd again. She's newly arrived in Sandpoint, which is weeks of travel out of the mountains, out of the rolling hills, down a river valley away from Dust Town. *Probably from Red Mountains and a descendant of a criminal exile who was banished to the Nolands. https://www.rpgcrossing.com/profiler/view.php?id=92130

[Goldmyr]

I'll allow the Merchant Family trait.
I'll allow the Deific Obedience feat. I'll do some research since I'm unsure if Aligned Class can apply to prestige classes.

Norse-Doyle Costello-Human Paladin of Milani
Triedtherest-"Honest" Hasim-Katapeshi Human Cleric of Abadar
Mightymconeshot-Izmer Fenro-Half Elf Brown Fur Transmuter Arcanist
Ermine-Utana Vorin-Alkenstarian Human Draconic Urban Bloodrager

[cappucina]

Can Jedda be lawful, reading now and core rules say barbarians cannot. Also, can Jedda speak dwarven, that is not one of the language bonus options but it makes a lot of sense for the backstory I wrote. I thought of the character first and am now building the details as per the rules and seeing some minor restrictions like these that don't match up, but in my opinion might not matter much.

[Ermine]

A rank of the Linguistics skill will give you any non-secret language. (Or maybe secret ones, too? I dunno, never tried to get secret ones)

I'm going to have to do that, too, for Draconic

[cappucina]

or perhaps she doesn't and that was useful so she could guard them while they discussed stuff and she couldn't understand them?

[Ermine]

Both work. I can't help you with your concept. ^//^

Unrelated, this is the most humans I've seen in a game.

[Ermine]

I mean, aligned class doesn't say it CAN'T be used with prestige classes. And with that class, I'd lose all the features of Dragon Disciple and Evangelist, AND the bloodline and spellcasting features of Bloodrager, if I don't do my deific obedience each day. Which in the case of Apsu is more or less wandering off for an hour. (And I miss out on Dragon Disciple's d12 hit die)

You've got plenty of time to make this decision, though. I've gotta be level 7 to start the process, and level 8 to benefit from aligned class with dragon disciple, so yeah, it'll be a while.

[mightymconeshot]

My 2 cents is that as long as you have the prestige class before you reach rank 2, you are cool. You just can't add it after without retraining.

[writelite]

Hi ~ I'm starting to prepare a character for this game, in case it would use one more.

I was thinking a Rogue might complement the group well, but I could play something else - if you have any wishes.

Do I need to have read the Rise of the Runelords, or is it enough to use my imagination and adapt to the content you provide?

It would be the first time I play PF, and while I intend to carry my own weight - mechanics-wise, I would still benefit from advice.

---

@Ermine: Thank you. And while I've no idea if I can play that well enough, I accept the challenge. I guess a Gnome would match the class well - though some racial traits are particularly hard for me to play out...

@mightym: Helpful hint - Currently juggling a lot of details in my mind... I have yet to gauge the Investigator class properly. I'll try to put one together first, then a Rogue (unchained), and compare.

Update: Looks like the party is full. I'll put this on the backburner, in case you'll need a player later on. I should have a character ready then. But for another build I might need up to one week before joining, to prepare. Have fun everyone!

P.S. Got the guide, thank you! Nice resource

[Ermine]

Rogues are always a nice class to have around. And I can help you if you need anything rules-wise, just gotta be specific.

And just 'cause I really like them, maybe give the Investigator a look; they're a hybrid rogue/alchemist, and have some really cool features~

[mightymconeshot]

For rogues,I strongly prefer the unchained version over the original. Weapon finesse for free and dex to damage at level 3 is gravy. You can basically ignore strength at this point which helps a bunch with your ability scores.

[Ermine]

Yes, this is true~ Unchained, with the exception of Summoner, is MEANT to be better, though.

[OneDarkness]

Tidlen, Rise of the Runelords Tidlen Tops Pass for Gnome racial traitTiefling Gnome, Female, 51 years young, Neutral Good Alchemist with Trap Breaker ArchetypeAspiring Mixologist and Barista who discovered Explosive Alchemy Character Sheet Link: HERE Appearance Tidlen is anything but your standard gnome, lacking many of the vibrant colors and gaudy outfits one might expect to see and instead has given in a bit to the darker side of things with the greyish black hair and her lightly purple skin with darker colors to match. Often playing up an edgier persona that tends to go over better in the taverns and drinking establishments where she has been working as of late, even her clothes tend toward the darker side of things but she does tend towards stylish and more fitted in this area. Personality Within Tidlen is still a young gnome woman trying to find her place in the world, she puts on a brave face and and is up for the challenges that come at her but there are certainly some hints of being unsure about things that she does her best to hide. She is confident in all things alchemy, mixing, and brewing and will never admit anything is beyond her ability to learn in those areas and takes great pleasure in showing off when she can, but outside of those specialties she can be indecisive and get easily flustered. At heart she is a kind person and those that treat her with kindness she does the same, but if you are less than nice with her you can expect a similar treatment in return unless she is working in which case it become polite disinterest to those who are an annoyance. Background While by all outside appearances Tidlen is simply a gnome who is less flashy, there is as always a bit more to it than that. It starts with her grandmother, who was certainly far more adventuresome then many in her sleepy little town and let her wanderlust take her where it would, joining bands or groups of other adventurers where she put her mix of arcane knowledge and dexterous fingers to go use. After more than a few decades she finally settled down in a busy crossroads with a fiendishly handsome companion and had a couple kids and started her own legacy, now her kids picked up more strongly on some of that fiendishness with a few horns here or there and even some claw like nails but the locals knew them well and their was no trouble and in fact they opened a small inn that the family mostly works and runs. Now Tidlen being further down the family tree has found some of that fiendishness has diluted even further on account of her father being a rather ordinary gnome in many regards but one of the finest cooks she has ever met. One thing she did inherit from her grandmother though was certainly her wanderlust and despite the family's efforts to keep her in the family business Tidlen found the idea of being stuck in one place, even if it was interesting, not exactly to her liking. Her Grandmother certainly recognized the need in Tidlen and happily took her under her wing and taught her as much as she could about the adventuring lifestyle in hopes that some time out in the world she would find her feet back on the path home after a while. Tidlen never took much to the arcane teaching that her grandmother had but her nimble fingers were a match and more for such other skills, and while arcane energy was not in the works she certainly developed a love for alchemy. There was just something about formulas, how small variations or changes could arrive at an unexpected result and she spent her years at the Inn trying all manner of new distillations and mixes to spice up their spirit selection before she stumbled into more explosive opportunities. She almost blew up the shack in the back where she made spirits a couple times but she certainly learned how to make more concentrated and powerful explosions as well, when combined with her nimble fingers her grandmother was sure Tidlen would have no trouble finding those who would welcome such skills in their group effort. So she travelled about a bit, joined some small groups here or there and practiced the trade, and had no trouble finding work in inns and taverns between jobs while she honed her craft. As of late she has been seen in about Sandpoint, working at the various inns and taverns in the area like the Hagfish or Rusty Dragon when they are in need of an extra hand while she keeps an eye on adventuring groups passing through that might be in need of her services.

[cappucina]

This is also my first pathfinder game and I thought barbarians would be easy. However there are a thousand combination options of feats and rage powers to customize, yikes. I took a deep dive into ideas and came away a little dizzy. I think I’ll keep it super simple. Are prestige classes the same as archetypes?

[Goldmyr]

After looking around, it appears that Aligned Class can work with prestige classes.

You don't have to have read Rise of the Runelords, in fact it's best if you haven't. However, there is a free pdf for a player's guide on Paizo.com. The crunch near the end is for D&D 3.5e, but the best parts of the books is how it describes the common races and classes. Anyone can check it out is they need some inspiration. Other than that, just use your imagination.

Cappucina-yeah, barbarians are deceptively complex compared to 3.5. Prestige classes are not the same as archetypes. The prestige classes need to fill prerequisites before they are taken and are pretty much always for higher level characters. Archetypes are designed to alter classes from level one by trading away certain class features for new ones. If you only have 3.5 experience, then the best comparison I can give is the alternate classes that WOTC did in Unearthed Arcana 3e.

Norse-Doyle Costello-Human Paladin of Milani
Triedtherest-"Honest" Hasim-Katapeshi Human Cleric of Abadar
Mightymconeshot-Izmer Fenro-Half Elf Brown Fur Transmuter Arcanist
Ermine-Utana Vorin-Alkenstarian Human Draconic Urban Bloodrager
Cappucina-Jedda-Undecided
OneDarkness-Tilden Tops-Gnomish Tiefling Trap Breaker Alchemist

Just because you see a full party, don't let that discourage you from posting. The number of applicants for a game usually far exceeds the number of players that could easily be run for.