Welcome everybody! Thanks for being part of the first adventure in Eldreon.
As I've said, I like to do character creation with a bit more GM interaction. Because Eldreon is still being dreamed up and because you guys haven't learned much about it yet, there are a few details I may only think of by seeing what you guys intend for your characters. This process will probably only take a couple days.
So, to begin with: Post here in the discussion thread and give roll a 1d10 to see if you get a "special" build for a slightly more powerful character.
Then, post whatever concept you are thinking you want to start with - whether its the one from the recruitment thread or something else. I should mention that in general I will be recommending that you go with slightly more humble backstories than a lot of RPers like. Your characters are just getting started in the world - they can't have done much of note yet, or they'd be higher level!
Anyway, for now just roll the d10 and post the concept you want to work with. I'll start my nitpicking from there. ;) We'll finalize your characters concept/backstory and then do the crunch, to which I will add a small perk based on your backstory or my own capricious whims...
(Also, two of the players I picked have mentioned using summoners. Neither of you needs to change your mind, but it is something to think about. You can also change your mind after seeing the concepts people go with).
Oh well. XD
Now, let's see... I'm probably going to stick with the character I submitted for recruitment - even if Zayne sticks with a Synthesist Summoner, I think we'll end up playing very different styles, so that shouldn't be a problem for the group as a whole. Aside from that, mmm... how much tweaking would you say Luca's needs? It's not really a problem to change her from "child of nobility" to "child of peasants", after all - I just figured the first version fit better with her as a polite young lady. XD She definitely doesn't have any great deeds to her name, though, so no worries there.
Hmmm... breaking it down is harder than I thought.
I like the idea of a 'dark heritage'. But something subtle.
I'm interested in playing a 'world-changer' wizard, but I want to start him at low level. I haven't had a chance to play something like that since 2nd ed days! Necromancy, Crafting, all seem to work with that. Something that can work towards an army of minions, or a massive castle, or there own demiplane... something like that.
I'd like to play someone with a reason to keep moving. Revenge. Self determinism. Sword of Damocles. Terminal illness. All work. Something where enough magic fast enough might stop it. Some reason to take shortcuts and look for power beyond simply megalomania.
(I'll address each character in separate posts so they're easier for you to get what you need out of them)
TYRUS:
Well to be a bit pedantic, once characters start hitting high levels EVERY class is a world-changer. :) However yeah, I understand the ambition and the aims. Your opportunities for world-changing will depend heavily on the choices you make, the adventures you go on, etc etc.
Now as to the concept itself. Tyrus is supposed to be older at the start, having more or less 'squandered' his life raising his children and tutoring others (the parents out there would dislike that statement! ;)). He'd always had the ambition to be a great wizard, right? And now he suddenly realizes that his time is short and he's nowhere near where he wants to be in his knowledge of the world... so he sets out to learn, learn, learn - maybe even learn ways to prolong his life a bit cuz he's not ready to die before he knows anything at all! A combination of fear of death and ambition? Throw in a wasting illness (that won't have much in the way of gameplay repercussions right away) and viola, you've got plenty of reasons to be a driven individual.
As for his dark heritage, great! If you're willing to trust me, I'll give you a fun one - the only catch is, you don't get to know about it. All Tyrus knows is that he seems to have a particular gift for necromantic magic.
With his advanced age, I could definitely see making Tyrus a 2nd level off the bat. After all, it's not like 2nd level is all that good in the grand scheme of things, and I assume he's at least been studying a bit during all those years. Being 2nd level doesn't mean he actually did anything of note - it just means that he's old! The level-distribution of NPCs in my world is a little higher than in normal, too. It isn't until we get into the level 9-11 area that characters of those levels become truly rare, so Tyrus would be well aware of just how much farther he had left to go.
The plot with Kara is all interesting and certainly gives Tyrus a reason to be out and about. Since your dark heritage is now unknown to you (assuming you are cool with that), how about Tyrus changed his name when he ran away, just to abandon his former mundane life? Also, Kara's motives might have to change because she likely didn't know anything about Tyrus's heritage either.
It also gives you a handy reason to be on the boat - getting as far away from home as possible.
Any of that sound good to you?
: did I win?
https://warosu.org/data/tg/img/0290/93/1388094264823.jpg
This is the picture that first spawned the idea of Dante and the rest followed. I wanted to play someone intelligent yet feeble with the ability to call on the physical power and skill of an ancestor or spirit. If you have ever seen shaman king, something like that. And the only class I could think of that works that way mechanically is the synthesist. I can poor all my points into mental stats and the eidolon would supply the physical. It comes with some drawbacks and a huge weakness but interesting overall.
As he grows in level and experience, more of the spirit that protects him would manifest until he can actually talk the spirit. The spirit is a legendary ancestor of his who gave the family the reputation they needed to get where they are today. However, being nobles has corrupted them and their sword style which is way he has come to Dante's aid. The aim is to make a Dante just as legendary so that he can save the family from themselves.
Rednal/Luca:
I haven't played as/seen summoners played much at all, though frankly I've heard a lot of bad about them. This adventure will be more or less a trial run for me to decide whether or not summoners are going to stick around in the world of Eldreon. :)
Things are more or less fine with your concept save one thing - knowledge of the Dark Tapestry (and the strange creatures/beings that inhabit it) is very, very rare. Luca wouldn't know what it is she is communicating with or where her strange powers come from. So maybe her family thought she was just a crazy girl with sorcerer powers (see below) and that's why she ran away?
We could probably cook up a new template based on the Master Summoner to fit better with your concept. Give it a fun name like Void Caller or something. Could even go with some interesting mechanic like "Luca has to make a Will check when she is scared or immediately expend one use of her Summon Monster ability..." Any of that sound fun to you?
Also, if you are going with a "she has powers she doesn't understand" sort of thing, perhaps she is under the impression that she is a sorcerer? Even if I decide summoners exist in Eldreon, I'll probably go with them being on the rare side, so knowledge of exactly what they are and what they are capable of wouldn't be common.
Dante:
I'm not sure "become legendary" counts as strong character motivation for anybody but Barney Stinson. :)
Become legendary how? I rather enjoy the concept (and have a few ideas for how to modify it slightly to fit better and, I'm afraid, nerf a couple things) but does this ancestor spirit want you to conquer some specific bad guy? Fight for truth, justice and the American way? Wandering the world beating up monsters is a player's goal, not a character's.
Go ahead and stew over what this ancestor spirit really wants to achieve through Dante (and whether or not Dante has any problems being a meat chauffeur for a dead great-great-grandpa or whatever). I will make my decisions on the rules changes for the Synthesist and you can decide if you want to go with it or play a different class. One thing I'm sure of is that I'll be lowering the Synthesists hit dice to d6 (I'll probably be doing that for Luca as well).
I think it depends a lot on how they're used. XD Master Summoner is probably more balanced than most, while Synthesist is, well, almost always banned.
It's fine by me if Luca doesn't actually know what she's calling - as mentioned, she's basically a scared little girl, and nobody being able to identify the monsters actually ties in very well with the overall theme. I'll work that in. She will be able to talk to them, though, or at least the ones that know Aklo - which also disturbs her. XD
Let's see, Templates... yeah, that should be easy enough to add. Might even be able to code it for Hero Lab if it's simple enough. XD I think I'd go further, though, and just have it forcibly activate Summon Monster any time she's truly scared (whether by ability or the situation), maybe with an optional Will save to control it at Level 10+ as a way of representing her growth. Having a replacement summon list would likely be a good thing to add to that, and I'll see if I can put one together later. ^^
And... she could very well think that she's a sorcerer, or whatever else people might call a natural magic-user. Luca really doesn't understand it anyway, and I wouldn't be surprised if she assumed she was whatever's most common for the area, particularly if Summoners really are rare and knowledge of them isn't widespread.
Well the family has grown away from what it used to mean to be a swordsman. I am essentially ripping off Bushido. Violence tempered by wisdom. Honor, loyalty, chivalry and all that jazz. Now though, its about reputation and money. For too long they have lived the good life and haven't had their commitment tested. Dante doesn't know any of this since he can't yet speak to the spirit but he has an inkling and is aware of the corruption. He is next in line as head of the family but needs experience and reputation to make the necessary changes. That will have to come from you. He doesn't have the ambition or knowledge yet to seek out those goals but I can change it so he does. Maybe a rival school humiliates them or they banish him for being weak and he discovers his powers later. I don't know. I view level 1 characters as somewhat younger people and naïve
And he is currently more than happy to play host. The spirit doesn't take over, just lends its strength and reflexes. He is still guiding the sword.
The build isn't as broken as it appears. A normal summoner is far superior because they can have the eidolon attack while they cast spells in the same round. I can only do one or the other. And since the eidolon doesn't get skills or feats it will be weaker in comparison to a fighter build. I'll have to take the combat feats myself instead of metamagic. It also won't get full BAB or be able to take advantage of all the attacks it gets because they won't be natural. It is supposed to be a spirit not an animal so no claws or biting or tentacles.
All right, how does this look as a starter? ^^
The powers of the Dark Tapestry have chosen you as their vessel, whether you like it or not...
Requirement: Master Summoner archetype
Otherworldly Guardians Starting at 1st level, a Void Caller will be possessed by the powers of the Dark Tapestry in dangerous situations. If the Void Caller would normally be subject to lethal or non-lethal HP damage from a non-environmental source (not heat, cold, a trap, etc.) or a Fear effect from any source, the Dark Tapestry will take over their consciousness and use the Void Caller's power to bring out a minion as quickly and safely as possible (i.e. they may retreat slightly to avoid provoking Attacks of Opportunity and so on). The Void Caller's Summoning Mastery ability will be used if available, and this will consume one use of it. If Summoning Mastery has been exhausted or is otherwise unavailable, the beings of the Dark Tapestry will instead try to cast a Summon Monster spell. If neither is available, nothing happens. A Void Caller is not subject to the negative effects of fear conditions as long as they have uses of Summoning Mastery or a Summon Monster spell remaining, or if they currently have a creature (including their Eidolon) summoned, but they will immediately be affected by whatever fear effects would normally apply if they do not have this protection. If a Void Caller already has a summoned creature called through Summoning Mastery, Summon Monster, or as their Eidolon, this ability will not activate. Starting at 10th Level, a Void Caller can attempt a Will Save (DC: 10 + 1/2 the Void Caller's Level) to forcibly stop this ability from activating.
Void Caller's Summoning List
A Void Caller replaces the normal Summon Monster list with the following:
SUMMON MONSTER I:
Gorbel, Sagari, Vilstrak
SUMMON MONSTER II:
Akata, Dossenus, Fleshdreg, Reefclaw, Slime Crawler (Larval)
SUMMON MONSTER III:
Choker, Lurking Ray (Executioner's Hood), T'Shann, Volt
SUMMON MONSTER IV:
Belabra, Gambado, Grick, Rust Monster, Vampiric Mist
SUMMON MONSTER V:
Cloaker, Elder Thing, Gibbering Mouther, Lunarma, Stone Roper
SUMMON MONSTER VI
Arcanoplasm, Destrachan, Drider, Lurking Ray (Lurker Above), Neh-Thalggu
SUMMON MONSTER VII
Bedlam, Brume, Draconid, Spawn of Yog-Sothogh, Tentacled Horror, Yithian
SUMMON MONSTER VIII
Evil Eye, Moon-Beast, Royal Naga
SUMMON MONSTER IX
Azruverda, Charybdis, Flying Polyp, Ghorazagh, Vemerak
*All of a Void Caller's creatures are summoned with the Entropic template, the ability to understand and communicate in Aklo (when possible), and a Neutral moral alignment, as they are ultimately the servants of chaotic neutral gods.
Vis a vis balance: Like I said, I'm going to use this adventure to help formulate my opinion of the summoner class. If I decide at the end that I don't think they are balanced enough to use and you still want to continue playing the character, we'll cook up a template for another class that will let you keep with the same concept. As I've said before I'm a big fan of homebrew.
Well, I'll try to keep things as reasonable as I can. XD Summoners are definitely a bit more... setting-specific... than some other classes are, so I can see where you're coming on it. I'm just glad my ideas are being considered, because I've always wanted to play a character of this type.
I will likely go with Logan Elken.
His most recent night at the tavern:
"Yes the Hostess is for sure worth a couple looks but she is working on her back with a sinister looking dude. All black leather with metal studs, perhaps she is using the whip on him. That is the rumor at least that she only beds those who can handle their pain. Logan Elken glad to meet you Niolla, so your the leader of the group heading to the Stolenlands? I have heard many a rumor about the place, but it is lacking entertainment." He shifts in his seat to offer his hand to shakes hers with the introductions. His eyes clear up as they bulge seeing her, he is already somewhat drunk and can't hide his impression of her, amazed that she is sitting next to him. You can even see more red on his face from blush of being next to such a beautiful creature.
Logan enjoys being himself and could care less about how he is presented to others. He was originally the son of a noble, but his father's temper did not do well with Logan's laziness. If he took his time to get a haircut and take a few days to clean up, his chiseled mug, sharp blue eyes, and stark black hair makes him a very attractive catch. Now he has a mop of hair covering some of his view and a half grown beard. Half grown for he got blasted by a drunk wizard the other night by some glob of acid. The wizard paid for damages and a room for the night before Logan tossed him into the bed, all while the wizard was out cold from Logan's bruiser. His bruiser was a present from his master years ago, the wooden training sword had a curve to it just like all Elven weapons have.
Logan is a human that always seems to be down on his luck. He works at the Salty Sea Serpent as a bouncer. The pay is not the best and there is typically one risk each night, but the Hostess was the hottest woman he ever met before. She made heads turn, knows how to use her body language and wiles to disarm most fights before they start. Her charisma was oozing off of her. Her grace was unmatched and could get through the room without getting her a$$ slapped. Then to see her dance was to just drop, jaw dropping and wolf whistles could be heard down the block on those nights.
As you can tell Logan is a man of pleasure. He has not had the challenge yet to clean up and hunt. He likes to flirt and tease as much as to drink and have a good time.
He takes his time off to hang with his friends and to stay away from work. Most of his friends call themselves his disciples, he trains with them and teaches them his skills. Any blade becomes a deadly weapon in his hands but a greatsword makes him nigh invincible, blows merely look like they knock off of him. They call him a swordsage, he knows different stances than most and merely from his understanding of the weapon.
When not with his friends he sets time for those less fortunate than him. He volunteers as a handyman to help the local orphanages and public buildings. He knows his way around a blacksmith, he spent a few years creating his weapon under the tutalege of his master in such a forge.
He hates when someone wastes something. When his father threw him out, Logan barely knew how to take care of himself and had to live as a begger and off the street for nearly a year before being taken in at an orphanage run by the local priest. He was a kind man but had his own lusts and used guilt to have the older girls sleep with him. Logan put an end to that when he turned 14, two words 'cold cock'. He kept learning that unless you kept yourself humble and in check those in power would see themselves as entitled, a lesson he lives by. The next year he took the girls to the authorities and found that no one cared. Then his master found him protecting the girls from a group of punks. Bloodied and beat to the ground he would not stop and kept getting up.
I happily accept critique and suggestions.
Statistically I see him as a fighter, stalker, or ranger.
Do you suppose you could post that concept here so I don't have to keep switching tabs?
Edit: Ninja'd. I'll have thoughts and some of that rules stuff for our summoners up later tonight.
Here you go. ^^
However, Luca is actually a relatively normal young lady when she's not being scared out of her mind by her apparent protectors. She is indeed on the young side, and generally likes good food, playing games, and the attention of interesting people. Those would be a lot easier to get if her family wasn't focused on shutting her away, and she very intentionally ran away from them as soon as she had the opportunity to, knowing that things would only get worse if she stuck around. Her mother was her only help in this - as terrible as it is to send a small child off on her own, it would definitely have gotten worse. Literally the only reason Luca had survived so long was the fact that her family was afraid of what would happen if they tried to kill her.
For the most part, Luca wants to find a way to control her powers and feel safe again. She's surprisingly adept at communicating with aberrations and other denizens of the Dark Tapestry, and has a way with them that even many of the most learned scholars don't understand - though she's not really that capable in other areas. She isn't old enough to have too many opinions beyond that - she hasn't experienced much of good or evil outside of her immediate problems, nor has she needed to earn money and support herself until now. Luca is actually quite intelligent, though, and is hoping to find something like an apprenticeship where she can learn from someone that can help control her powers.
Well to be a bit pedantic, once characters start hitting high levels EVERY class is a world-changer. :) However yeah, I understand the ambition and the aims. Your opportunities for world-changing will depend heavily on the choices you make, the adventures you go on, etc etc.
:)
Yeah - that's true
Now as to the concept itself. Tyrus is supposed to be older at the start, having more or less 'squandered' his life raising his children and tutoring others (the parents out there would dislike that statement! ;)).
I'm a parent, but it didn't hit until after I'd written it.
I was aiming towards an empty-nest/mid-life crisis combined with a reason to give up ties.I like the story, but am in no way suggesting having kids is wasting your life. Possibly if you have kids who then turn up as witnesses at a trial against you...
I'm a guy, but I understand Tyrus story is pretty similar to that faced by a lot of women in western culture until recently. Take 20 years off to raise kids, then try to restart your career.
He'd always had the ambition to be a great wizard, right? And now he suddenly realizes that his time is short and he's nowhere near where he wants to be in his knowledge of the world... so he sets out to learn, learn, learn - maybe even learn ways to prolong his life a bit cuz he's not ready to die before he knows anything at all! A combination of fear of death and ambition? Throw in a wasting illness (that won't have much in the way of gameplay repercussions right away) and viola, you've got plenty of reasons to be a driven individual.
Yeah - that's exactly it. I guess the community turning on him isn't necessary, but I was trying to have him have a reason to turn from the path he had already chosen rather than just accepting death with the belief he'd lived a good life.
As for his dark heritage, great! If you're willing to trust me, I'll give you a fun one - the only catch is, you don't get to know about it. All Tyrus knows is that he seems to have a particular gift for necromantic magic.
Okay. I'll trust you :)
With his advanced age, I could definitely see making Tyrus a 2nd level off the bat. After all, it's not like 2nd level is all that good in the grand scheme of things, and I assume he's at least been studying a bit during all those years. Being 2nd level doesn't mean he actually did anything of note - it just means that he's old! The level-distribution of NPCs in my world is a little higher than in normal, too. It isn't until we get into the level 9-11 area that characters of those levels become truly rare, so Tyrus would be well aware of just how much farther he had left to go.
I don't want to argue with a free level! I am okay going first though, especially if the others are at first. I see even a first level wizard as pretty accomplished.
I am okay with taking the mechanical changes for middle-aged or not. A minor preference I guess in that it gives him an incentive to research the age resistance spells.
The plot with Kara is all interesting and certainly gives Tyrus a reason to be out and about. Since your dark heritage is now unknown to you (assuming you are cool with that), how about Tyrus changed his name when he ran away, just to abandon his former mundane life? Also, Kara's motives might have to change because she likely didn't know anything about Tyrus's heritage either.
Potentially just Kara divorcing him, taking the kids and getting remarried? He becomes a bit of a laughingstock in the wizard community?
Sounds a bit more petty, but I'm okay with that. He doesn't have time to get his reputation back the long way.Could be changing his name to something a but 'fancier' to start a new reputation.
Hmmm - bit more Walter White/Heisenberg than I'd intended, but that is a compelling story.
Ok. Sounds good.
I've got a bout 2 posts left before I need to change the name, so if it doesn't fit culturally please tell me!
(That's why this post is so long)
Regarding Luca:
If Luca is a kid, and Tyrus is a father, what sort of relationship were you seeing potentially develop.
Regarding Logan:
How old is Logan now? The last age in his backstory seems to be 14.
Regarding Dante:
Is Dante now grown? Is his ancestral spirit a parental figure?
Regarding Dante:
Is Dante now grown? Is his ancestral spirit a parental figure?
Maybe and no. I can change or update his backstory depending on what fits best I intentionally left him young so I would have room to expand. The spirit is not a father figure. He is more of a mentor and guardian. And by guardian I mean the literal since.
*Edit So Luca is Elsa from Frozen?
Just letting folks know that my plans for tonight went a bit later than expected and I will now be doing the various posts I promised tomorrow, instead.
Tyrus' player here.
Seems like we're going to be without magical healing. I don't mind, but it does mean the World Weariness system might not show up that much.
Power incontinence is not unique to Disney. XD
Heh, "Power incontinence." Great phrase.
WOLF:
Liking the concept, fairly simple mechanically. Don't really see him as a ranger - if you want to go with ranger I'd probably want to modify the concept a bit. Fighter should work well for him with the "friendly lazy lout" thing going on. Maybe take the Swordlord template and retitle it "Sword Savant" cuz he apparently isn't what we'd call overly disciplined with his training. :) But that part is up to you, I like the concept more or less as-is, with only one more thing you need: Why is Logan getting on a boat for an across-the-ocean voyage?
Off the top of my head, perhaps he:
-Got hired to courier something to somewhere in Ottrunval
-Got in trouble in his home town (maybe with criminals rather than the authorities?)
-Got drunk one night and booked passage, and figures "what the hell? I could use a little adventure."
Anyway Wolf, you can go ahead and start building out the crunch for your character.
For the Summoners:
Here are the rule changes to the summoner that I've decided will affect both of you. I'm going to wait to see your builds before I decide on individual changes (if any) to your templates.
Okay, so everything I read is pretty much leaning towards "summoners are a wee bit much." I don't want to nerf the main class feature - eidolans and summons - without seeing them in action, so here's the steps we're going to try first.
Hit Dice:
Summoner hit die are now d6. Yes, this makes using your own HP to help your eidolan riskier. That's a feature, not a bug. ;)
Spells per Day and Spells Known:
Max spells per day (before bonuses from attributes) for the summoner is 3.
Max spells known per spell level for the summoner is 4.
Base Attack Bonus:
Summoner Attack Bonus progression is now the same as the sorcerer's.
These changes are subject to revision as we play. We'll see how they feel and possible loosen them up later on.
Tyrus's current name is great. I don't want it to change - therefore it is culturally appropriate for the Obanese region (who were basically Rome Lite anyway, so giving them a psuedo-latin culture works).
You can go ahead and start building out your crunch as well.
Hm. How about Dante has been sent by his family to take care of some business of theirs overseas? Not necessarily related to the sword school at all - but the spirit is happy that he's leaving home because that gets him out into the world. Dante may be happy or sad - happy to get away for a bit, but perhaps sad because he has been reduced to doing the duties of a clerk or an emissary for a time, which probably isn't as prestigious as the heir to his family might expect.
You can all start building out your crunch. Luca: I'll worry about finalizing the Void Caller template a bit later. It should make much different to your build, right? If it does, let me know and I'll rush it.
He would be both happy and sad but for different reasons. Happy because they are viewing him as less of a burden and more as part of the family. Sad, however, because sending him without a retainer or guardian would lend more evidence towards the fact that they may want him dead.
I'll have a crunch later today I hope. Gonna be a busy day. Also I am going to tweek his personality a bit. This back and forth about motivation has helped me solidify the concept in my head.
@Mercy: how 'optimised' vs 'concept' do you want our builds to be? Given you've cut the summoners down I want to keep everyone on an equal footing.
@GM: If it's anything like what I posted up above, then no, it shouldn't be making a huge difference. XD Since it hasn't been totally settled, here's Luca's build -without- the template. I decided to build her at 2nd level mostly because she'd die the first time someone so much as poked her if I didn't, and her power is mostly from outside control rather than inner experience anyway. HP is Half HD + 1, and I can start manually adjusting spells per day and such once she's high enough for that to matter (I did have to do it for cantrips, but yeah). Haven't spent my money yet, either; I'll get to that later. Also, I love building characters in Hero Lab. XD This is so much easier.
Female Human Summoner (Master Summoner) 2
LN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +8; Senses Perception +2
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 12, touch 12, flat-footed 10 (+2 Dex)
hp 12 (2d6+2)
Fort +0, Ref +2, Will +4
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 2nd; concentration +8)
. . 10/day—summoning mastery
Summoner (Master Summoner) Spells Known (CL 2nd; concentration +8):
. . 1st (3/day)—compel hostility, shield, summon monster i
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, mage hand, message, read magic
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Statistics
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Str 7, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 18
Base Atk +1; CMB -1; CMD 11
Feats Augment Summoning, Extra Summons, Improved Initiative
Traits focused mind, reactionary
Skills Disguise +5, Fly +6, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (nobility) +5, Linguistics +5, Perception +2, Spellcraft +5, Use Magic Device +8
Languages Aklo, Common, Elder Thing
SQ eidolon link, lesser eidolon, life link, share spells with eidolon
Other Gear 150 gp
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Special Abilities
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Augment Summoning Summoned creatures have +4 to Strength and Constitution.
Eidolon Link (Ex) Mental link allows communication over any distance, but share magic item slots.
Focused Mind +2 to Concentration checks
Lesser Eidolon A master summoner's class level is halved (minimum 1) for the purposes of determining his eidolon's abilities, Hit Dice, evolution pool, and so on. The eidolon otherwise functions as normal. This ability replaces the summoner's normal eidolon
Life Link (Su) Damage that dismisses Eidolon can be taken by you. It weakens if not in 100 ft.
Share Spells with Eidolon (Ex) Your spells ignore type restrictions for Eidolon and it can recieve your personal spells.
Summoning Mastery I (10/day) (Sp) You can summon monsters as a spell like ability, maintaining 1 even when Eidolon is summoned.
Eidolon
Quadruped
LN Medium outsider
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 14, touch 12, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 11 (+1)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +0
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft.
Melee bite +3 (1d6+2) and
. . 2 claws +3 (1d4+2)
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 15 (19 vs. trip)
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Intimidate +1, Perception +4, Sense Motive +4, Stealth +6
Languages Common
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Special Abilities
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Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Magic Attacks (Ex) Your natural attacks are magic.
Pounce (Ex) You can make a full attack after a charge.
Wow. This is the first time I've looked at the Life school and thought "maybe, maybe".
15 Point Build
Roll for gold (these sorts of rolls will be done in the discussion thread while we build characters)
2 Traits (and a third will be added by the GM upon character creation)Allowed Races: All Core races except Gnomes. Other races need to be cleared with me first (though see rules for Special character creation).
Allowed Classes: All core and archetypes (though I am not particularly fond of barbarians or monks). Base classes and archetypes (EXCEPT for alchemists and gunslingers). Playtest and other classes need to be cleared with me first. Guns/gunpowder (and thus gun-related classes, feats, and traits) do not exist in Eldreon.
Characters will be allowed to start at Level 1 OR Level 2. Level 1 characters are generally young and haven't seen/done much. Level 2 characters have much more leeway in age and might have been through a few things in life, though obviously it wasn't particularly crazy. For instance, a level 2 fighter could have spent many years as a guardsman in a mostly-quiet village.
Spells: CRB, APG, UM – all other subject to approval
: 30 well that sucks.
Thanks for posting those rules again Tyrus.
The rain falls on the just and the unjust alike.
Look at it this way, it could have been HP!
Working on the crunch. Couple of questions.
1. Will you allow the trait Heirloom Weapon to mean I get proficiency in that weapon, I.E. greatsword? And can I not include that weapon in the price since it is a family heirloom?
2. Is HP max for first level?
3. Can I return the evolution, claws, that I get for free using a biped form for its evolution points? Doesn't fit the character.
4. I would be more than happy trade summon monster back for something. Full BAB on Eidolon? Skills for Eidolon? Feats for Eidolon?
That's it for now I think.
@Mercy: I'm thinking of getting a Torble familiar. Not particularly impressive, I know, but I really like the idea they are a sort of proto-life, halfway between a single celled and multicellular life.
Otherwise it'll just be a 'giant' spider. Which is still tiny, but that does mean it is the size of a cat.
As regards age, okay to take the middle age stat changes? I'm okay if you'd prefer not.
Is the racial heritage(dhampir) thing still a go?
Is Eldritch Researcher okay? Is it possible to start with a researched spell - even if crappy - so he knows now it is something he has a gift at (after years of mastering 'the basics' he doescovers he doesn't need to).
If so, do you want to think about what the spell might be? I've got an idea for Bloody Cough (Bleed causing spell) and (having seen our group composition) Lesser False Life.
coins...160
Still in development and still looking for the sword lord archetype.
Ah, here's a link. Swordlord
I don't have the time right now to answer all questions (my apologies, this weekend ended up being busier than I thought it would!). I'll get to anything I missed tomorrow!
As far as optimization vs concept: My philosophy is that you should optimize within your concept if you like. But I'm not going to stop somebody from developing their character how they want to as long as they aren't using clearly broken things. My adventures, however, are not easy to optimize for. There are lots of challenges of all sorts and you can't foresee them all... optimized characters usually have glaring weaknesses that just don't "come up" normally.
A couple of notes on stats for everybody:
Any stat below -8 will incur extra gameplay penalties, applied by me at various points. My usual example is intelligence, which warrior types often dump heavily because it barely affects them mechanically. If a character has a -6 int in my games, they can barely talk or read. They'll receive less XP for puzzle and story-based challenges, as well. Really low stats can be great for RP, but they WILL affect the game. Just keep that in mind.
HP is max for the first level, yes, and roll normally after that.
Tyrus, you can go ahead with the middle age changes if you like, it's up to you. I'll get to the rest of your questions as soon as I can.
I might normally feel kind of bad about that, but I am building a fairly young character who would have problems with strength-based challenges. XD I can't exactly complain if a campaign treats that fairly realistically, since it's not like I -had- to build a character this way. Besides, overcoming individual flaws is what teamwork is for.
Let me be your arms!!! ;)
Exactly! And if that fails, well, that's what my Summons are for. XD
Though your low Charisma might frighten Luca until she gets to know you...
Don't worry he is good natured just rough around the edges. Maybe a bit socially awkward. ;)
Here is what I have so far. Please take a look and tell me if I need to change anything.
Male Human Summoner (Synthesist) 1
LG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +0; Senses Perception +1
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Defense
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AC 14, touch 10, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor)
hp 6 (1d6)
Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +3
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Greatsword -1 (2d6-1 19-20/2x)
Spell-Like Abilities: Summon Monster I (3+Cha/day)
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Statistics
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Str 8, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 18
Base Atk +0; CMB -1; CMD 9
Feats Power Attack, Cleave
Traits Heirloom Weapon, Rich Parents
Skills Linguistics +6 Knowledge (Arcana) +6, Knowledge (Nobility) +6, Knowledge (History) +6, Spellcraft +6, UMD +8
Languages Common, Draconic, Elven, Dwarven, Aquan
SQ Cantrips, Fused Eidolon, Life link, Summon monster I
Other Gear: Chain Shirt (25), Greatsword, Summoner's Kit (19), Chronicler's Kit (4-1/2) 702 gp
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Special Abilities
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Power Attack: You can choose to take a –1 penalty on all melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +2 bonus on all melee damage rolls. This bonus to damage is increased by half (+50%) if you are making an attack with a two-handed weapon, a one handed weapon using two hands, or a primary natural weapon that adds 1-1/2 times your Strength modifier on damage rolls. This bonus to damage is halved (–50%) if you are making an attack with an off-hand weapon or secondary natural weapon.
Cleave:As a standard action, you can make a single attack at your full base attack bonus against a foe within reach. If you hit, you deal damage normally and can make an additional attack (using your full base attack bonus) against a foe that is adjacent to the first and also within reach. You can only make one additional attack per round with this feat. When you use this feat, you take a –2 penalty to your Armor Class until your next turn.
Fused Eidolon: A synthesist summons the essence of a powerful outsider to meld with his own being. The synthesist wears the eidolon like translucent, living armor. The eidolon mimics all of the synthesist’s movements, and the synthesist perceives through the eidolon’s senses and speaks through its voice, as the two are now one creature.
While fused with his eidolon, the synthesist uses the eidolon’s physical ability scores (Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution), but retains his own mental ability scores (Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma). The synthesist gains the eidolon’s hit points as temporary hit points. When these hit points reach 0, the eidolon is killed and sent back to its home plane. The synthesist uses the eidolon’s base attack bonus, and gains the eidolon’s armor and natural armor bonuses and modifiers to ability scores. The synthesist also gains access to the eidolon’s special abilities and the eidolon’s evolutions. The synthesist is still limited to the eidolon’s maximum number of natural attacks. The eidolon has no skills or feats of its own. The eidolon must be at least the same size as the synthesist. The eidolon must have limbs for the synthesist to cast spells with somatic components. The eidolon’s temporary hit points can be restored with the rejuvenate eidolon spell.
While fused, the synthesist loses the benefits of his armor. He counts as both his original type and as an outsider for any effect related to type, whichever is worse for the synthesist. Spells such as banishment or dismissal work normally on the eidolon, but the synthesist is unaffected. Neither the synthesist nor his eidolon can be targeted separately, as they are fused into one creature. The synthesist and eidolon cannot take separate actions. While fused with his eidolon, the synthesist can use all of his own abilities and gear, except for his armor. In all other cases, this ability functions as the summoner’s normal eidolon ability (for example, the synthesist cannot use his summon monster ability while the eidolon is present).
Fused Link: Whenever the temporary hit points from his eidolon would be reduced to 0, the summoner can, as a free action, sacrifice any number of his own hit points. Each hit point sacrificed this way prevents 1 point of damage done to the eidolon (thus preventing the loss of the summoner’s temporary hit points), preventing the eidolon from being killed and sent back to its home plane.
Eidolon Form
Biped
LG Medium outsider
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +1
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 11 (+1)
Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +3
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Greatsword +5 (2d6+6 19-20/2x)
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Statistics
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Str 18, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 18
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 16
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Special Abilities
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Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
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Evolutions
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Ability Increase (Str)
Imporved Natural Armor
Are Eidolons affected by World Weariness?
Okay. How's this look?
I was a bit worried by our lack of healing and low HP. I used my traits to add Heal (ie chirurgeon) skills. This mean that Tyrus can restore HP if needed (and if he rolls well). Catch: No healer's kit. I didn't have the gold for it.
I figure he's known to be skilled in the "lesser arts" of chirurgery and alchemy.
He carries a grooming kit given the link between barbers and surgeons.
@Mercy: Not sure whether Heal should add to world weariness or not. I think it should. I think Heal represents primitive but magically-assisted healing. The fact that if he rolls a pair of nat 18+s Tyrus can theoretically heal someone 2*level+10 HP in 2 hours seems darn near supernatural, even if his average healing is more like 1/day.
Heh, never seen the torble thing before. Sure, go for it.
Gonna say no on racial heritage and eldritch researcher, though. Damphir probably won't exist in Eldreon (or at least not commonly enough to have PC's choose them) and a Level 2 wizard is still a bit early to be researching completely original spells. I'll probably have you start that in levels 3-4 at the earliest. You'll be able to gain traits as we go along, so there's a good chance you'll end up with something LIKE eldritch researcher, but later on.
At some point you'll probably want to modify the character history in your profile to fit the changes made, but no rush. The rest of your build looks great as is. The Healing ability will come in handy, and also makes Tyrus with healing + tutoring ability something like a Maester (if you happen to know Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire) which is fun too.
Though one question: Why is con listed as “9(10)” ?
Dante:
Alright, I'm always up for making a class template conform more tightly to a desired concept. As your “eidolan” is supposed to be an ancestor spirit, yes: we'll forgo the claws and we'll even let you lose the summon monster special of your base class.
Your eidolan gains 1 feat. These feats must be chose from the Combat Feats as if it were a fighter. As you increase in level your Eidolan will gain additional feats as if it were a fighter at the same level as you. You have access to both your own feats and your eidolan's feats when you are fused.
(I'm not really sure what you mean by full BAB: The Synthesist already uses its Eidolan's BAB whenever it is summoned. Could you clarify that for me?)
Eidolans are NOT affected by World Weariness.
Finally, yes you can take the Heirloom Weapon (Greatsword) and get one for free. We have a lot of fairly poor characters so I've no problem with giving you a little break there!
The template should be much like what you've started with above. I'll work on it in the quiet moments at work today and have it up sometime in the afternoon (or at least, enough of it to start with at low levels).
First of all, if you are starting at 2nd level please roll your hitpoints in the discussion thread! First level is max HP but after that we roll as normal. May the luck of the dice be with you...
A couple questions have been raised with World Weariness, as well as the fact that the party lacks much in the way of magical healing.
1) the Heal skill does NOT increase World Weariness. My take on it is as a non-magical skill, and besides: The WW system is partially designed to make the Heal skill more useful. Yes, the numbers are pretty huge with good rolls, but I don't mind that. Sometimes sensibility has to take a back seat to fun. :)
2) Eidolans are NOT subject to World Weariness – that is a problem only for you mortals.
3) We'll probably be able to arrange for you to find a Healer's Kit at some early point. Gotta give you some ways to patch yourselves up...
Finally (and this is a smaller detail for now): As I've mentioned there is no such thing as Common in Eldreon. Language barriers shouldn't come up much in this adventure, but if you feel like conforming to what the future will look like you should change “Common” to “Obanese” in your profile. Obanese is the dominant and most widespread language in your region and will serve you for common in this adventure.
This probably won't come up in the adventure, but if you decide afterward that you want to keep adventuring in Eldreon it will.
Languages are more varied and harder to pick up than in normal Pathfinder. I'm not going to bother applying these rules in this adventure cuz it's another layer of complexity we don't need yet. There are three levels of skill in a language:
Novice
Proficient
Fluent
Languages you start with at Level 1 are always Fluent. Languages learned through Linguistics Skill start at Proficient and you can spend another skill point to reach Fluent. Languages learned through other study (as in the rules on retraining) go through all three levels.
Novice Skill: You can usually make yourself understood after awhile, but only when communicating simple concepts. Heavy penalties to diplomacy, bluff and other such skills made when speaking a language you are a novice with.
Proficient Skill: You can converse in most topics without too much trouble. Little to no penalties on skill checks made in Proficient languages (every now and then you might get a bonus... foreign accents can be sexy, and all). However, people will certainly know you are not a native speaker of the language and you are not likely to be familiar with slang, idiomatic phrases, and other local colorings.
Fluent: You speak like a native. You can discern regional accents and tend to know common slang.
If I've forgotten anything, please repeat your questions in a spoiler marked “GM” or “Mercy” (this is a good rule of thumb for anything that especially needs my attention, rules-wise). We're almost finalized and ready! I'll probably start up the gameplay thread tonight, because we'll have a bit of time in the beginning to keep ironing out builds before they become too pertinent.
Also, If you let me keep it, I don't have to worry about money since I took Rich Parents as a trait. It fits but it gives me 900 starting gold. Feel free to veto that if you want. I didn't buy much because he didn't feel the need to over prepare. He is also at a medium load right now so I can't get much more anyway.
I was also thinking about dropping all spell casting entirely, except for cantrips, for a Super Genius Games Archetype for the summoner called Weapon Champion. Here is the link.
Once I get your thoughts on this stuff I should be done.
Thinking we'll go with this template language to start off with:
Void Caller
Some otherworldly power has made you its vessel. It grants you great powers and protection... but to what purpose?
Requirement: Master Summoner archetype
An Alien Cry
The creatures summoned by the Void Caller are from a strange and distant place. Using the Summoning Mastery ability requires a Full-Round Action except when it is reflexive as per the Otherworldly Guardians ability (see below).
Otherworldly Guardians
Starting at 1st level, a Void Caller will be possessed by the powers of the Dark Tapestry in dangerous situations. If the Void Caller takes lethal or non-lethal HP damage from a non-environmental source (not heat, cold, a trap, etc.) or is affected by a Fear effect from any source, their otherworldly patron will immediately send a guardian as a swift action, determined randomly from the highest-available category of the summoning list.
This summoned guardian will appear as closely to the Void Caller as possible and immediately attempt to attack the source of the damage or fear. This activation expends one use of the Void Caller's Summoning Mastery ability. If Summoning Mastery has been exhausted or is otherwise unavailable, this ability will instead use up one of the highest-level spell slots remaining to the Void Caller at that moment (and the Summon Monster spell corresponding to that spell level is cast).
If a Void Caller already has a summoned creature called through Summoning Mastery, Summon Monster, or as their Eidolon, this ability will not activate.
Starting at 10th Level, a Void Caller can attempt a Will Save (DC: 10 + 1/2 the Void Caller's Level) to prevent this ability from activating.
(I left the summoning list as you created it, as it checked out for at least the first three levels).
Ah hah, I see what you mean now. Yes, the Eidolan can progress in BAB as a primary melee character (+1 per level).
Rich Parents trait is fine as well, BUT I'll divulge that you might not have a lot of opportunity to use gold in this first adventure. Of course, if you stick with me and keep using Dante that gold will come in handy in the future. It's up to you!
The Weapon Champion doesn't seem to be an archetype for the Summoner, but rather for a 3rd Party class called the "Adept Godling."
As I mentioned in the recruitment thread, I'll also be adding one more trait to each of you based on your backgrounds. I'll do that tonight along with the start of the gameplay thread.
All right, there's HP... and the completed version should be visible within this alias now. ^^ Minus that last trait, of course.
Gonna say no on racial heritage and eldritch researcher, though. Damphir probably won't exist in Eldreon (or at least not commonly enough to have PC's choose them) and a Level 2 wizard is still a bit early to be researching completely original spells. I'll probably have you start that in levels 3-4 at the earliest. You'll be able to gain traits as we go along, so there's a good chance you'll end up with something LIKE eldritch researcher, but later on.
Happy to get Eldritch Researcher later.
I liked Dhampir as a stand in mechanic for the bloodline. It lets me get the Dhampir favoured class bonus: +.25 CL for necromancy. That seemed a really neat way to advance the necromancy ahead of other things, but without just jumping levels at the start.I did want him taking shortcuts, but I envisioned them coming in later. I could start with it now if you are okay with him starting on a haemothurge path? We have 2 "magic in the blood" characters in the party already, so haemothurgy seems reasonable.
At some point you'll probably want to modify the character history in your profile to fit the changes made, but no rush. The rest of your build looks great as is. The Healing ability will come in handy, and also makes Tyrus with healing + tutoring ability something like a Maester (if you happen to know Game of Thrones/Song of Ice and Fire) which is fun too.
I will modify the history - wanted to get the crunch done so I could make sure it all fit the background.
Though one question: Why is con listed as “9(10)” ?
Enhancement wizards can add a +1 enhancement bonus to one physical attribute at level 1.
Languages
Obanese, got it. Tyrus gets 5 languages+lingustics. Obviously Draconic is one. Were he in our world I see he'd have English, French, German (3 'civilised languages') Latin, Greek (2 scholarly tongues) and Egyptian (1 weird wildcard). I'm thinking Obanese, HELP, HELP, Draconic, Aklo, Necril and a recent rank in Drecnan(?). Can you help with the two other languages used in the world on parallel with Obanese?
Go ahead and stick with the Synthesist. Better to stick with templates meant for the class.
The haemothurge feat is fine. And yeah, no rush on the background. Just noticed it was still the old one.
Here's a few more options for languages, take what you like. You'll be able to change these details at the end of this first adventure (I'll have a lot more world info up by then), so no pressure.
Widespread Languages:
Kulmaran - Due to religious and cultural influence. Most common in Northern Golm (pretty heavily overlapped with Obanese).
Arimite - Due to cultural/military influence (especially in Liria)
Belshi - Due to prevalence amongst seafaring merchants and sailors (somewhat like Drecnan)
Athekorian is a language common among scholars, so it may also interest you.
And finally, Kadeshi may interest you: dialects of it are very widespread in southern Golm and the old Ancient Kadeshi is also common amongst scholars - especially those of necromantic lore, as Kadesh (as the Egyptian analog in Eldreon) has not historically treated necromancy with as much disdain as the rest of the world.
Hmmm - funds are low, but how much would a book (or more) on Kadesh cost, that he might be studying. Given his background doesn't make much sense that he'd have actively studied it before this point if it is the study of necromantic scholars unless it is also used for something like engineering or chemistry (as Egyptian was in our world).
Do you have Necril in your world?
Golarion is bringing it in as a sort of "native undead" language (much like celestial is for celestials) is my understanding. I was going to pick it up for the same reason.
Perhaps Obanese, Arimite, Belshi, Athekorian, Draconic, Necril?, Novice Kadeshi?
Welp. I am done I think.