Iron Gods (Pathfinder; Recruiting until Aug 27)

[ThisOneGal]

What you may be able to do is make a durable arrow (1 gp) out of adamantine (+60gp) and tie a good rope to it. It's not high tech, and you'd probably want really good rope, but it may be slightly more doable.

Don't have enough cash for that (105 starting, bow is 30, + 61 for arrow, + 10/100 for silk/spider silk rope). Could buy one pretty quickly though.

Edit: Oh hey: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/goods-and-services/tools-kits#TOC-Arrow-Grappling

[Chulanowa]

I wasn't expecting anything at first level, but I didn't find anything at all.

So there being similar stuff later on is cool.

You could also be a gnome gunslinger, take the Experimental Gunslinger archetype, and get yourself a Darkwing Duck gun. Grapple hooks? alchemical stuff? small mammals? sure!

[Dakkon]

For sure, any of them would work well. You could also use a stalker or warlord from Path of War with Trashing Dragon.

[Dakkon]

Okay here's our deadline:

Late on Wednesday August 27th, I will be choosing four characters for this game. That should give everyone about another week and a half to solidify your character sheets, for about two weeks of total time. I can already tell this is going to be good, the ideas I've seen are awesome!

[Dakkon]

Questions/Thoughts/etc:

1. Are you cool with racial substitution abilities?
2. I'm interested in having some kind of ties to Jhestine Imierin of Tempting Tonics. Of whatever nature. Is there anymore information on her?

Now obviously those questions only really matter if you are interested in me writing with you. If this character doesn't work for you or the party simply needs something different I can try that. A Cleric or Inquisitor of Brigh could be interesting. Same for an Impossible Blood Sorcerer or a Holy Gun Paladin. Ideas I am never short of. If you're curious as to what kind of writer I am I do have a writing sample up at my O/Os linked in my signature.

Gah, sorry, I somehow completely missed this!

1. Do you mean the alternate traits from the Advanced Race Guide? If so, then yes. What did you have in mind?

2. I'll double check, but I don't think so. Improvise for now and if it needs adjusting later we can work on it.

I think the character is a good idea, although your other suggestions could work very well too! A Holy Gun would be very cool in this path, as would anything Brigh related. Whether he fits the group's needs... that's a strange alchemy (ha!). We seem to have pretty balanced selection options so far, so he's got a shot. Full disclosure if you go for Crypt Breaker, I don't know how much in terms of undead we'll see. That said, we know we'll be seeing lots of constructs, so I'm sure you're okay with that :)

[deadmanshand]

I was thinking of replacing Skilled with Heart of the Fields and Bonus Feat with Focused Study. Heart of the Fields I know is supposed to represent growing up on a farm and the like but it also seemed fitting for someone who spent their entire youth traveling and working with a merchant caravan. Focused Study just fits how I see Graham. Less a generalist and more someone who throws themselves into their passions wholeheartedly. Focusing on one thing at a time.

Improvise with Jhestine. Got it.

Yeah it was actually hard to settle on a character idea for Iron Gods. So many cool options. Gunslingers, Investigators, Arcanists, Inquisitors... hard to pick. Finally settled on a Crypt Breaker Alchemist for two reasons. One is that I haven't gotten to play an Alchemist yet. Two is that Crypt Breaker seemed like the Indiana Jones archetype for Alchemist. I'm less concerned about the undead than I am constructs and traps - which fits with the character. That's all part of his interests. And - yes - Graham will be taking Stargazer as a trait.

[Dakkon]

I was thinking of replacing Skilled with Heart of the Fields and Bonus Feat with Focused Study. Heart of the Fields I know is supposed to represent growing up on a farm and the like but it also seemed fitting for someone who spent their entire youth traveling and working with a merchant caravan. Focused Study just fits how I see Graham. Less a generalist and more someone who throws themselves into their passions wholeheartedly. Focusing on one thing at a time.

Yup, sounds like those would work!

Yeah it was actually hard to settle on a character idea for Iron Gods. So many cool options. Gunslingers, Investigators, Arcanists, Inquisitors... hard to pick. Finally settled on a Crypt Breaker Alchemist for two reasons. One is that I haven't gotten to play an Alchemist yet. Two is that Crypt Breaker seemed like the Indiana Jones archetype for Alchemist. I'm less concerned about the undead than I am constructs and traps - which fits with the character. That's all part of his interests. And - yes - Graham will be taking Stargazer as a trait.

Very fair! There are tons of cool ideas here! Stargazer sounds like a plan.

[Ershin]

I think you've got a cool and workable idea, but it may need some tinkering. Some of the ideas in it don't quite sync with how Androids are portrayed in Pathfinder, although to be fair, most of the information that would tell you that is in the Ecology of Androids article that is a part of this module. I'll point some things out and give you some snippets to help you adjust the background.

Androids are partially construct, but they are much, much closer to an organic being than to a machine that looks like a human. In fact, I'd hesitate to even call them machines. In other settings, they may be termed androids instead, since they are more organic artificial constructs than mechanical ones. The only real steel and wire machinery in their biology is their nanites, everything else is organic or an organic analogue.

Finding an Android torso on life support may be possible, but I don't think that the technology of Golorian would be sufficiently advanced enough to replace her missing limbs, and the life support systems would have to be major, otherwise here organs and blood loss would kill her, just like any other humanoid. Perhaps through a combination of magic, luck, and the life support, they were able to graft bits and pieces of cybernetics discovered in the ruins onto her and trigger in the nanites into accepting the graphs and mostly converting them into material that is similar to those normally found in an androids body, although the conversion may mot be complete.

The other major factor you would have to consider is the Technic League. They would not hesitate to steal Kythera and use her for their own nefarious purposes if they found out about her, and they have spies everywhere. Raymond and Joram would likely have had to keep her a secret and she would have to hide parts of her that are obviously not human.

As for class, that's totally up to you. I don't have mind have multiple options when selecting characters and I expect there will be a lot of applications to this one.

I hope that's helpful! I don't want to force a change in you concept, just trying to give some guidance with the background that I know not everyone has access to.

Thank you very much for your reply!
I was aware that androids in Pathfinder were very similar to organic life, so much so that they appear to be organic until further inspection, somewhat like Robin Williams' character in Bicentennial Man in the second half (third third?) of the movie - I also had the opening scene from "Megaman Zero" in my head when I wrote about Kythera being found as she was. Perhaps that influenced me a little too much?

I was perhaps a little hasty in writing my first draft, I was under the impression that while Androids were (for lack of a better term) techno-organic or just had artificial organs similar to Williams' afore-mentioned role, that they may have been able to have been repaired as any modern-day machine. Maybe it would be better to say that her current limbs were prosthetics animated by her nanites, but without full control over them and as the minuscule machines were never intended for the purpose it leaves her physically weak (represented by her score of 7 in strength)? Perhaps combine this with your idea that said nanites are slowly attempting to assimilate the graft and making it more like the rest of her body but the process is going to take quite a bit of time to fully complete?


I had also neglected to remember the Technic League - Thank you for reminding me about them. I suppose I glossed over the section when I read that they believed Androids to be little more than property and basically thought "well I guess I won't be part of that group".

I'll have another good think about it and should come up with my next draft in a day or so - May I PM it to you for perusal when I'm done so as not to continuously muddy up the thread with my terrible writing, haha?

[Dakkon]

I'll have another good think about it and should come up with my next draft in a day or so - May I PM it to you for perusal when I'm done so as not to continuously muddy up the thread with my terrible writing, haha?

Okay, let's get this one out of the way... your writing isn't terrible! The idea is a good one, it just needs some adjustment. If you want to handle it by PM, that's okay though, although I'm a bit quicker with answers in the main thread.

Thank you very much for your reply!
I was aware that androids in Pathfinder were very similar to organic life, so much so that they appear to be organic until further inspection, somewhat like Robin Williams' character in Bicentennial Man in the second half (third third?) of the movie - I also had the opening scene from "Megaman Zero" in my head when I wrote about Kythera being found as she was. Perhaps that influenced me a little too much?

I wouldn't say too much. It's a neat idea, the mechanics of it just may be a little different than you originally imagined. It just challenges me to find a way to make the concept work, instead of saying no dice. Which is a good thing :D

I was perhaps a little hasty in writing my first draft, I was under the impression that while Androids were (for lack of a better term) techno-organic or just had artificial organs similar to Williams' afore-mentioned role, that they may have been able to have been repaired as any modern-day machine. Maybe it would be better to say that her current limbs were prosthetics animated by her nanites, but without full control over them and as the minuscule machines were never intended for the purpose it leaves her physically weak (represented by her score of 7 in strength)? Perhaps combine this with your idea that said nanites are slowly attempting to assimilate the graft and making it more like the rest of her body but the process is going to take quite a bit of time to fully complete?

I think that's a good compromise.

I had also neglected to remember the Technic League - Thank you for reminding me about them. I suppose I glossed over the section when I read that they believed Androids to be little more than property and basically thought "well I guess I won't be part of that group".

Yeah, they're really not nice. They will fill a similar niche to the Nazis in Indiana Jones and Captain America from what I can tell.

In other news, maps are coming along well. I'm fairly psyched!

[Ghostwheel]

"Naz--Noxia--Technics. I hate those guys..."

... I think I genre-jumped a few times :-3

[Dakkon]

Numerian Technics! Man, I hate Numerian Technics!

[TheGlyphstone]

Robots. Why did it have to be robots?

[Ghostwheel]

Name: Arafel Olandir

Race: Half-elf

Class: Oracle

Background:

Arafel's story begins a few decades ago. Back then, people had for the most part understood when the violet flame that gives the town its name would erupt, but sometimes there were... accidents. He was the scion of such an accident, one of the countless orphans rendered parent-less when the violet flame grew in girth and spat its killing flames.

Arafel's birth father was an oddity among the elves. Like most elves he was inquisitive by nature, but unlike most, he was warm and kind and enjoyed working with his hands to shape skymetal into the most elaborate shapes imaginable. This is what probably drew Arafel's birth mother to him, both his warmth and his artistic side, and for many years they were together, the love and trust between them deepening into something that defied words. His father vowed that there would be no one else, that he would take care of her in her old age, and that as long as he lived he would remember her. Arafel was born some years later, and the family was happy together.

Until calamity struck. Arafel's mother was helping his father with the forge close to the violet flame when it swelled up. Before they could cry out or feel a thing, they were both swallowed along with many of the blacksmiths who gathered before the pillar to shape their wares. Now an orphan, Arafel might have fallen to thievery among the streets, and come into his own among the Ropefists were it not for one among the council, Serantha Olandir. She took him and the other orphans in, giving them a home in her estate alongside her husband.

Years passed, and many of the orphans left to find their own path, helped along by Serantha's wisdom and guidance. But Arafel felt a pull, a different call from the others, and after a few years of serving in the City Watch, he transcended and became a fine officer. Armed with the might of his sword-arm, he helped the guardsmen put down a number of the Ropefists, and sent others to the jails to await their just punishment. It was perhaps in retaliation for this, and to send a message, that one day Serantha's husband was mugged and killed in one of the alleyways within Torch, or perhaps he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Regardless, his extended family mourned for his loss, and Arafel swore a sacred oath to help Serantha in any way he might to stop the lawless advances of crime and depravity upon their town. He became a paladin, and his faith carried him forward, yet he also began to take a more active hand in the ruling council, speaking before it a time or two, passionately making his case when it came to the laws and helping to push for reforms that loosened the Ropefists' grasp on the city.

However, two of his siblings disliked his sudden rise to political power, having worked so hard to gain for themselves minor seats on the ruling council. While lacking his tongue and the confident way he carried himself which caused people to flock to him, they were far more clever and steered things to impede him. Hella and Markus, they often worked together and at times crossed each other to each gain an advantage, a fact that often stymied Arafel and caused him no little frustration. Yet he never found out why or how he was at times stopped from speaking, or not called upon at all when a relevant topic came up.

To add to the frustration, the Technic League seemed to suck at the city's lifeblood with no sign of stopping. It had irked him time and again that they must tithe so much of their hard-earned wealth, yet Serantha councilled him to her wisdom, that it was better than being forced to live under their rule by force or obliterated from the land entirely. And so he has stayed his hand and tongue when one of their representatives was sent, yet he chaffed under that yoke. Yet it wasn't just them that kept him awake at night. The awakened creatures from ages past with their smooth surfaces and strange, metallic features were a constant source of distraction.

He constantly heard tale of a new monstrosity that had woken rather than remaining asleep as it properly should have, and begun to terrorize the countryside, interrupting not only the scavenging operations that kept the lifeblood of Torch flowing, but also causing bodily harm, and sometimes death to settlers and travellers. The roads weren't as safe as they had once been, and time and again he rode out at the front of a company of men, intent on saving as many as he could. Usually he was able to help the others in destroying these dangers, but sometimes they encountered only tracks out into the distance and broken bodies along the roadside.

It was unacceptable, and yet there was nothing he could do about it. The frustration ate at him, but found no catharsis for nothing could be done as they sometimes seemed to appear at random, and at other times had to be moved in order to mine the starmetal that jutted from the ground. And so he continues to seethe quietly as new stories of travellers attacked reach Torch, unable to do anything but help pick up the pieces and bring down any towering mechanical fiend that he and the others find.

One of the trips found him deep in strange ruins alongside a scavenging team. Here, he and Dr. Raymond Singer unearthed a strange android that appeared... strange, to say the least, attached to some sort of technological device. Doctor Singer deduced that it kept the broken android alive, and with the team's help, Arafel and Raymond brought the android back to Torch. Doctor Raymond theorized that they could return the android to life with some work, and swore the entire team to secrecy, citing the need for silence on the Technic League. None of them wanted to raise the Technic League's awareness, or give them another prize to steal from Torch, and they agreed.

It was a long time later when they were finally able to reawaken the android, an event Arafel was present for, and he helped her take her first step into the world, brought back to life after so long asleep. Befriending her, he often accompanies her around town or visits her at her arcane studies, arranging for her to learn since she seemed to have a knack for the eldritch arts... something he did not particularly understand. Still, her demeanor at times puts him off, due to her lack of emotional response that seems to occur with most androids.

Today, he still speaks to the council at times, though more rarely, and mostly helps the City Watch when they need it in order to restore order to the city or put down a rampaging metal monstrosity awakened from the past that had been unearthed in the search for Skymetal by reclaimers, guarding them against any threats they might face. He is a welcome sight on the city streets, and continues to follow his purpose in the quest to help others.

[Dakkon]

Looks good Ghost! Do you know what trait you're shooting for? Any idea about archetypes, or are you going straight Paladin?

[TheGlyphstone]

My guess is Against The Technic League.

[Ghostwheel]

Looks good Ghost! Do you know what trait you're shooting for? Any idea about archetypes, or are you going straight Paladin?

Thinking of going with Robot Slayer, and I'll be going with Oath of Loyalty for the archetype.

[Dakkon]

Thinking of going with Robot Slayer, and I'll be going with Oath of Loyalty for the archetype.

Alright, sounds good. You may want to work some robot encounters into your background then, since it doesn't really seem to mesh up with Robot Slayer, at least not yet at least.

[Ghostwheel]

Alright, sounds good. You may want to work some robot encounters into your background then, since it doesn't really seem to mesh up with Robot Slayer, at least not yet at least.

Sounds good. I've put out a few feelers to see if anyone wants to have a shared background, and I'll tie that in as well.

If anyone else wants to have a shared background with my character, please speak up or PM me :-)

[MiraMirror]

Showing interest/making a character sheet pending a question or two for the DM. If the idea is good, I'd want to make a Flying Blade who worships Desna. The theme of the campaign is partially related to the wonders of discovery, and Desna's all about that, so you could expect a wide-eyed wanderer sort of character who's just as likely to joke around with the enemy in a fight as she is with friends.

I also wouldn't necessarily mind sharing a background with you, Ghost, or anyone. I rather enjoy shared/linked backstories.

Edit: So, the Swashbuckler class (the new one) is on the SRD, but the Flying Blade is not. I have the PDF, so I could copy/paste the thing into GDocs or something, but it's all down to GM discretion, obviously.  Flying Blade is basically throwing knives/starknives, lots of ranged attacks, and critical hitting to get panache back, and I rather like the idea of a Desnan throwing starknives and joking around in the heat of battle.

[Dakkon]

I believe this is the line you are looking for Shrroth:

Classes: Any from the above sources. I do have the Advanced Classes Guide, so go wild. This is a great campaign for gunslingers too!

[MiraMirror]

Ah, sorry.  One thing is a bit annoying, though. Flying Blade is built around just that, going around throwing starknives/daggers around, and being good at it.  In terms of flavor, I love the class.  The class features are flavorful and fit, and that's awesome.  The only thing I legitimately dislike is that with all the things they can do, they just...don't do that much.  They're supposed to be this acrobatic class that can hit a target from a good distance (which they can do), but they don't contribute that much to the party, from what I read.  They don't do much damage, they can't really do any CC until they get things like Blinding Critical, Stunning Critical, etc. Slashing Grace would be lovely, but it's specifically for Slashing weapons, hence the name.  This is the only thing that's really deterring me from playing the class, honestly.  A friend of mine made a feat that allows Dex to damage (or half Dex to damage in the case of an offhand piercing weapon), but again, that's DM fiat as to allowing stuff like that.

Tl;dr: What is a Flying Blade supposed to even do?

[Dakkon]

Ah, sorry.  One thing is a bit annoying, though. Flying Blade is built around just that, going around throwing starknives/daggers around, and being good at it.  In terms of flavor, I love the class.  The class features are flavorful and fit, and that's awesome.  The only thing I legitimately dislike is that with all the things they can do, they just...don't do that much.  They're supposed to be this acrobatic class that can hit a target from a good distance (which they can do), but they don't contribute that much to the party, from what I read.  They don't do much damage, they can't really do any CC until they get things like Blinding Critical, Stunning Critical, etc. Slashing Grace would be lovely, but it's specifically for Slashing weapons, hence the name.  This is the only thing that's really deterring me from playing the class, honestly.  A friend of mine made a feat that allows Dex to damage (or half Dex to damage in the case of an offhand piercing weapon), but again, that's DM fiat as to allowing stuff like that.

Tl;dr: What is a Flying Blade supposed to even do?

No problem. People miss stuff, we're all human.

[MiraMirror]

Basically, my main gripe with the class is that it seems to be built as a damage dealer, but it does little-to-no damage, even with a critical hit (which it needs to focus on, due to the way it regains panache).

In any case, this was the homebrew feat mentioned. I doubt it'll be accepted, but I'm throwing it out there. 

Also, I didn't make the feat, so if anyone argues about it, please do not come at me. ;_;

Greater Weapon Finesse

Greater Weapon Finesse: Your skill and speed with your weapon, and your knowledge of vital areas allows your quick and agile strikes to land to land devastating blows.
Prerequisites: Dex 15, Int 13, Weapon Finesse
Benefit:  You may replace your Strength modifier for your Dexterity modifier on damage rolls with any finesseable weapon. You are not able to get Dex and a half damage when two-handing these weapons.  You cannot gain Dexterity to damage when using a shield.  You do 1/2 Dexterity to damage when using this with an offhand weapon.
Special: Characters with Swashbuckler's Finesse and similar abilities that allow them to treat a weapon as a finesseable weapon or use their Dexterity on attack rolls with a weapon are treated as if they have Weapon Finesse for the purpose of this feat and its prerequisites.

If it's not good-to-use, I'll just have to think of something else, possibly a Warpriest.

[Chulanowa]

Ah, sorry.  One thing is a bit annoying, though. Flying Blade is built around just that, going around throwing starknives/daggers around, and being good at it.  In terms of flavor, I love the class.  The class features are flavorful and fit, and that's awesome.  The only thing I legitimately dislike is that with all the things they can do, they just...don't do that much.  They're supposed to be this acrobatic class that can hit a target from a good distance (which they can do), but they don't contribute that much to the party, from what I read.  They don't do much damage, they can't really do any CC until they get things like Blinding Critical, Stunning Critical, etc. Slashing Grace would be lovely, but it's specifically for Slashing weapons, hence the name.  This is the only thing that's really deterring me from playing the class, honestly.  A friend of mine made a feat that allows Dex to damage (or half Dex to damage in the case of an offhand piercing weapon), but again, that's DM fiat as to allowing stuff like that.

Tl;dr: What is a Flying Blade supposed to even do?

The archetype doesn't really alter your melee abilities, aside from Weapon Training - which you don't really lose, it just gets applied to daggers and starknives. What you get is a standard Swashbuckler who just happens to be somewhat better at throwing knives. it's not a dedicated throwing archetype, just a small enhancement for ht guy who wants his swwashbucklerto sever the chandalier's rope with a tossed knife or something.

The ACG archetypes aren't real impressive. Have you looked at the Divine Tracker?  :-X Damned thing gets proficiency with weapons it was likely already proficient with (unless you're a ranger of Zon-Kuthon or something... good luck with that!) And trade out their 4th-level companion for 1st-level Warpriest domains. Poor Rangers, still don't know what a good archetype looks like!

And the feat looks more or less like Mythic weapon Finesse.

[Dakkon]

Yeah, I'd rather stay away from custom content right now. Sorry.