Seeking players and a GM for an unusual D&D 3.5 game... [Update: GM found!]

Started by Kunoichi, April 24, 2015, 12:03:06 AM

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TheGlyphstone

Considering how easy it is to get access to Death Ward or other forms of energy drain protection, you might want to see about trying to get an effect that helps you bypass that immunity; a Soul Eater who can't energy drain is severely hampered in their effectiveness. I thought of Swallow Whole as a thematically suitable ability that would boost your combat versatility, since it combines damage with crowd control by temporarily removing an enemy from the fight.

PaleEnchantress

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on May 15, 2015, 08:26:47 PM
I have an effective sorcerer level of 19 base, but only 16 Hit Dice. One of the questions I've got queued up waiting for the GM to return and answer, in my post back on page 2, is if he wants our spellcasting access capped =Hit Dice, or if having access to 9th level spells instead of 8th level spells at game start (also doable via Ur-Priest, Sublime Chord, or Beholder Mage) will be okay.

I dont see much point in capping spellcasting but we will see I guess. Would be a real shame if it was.
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TheGlyphstone

It matters to me, but not a terrible lot. And Phaerimm are tremendous cheese even as Juveniles, just not quite as cheesy as Hatchlings.

Anyways, here's my character:

Aerophobos, the Doom In The Darkness


Shadow Sylph of Legend Shadowcrafter 3/Shadowcraft Mage 5/Nightmare Spinner 5



They say that curiosity killed the cat - but Aeras's curiosity brought him a fate far worse than death. Centuries ago, he was a sylph of no particular consequence or import; flighty, shy, and intensely curious about anything interesting or unusual. On one excursion to the Prime Material Plane, he happened to come across a great battle - a mighty demon had been summoned by evil cultists, matched against a band of brave adventurers. Invisible and unnoticed in the chaos, Aeras hung around to watch, only to get just a little too close and be caught in the radius of a spell banishing the demon back to its Abyssal home. Normally, the dismissal would have flung Aeras back to his own native Plane of Air, but instead he was sucked into the wake of the banished demon and ended up in the Abyss as well.

Now he was in deep trouble and he knew it. He was alone, he was small, and most of all he was weak. Together, that spelled a disastrous combination in the unforgiving lower planes. The only thing he could do was run and hide in the face of danger, a skill he was forced to rapidly hone to perfection as a means of simple survival. He soon became adept at concealing himself from even the most perceptive of demons, and his formerly whimsical selection of innate magical spells became honed for practical matters, primarily illusions that he could use to distract more potent foes or set two enemies against one another. He learned to hide in the shadows when invisibility alone would not suffice to protect him -and he learned fear. Perpetually on the run, terrified of being caught and enslaved or devoured at any moment, fear was not merely a constant companion but a core part of the new mindset he was forced to develop. In time, it became just another part of his psyche, and he started learning to direct that primal terror outwards as well to prey on the fears and insecurities of those who would do him harm. And of course, through all of this he was constantly suffering from the oppressive and malevolent auras of the Abyss itself, a realm innately and intensely hostile to outsiders. Seeing strength and cruelty at every turn, those vices became virtues as his mind warped under perpetual stress, with his body and soul slowly warping in tandem. When he became a tanar'ri in truth, as native to the Abyss as though he had first materialized there, he never even noticed.

Now a force to be reckoned with, and often quite literally feared, the reborn Aerophobos set about bringing the harsh lessons he had learned to others. He became a wandering mercenary across the infinite layers of the Abys, selling his services to various Abyssal lords and powerful demons. His mastery of illusions and phantasms was immense - combined with his capabilities of stealth, this made him uniquely suited for tasks requiring infiltration into otherwise well-guarded locations. When summoned to the Prime, he found a niche as a high-value assassin who could reach the most protected of targets and arrange their demise; where possible, he used these killings to indulge his sadistic streak, and it was during one of these early kill missions that he first encountered Lumena, the lantern archon who would become his greatest nemesis. As his  talent grew, so did his notoriety for both good and ill; evil spellcasters sought to summon and command him, while heroes and rival demons plotted his demise. As he vanquished his enemies, he grew further in power, and when a cataclysmic upheaval left the rulership of an Abyssal plane vacant, Aerophobos seized the opportunity to claim a piece of it for himself.

Allies

-Nocticula: The Undeniable is not exactly an ally, but has been a reliable employer for Aerophobos over the ages, and he finds her dark realm to be a particularly welcoming environment. She tolerates him well enough, but her brother Socothbenoth regards Aerophobos as a potential rival for Nocticula's affections.

-Ryxali: The Queen of the Shadow Demons is the closest thing Aerophobos has to an ally in the Abyss, though the relationship is definitely an imbalanced one. He has accumulated numerous favors from the shadow demons in her service while working for her, and can occasionally call upon one of them for aid.


Rivals and Enemies
Fraz-Urb'luu: The Demon Prince of Deception regards Aerophobos as a pest and an upstart - not currently worth squashing, but to be watched warily in the event that he becomes a true rival to the demon lord's dominion over illusions and subterfuge. The ascent of the Doom In The Darkness  to nascent demon lord status himself might be sufficient to compel Fraz-Urb'luu to act directly at last...

-Lumenala Sol: Once a lowly lantern archon, and now a mighty Trumpet Archon, this angel has crossed paths with Aerophobos many times, clashing against his schemes and those he works for. As staunch a defender of good and righteousness as you could find, she retains the purity and faith in light of her lantern archon origins, making her and her Brilliant Energy greatsword particularly threatening to Aerophobos. Sometimes he wins, sometimes  she does, but their dance has lasted centuries and resulted in a mix of hatred and obsessive fascination.

Socothbenoth: The Persuader is a perpetually suspicious and paranoid sort, as are all his kin, and he holds a perpetual suspicion of Aerophobos of plotting to supplant him in the affections of his sister Nocticula, just as he plans to supplant Malcanthet in the eyes of Demogorgon. Thankfully, his equally deep-set rivalry with Fraz-Urb'luu impedes any hope of the two demon lords cooperating against Aerophobos.


PaleEnchantress

I got tired of waiting and went with Nymph after all. I still get 9th level spells and don't have to hear people complain about using a phaerimm. I have my concept and bio too. Zaer might recognize a but of this back story from my character called "The Widow". Also its due to Zaer I found the perfect theme song.


The Whore of Lachrymosa


Half Succubus Nymph/Dreadmaster 10 - Casts spells as an archivist rather than a druid.

Picture coming soon. . .


The abandoned wooden shacks that rotted in the most decrepit area of the port's shanties were shunned even by the beggars. The liquid filth was home to a wide variety of vermin and pests. The few taverns and porters that did business in the area paid no mind to disposing of their trash and refuse among what was left of the buildings. Some people however had no choice but to live in them. As much as the homeless needed the charity of others they were quick to take from each other if they could. One man and woman could not exist among the other people. They were both blind and deaf or nearly so. On their own they could find foul sustenance among what others discarded. They stayed hidden to avoid being victimized. The one time they knew they had to find another was when the female was ready to give birth.

      It was no happy occasion to have another mouth to feed, and yet the pair were too fearful of others to allow their child in any one elses hands. Unlike his parents the child was quite canny and in full possession of his visual and auditory senses. His screams went unheard as pests and vermin crawled over him inside the lightless box in which he existed. He crawled in filth, excrement, and squalor. His first words were things said to beg of others. He would often to go the other parts of town to prostrate himself before others hoping to evoke enough sympathy to acquire from strangers what he could not from his parents. Earp had been what his parents called him. It wasn't even so much a name as it was a sound that was easy for them to make. He was a cute baby that despite being underfed grew into a beautiful boy a pediastric relationship with a rich gentleman (A dragon blood exalted, though he didn't know what that meant) became his salvation. Being the sexual pet of a rich old man could hardly be considered a good thing, but the warped feelings were the closest thing the unfortunate boy would ever have to being cared for.

      In his patrons household he became a sponge for knowledge. He was given an education, find clothes, and enough food to never be hungry. Using his body his mentor seemed odd at times but the human connection at least filled the cold he felt within. Earp even became friends with his masters children and was often paraded at gatherings for his unconventional wit and exotic beauty. Years of contentment, if not happiness, passed until foreign troubles called his patron away. The mistress of the house would not let him stay anywhere on the property and so Earp went back to the streets and stayed once more in the light less squalor his parents did. In his extreme depression he didn't even see the diseased condition his parents flesh was in. He contracted their leprosy and his beautiful body and face putrefied. In time he was forced to a leper colony. His face and genitals withered, ruptured and blackened. His beauty, the only thing that ever convinced someone to help him, was destroyed before his eyes. His bitterness and loss made him welcome death. He exhaled his last labored breath alone and unwanted; full of hatred for all of creation.

The despair and hates that infused the one beautiful boy would have been enough to ensure his revival as a specter, but something else intervened. There was a whisper, a deep growling pox, a foul promise from something even darker than death itself. It promised him power, revenge, and said it would make him more beautiful than he had ever imagined.  He accepted, it didn't matter the prnce, it didn't matter who it was, the youth accepted. It seemed something wanted him after all, and that thing was Orcus, demon prince of the undead.
The youth spent a long spiritually shackled to the throne of Orcus. He was neither dead, alive, nor undead. Orcus despised the undead, and his unspoken lust for the youth's spirit kept him from turning him into one. Instead he became a  strange sort of demonic spirit.

Orcus sent his minions out and they took the most beautiful of Grazzt's succubi that fell into his clutches, the most elusive of nymphs, the most seductive of brachina and many other beings that represented the epitome of beauty and passion. Then Orcus tore them apart. Their torments were immense but in death they were reconfigured. The best of each of them was extracted and painstakingly sculpted into a beautiful body that was then infused with unholy magic to bind the youth's spirit eternally to it. Thus he was reborn a sexless vision of beauty, made to quench the lust of a Demon Prince.

The overbearing lust of The Prince of the Undead was a greater torture than anything he had experienced so far, but in the torment he could feel Orcus' desire. Even when subjected to force that made his body falter it would repair itself back to perfection moments later. The minions of orcus, and later all of the abyss came to call him The Whore of Lachrymosa. During the long periods between Orcus' vile attentions he studied magic of the spirit and flesh. His studies and subsequent violations of body could have gone on forever, but it seemed something he could not even fathom happened. Orcus died.

Kiaransalee's victory was short lived but it bought The Whore his freedom. The innocent abused boy is long gone and in his place is an alien entity who commands terrible magic and sculpts the flesh of the doomed into it's own perverted visions of beauty. It hates still being called The Whore of Lachrymosa but even so that title is spoken with a hint of fear in the voice of the other demons. Falling into The Whore's embrace means being subjected to its ever expanding spiritual journey for aesthetic perfection. The pain and experience of having one's body destroyed, reformed, and twisted often breaks the mind as well. The Whore has many insane monstrosities loyal to it. After what they have experienced their minds can fathom nothing greater than it.

Orcus is back and gaining power, but what he thinks of his former whore is unknown. It has been in a flirtatious alliance with with Socothbenoth and a slowly progressing working relationship with Pale Night has been under weigh too. Grazzt has sent a messenger giving The Wore an innuendo laden congratulations on its freedom from Orcus. The Whore worries attention from Grazzt would cause Orcus to seek a jealousy fueled revenge. It also worried Grazzt wants it as a lover just as a symbol to spite Orcus.

The Whore has made enemies as well. Ryxali has suffered the loss of at least one valuable minion to the torturous "enlightenment" of The Whore. An extremely powerful Varakhut from mechanus has taken a stand against The Whore as well. The Inevitable claims The Whore's twisting of life's natural forms and blatant abuse of divine magic violate numerous natural laws.


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Mantis Shrimp Prime

Whoooooa.... I got a lot of catching up to do.
Anyway, I will... look over everyone's backstories and such.

edit: Two things.
1) Do y'all want max hp per die or nah?
2) If you would be so kind in your final character sheets, like... break down where all your stuff comes from? Like if you have AC XYZ note that it is (+ x natural, + y whateversss) etc?


Quote from: PaleEnchantress on May 15, 2015, 06:11:08 AM
If you scroll up ive talked about it all already. Been posting in the thread pretty much since the beginning. Kunoichi, Glyphstone, Zaer and I are always plotting trouble together. I haven't worked out the details, but most everyone already knows im going for body horor and. . .

I should probably say APPLICATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED.  I'm already gonna feel like a prick if I have to say nah to anybody who's already posted in the thread, so... maybe if I say no more now I won't have to.

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I must ask is Phaerimm obscenity allowed?

Of course I'm allowed to use Phaerimm obscenity.

Quote from: lockepick on May 15, 2015, 09:04:32 AM
EDIT: I'm finding that getting both the magic numbers of CR and HD to line up perfectly is proving a little difficult. I'm sort of feeling like the character creation rules were made AFTER Kunoichi designed their character!

*grabs walkie talkie*
We have a honey badger in the termite mound. Over.

Honestly, I think we're doing Character Creation by concensus. *You* guys worry about all that, and I'll step back and let the winners duke it out in a ring of fire or whatever.
I could say "so and so is allowed, so and so isn't" but... ahhh, you only get so many times to go crazy, right?
I'm just here to do the story, I don't need the headache of nitpicking character creation, so, just, police yourselves, okay?
I'll have enough time worrying about what to do with all these monstrosities you're cooking up *after* we start.

It can't be any more nutzo than that time I tried to run an epic level tristalt game for some people.

(But seriously I swear, my next D&D game is going to be all level 1 human commoners).

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on May 15, 2015, 11:49:39 AM
And you won't need to worry about the 'realer than reality' thing...it's weird, and it's also mechanically suboptimal since only someone who successfully disbelieves will see the 'extra-reality', and you want high save DCs otherwise. I'd be fine with a logical cap on 100% effective reality for higher-level spells.

Not suboptimal if you're banking on fighting dudes with high will saves. :P

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on May 15, 2015, 02:09:15 PM
EDIT 2: How much erotic/sexual content are you expecting the game to feature, and of what variety?

For my two cents, this will be up to you. If you want to write sex scenes between PCs, go ahead.  But like, I, as GM, will probably be more focused on other things, so don't expect to sex up a lot of NPCs (though I'm not averse to letting someone else RP an  NPC for such a scene).

Quote from: Kunoichi on May 15, 2015, 07:03:10 PM
Mantis Shrimp Prime, it looks like there are a couple of questions that people need you to answer. ^^;

I'll just kind of reiterate what I said before... I'm cool with anything as long as other players don't take issue with it.
Making sure all the players are happy, and no one steps on the others toes, or takes their niche, or whatever, is mostly what I care about this time.

Quote from: lockepick on May 15, 2015, 08:15:51 PM
@GMs: How are we determining Class Skills for Outsiders? I can't seem to find a list, and don't quite understand the listing under Demon Lord.

I think it's usually, the racial HD class skills are whatever is mentioned in its entry.



PaleEnchantress

^ This GM is ADOREABLE. His attitude, how he talked about having to close applications because he'd feel bad if he said no to anyone so far so we are all in and everyone else is out (more or less) His style of writing. I want to chain him up and give him cupcakes.
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TheGlyphstone

Sounds like we're clear for level 9 spells then, everybody, if you've got a trick to enable them through racial casting or a fast-progression PrC (but no Phaerimms, that is GM-exclusive cheese).

EDIT: Max HP is easy to calculate, so I'm all for it.

PaleEnchantress

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on May 16, 2015, 12:16:50 AM
Sounds like we're clear for level 9 spells then, everybody, if you've got a trick to enable them through racial casting or a fast-progression PrC (but no Phaerimms, that is GM-exclusive cheese).

EDIT: Max HP is easy to calculate, so I'm all for it.

With d8 hit dice and high con scores I dont think max hit points per hit dice will make a huge difference, so I think its a fine idea.
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TheGlyphstone

Good thing no one is playing a fighter or barbarian. Transforming into a demon would weaken them.

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(But seriously I swear, my next D&D game is going to be all level 1 human commoners).

I actually had an idea over in the other thread for a game about Epic Commoners - all the usual Commoner plots, but scaled up to Epic. Chasing off Legendary Tigers from preying on your flocks of Titanic Dire Sheep, battling Githyanki raiders on red dragon mounts while delivering your goods to the Sigil marketplace, brewing beer good enough to get the God of Liquor drunk...




Kunoichi, can you repost the blank character sheet you formatted for Zaer's paragon tristalt monster game?

Mantis Shrimp Prime

Quote from: PaleEnchantress on May 15, 2015, 11:59:07 PM
^ This GM is ADOREABLE. His attitude, how he talked about having to close applications because he'd feel bad if he said no to anyone so far so we are all in and everyone else is out (more or less) His style of writing. I want to chain him up and give him cupcakes.

Heh. "If this is torture, chain me to the waaaalll!"

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on May 16, 2015, 12:29:41 AM
Good thing no one is playing a fighter or barbarian. Transforming into a demon would weaken them.

I actually had an idea over in the other thread for a game about Epic Commoners - all the usual Commoner plots, but scaled up to Epic. Chasing off Legendary Tigers from preying on your flocks of Titanic Dire Sheep, battling Githyanki raiders on red dragon mounts while delivering your goods to the Sigil marketplace, brewing beer good enough to get the God of Liquor drunk...


Part of the idea I had for it was the idea that... eventually your level 1 commoners would be the first real big heroes of the setting. Like, there's no Elminster, *you* are the first people to break level 15 (and the vast majority of characters wouldn't be over 10). Kind of a contrast to the concept that yeah, there's always these high level dudes out there doing stuff, you're just another to throw on the pile.

Kunoichi

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on May 16, 2015, 12:29:41 AM
Kunoichi, can you repost the blank character sheet you formatted for Zaer's paragon tristalt monster game?

I didn't save that one, but it's not that difficult to work up something similar.

[b]Name here[/b]
Build here
[b]Size/Type:[/b]
[b]Hit Dice:[/b] 16d8+0 (0 hp)
[b]Initiative:[/b] +0
[b]Speed:[/b] 0 ft. (0 squares)
[b]Armor Class:[/b] 10 (+0 Dex), touch 10, flat-footed 10
[b]Base Attack/Grapple:[/b] +0/+0
[b]Attack:[/b]
[b]Full Attack:[/b]
[b]Space/Reach:[/b] 0 ft./0 ft.
[b]Special Attacks:[/b]
[b]Special Qualities:[/b]
[b]Saves:[/b] Fort +0, Ref +0, Will +0
[b]Abilities:[/b] Str 0, Dex 0, Con 0, Int 0, Wis 0, Cha 0
[b]Skills:[/b]
[b]Feats:[/b]
[b]Environment:[/b] A chaotic evil-aligned plane
[b]Organization:[/b] Solitary
[b]Challenge Rating:[/b] 16
[b]Alignment:[/b]
[b]Treasure:[/b]

Description here

[b]Combat[/b]
Combat tactics and abilities here.


Quote from: Mantis Shrimp Prime on May 16, 2015, 01:12:19 AM
Part of the idea I had for it was the idea that... eventually your level 1 commoners would be the first real big heroes of the setting. Like, there's no Elminster, *you* are the first people to break level 15 (and the vast majority of characters wouldn't be over 10). Kind of a contrast to the concept that yeah, there's always these high level dudes out there doing stuff, you're just another to throw on the pile.

Hmm, reminds me of an RPG actual play podcast episode I listened to recently where the players all rolled up a giant 0th-level peasant mob in an OSR game and sent them all out on an adventure, and the ones that survived got to actually become first-level adventurers at the end...

Mantis Shrimp Prime

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on May 16, 2015, 12:29:41 AM
Kunoichi, can you repost the blank character sheet you formatted for Zaer's paragon tristalt monster game?

I am gonna have so much fun with you guys.
You play in my sort of games.

Quote from: Kunoichi on May 16, 2015, 01:29:32 AM
Hmm, reminds me of an RPG actual play podcast episode I listened to recently where the players all rolled up a giant 0th-level peasant mob in an OSR game and sent them all out on an adventure, and the ones that survived got to actually become first-level adventurers at the end...

Yeah! Full on hardcore rules!




Kunoichi

Quote from: lockepick on May 15, 2015, 08:56:13 PM
I thought the 'nature' of the creature, and thus what most of my 'Demon Lord Template' decisions have been based on, is the idea of somebody who revels and gets others to do the same. So I took spell-like abilities such as: Symbol of Persuasion, Glibness, Suggestion, Charm Monster, and Gaes/Quest.

My main themes I'm trying to focus on for my Attack/Qualities would be: Blood, Soul Devouring, Getting others to imbibe/revel/suffer the effects of such, and Enlightenment/inspiration through ecstasy.

Two Attacks I saw that I considered, but thought would be too powerful:
- The 'Feed' ability from Barghest (consuming a target grants +1 HD/STR/CON/Nat Armor.) I was going to say they must be 'devoured' by Energy Drain -- but even putting some kind of daily limit still means those permanent bonuses could get out of hand.
- Mimicing 'Spells' from Rakshasa -- and casting as a Sorcerer of my HD.

As for what he's good at: Well he's basically a martial character with really good (hopefully) scouting/stealth/social skills.

Hmm...  The Joystealer from the MMIV does have a 'Drain Emotions' special attack that could be worth looking into.  Although, in order to actually make use of that special attack, you'd probably want to pick up the 'Psychic Vampire' vampire variant for yourself.  It's in the book Libris Mortis, and won't increase your CR at all.  You'd be doing fewer negative levels with each attack, but you'd be able to toss out a pretty hefty amount of Wisdom damage with your slam attacks instead.

Alternately, the Whisper Demon (also from the MMIV) has a 'Maddening Whispers' special attack that could be slightly altered and reflavored into something that would fit your theme.  That one has the bonus of not requiring an action to use, though it is a mind-affecting effect...

PaleEnchantress

Quote from: Kunoichi on May 16, 2015, 02:13:07 AM
Hmm...  The Joystealer from the MMIV does have a 'Drain Emotions' special attack that could be worth looking into.  Although, in order to actually make use of that special attack, you'd probably want to pick up the 'Psychic Vampire' vampire variant for yourself.  It's in the book Libris Mortis, and won't increase your CR at all.  You'd be doing fewer negative levels with each attack, but you'd be able to toss out a pretty hefty amount of Wisdom damage with your slam attacks instead.

Alternately, the Whisper Demon (also from the MMIV) has a 'Maddening Whispers' special attack that could be slightly altered and reflavored into something that would fit your theme.  That one has the bonus of not requiring an action to use, though it is a mind-affecting effect...

ALso check out Gray Jester from heroes of Horror and maybe even the Wendigo Tenmplate
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Kunoichi

Quote from: PaleEnchantress on May 16, 2015, 02:40:31 AM
ALso check out Gray Jester from heroes of Horror and maybe even the Wendigo Tenmplate

Ooh, good call on the Gray Jester.  The Empathic Feeding ability that that creature gets would be pretty much a perfect fit for lockepick's character concept. ^^

Mantis Shrimp Prime

Questions for your consideration...

1) What section should I put this in?

2) I'm still debating our opening scenario. But I was wondering if anyone would mind if I drew a couple NPC minions for each of you?

PaleEnchantress

Quote from: Mantis Shrimp Prime on May 16, 2015, 03:02:33 AM
Questions for your consideration...

1) What section should I put this in?

2) I'm still debating our opening scenario. But I was wondering if anyone would mind if I drew a couple NPC minions for each of you?

Id put it at least in NC, the horrors of the abyss could make it extreme even if we arent playing them for sexual kicks.

2, you draw? My character is very leadership centric. if you were to hand me a picture and personality i could easily make them one of my followers, though i might want to point out you should look at what i DO to my followers.
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Mantis Shrimp Prime

Quote from: PaleEnchantress on May 16, 2015, 03:31:31 AM
Id put it at least in NC, the horrors of the abyss could make it extreme even if we arent playing them for sexual kicks.

2, you draw? My character is very leadership centric. if you were to hand me a picture and personality i could easily make them one of my followers, though i might want to point out you should look at what i DO to my followers.

I meant "draw up" as in "to compose a document" but yes I do draw and I may end up doing fanart of characters.

You of course are free to do leadership and stat your own dudes and play them as you wish, but I thought I'd make the offer in case any body wanted a couple dudes not under their direct player control to play off.

PaleEnchantress

Quote from: Mantis Shrimp Prime on May 16, 2015, 03:38:59 AM
I meant "draw up" as in "to compose a document" but yes I do draw and I may end up doing fanart of characters.

You of course are free to do leadership and stat your own dudes and play them as you wish, but I thought I'd make the offer in case any body wanted a couple dudes not under their direct player control to play off.

Im open to a bit of both, as well as players playing each others cohorts. Depends on who has cohorts that another player feels fits their style. I'm very specific in what i can enjoy playing so I doubt anyone else would have a cohort or  key follower that fits that niche. If it does though, hey I'm here.
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Zaer Darkwail

Quote from: Mantis Shrimp Prime on May 16, 2015, 01:59:12 AM
I am gonna have so much fun with you guys.
You play in my sort of games.

Hehe, if you want join my game (legendary monsters) the recruit thread is in here; https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=227047.0

Quote from: Mantis Shrimp Prime on May 16, 2015, 03:02:33 AM
Questions for your consideration...

1) What section should I put this in?

2) I'm still debating our opening scenario. But I was wondering if anyone would mind if I drew a couple NPC minions for each of you?

1) I advice on NC: Exotic very least (extreme scenes possible but should toned down bit).

2) My own suggestion is that we use my char who is a prophet who saw in advance the sudden flux in abyss leadership and saw who are going to get 'promoted' unexpected manner (albeit not unexpected to him and he sought to fill one leadership shoes himself so he manipulated events for his favor to get immortality and extra power). So he may had in advance send messengers who appeared instant the people got 'empowered' say (along these lines); 'hello, come over my place so we can have a chat, I knew in advance for your promotion and you realize your pretty much screwed against older demon princes. So come over so we can talk a....arrangement which can secure your future existence'.

So in sense my char would get folks together at his own domain for gathering and then there we can RP how we set dynamics of the alliance and so forth to ensure that we survive.

Lockepick

BTW: Are we not posting character sheets publicly because people are still working on them -- or did we want to keep that stuff hidden?

@Kunoichi: I'm totally going to take use the Psychic Vampire Alternative -- though not sure on the options listed. I'm going to post my ideas once I finish my write up so there is more context. Any thoughts on how the Wisdom Drain might improve for Vampire Lord? Energy Drain went from 2 levels to 3 levels -- so thought I'd ask. Blood Drain went from 1d4 to 1d4+2 -- maybe Wisdom Drain goes from 1d6 to 1d6+1, Aura goes from 1 to 2?
Like what you see? I am currently looking for new plots!

Detailed List of O/Os and Plot Seeds

All of my image links were previously photobucket and broken -- I'm fixing them as I use the avatars again, or for current games. Please let me know if there is something that needs updating!

TheGlyphstone

Mantis said to write up a background/personality first, and once that was approved we could worry about mechanical specifics. Plus, I had a whole list of mechanical questions that needed to be answered before I could write mine anyways.


I'm trying a bit of a blank as far as minions goes - the draft I'd written is very much of a lone operator type, though he can cheerfully cooperate with others; part of his challenge is simply adjusting to the needs of being a leader and having minions in the first place.

Part of that is because I have a truly scary amount of versatility. My beastie over in the legendary monsters game is a more or less indestructible destroyer, but his only practical solution to a problem is 'get a bigger hammer'. This character is far weaker in terms of stats and ability, even accounting for the scaling down from CR33 to CR16, but I have Wish and Limited Wish as sorcerer spells known, and I ignore the XP and material component costs. That gives me access to basically every spell in the game of 7th level or lower if I want/need it at that particular moment, without even getting to my Shadow Illusions.

Lockepick


Methu the Imbiber, Lord of Excess
Psychic Vampire Lord Satyr of Legend, Soul Eater 10

WIP! Still working on...

- Avatar: Everything...
- Cohort: Equipment

Concept

Who/What is Methu the Imbiber?
Methu is enjoys and savors his creature comforts, and encourages it in others. He lets an air of aloofness and poor priorities mask his actual cunning and threat. His thirst for power and hedonistic excess will never be satisfied, and thus, even as he appears as a sloven and easily satisfied burnout, he will always be clawing and crawled for the next 'high.' He can play well with others, after all, people owing him favors or leaving him on good terms simply means something else he doesn't have to worry about later.

Role within a Party:
His Vampiric abilities make him an excellent scout and spy. Methu himself can attempt sneaking in shadows, sneaking in plain sight, or disguise via Polymorph/Bluff and Shapechanging into defeated targets or mundane animals. He can also communicate and control summoned animals, any Vampires he creates, and anybody that falls under his Dominate/Suggestion/Geas/Quest.

Within a Combat:
He is (hopefully) a front line fighter who can take a beating. His main combat script involves unarmed/natural attacks for Energy Drain, which not only will (hopefully) quickly remove the target, but with Life Drain (f) should give Methu a healthy buffer of temporary hit points. Should be able to move/attack with Hustle via Evader Psicrown.

History

TL;DR History

-Methu is too wild and crazy for his grove, goes into the city.
-Methu is too stupid to realize the danger of a vampire, named Cales, and gets his ass turned.
-Not a Spawn due to Cales overestimating his abilities, but Methu plays along.
-Methu is pissed/sad because he can't enjoy food/wine/sex, but finds solace in enjoying blood and power.
-Methu gets revenge by killing Cales and his spawn, goes out on his own.
-Methu accidentally drinks a soul and it is fucking awesome -- learns how to get more.
-Graz'zt, the Dark Prince, catches sight of the soul eater and offers him his mortality back in exchange for his service. Methu agrees. Biggest party/orgy the Abyss has seen.
-Power vacuum opened up and Graz'zt believed he'd have more power with Methu taking power and being in his pocket. PS: Methu is lying.

Methu was a satyr with an insatiable appetite for indulgence, even amongst the other Satyr of his Grove. He survived the excess and overdoses and never learned his lesson, and when the others in his Grove were unwilling to join him in his revelry, he reached out further and further from the Grove. First he found the nearby elves, those who were familiar and respected the fey, and began to drink and celebrate with them. When the elves grew weary of his indulgence, Methu moved further out from the grove; beyond those traveling through the woods, beyond the trade routes, and all the way to a capital that no other Satyr from the Grove had even dared see.It was luck that the people there saw him as an adorable curiosity more than anything threatening. His needs were easily met with coin earned from performances and basic divine casting; Methu was more inclined to work for trade even when it gain him less. His presence alone made the tavern more popular and more wild. Friendly brawls would break out more often due to the heavy amount of drinking and celebrating, shady deals and interactions would occur in the dark corners, and nothing was contraband.

A vampire named Cales came to the tavern to find a victim and see what all the talk was about. He was only passing through, and considered it a challenge and a conquest to take Methu as his victim. The satyr, too naive to see the danger, hardly put up a fight to the smoldering man. After another such night of drinking, partying, and sex, Cales fed from the curiosity and drained him dry. His corpse was carried out of the town in secret and buried outside the town, where Cales and his swarm of spawn waited for him to awake. Cales had miscalculated how Methu would fit into his swarm, and Methu was raised without any allegiance to the man. Cales played his cards and made it clear what he expected, and Methu saw rebelling against it would just lead to his destruction. He played along, Cales too confident to see through the lie.

Methu was heartbroken, distraught, and suicidal when he learned he was deprived of all the creature comforts he had before. Cales showed him blood and power, and nothing he had enjoyed before could compare. He stayed with Cales for decades, the rest of Cales' swarm falling and new members rising, but Methu learned how to survive in his condition. Once he had thought he learned everything, he got his revenge for being changed against his will: he killed Cales and his swarm and ventured out on his own for another decade -- finding enjoyment and excitement where he could, which was gradually becoming more in the destruction of those would try to stop him.

His first time tasting a soul was an accident. A momentary experience during his normal routine that awakened him to a whole new world. From there his travels took him directly towards sources of arcane and necromantic lore. He learned more about his target, more about how to take it from his victims and drink it down. He grows more addicted to his new preference; blood is simply dressing and garnish to getting to the soul of his victims. It gives him more power and strength, while also giving him sensations reminiscent to the comforts he remembered from being alive.

Graz'zt, The Dark Prince, caught rumor or word of Methu. His minions contacted Methu and made a deal -- Methu's service for his returned mortality. It was supposed to be a trick that his mortality would make him into a demon, not back to what he was originally, but Methu didn't question it. Nor was he unhappy with his new form once the ritual was complete and the deal was made. His new form didn't need to eat or drink, but could. He was stronger than he ever was before, but able to enjoy all the pleasures the world could offer: food, drink, drugs, sex, blood, souls, and of course power. Methu the Imbiber's celebration was one of the largest celebrations many of the Abyss had seen: with many alliances made, rivalries founded, heirs conceived, and enemies killed.

Methu served Graz'zt for another thirty years, comfortable to live in Graz'zt's luxury if it meant the occasional work. When Lords fell and space became available, Methu decided that he could live even more comfortably on his own throne. He made Graz'zt think it was his idea to give Methu some autonomy. If Methu grabbed another seat and realm for himself while remaining loyal to Graz'zt, it would give the Dark Prince even more power. Now Methu is working on establishing his place, hopefully so that he can sit back and let somebody else do all the hard work...

Leadership: The Cult of the Piped Horns

Cult of the Piped Horns
Symbol: A view of curled ram's horms from the front, independent of any skull, with the horns textured with 'piping'. Each horn is grasped by a fist, fingers fitting into the piping as if made for that.

Leadership Score: 35
Followers: 1st: 1,180 / 2nd: 118 / 3rd: 60 / 4th: 30 / 5th: 16 / 6th: 8 / 7th: 4 / 8th: 2 

The Cult of the Piped Horn follows Methu the Imbiber and his message; the Demon Lord blurring the lines between high priest and god on earth. His followers typically come from the social elite, those rich enough to become jaded with earthly delights and seeking something greater. Members treat the Cult like a secret society or a Hellfire Club, wearing small trinkets and jewelry that only another member might recognize. The most iconic image is that of any sort of clutched or bound horn. The Cult's main symbol is supposed to be a thinly veiled assumption that the grip would most likely come from either fucking the Satyr from behind, or as handles used during oral sex. Service to Methu whether it is religious devotion, raw attraction, or some attempt to garner his favor, comes in the form of acquiring rare goods and information.

Membership and rumor of the Cult has grown across the Abyss, the Prime Material, as well as some of the more civilized cities in other planes. Celebrations are thrown regularly for any reason they can find, where the social elite and people of power meet to discuss and indulge in whatever depraved act. Social games and challenges are common, where everybody is attempting to use the collected masses to further their own power, without giving up any power in their own state. Those who try to 'cheat' the game by staying sober or offering no passion towards a vice are dealt with quickly; most commonly being used for another cultists pleasure in a way they couldn't find other volunteers. Cultists earn 'points' and 'ranks' that give nothing except the acclaim, and occasionally, overly verbose and floral titles that are ultimately useless are earned. Methu's Followers are made up mostly of Bards and Rogues, though Sorcerers/Wizards, Clerics, and Experts are not unheard of.

Rumors and myths about the Cult of the Piped Horn, and it's members, are common place in Courts across the planes. Many of these are started by members of the Cult itself in an effort to spread disinformation, or simply increase the mystique of a group others can't join. Those who threaten to expose or get too close to the cult are easily disposed of, usually turned into some sort of entertainment for the cult members themselves.

Avatar: BLANK

WIP

Cohort: His Grace, Juice of Plums Most Low, On High, Reginald Fischer

His Grace, Juice of Plums Most Low, On High, Reginald Fischer
Half-Fey Lesser Tiefling Prodigy
Wizard 5, Mage of the Arcane Order 9



Demon Specific Traits

Methu the Imbiber, Lord of Excess
Psychic Vampire Lord Satyr of Legend, Soul Eater 10 (tanar'ri)

Vampire Template = +2 CR, 0 HD
Vampire Lord = +3 CR, 0 HD
Monster of Legend = +2 CR, 0 HD
Satyr = +2 CR, 6 HD
10 Levels  Soul Eater= +5 CR, 10 HD
Demon Lord Template = +2 CR, 0 HD
Prodigy = +0CR, 0 HD
16 CR = 16 HD

Additional Spell-Like Abilities
   At-will - Glibness and Suggestion
   3/day - Symbol of Persuasion, Charm Monster, and Scrying
   1/day - Gaes/Quest and Greater Scrying
Additional Weaknesses
Tomb-Tainted Soul (Ex) Though Methu the Imbiber was returned to life by Graz'zt, his body and soul still carry the taint of undeath from the time he spent as a vampire.  Whenever Methu is subjected to an effect for which it would be harmful or disadvantageous for him to count as an undead being (such as turn undead, a Command Undead spell, favored enemy (undead), or other such effects), that effect counts him as an intelligent undead being.
Aura of Inebriation (su) Methu has so entrenched and saturated himself with the euphoric high of indulgence that it permeates the very air around him. The best and worst features are pulled to the surface for those who are with or against him; enemies suffering from the debilitating confusion and allies enjoying the positive euphoria.
- 60' Aura. Enemies: WIL DC = 10 + 1/2 HD + Charisma. Failure = Confusion for 1rd, where Methu is never considered the closest person. Pass = Immune to Aura of Inebriation for 4 rds. Allies: Gain the effects of Heroism, WIL Negates (Harmless).
Summon (sp) WIL DC: 36 or go insane.
Connoisseur of Life (su) Methu's expertise in draining the very life essence from his targets, whether it is blood, emotions, or their soul, allows him to improvise new and exciting ways. Spells and magic items can't keep Methu's hunger at bay, and can't keep him from his meal.
- 120' Aura that removes any immunity to ability/energy drain that isn't inherent to a creature's Type. Any damage from ability/energy drain can not be healed within the aura. Methu can choose targets to be immune to this effect.
Guardian Souls (su) Methu has devoured countless victims in his decades of decadence. Many of those souls were loyal to him; either through love, infatuation, or religious devotion. Those souls still seek to protect and benefit him, and the essence of the devotee's souls form a wreathe or a crown around his head and offer him protection with telepathic warnings of his surroundings.
- The Guardian Souls exist around Methu constantly, giving him a Profane Bonus equal to his Charisma mod towards Spot, Listen, and Initiative. They also make it so that any Negative Energy Damage that Methu suffers heals him instead of damaging him, and grants Methu immunity to any Negative Energy Effects, including Death Effects. The Guardian Souls can be effected by Turn/Rebuke Undead. They're treated as a single Undead with Methu's HD, and if Turned/Rebuked, go inactive for 1d10 rounds.


Like what you see? I am currently looking for new plots!

Detailed List of O/Os and Plot Seeds

All of my image links were previously photobucket and broken -- I'm fixing them as I use the avatars again, or for current games. Please let me know if there is something that needs updating!

Kunoichi

Ooh, looking good thus far, lockepick. ^^

Quote from: TheGlyphstone on May 16, 2015, 10:37:08 AM
Mantis said to write up a background/personality first, and once that was approved we could worry about mechanical specifics. Plus, I had a whole list of mechanical questions that needed to be answered before I could write mine anyways.

Based on his wording in some previous replies, I think it's safe to say that everyone is probably approved at this point.  What are the mechanical questions you have?

Quote
but I have Wish and Limited Wish as sorcerer spells known, and I ignore the XP and material component costs. That gives me access to basically every spell in the game of 7th level or lower if I want/need it at that particular moment, without even getting to my Shadow Illusions.

I get the feeling we probably don't want any other demon lords to learn about that fact.  Being able to rewrite reality like that tends to draw down a lot of heat...

PaleEnchantress


On the other hand I had been thinking of a couple things as proposed house rules.

First: For our characters and minions, SLA exp costs over 500 exp or 5,000 GP still have to be paid. This lets people have some fun with the no components aspect of SLA's without totally breaking it open.  If you guys are okay with SLA's always being free thats fine, it was just a suggestion.

Second: Different houserule (easily combined with the above), depending on how the DM hands out exp, exp costs can be really annoying to deal with anyway. I suggest we take a page from pathfinder and annex exp cost from crafting and make exp cost for spell compoenents just change into expensive material costs worth the exp cost x 5 in gp.

Third: Feats are rare gems and its hard to get enough to do anything creative with them. Would anyone else prefer pathfinder feat progression of "every odd level" -
What do you all think?
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