Recruiting: high scale Pathfinder, Taldor, aka Byzantium focused

Started by Kolbrandr, June 02, 2013, 03:46:12 AM

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ShadowFox89

 Well what do you suggest for a mercenary captain then, other than barbarian, fighter, paladin, and monk, while still leaving melee as an option and being able to put the 10 in strength? Because, again, I can't see any other way to make the concept to work. Fighter is too bland, and I can't stand alignment restrictions (or the alignment system in general), and keeping track of spellcasting gives me a headache.
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kckolbe

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Kolbrandr

Okay, before anything else, you can't stand alignment? I mean, I'm using the alignment system, to say. If even something on that basic level is that much of a source of aggravation to you that you have to work past not wanting to deal with it at all, it feels like this game is only going to be a lot of frustration for you from the ground up and across the board.

EroticFantasyAuthor

There are also various Archetypes to choose from, which can often spice up an otherwise "bland class."

ShadowFox89

Quote from: Kolbrandr on June 04, 2013, 11:20:02 PM
Okay, before anything else, you can't stand alignment? I mean, I'm using the alignment system, to say. If even something on that basic level is that much of a source of aggravation to you that you have to work past not wanting to deal with it at all, it feels like this game is only going to be a lot of frustration for you from the ground up and across the board.

I usually pick Lawful Neutral or True Neutral, because that means most of the time you don't have to deal with the annoyances of the alignment system. I've played Pathfinder quiet a bit, and there are only a few classes I like. Most of them are from Dreamscarred Press (3rd party and so not allowed, despite Paizo sending psionics stuff specifically to Dreamscarred because they knew they didn't have the writers for it), stealthy (rogue and ninja), or already not allowed (gunslinger and Magus).
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Flying Tengu

Quote from: ShadowFox89 on June 04, 2013, 11:10:52 PM
Well what do you suggest for a mercenary captain then, other than barbarian, fighter, paladin, and monk, while still leaving melee as an option and being able to put the 10 in strength? Because, again, I can't see any other way to make the concept to work. Fighter is too bland, and I can't stand alignment restrictions (or the alignment system in general), and keeping track of spellcasting gives me a headache.

Well, working within those restrictions, there's Ranger.  Rangers can fight pretty darn well.  Certain types of rogues can fight fairly well, too.  As mentioned above, the "martial artist" archetype for the monk doesn't have alignment restrictions, so that's an option, too.

As for those restrictions... the barbarian's only restriction is "non-lawful".  That's pretty easy to deal with.  Just make your character behave as something other than a paladin in a loincloth, and you'll be just fine.  Then, for the fighter, maybe it would be more interesting if you picked some wacky archetype, an interesting class to gestalt with, and then jumped into a prestige class at first opportunity?  Just some suggestions.

Kolbrandr

Quote from: ShadowFox89 on June 04, 2013, 11:25:11 PM
I usually pick Lawful Neutral or True Neutral, because that means most of the time you don't have to deal with the annoyances of the alignment system. I've played Pathfinder quiet a bit, and there are only a few classes I like. Most of them are from Dreamscarred Press (3rd party and so not allowed, despite Paizo sending psionics stuff specifically to Dreamscarred because they knew they didn't have the writers for it), stealthy (rogue and ninja), or already not allowed (gunslinger and Magus).

Okay, I'm going to just be honest with you at this point. This is a conversation that is feeling combative enough that I don't think either of us would enjoy continuing it, and I'd prefer at this point you stick with your original intent to withdraw from the game being put together, I don't think our approaches match up in a reconcilable way and it would be better on everyone not to smash them against each other. I'm sorry things didn't work out, I do honestly hope you can find games more to your liking.

RubySlippers

Quote from: ShadowFox89 on June 04, 2013, 11:10:52 PM
Well what do you suggest for a mercenary captain then, other than barbarian, fighter, paladin, and monk, while still leaving melee as an option and being able to put the 10 in strength? Because, again, I can't see any other way to make the concept to work. Fighter is too bland, and I can't stand alignment restrictions (or the alignment system in general), and keeping track of spellcasting gives me a headache.

Fighter (there are ample archetypes that can work)/Rogue would be a good mercenary.

I mean I liked the Monk and Lawful is not an option with her patron deity so chose to be Neutral ,allowed for the cleric, and took Martial Artist as an Archetype and it worked.


Trilogy

Just posting to say I'm still here, I'll post a better write up of my Bard//Rogue/Lion Blade tonight after work. Can only post from my phone while at work...

RubySlippers

I'm rethinking the game 14th level is pretty damn high and I have no overt interest in politics or power mongering as a player at least in a way to pose a threat to anyone. The Gestalt thing is another issue its fine but save for cleric don't like any others really with it I just slapped on Martial Arts due to the rules and an NPC class is not going to be to useful.

I was thinking this would be best the GM can decide what level he wants to give us then we could trade off levels for in-game benefits like if I went from 14th level to 8th level I might get six role-playing perks like gain on important patron or could start with a funded modest temple. It would give us more options if we want to focus heavily into role-playing or opt to not be as powerful to start.

As for class combo I like Cleric and not sure what the other one will be at this point.

Muse

May I suggest fighter? She doesn't use armor much, but uses the feats to be skilled with the whip? :)
A link for all of us who ever had a shouting match with our muse: http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html

How to set this Muse ablaze (O/Os)

When the little angel won't appear no matter how many plum blossoms you swirl:  https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=135346.msg16474321#msg16474321 (Major update 5/10/2023)

kckolbe

Ruby, if you want to play an 8th level character, I am willing to consider my character to be under obligation to yours (perhaps they provide free guards to yours?), or my order of Nethys to owe your church a favor, whichever you prefer.  After all, I am planning on playing a high level character that went from commoner to bearded, runs a chapter of the Order of Nethys and has ties to both the city guard AND a mercenary company.  Surely he would owe someone some favors, and I would like those favors to be to someone that was willing to take a level hit for RP reasons.

I am not sure which class she should take, but sorceress seems reasonable, perhaps with a celestial or fey bloodline.  I imagine she'll have a high charisma, after all.

By the way, would anyone be interested in playing my cohort?  I am pretty flexible on class combinations, but he or she would need to be a devout follower of Nethys.
Ons/Offs  A/A  Oath of the Drake
(From the Penis Game) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Penis
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Kolbrandr

Hokay, tomorrow is another day and all that, and so..

Quote from: RubySlippers on June 05, 2013, 10:30:26 AM
I'm rethinking the game 14th level is pretty damn high and I have no overt interest in politics or power mongering as a player at least in a way to pose a threat to anyone. The Gestalt thing is another issue its fine but save for cleric don't like any others really with it I just slapped on Martial Arts due to the rules and an NPC class is not going to be to useful.

I was thinking this would be best the GM can decide what level he wants to give us then we could trade off levels for in-game benefits like if I went from 14th level to 8th level I might get six role-playing perks like gain on important patron or could start with a funded modest temple. It would give us more options if we want to focus heavily into role-playing or opt to not be as powerful to start.

As for class combo I like Cleric and not sure what the other one will be at this point.

I'm more inclined to reward people for helping with setting contributions/backstory work/organizational detail than I am to do a sort of white wolf merit/flaw kind of thing of hobbling yourself for stuff, is what that is, as far as the idea of more levels for more conceptual work. The notion being that 8 is the default, but you could then shoot higher for an influential organization/more levels. The idea as noted is that doing more work to focus on rp (npc and organization creation, or a backstory with a nice amount of hooks and involvement, or both), is something that gets tangibly rewarded for putting in the effort. If you actually don't want to be higher than 8th, that's perfectly fine, but I don't really want to reverse the whole approach I was going to take here. If you want to lead a more significant and connected branch of Calistria's faith, again, also cool, and certainly it's not like everything important ever has someone of high levels at the top, but it means I'd want to see some detail from you there.

So for instance what I was going to note to you as far as some stuff you've asked, and what I've already noted in thread, the idea is that, again, for example, you can potentially be something as powerful/influential as a group like the Varian, if that's what you want to go for, it just means a bunch of conceptual effort/help with worldbuilding/that kind of deal. Like I've said, I don't want to actually bog you guys down wholly in resource and domain management, so I am going to be a bit more handwavy about that kind of thing.

To put /that/ more constructively, how expansive a temple and how influential a branch of the faith were you envisioning for your character? Do you think you could do a bit of writing up for the perks you want associated with it/you? Which is to say, if everything were ideal, what would you have in mind? The idea is to then work from there to see what we can do for that, as opposed to the other way around.

That all make sense? Hopefully we're not talking past each other or anything.

Kolbrandr

Quote from: Trilogy on June 05, 2013, 08:57:40 AM
Just posting to say I'm still here, I'll post a better write up of my Bard//Rogue/Lion Blade tonight after work. Can only post from my phone while at work...

No worries, don't feel rushed.

kckolbe

I have a request.  In the NPC classes, it says that all adepts are divine.  Can we change that and allow adepts to be divine or arcane?  For flavor, I'd like some of both.  I'm fleshing out all of my followers now.
Ons/Offs  A/A  Oath of the Drake
(From the Penis Game) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Penis
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EroticFantasyAuthor

I'm a bit new to in-depth political campaigns, and haven't really done any in-depth politically faction world-building generation in the past.

What are some examples of the logistics involved in a character forming a new faction like a mercenary company?

I hope my newbie-ness to political campaigns will not be a problem, I am eager to learn and am very excited about all the possibilities the campaign presents.


RubySlippers

I'll stick to an 8th Level heavy role-playing character a cleric with a modest holy place in the city, keep it simple.

Kolbrandr

KC: Ehh, adepts get a mix of spells enough that does it really matter if they're arcane? It just might result in some clunky things is all.

ERF: You don't necessarily yourself have to have your character tailor made to be in the depths of sociopolitical stuff, but that is going to be a focus, and it would go well if you can at least interact with it on some meaningful level. I mean for instance, if someone was playing a bodyguard or something like that, they're /probably/ not going to be initiating too many social maneuvers. But they should be able to get caught up in them.

With that said, so for instance, a mercenary company, things to ask yourself would be, are you a company of any age or heft? Do you have regular patrons? Lasted long enough to have any history? More recently formed? How big do you picture said company? What sort of work do they do? How committed/amoral/loyal are they with regards work and contracts? Any scruples at all? Are you a jumped up gang of toughs or a more professional band with a banner and that sort of thing? Are you from Taldor? Did you form somewhere else and have been fightin round the world? If so, what brings you unto Taldor?

Kolbrandr

Quote from: RubySlippers on June 05, 2013, 07:57:36 PM
I'll stick to an 8th Level heavy role-playing character a cleric with a modest holy place in the city, keep it simple.

Alright, going to take the free leadership feat for your subordinate/followers?

RubySlippers

Yes and write up her holy place I was thinking a brick warehouse in Eastport along the water likely the only serious and fire secured buildings by location in the city. With some work could make a nice smaller temple and shrine and they have not holy places listed for that.


Ebb

With Kolbrandr's permission I've gathered up all of the character creation rules that we've been given and stuck them on a Wiki page.

You can see it here: https://elliquiy.com/wiki/Taldor

The idea is to build new pages for the different Houses and organizations as they come along, and link them all to that page. That way the information's all in one place so people don't have to sort through threads. (House Varian is listed at the bottom, for example.)

Everything on there is subject to change, and any use of the word "I" there is just a quote from the GM; I didn't write anything myself.

Kolbrandr, you might want to put that link in the opening post of this thread as well, so if new people wander in they can get all of the character creation stuff at once.

Trilogy

Some stuff I typed up in my free time. It's kind of all over the place, I know; I'll focus in on more things when I have the chance.

Aria
Half Elf
Bard//Rogue/Lion Blade




It is a well-known fact that the Taldoran nobility produces a large number of bastards. Most take pains to hide the fact, but it’s largely unnecessary, as by now such things are casually overlooked by most of Taldoran society. Bastards are given to guilds or academies to raise (or, in the case of the cruellest of nobles, merely thrown onto the street) never knowing who their true father may have been. But it is less common for a noble to father a child of mixed racial blood...

Aria’s father is a Magister and cousin to the Crown Prince. While he possesses no particular desire for the crown- indeed, he goes to great lengths to safeguard the rule of his cousin and family line- he is a schemer. He is constantly involved in courtly intrigue and espionage, presumably for the good of the realm and his family, but often to secure and promote his own position. After Aria’s birth he quietly paid for her to be fostered in the capitol’s Bardic College- and later, brought to the Shadow Schools. Since her admittance to the secretive Lion Blades, he has frequently called on her specifically for missions. Though his motives in grooming her into his assassin seem, for the most part, mercenary, he does seem to have some amount of affection for his bastard daughter, and has always done whatever he can to provide her with a decent way in life.

(Both know, of course, that they are father and daughter- it would be difficult, given Aria’s line of work, for her to not find out- but both are content to leave that relationship unspoken. If asked, Aria will refer to her father as her ‘Patron.’ She does not know who her mother is.)


Aria grew up a bright, cheerful young girl. At the Bardic College she was taught the general skills of any bard- song, dance, swordplay, and magic- but her true gift was for the Stage. Her teachers marveled at her ability to take on a wide variety of roles, to imitate people from all walks of life, male or female, human or otherwise, so convincingly! Though her career on the stage was cut short by her admittance into the Shadow Schools at the age of 16, it was there her acting skills truly blossomed. The idea of taking on the role of another fascinated Aria. There was power in it, in losing oneself in a role, of taking on another’s life for just a short while, only to discard it for another- and here she could hone that craft not on the stage but on the street, in the real world, interacting with real people, the ultimate test of her talent.

It is difficult to describe Aria’s personality because her behavior is so fluid. Years of impersonation and intrigue have meant she spends so much of her life ‘in character’ that it is almost impossible to tell whether the Aria you know is the actual Aria, or merely another version she’s concocted for your benefit. Indeed, it is likely she does not know herself, as her default reaction to meeting a new person or a new situation is to ‘bend’ herself to fit, whether it be to blend in or stand out. Those who have known her for the longest (which is a very small number of people) would say, at least, that she is generally cheerful and optimistic, happy with her lot in life, a lover of the arts, of fine food and drink.. Indeed, she sees what she does as just another form of art, and herself as an artist- the perfect assassination (she never calls it killing- ‘killing’ is inelegant and brutal, assassination is a delicate, precise art) is like a perfectly scripted play, and she’s merely one of the actors. But then again, they also speak of a barely-restrained intensity behind her usually casual attitude, a drive to perfect herself and her craft that allows her to easily become obsessed with creating the perfect ‘work of art.’

kckolbe

ERF:  If it helps, my character is involved with a merc company as well, but it is quite small, only 24 members so far (based on an estimate of my character's leadership score), and they are limited to little more than guard work, with the occasional personal bodyguard.  I imagine certain deals will have to be made with the Oppara Constabulatory, maybe paying them off to avoid certain patrols or to make sure to be there depending on the situation.  The majority of said guards protect the order itself, with the remaining leased out to the docks when new goods come in or standing by certain merchants in open markets.  They are a small time company.

Kolbrandr:  Mechanically, it makes almost no difference to me.  It just seemed that followers of an order of Nethys would have some arcane types.  So mainly for the flavor of calling them arcane.  They can still use Wisdom for all I care.

Ebb: You are awesome.  Once approved, can I send you fluff for my character and get that posted?

Trilogy: Ginger is playing a half elf performer as well.  You two may wanna have your characters know each other.
Ons/Offs  A/A  Oath of the Drake
(From the Penis Game) Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Penis
I love a wet nymph.  "Letting some guy have [her] just to have another woman is a losing trade"

Buffy: The Vampire Slayer(IC#2)
Intro Thread