Small group, cooperative Pathfinder: starter thread

[Mantis Shrimp Prime]

Ha. I'd almost be interested in playing a tavernkeeper or something.

[PhantomPistoleer]

Ha. I'd almost be interested in playing a tavernkeeper or something.

Why not??

[Ixy]

That's an idea.  Invest your gold into a business and plan out how much return you get each month.  Would your character take part in high jinks and dirty-knuckle work?

[Mantis Shrimp Prime]

That's an idea.  Invest your gold into a business and plan out how much return you get each month.  Would your character take part in high jinks and dirty-knuckle work?

Perhaps. I'd had the idea they might be part-time involved in the story and have more an NPC role when they come back from town from their excursions. Maybe someone who could appraise their goods or sell them stuff.
Since there's tons of interest NPC ideas but you never really get to play those.
But in a game with no permanent GM it'd be a possibility.

[PhantomPistoleer]

Okay, so, I've been working on the little town's map.  I don't see it as a town, but more like... a settlement.

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

I am going to be working on this, but I would like feedback.  The tower at the bottom left will be the keep/barracks, but I liked the idea of soldiers actually putting up tents on the battlements to escape the suffocating heat.  Imagined the keep being on a cliff face, and the dock being right at the bottom.  The building on the bottom right is the tavern, inn, gambling saloon, and brothel.  In my mind, the owners of the inn dismantled a boat and used it to build the inn.  The building on the top right is a blacksmith for the company at the keep.  The building on the top left is a stable of sorts, but I'm not sure if there's any horses?  Or if we're riding something else (maybe dire birds?).

Also, I would like to claim a portrait:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Also, my character sheet:

http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=1094621

[Chulanowa]

Still got a little space? I could pitch in an Atlas-style map 

[kckolbe]

What are the purple squares?  Are those houses? 

I'm guessing that arcane training takes place in the tower as well?  By the way, your char isn't really that different than mine in concept, though the "battlefield" differences are significant. 

[PhantomPistoleer]

The purple things are tents

As for arcane training, the fort doesn't have any space allocated to it.  It doesn't actually have any educational institution, although, in my mind, the large tower'a first floor has been transformed into a training ground for the garrison.

This doesn't mean that there isn't the space for it, though.  I imagine that there is plenty of room within one of the towers for arcane training -- but, the settlement being so new, everything is still very disorganized/ransacked.

[Ixy]

I think this is awesome.  I suppose that outside the fort there'd be a few sellers, a farmers market, and the like-- the kind of places that could pack up and run into the fort if violence happens or a storm comes in.

A few more details, if nobody objects?

-The farmers' homes would essentially be plantations.  I don't know if you guys are ok with slavery or indentured servitude.  I'm leaning toward the latter, unless you really want to tread that thin line between offensiveness and historical realism
-Primary goods: rice, sugar, tobacco (I want to re-hash the sexy cigar-roller NPC I had last time I tried to run this setting), lizard/snake leather, fish, kelp, exotic feathers, menagerie beasts.
-I figure for deities, we can use those from purle duck (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/cleric/gods-3rd-party-publishers/gods-of-porphyra-pdg). The church of Toma Thule is very interested in discoveries made on the island, as is that of Lyvalia.
-Like the old campaign, I've started thinking of the island as "Krakken".  That ok?

[kckolbe]

Sounds great!  Does the island have some resource or strategic purpose?  Does the island belong to the church or are they trying to claim it, maybe from an indigenous race?

[Chulanowa]

So by "island" what size are we talking? Just a little coastal thing, a few miles by a few miles? An island with some land area to it, like Puerto Rico or Hawaii? Or an entire "lost continent" thing, like Australia or Xen'Drik?

[Ixy]

Good question.   It's largely unexplored, a thing of legend-- a bit of Atlantis?  No one's sure what culture ruled there, and the languages, glyphs, artistic/archeological styles are yet to be identified.  We do know from the sheer size of the ruins that they were very powerful people, whoever they were.

I'm up for ideas as to what the lost culture was like; it'd be cool to decide later, too, so we can preserve some elements of mystery.

[Ixy]

Sounds great!  Does the island have some resource or strategic purpose?  Does the island belong to the church or are they trying to claim it, maybe from an indigenous race?

sorry for double-posting.  I think the churches are after it because of the ruins, but they're not sharing why they're so interested.  The rumors run the gamut... there's a great source of power, there's untold fortunes of gold and magic items, there's ancient technology, or even 'this place was the source of all civilized life' or ' this is where gods are buried'.

As for other reasons, besides archaeology, religion, etc.-- parcels are being awarded to farmers to encourage resource growth.  The empire wants the land and resources and to build new cities, and to keep others from getting the resources. 

As for why now?  In the prior game I said there were horrible storms and volcanic activity in the surrounding seas, making it impossible to traverse until the past decade or two.

[PhantomPistoleer]

I think this is awesome.  I suppose that outside the fort there'd be a few sellers, a farmers market, and the like-- the kind of places that could pack up and run into the fort if violence happens or a storm comes in.

A few more details, if nobody objects?

-The farmers' homes would essentially be plantations.  I don't know if you guys are ok with slavery or indentured servitude.  I'm leaning toward the latter, unless you really want to tread that thin line between offensiveness and historical realism
-Primary goods: rice, sugar, tobacco (I want to re-hash the sexy cigar-roller NPC I had last time I tried to run this setting), lizard/snake leather, fish, kelp, exotic feathers, menagerie beasts.
-I figure for deities, we can use those from purle duck (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/cleric/gods-3rd-party-publishers/gods-of-porphyra-pdg). The church of Toma Thule is very interested in discoveries made on the island, as is that of Lyvalia.
-Like the old campaign, I've started thinking of the island as "Krakken".  That ok?

1.  I like the idea of MAKING a city, kind of like Pathfinder's Kingmaker.  I don't necessarily object to the idea that there are several merchants in the area, though.  But instead of plantations, I think it would be better if the outpost dealt with aboriginal hunters/trappers.  There could actually be a host of indigenous tribes within the island.  Or, the island could actually still be inhabited by holdouts from the previous war.  However, I think that ESTABLISHING a plantation would be an excellent adventure, which would require clearing the land.

In fact, I feel like the plantation could just be overgrown and still extant, and our forces would have to secure it.

2.  As for slavery, I don't necessarily mind it.  In fact, I sort of feel like the story calls for it.  Maybe the outpost has oppressed a tribe of savages already.  Or maybe the outpost has a number of indentured servants.  Or maybe, those indentured servants have been charged for unlawful felonies?  I feel like subjugating a local population could be either super sad or super sexy. 

3.  I like the idea of having active fishermen and hunters, but I don't think that the people should have been there long enough to raise a local crop.

4.  Krakken is a fine name, and I second it.  Maybe it could have gotten its name because so many fleets were lost in naval battles along its reefs?

Sounds great!  Does the island have some resource or strategic purpose?  Does the island belong to the church or are they trying to claim it, maybe from an indigenous race?

I like the idea that it's an unexplored thing of legend.  I also like the idea of it being largely ignored because it was dangerous, and then the purpose of a great many nations specifically because it was dangerous.

[kckolbe]

Oh wow.  Yeah, I am definitely getting more excited about this. 

[Chulanowa]

Welp. I had an atlas-style map all made and ready to go, but... photoshop crashed when I went to save. i know you're supposed to save as you go, but... eh. Anyway, too disgusted with the universe to try it again tonight.

Anyway, thoughts.

1) I like the idea of the town / outpost / whatever being, in essence, Stormreach, from Eberron; a "free city" built on the ruins of older towns, colonies, and outposts, themselves built on the ruins of one of the lost peoples of the island (who probably built on top of someone else, all the way down...). The town largely subsists on trade, both with natives of the land and with "parent nations." There are a few farms and whatnot, by people too rugged or desperate to care about the possible threats, but they're mostly subsistence. A large part of the economy comes from people travelign from abroad, spending lots of money on whatever i nthe town, then going to "adventure" - usually not coming back. Those that do find market for the artifacts and such they bring back. A real sort of boom town / shantytown / colonial toehold kind of thing.

2) Slavery is not outlawed, per se, but is not encouraged; if you come in with a slave, he / she is your slave, and that's between you and them. But the place has seen enough slave revolts and mutinies to have largely discarded the practice. Basically keeping someone in bondage is more trouble than it's proven to be worth. it remains a legal punishment, however, for crimes below rape, murder, and arson.

3) There is not just one "lost empire." There's a most recent one, but it leapfrogged an earlier one, who leapfrogged one before that, etc. Plus a number of maller kingdoms or whatever. Also, let's do avoid the tired old Elf / Dragon / Giant trinity, I've seen it in so many games. Why not atengu empire that has since degenerated into dire corbies? What about an ancient lizardfolk empire that actually developd spacefaring technology / magic... only to ruin themselves in a nuclear / whatever apocalypse? A military empire of gnomes famed for their jubjub bird war-beasts, who guarded an ever-expanding gateway int othe first world before their defeat at the hands of noble kobold tribes?



4) As regards deities, I would suggest just sticking with the existing pathfinder pantheon, for no reason other than they have actual support i nthe game (traits, mythos, feats, spells, items, templees and practices, etc)

[Ixy]

I'm liking this so far.  I'm with the ideas as listed:

-slavery exists in some reaches of the empire and is still tolerated in the empire at large, but is banned in the central empire.  Far better to replace it with contract slavery-- criminals, debtors, the desperate and impoverished people can put themselves under indentured servitude contract for determined periods to pay off crimes to society, massive debts, etc.  Of course, the economic system is slanted against them.  Like credit cards.

-Definitely the boomtown idea.  For inspiration, I can see the roots in Deadwood (tv show based on historic town of same name).  I still think we should use Phantom's fort schematic for now and tack on temporary residences, portable vendors, etc. on the outside.

-Can we use either the Purple Duck or a combination of both?  I don't have the resources on the 'standard' Pathfinder pantheon, and PD is all open-source (whereas core PF has set domains, etc. but deity names and stories are proprietary).  They have the domains/inquisitions, etc. all plotted out too... I'm in favor of picking a combination of what works.  I'm not sure about traits though, so if a pc depends on a specific deity for background, I say we bring that deity into the mix and roll with it.

-To add onto Phantom's idea about the local crop not yet having yielded... how about this?  5 years ago there was a successful expedition.  They had some successes, made some alliances with the aborigines, and started several plantations.  Something unknown happened to them; two or three major ones were destroyed, their population wiped out.   The empire blamed slave revolts or the natives (depending on who you ask) but it's unclear just what happened.  I'd like my character to be a survivor of that-- she has very little idea what actually happened, but was sent back to the mainland to live with family for a couple years, and is plagued by missing memories, nightmares, and physical scars.

-OK, let's figure out what species seems to 'thrive' here... definitely jungle/swampland.  Chulanowa's suggestions.  I like the Tengu, but they're so non-human it's a challenge for me to imagine being surrounded by them.  I'd support a mix of any of the followingL Lizardfolk, kobolds, Grippli, Vanara, Wayangs?

-I'm with you Chulanowa... they think "Oh, we discovered elven ruins here!  no, wait... these are... ok, we found Dwarven ruins MUCH OLDER than anything we've seen bef... hold on, there's something else here... wow, look at all those eyes--"


So...

How soon does everyone think they can have a character ready?  Even just a concept?

Have I missed anything?  Is there anything, other than what's above, we still need to discuss before deciding the game's starting point?

[kckolbe]

I definitely wouldn't mind playing a Lizardfolk NPC when it comes time for me to set up a major encounter, so I vote for there to be at least a small lizardfolk camp.

[Mantis Shrimp Prime]

You could also have the idea that, many of the empires invaded the island. Perhaps in some cases after the old civilization died.

In fact, they might have started much like this town, and the town is the makings of a new civilization on the island.
That would, of course, also be doomed to fall...

How soon does everyone think they can have a character ready?  Even just a concept?

I have some ideas I'm toying with for half-drow character.
Thinking Druid/Ranger, though the hunter angle would kind of encroach on your inquistor character, so maybe not.
Really liking the drow druid type at the moment though, so maybe will use something else on the other side.

Or a Swashbuckler/Bard which is another drow character I had in mind, based on another character I made for a 4e game and never felt satisfied with because, well... 4e wasn't my bag.

Ooooor an Alchemist/something. Which would probably be my idea for an NPC oriented character though. We'll have to see.

[Chulanowa]

Religion: I'm a fan of the Forgotten realms / Eberron standard; gods are like oprah passing out cars. "You get a god, and you get a god, and you..." - complete with all the littel sub-sects, crossovers, borrowings, and whatnot. The one thing I would avoid from eberron-style in this, is the lack of alignment restrictions for clerics; In eberron a chaoric evil cleric can call on a lawful good god. while it's not bad for Mmmmnightshamalamming people, it's still a little silly.

So, I'm an advocate of pulling gods from wherever, basically. Also, archives of nethys is a pretty comprehensive resource for stuff d20pfsrd doesn't have up...

Other inhabitants; A lot of this depends on the size of the island. But, if we're talking ancient lost empires and such, I'm going to guess the place must be pretty big - somewhere between the size of Greenland and Australia, more of a subcontinent, really. After all, you can't really call a place the size of Tahiti an "empire"

As for the Tengu... well, they devolved into dire corbies. dire corbies live underground. 

I'll probably work up another map, and save properly this time.

As far as characters... uhhhh! i'll get back to you! I have all night and all day tomorrow to work it over.

[Mantis Shrimp Prime]

Not that anyone asked, but my favorite fictional deities are Khorne, Vecna, Malacath, and Nyarlahotep.
Kinda got a soft spot for Auril and Loviatar from Forgotten Realms, too.

[Ixy]

Nothing against any pantheon, at this point.  Nor any particular character class... if we're gestalt 4, they're going to be badasses, no matter how you slice it. 

I'll post my draft of the ranger here in case it helps:  http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=78907

Short background, more in progress:  she was a daughter of a mid-level noble who sought to oversee a plantation and enjoy the bounties of nature, wealth, and freedom from the empire's hierarchy (big fish little pond).  Something, of course, went horribly wrong, and the entire family and all workers disappeared, the manor-fort was destroyed.  Revven reappeared at the main settlement some weeks later, bloodied and gibbering senselessly.  She was returned to her relatives mainland, where she seemed utterly mad until, after a series of vivid nightmares led her to seek a shrine to Nemyth Vaar, she was called by him to go back to the island.  Refocused and with more clarity than she'd had for years, she honed her skills and is returning to seek an unknown foe, or discovery, deep in the island- something that Nemyth either knows of, or suspects.

[PhantomPistoleer]

WIPing.

Fort Krakken

• Stables
• Barracks
• Government Offices
• Storage
• Docks
• The Dull Blade Inn and Tavern
• Blacksmith
• Chapel
• East Tower
• West Tower

Fort Krakken is situated on a cliff and overlooks...

• Stables:  The stables house the company's 30 horses, with 10 or so horses available at any time.  The remaining horses are taken to pasture at one of the old plantations to the north.
• Barracks:  The barracks house the settlement's garrison, which consists of two companies of 150 men.  The officers have taken rooms in the tavern.  A lot of the men find the barracks to be stifling, and some have taken to set up tents along the palisades, while others have built huts outside of the fort.
• Government Offices:  This large building houses the steward's offices.  Here, settlers settle disputes among themselves in a court of law and equity.  This place is usually quiet, except when new settlers arrive.  The steward has the duty to oversee immigration documentation, and furthermore ensure that criminal servitude is enforced.  The steward, her deputies, and her bailiff all have rooms here.
• Storage:  The enchantments in this tower make it an ideal storage place.  The floors are incredibly dry, and permit the long-term storage of grains and spices.  A system of pulleys allow porters to quickly and safely transfer cargo from the tower to the dock 400 feet below.
• Docks:  The dock floods during high tide, and ships larger than a sloop cannot dock here due to the rocky nature of the reef.  Since there aren't very many ships, dockworkers can usually be found lounging around on the steps below the fort, gambling and drinking.
• The Dull Blade Inn and Tavern: 
• Blacksmith:  The smithy is perhaps the busiest place within Fort Krakken, but it only services the garrison.  It has, in short supply but available for loan, the following items:  longswords, shortswords, daggers, longspears, steel shields, chainmail armor, and chain shirts.  Additionally, the smithy is in charge of supplying workers around the fort with iron tools.  The forges are always hot, much to the chagrin of the inn's twin owners. 
• Chapel:  The Chapel is a small place of worship to the God _____ .  It serves as a make-shift hospital.
• East Tower:  The East Tower is currently being rebuilt.  It was nearly demolished by ballista-fire nearly ten years ago.
• West Tower

[PhantomPistoleer]

What should the settlement's name be?

How many people should be living there?

What is the composition of most people?

[Mantis Shrimp Prime]

What should the settlement's name be?

Libertine Lagoon.

How many people should be living there?

Maybe like, a thousand permanent residents, and almost as many transient residents of various sorts?
That'd be for a good small outpost. It could 2-5 times bigger.

What is the composition of most people?

Well, some people say a man is made out of mud.
A poor man is made out of muscle and blood.