The Forgotten Tower - A Pathfinder game.

[Blinkin]

I would point out that no selections have been made as of yet, so using another potential player as an in to meet the party could backfire. But, it's a minor thing.

Interesting character, I'll look forward to seeing what you settle on.

[Mister Ugly]

Name: Alexander Billaird
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 28
Class: Unchained Monk Level 1/ Wizard Level 4 [School- Transmutation: Opposition Schools- Divination, Enchantment]
Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Appearance: Alexander does not look like the stereotypical wizard. His face has a rugged look bordering, he has been told, on handsome. His hard features can relax in a ready smile and quip. He has a scar across his left eyebrow from a fist fight in his youth. The seemingly always there 5 o'clock shadow just adds to the ruggedness. Alexander keeps his dark brown hair cut short, claiming it is just easier to deal with. His build is also not like the wimpy wizards everyone thinks of, instead there are lean hard muscles and a ribbed torso that show he is ready to handle physically what he cannot handle magically. His hands are callused and rough from his daily training. Alexander stands 6' 2" and weighs 190 pounds and can carry heavy objects for short distances. His brown eyes show intelligent and are alert and watchful. Earrings hang from his left ear and several tattoos adorn his skin.

Personality: Alexander when he was younger had a bit of a temper, as well as a stubborn streak. His family decided that he would benefit from training to control his temper and soften that stubbornness. These days he is much calmer and even tempered. He enjoys life and exploring. Though he has a rugged hard look he actually is a big softy to those he likes and calls friends. Alexander likes to laugh and often has a ready quip. He is steadfast in his loyalties. A man of honor and his word.

Background: The Billaird family are a long line of heroes and adventurers whose names can be found scattered among many a tale. A young Alex heard many such stories and when he could not as a boy do the things he thought he could he would get mad and in fights. When he was 12 his parents sent him to a friendly monk order in the hopes it would help smooth out things with him. Alexander figured out many things there and how to get a grip on his temper and even his stubbornness. The monks always knew he was very smart and saw he might not be a great monk. So when he taught himself to cast a cantrip from an old wizard book they had, the monks arranged for his training in the arcane. He was older then most wizard apprentices, when he started, but quickly his brilliant mind and well conditioned body let him catch and pass other students. Soon he went out on his own where his training in fighting allowed him to survive when his magic was spent.

Now the Billard family wanderlust has him seeking new things and learning all he can. He stays with groups and helps them out but often the groups have died or went their ways. This one though seems it will last and he has made friends with several.

Quirks: Alex only lets friends call him 'Alex'. To everyone else he is Alexander or Mr. Billaird. Alex is clearly heterosexual and prefers being the dominate one in the bedroom. He loves peaches and been known to pay a lot for them. He also likes to smoke cigars. [a habit many of the Billaird males seem to have]. He also likes dogs and often has adopted a stray.

[Chulanowa]

Not transmutation? 'Cause you could go with a bear-knuckle brawler there, with judicious use of Beast Form... *cue laugh track*

[Mister Ugly]

I thought about it! the extra + to a physical ability was a draw but the extra spell slot for summoning finally won out. I though may still give it some thought it would not change things much if I do take transmutation except it gives a basically free belt of strength [or dex]

MU

[MisoThe Mouse]

Interested in the game, but I haven't played Pathfinder in a while. Would I have to create a whole character sheet?

[Mister Ugly]

Not transmutation? 'Cause you could go with a bear-knuckle brawler there, with judicious use of Beast Form... *cue laugh track*

Well ya convinced me Chul. I am going with Transmutation school for Alex since it fits more along the lines I was thinking of. In fact I may also use a trait and get the heal skill and call him 'Doctor Billaird'. I had considered calling him Alexander Strange but figured there would be many thrown things at me. 

MU

[Mister Ugly]

Okay I am open to having bonds with other characters so I am gonna toss out a few ideas here and see what sticks and makes you all go 'HMMMM?'

@Vergil; Reading over your nicely detailed [much more so then mine currently] background. I was going to suggest a few ideas here. 1) Though Alexander may not have been in that first group Talan ran into. His gifts in magic and a helpful spell book could have been a way for them to work together and Alexander speaks Elf. 2) A female brought them together. Not just any old female but a sexy barmaid that they both were flirting with separately and a group of thugs decided to be idiots. Image the surprise when the 'wizard' punches one out and the black sword clears its sheath. 3) Peaches and a puppy!

@vanThemad...one; I like Brenne, nice concept! It made me read up on an Urban barbarian which is always a pulse! How about this? 1) Though the Billaird's have never led a Mercenary Group several family members [cousins, etc] have been in various ones and I can see one could have been in the Golden Hounds. A meeting on that south bound caravan with both recognizing the surname of the other. 2) Alex was flirting with Brenna in a tavern and a group of thugs decided to be idiots. Some punching and a stab, stab ensued and a meeting of minds and talents was formed. 3) Peaches and a puppy!

@hell; A gnome ya say and a rogue [look at unchained rogue btw it is a nice upgrade] and a wizard. well simple really! 1) spells and various cantrips. Dueling Prestidigitation  does wonders to make people laugh! 2) Thugs being idiots in a tavern and hassling the gnome only to get punched out by a wizard. 3) Peaches and a puppy!

@Chul; Nice image and interesting and far more detailed [again jealous] then mine. Let's see what I can toss your way! 1) A prince you say...well geee that makes it fun. The Billairds have worked for nobles and Prince's in the past [the family has a wide range of classes] and have been Fey touched as well. So that animal you were following could have  scented the wizard out and led to a meet and greet. 2) Thugs being idiots in a tavern. 3) Peaches and a puppy!

I am sure we can come up with other ideas! 

MU

[Vergil Tanner]

@Vergil; Reading over your nicely detailed [much more so then mine currently] background. I was going to suggest a few ideas here. 1) Though Alexander may not have been in that first group Talan ran into. His gifts in magic and a helpful spell book could have been a way for them to work together and Alexander speaks Elf. 2) A female brought them together. Not just any old female but a sexy barmaid that they both were flirting with separately and a group of thugs decided to be idiots. Image the surprise when the 'wizard' punches one out and the black sword clears its sheath. 3) Peaches and a puppy!

Haha, well, although none of us are approved yet, I am more than happy to discuss connections!
That seems fairly plausible, if they're both into the same kind of women, though he would have to wait until later to see his Black Blade; Talan doesn't draw it unless he's expecting to kill somebody. You don't draw a +1 Intelligent Weapon unless you intend to use it, after all.
I'm not sure how Talan would react to his even temper...he'd probably just chat away happily to him, sharing his enthusiasm for magic with the bigger man, but not really mentioning his home or family (or lack thereof). It all depends, really, how he would treat / react to Talan. I mean, a Magus isn't a full blown "Wizard," so would there be any kind of condescension there?
Also, would he let Talan copy shit from his spellbook if Talan let him do the same?

Also:

Okay I am open to having bonds with other characters so I am gonna toss out a few ideas here and see what sticks and makes you all go 'HMMMM?'

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Also, also....I need a good picture for the Black Blade. It's gonna be a longsword, obviously...

Possibilities?

Option 1?

Option 2?

Option 3?

I'm leaning towards 2, but...I'm not sure...1 is definitely tempting as well...hmmmm...

[Chulanowa]

If you're going to have a sword that is smarter than some of your party members, you want it to look ridiculous, especially with an edgelord name like "Black blade."  You need something that would make Skallagrim weep tears of blood at how off the wall it looks.

Here, just follow this scale for sword advancement, found in every MMO game ever...

[Vergil Tanner]

*coughs* Jesus dude, are you trying to kill me? I almost busted a gut!

Of course, I think attacking with trees is the Druids territory, isn't it?

But ok. What about....

[Blinkin]

MU, interesting character, what do you intend to do  with the arcane bond? Item or familiar and if familiar what kind?

Misothemouse, at this point, I'm just looking at character concepts, but if selected, you would have to create a full character sheet, yes. It's the only wauy that I know of to keep things somewhat balanced.

And yes, before anyone says it, I have never believed that any system is "balanced" in any way because the players go for power builds 90% of the time and by that very fact, the game loses it's balance.

I'm going to give this a few more days, not more than a week, to get any stragglers the option of offering characters, then I'll close the interest part and select characters.

As a note, I will likely ask for adjustments to character sheets that should be minor at worst.

[Mister Ugly]

MU, interesting character, what do you intend to do  with the arcane bond? Item or familiar and if familiar what kind?

Arcane bond? Familiar of course. I was thinking about reskinning the fox as a small dog [since Alex really likes dogs] changing the +2 reflex save to a +3 perception bonus!

It fits with him. Heck I was looking at the animal ally chain of feats to get him a dog/wolf companion as well.

I see Alex as a bit of a throw back wizard to the old AD&D style where they had to be able to fight as well as cast magic [at least at lower levels].

He summons monsters to help the fight- taking augment summoning feat

uses battlefield control, grease, color spray, various clouds, swarms etc. and a few key blaster type spells.

MU

[Vergil Tanner]

Hey MU! I know it's a little buried, but I did reply to you...I didn't just ignore you, I promise!

[Mister Ugly]

Hey MU! I know it's a little buried, but I did reply to you...I didn't just ignore you, I promise!

I saw the reply!

MU

[Vergil Tanner]

Just making sure! I know I've lost replies in threads like this before...of course, that might just be because I'm a dozy bastard, but hey ho, there you go!

[Blinkin]

MU:

I'm not sure how you go from a fox with +2 reaction bonus to a dog with +3 perception. I'm not against a dog as a familiar, but I'm only willing to allow a +2 to a check.

I would advise against animal companion feats; you're already pressing against that preference of mine for primary spellcasters to act like primary spell casters and I can't tell you how many wizards I've seen drop because they thought that they should be front line fighters instead of what the class was designed for. It's a primary reason why the 2nd ed wizard was so heavily homebrewed to compensate for the less than stellar spell casting ability... and if a wizard has to get into melee, then his companions aren't doing their job.

Regardless,trying to pick up more animals in that fashion is moving into that power-build situation that I'm wanting to avoid in the game. Summoning seems to be more than enough with you looking at altering shape capabilities as well.

[Snake]

Question to all: I'm interested in joining up but I'd like to play a character with a criminal history that while they aren't reluctant to join and aren't evil; they're sort of leery of everyone else. Is that ok?

[Mister Ugly]

MU:

I'm not sure how you go from a fox with +2 reaction bonus to a dog with +3 perception. I'm not against a dog as a familiar, but I'm only willing to allow a +2 to a check.

I used the hawk/owl/mole all offer a +3 perception bonus as an example. Also most familiars offer up either a +2 to a save or a +3 to a skill bonus so I used that as my guide line. I have no problem going with a +2 perception.

I would advise against animal companion feats; you're already pressing against that preference of mine for primary spellcasters to act like primary spell casters and I can't tell you how many wizards I've seen drop because they thought that they should be front line fighters instead of what the class was designed for. It's a primary reason why the 2nd ed wizard was so heavily homebrewed to compensate for the less than stellar spell casting ability... and if a wizard has to get into melee, then his companions aren't doing their job.

Regardless, trying to pick up more animals in that fashion is moving into that power-build situation that I'm wanting to avoid in the game. Summoning seems to be more than enough with you looking at altering shape capabilities as well.

That companion line is way to feat heavy for the character to obtain. I looked at it just out of curiosity.

The main reasons I went with unchained monk have nothing really to do with being a front line fighter. The UNC monk gives a +2 fort save, +2 ref save, 1d10 HP, and allows wisdom mod to be added to ac, and a bonus feat-dodge [+1 ac dodge bonus). The wisdom bonus to ac is not effected by touch etc. and also a +1 bab for the times he needs a ranged touch attack. These all add in by multi-class.
The Improved unarmed combat, flurry of blows and 1d6 unarmed damage are just extras that have a situational aid. I liked the way the UNC monk and the wizard seemed to fit together but can easily drop the UNC monk class.

All that being said I have no problem if you prefer a full class wizard. Just means 3rd level spells and now a 20 Int. [and no ability below 10 to do it].
Straight wizard Build would look like this: Int 13 points, dex 5 points, con 2 points, wis 2 points, str 2 points, cha 1 point== start abilities would be then str -12/con- 12/ dex-14/ Int-17/ wis-12/ cha-11--- +2 to int from race, +1 int from 4th level increase, +2 dex from transmutation school. Final ability scores str-12, dex-16, con-12, Int-20, wis-12, cha-11.

Also the traits I was looking at were all used by a wizard. Even with the UNC monk dip!

MU

[Blinkin]

Snake:

I apologize for not replying to your PM before you posted here. The answer to your question is, unfortunately, no.

You are welcome to offer a character concept, but I will not be accepting any character who shows or implies an unwillingness to be part of the group. This includes in the background.

MU: The examples that you gave also have limitations, which is why they have slighter higher modifiers. In particular, involving light levels and conditions. Dogs, in spite of myth, actually have excellent all weather/condition senses, so the +3 wouldn't be limited in that regard.

I wasn't saying that you were trying to use Monk to be a melee character, only that there was a reason, in my mind, why wizards aren't suppose to be melee types. I don't have an objection to the monk level so much as the fact that I've seen some 1 level of monk have an disproportionate impact on multi-classes.

[Snake]

Ah I understand Blinkin. It's just one of many ideas I have actually :3

I'll have something of a concept by saturday (My local library, where I get on line, is closed tomorrow for holiday)

I have a few concepts ready but whats' the party layout so far?

[Blinkin]

The offerings, so far, are:

Name:      Player         Class
Alexander Billard   Mister Ugly   Monk 1/wizard 3
AubrienneDorenwald   VanTheMad   Urban Barbarian
Sharilena Seberden   Hellrazoromega Rogue/mage
Jhura Betlma      Chulanowa   ??
Talan’thanel Myriaadon Virgil Tanner   Magus


Note that no one has been selected yet. I do see some openings for particular needs, but that's to be expected. The offerings are, again as to be expected, magic heavy, which may cause some problems at points, but nothing that can't be overcome with some thought.

[Snake]

I'm thinking unchained rogue, or maybe brawler.

It also depends on male vs female for me. I tend to make them different classes

[Chulanowa]

The offerings, so far, are:

Name:      Player         Class
Alexander Billard   Mister Ugly   Monk 1/wizard 3
AubrienneDorenwald   VanTheMad   Urban Barbarian
Sharilena Seberden   Hellrazoromega Rogue/mage
Jhura Betlma      Chulanowa   ??
Talan’thanel Myriaadon Virgil Tanner   Magus


Note that no one has been selected yet. I do see some openings for particular needs, but that's to be expected. The offerings are, again as to be expected, magic heavy, which may cause some problems at points, but nothing that can't be overcome with some thought.

Well, the majority of classes in Pathfinder have magical abilities. Only the Cavalier and Barbarian totally lack spell casting or spell-like abilities. Monks get ki powers, fighters and rogues both have a spell casting archetype, etc. I mean there's the swashbuckler and gunslinger, but they're basically just five-level fighter archetypes...

[Blinkin]

Chulinowa, I'm not going to comment on that bit of brilliance. My wife nit-picks enough that I don't care to become involved with it outside of my marriage too.

My wife is, by the way, a wonderful woman with a huge heart... but she's also literal minded and I'm not, so conversations tend to be frustrating for anyone who likes to speak in generalities.

[Mister Ugly]

MU: The examples that you gave also have limitations, which is why they have slighter higher modifiers. In particular, involving light levels and conditions. Dogs, in spite of myth, actually have excellent all weather/condition senses, so the +3 wouldn't be limited in that regard.

I wasn't saying that you were trying to use Monk to be a melee character, only that there was a reason, in my mind, why wizards aren't suppose to be melee types. I don't have an objection to the monk level so much as the fact that I've seen some 1 level of monk have an disproportionate impact on multi-classes.

I can work with the dog! I just wanted to let you know where I got the idea from.

I gave it some thought and have decided to drop the unchained monk class completely. The magus and the rogue/mage would not have 3rd level spells. It has been a long while that I played a straight up wizard and so was working from a mind set of the past. After all a wizard needs the group...especially the big stupid fighter...Brenna and the other glass tank fighter type named Talan. Helping them out makes life much easier.

I will keep the Int score at 18 and just improve the others and go with the Conjuration school [adds in extra rounds to a summon monster spell]

Over all that make the whole idea easier to build and handle which is a win for each of us.

I did consider dropping the wizard idea and going with a Ranger but here is hoping someone else offers that!

Haha, well, although none of us are approved yet, I am more than happy to discuss connections!
That seems fairly plausible, if they're both into the same kind of women, though he would have to wait until later to see his Black Blade; Talan doesn't draw it unless he's expecting to kill somebody. You don't draw a +1 Intelligent Weapon unless you intend to use it, after all.
I'm not sure how Talan would react to his even temper...he'd probably just chat away happily to him, sharing his enthusiasm for magic with the bigger man, but not really mentioning his home or family (or lack thereof). It all depends, really, how he would treat / react to Talan. I mean, a Magus isn't a full blown "Wizard," so would there be any kind of condescension there?
Also, would he let Talan copy shit from his spellbook if Talan let him do the same?

True none are approved but, I feel showing here they we are trying to work together offers Blinkin an idea of what we would do if chosen.
As for the same kind of female...did you mean 'breathing?' 

Alexander would still have the same temperament even without the UNC monk class. He would talk magic all the half elf wanted and could even be helpful understanding the black blade. As a piece of info for you. I have used the Billiard surname on and off for 30+ years in all sorts of settings the family is sorta my go to game family that are human [and a few times half elf] all with a touch of the fey! So Alex would never be condescending toward anyone. Well there are idiots he would not take kindly too!

Yes he would let Talen copy from his spell book and except the chance to do the same from Talen's. Just remember that a magus can only copy spells that are on both the wizard and magus spell lists [same would go for Alex]. Since we are supposed to have been together a while we could actually work together to expand each others spell list. At each level we get 2 new spells, so say our characters each take one that are on both the magus and wizard lists and the other any they want. Then trade the spells they both can use. This would give each an extra spell per level. Now with me dropping Alex's UNC monk class and going full caster he will have 3rd level spells which Talan cannot yet use. The character could easy pick up extra spells that way.

This idea also applies to Hellrazor's rogue/mage. Expanding the gnomes spell list as well.

Here is another Idea for you Vergil. If you have the gold make an extra spell book with ONLY the magus spells that are separate from the wizard spell list. I can have Alex to the same in reverse. This gives each a back up spell book should one lose theirs.

MU