Topic: Legions of Chaos [NC:E, Pathfinder]

[Myrleena]

Once known as Deltgard, Ashskull was once a proud city of the Ardeth at the foot of the Worldmounts at the northern edge of Milvar.  The ruins of the castle city are shattered and broken, revealing how it was destroyed by the dark elves four hundred years past.  The broken walls, built by hill dwarves to the point they thought they were impenetrable, were shattered by the united dark elves and the presence of a demon goddess.  This was the site of the first great victory of the fell army, and the ground was cursed by the blood that was shed.

In the past four centuries, those who have attempted to renovate and re-inhabit Ashskull have vanished, died or been driven off by undead from deep inside the city.  Most recently Raegeld Filan, a Dulkar paladin of Loranal, led a host of his brethren to cleanse the city of the evil and re-inhabit it.  His crusade smashed the monsters within the dark city, purging it of all dangers.  Once this was done they began to rebuild, turning it into a bastion of light once more.  A temple to Loranal, the Ivory Temple, was erected at one of the highest points of the city with a brilliant light illuminating the city from its highest tower.  Everything seemed to be going so very well.

And then one night the light went out.  Only a few people made it out, screaming of creatures of shadow stalking the night.  Investigators have found the city empty, carts and wagons abandoned.  Yet not a soul was found, though old bloodstains marked the ground.  A year has passed, and once more none dare stay on the cursed land.

And naught more than four weeks past, on the first of Fall’s Advent, word came that the light of the Ivory Temple had been lit once more.  But it wasn’t a beacon of white, it was a deep, baleful crimson.  Demons, undead and abominations have been seen roaming the fields, destroying what they cannot take.  Survivors speak of captives being taken back to Ashskull, and of the demons speaking of Lord Filan’s orders.  Raiders hit small towns, convoys and even patrols.

A week ago a sidhe princess, Lineara Starblossom, was captured.  She was traveling from Crystalhaven to Elvirass when her guardians were ambushed in force.  It is known that the defenders struck down dozens of demons and undead before falling, but fall they did.  Only the princess’s maidservant and a single guard survived the slaughter to come and call for aid.  The guard died before a healer could reach them, but the word was spread.  The call for heroes to rescue Princess Lineara went out and the army of Elvirass began to gather, hoping in vain they could rescue their Queen-to-be.  A reward of 50,000 gold crowns has been posted to any who rescue Princess Lineara, and greater rewards have been hinted at as well for those willing to risk themselves.

This is going to be a Pathfinder RPG adventure.  A number of things are of note which will be discussed below.

• As mentioned, this will be using the Pathfinder RPG rules, which can be found for free online at http://www.d20pfsrd.com/ or http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/
• Characters need to built in the world of Selvair, upon the continent Milvar, details of which may be found at http://milvar.wikia.com/wiki/Fragments_of_Creation_Wiki
• Characters will be built at 11th level, with all the benefits thereof.  Available races are described in the Wiki, although other races may be allowed on a case-by-case basis.  Noble Drow and Noble Sidhe are allowed, but both count as though they are 1 level higher than a standard PC.
• Attributes are not generated in the normal methods. Instead, a character has 78 points to split between Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma before applying racial modifiers. Each attribute must be at least a 3 and no more than 18 before racial modifiers or modifiers due to leveling.
• Characters receive set hit points per level beyond first. (ie. 4 for d6, 6 for d8, 8 for d10, and 9 for d12)
• Each character has 10,800 gold crowns with which to buy equipment. (See the Economy section for the conversion to gp.) Each character also starts with one magical item which may have special material and magical properties worth 500 gold crowns. This item must be tied heavily into the character's history, preferably as a family heirloom or a gift from a powerful patron. If you do not have a character history, you do not gain this item. Likewise, if the history does not merit this item you do not receive it. (ie. Not specific, doesn't make sense in world, etc.)  You may also use starting funds to further enhance this item, including making it of a more valuable material.  All unusual materials must be approved.
• Each character may have two generic Character Traits from the free trait supplement for Pathfinder. Each must be from separate categories. If you choose Rich Parents, you instead receive 60 additional gold crowns.
• Characters may be any alignment, but they must be functional in society and with others. Please do not play irrational, insane, or sociopathic characters. I do not assume this is an all-inclusive list.

Just a few minor things to finish up...first of all, I can only accommodate 6 players in this game.  I will approve finished characters, including histories.  I do have two players already which leaves four spots open.  Second, while sex and sexuality can and likely will be part of the game, it takes second stage to plot.  I expect people to make separate threads to play this out and continue along in the main story as well, so as not to bog down the game.  That said...welcome and enjoy!

[Katina Tarask]

Would Secrets of Pact Magic (with its Pathfinder updates) be acceptable source material?  *Has really been wanting to use that book from the player's side of the screen for a while now.*

[TheVillain]

Alright, here's a character for ye.

Oren -

The man the adventurers will meet will probably catch their attention right away, as it appears they're seeing a wood elf actually having a good time outside of the woods. Not only that, but he's a handsome swashbuckling womanizing boozehound. His name is Oren, and his mother was indeed a wood elf. His biological father however wasn't the fellow wood elf she was forced to marry but a satyr. A local church rising to power frowned on this and tried to use threats and local laws to enforce their narrow views of family on the surrounding populations including the wood elves.

From this Oren would begin his career as a Paladin of sorts. A Paladin of Freedom, by reputation at least, Oren battles oppression in all of it's forms and by this time is famous as a defender of the liberty of oppressed people's everywhere- if these tales are closely followed by stories of his womanizing, drinking, and partying.

Oren is almost the definition of Chaotic Good. His code of conduct only says "do not harm, and to the best of your ability do nothing to violate the freedom of others- save if not acting would violate freedom worse". While technically a wood elf - satyr hybrid, called a Piper, this appears to only express itself as an inability to father children, much to relief of the populations around him. His life he views as a great adventure, and he'll be the first with a quip, a smirk, and a dashing act of daring-do.

Special Item - The Piper's Pipes [Willing to adapt this as I have little idea what I'm doing  ]

When it was discovered that Oren was the product of of his mother cheating on her arranged husband with a Satyr, the local church did what it could to make life miserable for her, her friends, and Oren. To the point where the local village of wood elves would come to side with her against the church- at their peril. Not all hope was lost however, with the return of Oren's biological father. The Satyr revealed that while he was gone more often then he was there he did in fact care deeply for his son- it was just a fault of the nature of a Satyr that he would wander off. He wanted to stay, but just couldn't hold his attention in one place long enough.

It was through this meeting that Oren would learn his legacy, that of the Piper. As the offspring of an elf and a satyr there was magic in his blood- magic that just needed the proper focus. Expressed as music and armed with the pipes, his career as a self described "Paladin of Freedom" would begin.

The Piper's Pipes appear to be standard Pan Pipes made of a light wood and are lacquered for a polished appearance. Like most magical items they are more durable then their mundane counterparts. On the front of the largest of the pipes is a small symbol like stylized ram horns. The Piper's Pipes have the following magical properties, activated by mental command of the performer. If the performer is a Piper, add the Piper's Charisma Modifier to all Save DCs. In the hands of a Piper the pipes also give the Piper's charisma bonus to all Perform (Wind) checks.

- All creatures with 6 or less HD within 30 feet must make a Will Save DC 13 or be frightened for 4 rounds. This ability can only be used twice per day and if the performer fails a Performance (Wind) check DC 15 the effect automatically fails.
- All creatures within 30 feet must make a DC 14 Will Save or be fascinated by the sound. As soon as the playing stops, these affected creatures become hypersensitive to sound. Unless the surrounding area is completely silent all affected creatures then take 1d4 damage for 2d4 rounds, damage form other sonic attacks is doubled, and after the character stops taking damage they become shaken at the least bit of noise. This effect is considered a curse. If the performer fails a Performance (Wind) check DC 15 this effect automatically fails. This ability can only be used once per day.
- With a DC 10 Perform (Wind) check the Piper may attract all rats within 400 feet up to the equivalent of 1d3 rat swarms. If the rats have to travel more then 50 feet there is a 1 round delay per 50 feet. Upon entering 50 feet of the performer the rats will obey telepathic commands as long as the performer continues to play. If the performer stops the rats leave and if he fails the check the rats turn on the performer. The performer may reassert control with a Perform (Wind) DC 15. If the rats are under the control of another creature, that creature's HD is added to the Perform Check DC and a check is made every round.
- A performer with ranks in the Preform (Wind) skill can, in effect, cast Ghost Sounds at will as a second level caster.
- After each 10 minutes of playing for the same audience, the performer may make a Perform (Wind) check DC 14. If successful the performer may work in one Suggestion effect as the spell. Will Save 14 negates, and if the save is made the creature is immune for 24 hours.

Cost: 24,000 GP. Aura: Moderate Enchantment.

[Tydorei]

I'm very interested in this. I will whip up a character by Saturday.

[Myrleena]

Sorry Katina, but I am not willing to allow such into the game.  I'm only going to allow official Pathfinder supplements in, due in part to not owning the 3rd party products myself.

TheVillain: I'll have to take some time and go over the magic item and character, but I'll try to do so today.

Tydorei, sounds good by me. ^^

[sinoraa]

I'll be making a half orc barbarian later. I assume you'll want a stat set?

[Myrleena]

Yep.  I'm going to be going with the first 4 characters finished, as long as they meet my requirements.

EDIT: TheVillain, your character sheet isn't viewable to non-members of the site, so I'll have to ask you to copy it or something so I can look at it.

[sinoraa]

Am i to assume were starting off at level one? Just making sure.

[Myrleena]

• Characters will be built at 11th level, with all the benefits thereof.  Available races are described in the Wiki.

*points up*

[sinoraa]

Ah crap, how embarrassing ^^, sorry. Slipped my mind

[Myrleena]

Hehe...it happens. ^^

Besides, I barely think it's possible to run the game I have in mind with an 11th level party, let alone a 1st level one!

And so everyone knows, I'm rewording the races a bit...it came across the wrong way, I think.

[Myrleena]

And...I just realized I forgot to mention which XP table to use.  We will be using the Medium Experience Point track for the game.

[sinoraa]

Name: Umah (No Surname)
Age: 22
Race: Half-orc
Class: Barbarian
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Bio: Like most half-orcs, Umah was left to fend for herself, at a very young age. She was raised in a old orphanage, in a small village. Tough this was mainly done, out of obligation, rather then anyone's good will. No one wanted her there, and they made no effort to hide it. But eventually they just ignored her. She never caused any trouble, and all the kids simply avoided her. Her life remained fairly event less, until the age of fifteen, when she suddenly displayed, a great interest to join the malitia. She longed to get out of the village, make a name for herself, something that would make people respect her... Though malitia life was a lot less glorious then she'd expected. When training and dreaming of great deeds, and conquests, she'd never thought she'd end up on guard duty. And thus, she ran away, following the path of many of her kin, becoming a sword for hire. Though unlike most of her kin, she soon discovered, she was unusually merciful. For whatever reason, unknown for her, she can't bring herself to kill unarmed people. Perhaps its some deep genetic sense of honor, or perhaps shes just "soft", as her kin say. This made her life as a mercenary very bothersome, leading her to a early retirement. She now works as a fairly successful bounty hunter, chasing down run away bandits, and various other bandits.

I'll have a stat sheet set up, the moment i figure out how this website works

[TheVillain]

Sorry about the sheet thing, working on a solution. I think it will work of I try again on Plothook.

[TheVillain]

Alright, Try it now.

[Myrleena]

Okay, TheVillain, just finished going over your character, and several things to note.

First, your character seems largely to be perfectly fine.  Several things need to be defined, but most things I noticed are simply omissions more than anything else.  I would like you to write out what 'Standard Adventurer Gear' is, but I expect that you planned to.  But a point is that your AC/CMD is 1 point higher, as Dodge adds a +1 Dodge bonus to your AC.  You also have a +4 bonus to all Knowledge skills. (1/2 Bard Level)

Now, your magic item...first off, I noticed that it seems to be based on a number of items from the Core Rules, with an ability that I can't find the source of as well.  Several things of concern to me is that a number of the limitations of the various items are not present on your writeup, which significantly increase its power.  For example, the Suggestion power normally states that a creature that makes it's save is immune for 24 hours.  With the additional primary power that deals damage not having a maximum number of uses and also (to some degree) making a class ability usable without limit makes me very leery.  At the very least I'm going to ask you to put the limitations of various powers back in, and possibly give the power to make people hypersensitive to sound usable on particular individuals only once per day.  However, if you do so I'd put the price at about 24,000 gp (2,400 gold crowns).

[TheVillain]

Character, thanks. I don't play many bards to be honest so missing something doesn't surprise me. Standard Adventuring Gear I confess is a shortcut I used to take, just hand over some gold and say I got the little things like Bedroll, Backpack, Waterskin, et cetera. Basic was enough to survive if awkwardly, Standard was has everything important and usually what the suggested gear was for the class in the 3.5e book, Full was adventuring in comfort. I'll write it out now.

And the magic item is basically a mash-up of a bunch of items. I thought I had put those limits in but reading it now looks like I didn't. My mistake, fixing now.

Edit:- Fixed.