Pathfinder PBP - Master Of The Fallen Fortress

[bralbovsky]

Any preference for race or background based on the environment or world?

[Phoebe]

Ok, I'm totally doing the gnome witch thing. This is it! Will take some thought before posting it here.

[Zen]

[Zen]

Modified Stat Block: (I switched my racial trait from Traumatic Shift to Reviving Rest, so I can now regain HP by sleeping for 24 hours... Like my wife with colds...) So I no longer have "Bluff" as a class skill and took "Profession: Trapper" instead. Might come in handy... Could make some cash if nothing else...

Sia Konar
Female Skinwalker, Coldborn Monk 10 (I had been deleting this 10 because I didn't know what it meant...)
LN medium humanoid
Init +1 Senses Low-Light Vision Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 13
hp 9
Fort 3 Reflex 3 Will 5
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft
Melee Unarmed Strike +2 (1d6+2/x2) or Unarmed Strike +1 / +1 (1d6+2/x2) or Claw +2 / +2 (1d4+2/x2) or Bite +2 (1d6+2/x2) or Bite -3 (1d6+1/x2)
Special Attacks Flurry of Blows
Space 5 Reach 5
STATISTICS
STR 14 DEX 13 CON 13 INT 11 WIS 16 CHA 8
BAB 0 CMB 2 CMD 17
Feats Extra Feature, Dodge
Skills Acrobatics 5, Appraise 0, Bluff -1, Climb 8, Diplomacy -1, Disguise -1, Escape Artist 1, Fly 1, Heal 3, Intimidate -1, Perception 7, Trapper 7, Ride 1, Sense Motive 7, Stealth 1, Survival 3, Swim 2
Languages Common
Gear Javelin (5), Kama, Sling, Nunchaku, Shuriken (10), Bullets - Sling (10), Monk's outfit, Kit - Monk's, Flask - Hip



The full character sheet is , but I think something funky happened with the printing of it, since the first page is tiny compared to the rest... I'll try reprinting it from a different computer later...

I'm going to work on making a shifted form version of her... I need to find some good polar bear pictures and break out the layers in photoshop!!!

[Bluedevyl]

Phoebe, I love the idea of the prehensile hair...

What if we made it so that you ostensibly had a permanent mage hand cast that would allow for the prehensile hair thing. I think I would rule that you'd just be down a cantrip slot, but I'm sure ability scores will more than make up for a missing 0-level spell.

As you gain levels, we can look at adding capabilities, like triggering wands and the like.

What do you think?

I just realized that Paizo has that as a hex already... ignore the white text

[Zen]

New character images for Sia Konar!

Not Shifted:


Shifted (No fangs because fangs are a bitch...):

[bralbovsky]

How about a tengu, since we seem to be branching out a bit?

[Bluedevyl]

I love the idea of a tengu rogue... go crazy!

[Phoebe]

OK: plan so far below. I have no idea which familiar, because I was thinking it would be nice to carry it within the hair, but that limits the choices considerably, especially when many small creatures have to pee and poop in significant quantities. There is something on D20 called Ioun Wyrd: "This creature is made of dozens of continually shifting shiny rocks and gemstones. Its centermost stone is larger than the others and occasionally pulses with dim light." This is kind of nice because you could envision it perched upon a headband. Not sure about it tho. Not sure about the hair thing... there is a Witch archetype called White-Haired Witch that also might work, but it takes the place of nearly everything else a witch would normally do besides spells, and that seems like a big investment in what could simply be a minor feature. It's not that the hair has to run the whole show, it just needs to have enough to be weird and independently active.

Daphne, a Gnome Witch
Age: 50 (comparatively younger-adult for gnomes than for humans)
Height: 3 feet
Weight: 36 lbs

STR 10 (12 plus Gnome racial mod -2)
DEX 15
CON 12 (10 plus Gnome racial mod +2)
INT 18
WIS 12
CHA 11 (9 plus Gnome racial mod +2)

[Zen]

Sia Konar's story:

Born and raised, was I, in the far north of the River Kingdoms, so close to the border of Brevoy that tax collectors from that hell hole were prone to knockin’ on our door. Hmmph… Raised… well, ye could call it that, if “raisin’” a young’un until ye decide they be too much bother and then tossin’ ‘em to the wolves can properly be called raisin’. Might be wolves ain’t the proper animal to use there… but I be getting ‘head o’ me self!

Let me start with me “parents”. They was farmers. Normal farmers. Nothin’ fancy ‘bout ‘em. I had brothers and sisters, none of them had white hair like me, nor did any of ‘em have my dark, dark eyes. But we was all big lads and lasses.

We followed a kinda odd sect. We worshiped the God Njord. He’s a weather God. Not one to trifle with, either. Frankly, his attitude is a lot like mine. He generally don’t give no shites about yer wants and needs. The weather follows the laws o’ nature and it’s gonna follow those laws and he’s gonna bloody well see to it that nobody screws with the natural order o’ things! I like him! He’s my kinda God! A serious hard ass.

When I was ‘bout 7 or 8 winters, me Mum could tell I was growin’ quick and “developin” faster than me sisters had, so she set me down and gave me that little talk about what to expect over the next year or so. I’m sure you get my meanin’…

If you don’t and you’re a woman, go have a talk with yer Mum! But I don't think any of us are that young, eh? If you’re a grown man and you haven’t kenned what I’m sayin’, you need to get wise to the world, ya bloody fool!

Any case, back to me story…

So, me Mum gave me the talk, so I wasn’t surprised when I started bleedin’ one day when I was nearly 10-winters. But what I didn’t expect was that I’d also have white fur, claws, fangs, and bear feet just pop out all sudden like, at the same time! To top it off, after I changed from a little girl into a woman-beast in one bloody, furry, fang and claw filled mess, I fell into a deep sleep and didn’t wake up for… well, I don’t really know how long.

“Why don’t you know?” Ye might ask. “Didn’t yer parents tell ya how long ya slept?” Ye wonder. Aye… there’s the rub! Ya see, when I woke up, me Mum and Pop wasn’t nowhere to be seen, nor me brothers and sisters, nor the farm. I woke up in the middle of the woods, under a nice warm blanket, with a bag full o’ me cloths, about half of ‘em still fit, but at least they gave ‘em to me, and me old rag doll me grandma made me when I was a baby.

I was also hungry as a bear. HA! Good one that! Oh, but I ain’t told ya that yet, have I? Yeah… I’m what’s called a Coldborn, a Wearbear-kin. Polar bear, if ya wanna know the details. Yep! What I changed into when I had my first bleed, and what my folks didn’t seem to be able handle and tossed away in the woods to rot, was, in their view, a monster that’s part woman, part polar bear, and just about all attitude! Well… the attitude might have somethin’ to do with just being pissed at the lack of justice in the world! I sure ain’t seen much of it!

How I survived my long nap, I don’t really know. But after that I did get right lucky. There was an old trapper working those woods by the name o’ Rufus Clawson. Turns out he was also a Coldborn and he took me under his wing… or paw, I guess, and taught me how to live as a shifter. He spent most of his time in Bear Form and for those next four years, so did I. It was just easier to live in the wild that way. He also taught me his profession. I can make a right fine livin’ as a trapper if need be, I tell you. It’s an honorable way to make coin!

When I was gettin’ old enough that he thought I should be goin’ out on me own, he told me I should look for somethin’ more than trappin’ game and runnin’ through the woods in life. He saw somethin’ special in me. For one thing, he said I was one o’ the best shifters he’d ever seen. You see, when we shift we can give ourselves fightin’ claws; or bitin’ fangs; or make our nose like a bloodhound’s. Most of us can only do one, but I can do two. Always have. Just a natural I guess. Ol’ Rufus told me he thinks I’ll be able to do more if I work at it. Plus, by the time I was 14 winters, I was already stronger than him, a full-grown man-bear!

Knowin’ that I have this… thing about injustice in the world… he told me about a rumor he’d heard ‘bout a nation called Molthune, south of Lake Encarthan, where they accept our kind somewhat. He’d heard that there were some monasteries there where somebody with my way o’ thinkin’ might fit in, or, if that didn’t work, I could get work in their army ‘cause they were always itchin’ to fight somebody. I kinda wondered if he was implyin’ somethin’ there… It ain’t like I’m always lookin’ for a fight! Well, maybe back then I was…

Long story short, he sent me on my way, after a trip into town to sell our latest pelts and load up on supplies. He even bought me this crossbow and some bolts for it as a goin' away present. I told 'im that was too much, but he said I'd done at least that much work for 'im over the past four years and I'd need somethin' to protect me self when I wasn't shifted. I wasn't really sure how to work the thing, but he told me that if I got hooked up with some monastery, they'd learn me well.

I traveled round the lake to Mothune and found a monastery that would take me as an initiate: The Four Winds of Avistan Monastery. Rufus was right about the monastic life fitting me. The mental discipline and… orderliness just fit… They had no problem with my dual nature, either.

Rufus wasn’t so right about the nation itself. Sure, they’d take people like me, but not everybody was so acceptin’. And they mostly wanted people like me in their army! I really wasn’t wantin’ any o’ that unless it was my last choice.

I spent two years studying at the monastery, learning to harness the four winds and my inner strength and become a stronger woman. But I also discovered something else. I have a longing for nature. I talked with my mentor about this and he told me that was common among my kind. He said that I was ready to go out on my own, then asked me if I worshiped any particular God. I told him that I was raised worshiping Njord. He pointed me to a group of Halfling Druids who were living in the wildlands near the Backar Forest who were followers of Njord as well. With the blessings of my fellow Monks of the Four Winds, I set out to discover if my dual nature meant I should seek out yet another path.

The Druids of Backar were happy to teach me the basics of meditation and talk to me about the druidic path, but they also told me that only I could truly discover if that path was for me. While I was there, I discovered that it wasn’t nature in general that called to me, but the elements. My mentor wouldn’t be surprised, I expect, since I was able to focus elemental powers into my fists after my training at the monastery.

After spending about half a year with the wee-folk, I thanked them for their wisdom and moved on once again. It will take quite a bit more meditation before I can call on the power of the elements the way the druids can, but I feel that I will be able to someday.

But for now, I needed to seek out something grander than sitting in the woods meditating. Maybe a group of people to call my own. My own clan who can help me protect the weak and punish injustice. To do that, I’m heading toward the areas I have generally avoided… Civilization!

It isn’t easy staying in human form so much, but I figure it is safer this way. I’m heading toward Absalom. Seeing a part polar bear monster woman walkin’ down the street is likely to cause a ruckus there, no matter how badass her attitude is. Three years ago, I woulda just thought “screw ‘em! I’m more me in fur!” But I’ve grown. I’m a more mature woman now. I don’t lash out at everyone who I think is being unfair or treating others unjustly… At least not all the time… And I appreciate that normal, non-shifters don’t necessarily want to see my fur. Not to mention that it freakin’ hot down here!

[Zen]

New stat block (with Crossbow...)

Sia Konar
Female Skinwalker, Coldborn Monk 10
LN medium humanoid
Init +1 Senses Low-Light Vision Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 13
hp 9
Fort 3 Reflex 3 Will 5
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft
Melee Unarmed Strike +2 (1d6+2/x2) or Unarmed Strike +1 / +1 (1d6+2/x2) or Claw +2 / +2 (1d4+2/x2) or Bite +2 (1d6+2/x2) or Bite -3 (1d6+1/x2)
Special Attacks Flurry of Blows
Space 5 Reach 5
STATISTICS
STR 14 DEX 13 CON 13 INT 11 WIS 16 CHA 8
BAB 0 CMB 2 CMD 17
Feats Extra Feature, Dodge
Skills Acrobatics 5, Appraise 0, Bluff -1, Climb 8, Diplomacy -1, Disguise -1, Escape Artist 1, Fly 1, Heal 3, Intimidate -1, Perception 7, Trapper 7, Ride 1, Sense Motive 7, Stealth 1, Survival 3, Swim 2
Languages Common
Gear Javelin (5), Kama, Crossbow - light, Nunchaku, Shuriken (10), Bolts - crossbow (10), Monk's outfit, Kit - Monk's, Flask - Hip

Full character sheet .

[Zen]

Questions around the campfire
[The earlier post, Sia Konar's story, should be considered her telling her story around the camp fire to a group of people, be they this party or a group of travelers she is traveling with on the way to Absalom. This is a continuation, with questions some people might have after hearing her ramble on about her life up to now.]

"So, this Rufus fellow... Was he a polar bear type, like you?"

"Rufus? No, no, no! He's a brown bear... I've never met another like me, actually. Rufus has. Said they're usually further north. Said most call my kind Iceborn stead o' Coldborn, but he said it really makes no difference. A bear's a bear and we're all pretty much the same. Brown bear, black bear, polar bear... Just polar bears are from up on the ice... Makes sense, that! Prob'ly comes from me Pa's side, then..."

"Ah... Your name is a bit foreign sounding... When you first mentioned it I wondered if you were from Tian Xia."

"Na! I'm not. But that's where Pa's family hails from. Few generations back, though. Think it was his great-great-great grandpappy came cross the crown to Avistan. HA! That's prob'ly when one o' the women got knocked up by a Werebear, I'd wager! May not even be related to the guy named Konar that came over here now that I think on it!" She laughs at the thought. "Not that bein' unfaithful to yer husband is anything to be happy 'bout! Shouldn't do that! Better yet, just don't get married if you don't think you can keep yer legs closed, I say! Not that I know anythin' about that shite. Nobody interested in this surly she-bear... Least not yet, an I ain't never really thought on it neither. Spent mosta my time with Rufus, or the old monks at the monastery, or them Halfling druids I was tellin' ye about a while ago... They were all mostly oldsters. Not many folk my age around. I met a few while I was at the monastery, but we were all so serious about, ya know... learnin' monk stuff... Didn't seem like the time to look at 'em sideways... And if they was gonna look an one of us sideways there was another girl there my age who was such a looker that they'd a never paid me no nevermind! She was so pretty..." She blushes a bit and pokes at the fire with a stick.

"You mentioned something about elemental powers in your fists? How does that work?"

"Oh... that... I was a bit different than most o' the initiates I guess. Special in a way. Good thing I was at the Four Winds, they told me, 'cause it was the perfect place for me to get my learnin'. They said other monasteries prob'ly wouldn't a known what to do with me.

"Don't know if you've faced off 'gainst a monk afore, but most of us can sometimes knock ya for a loop with a punch. Kinda like, get a good shot in and make ya drop yer weapon and just stand there all dumb like, like a bump on the side o' the road. Well... That's not my style... But what I do is, when I've got that same type o' powerful hit, I can focus that power into energy from the elements and blast out fire or a shock or ice or acid. It's pretty crazy. That's part o' why I decided to go talk to the Druids. I'm really attuned to the elements, ya see... I can't do it too often, though."

"So, there were other Were-kin in Molthune? Did you get along with them?"

"That's the thing... There were't really many Were-kin. There were Were's, plenty o' them in the army. That worried me 'bout as much as anythin'. I'm not a big fan o' Were's. Sure, I've met some Werebears who were nice enough, and I've learnt to judge folk on the content o' their actions and not the content o' their skin. But Wereboars, Weretigers, and Werewolves? I don't know if I've met ONE that I could call I nice fella. And more than once Ol' Rufus and me had to hightail it out of where we were trappin' due to a pack o' some Were-somethin's decidin' that we should drop the "Kin" and just join up with them as full-on infected brethren... Si-stern? HAHAHAHA! Sounds like cistern! Well, the Monk that tried to teach me 'bout nature an shite said our bodies are mostly water, so I guess that's just 'bout right, eh?" She shakes her head and gets a more serious look on her face. "But seriously... I don't think I've ever met a non Werebear lycanthrope who I don't consider an enemy... I'm sure I'll meet one someday, but I'll keep my crossbow ready first. I don't wanna tangle with that kind up close!"

[Mrs.Darcs]

Wish I could, man, wish I could, I can't get to the boards often enough and for long enough.

[bralbovsky]

So this is what I have so far, toying with weapons etc, may go back to normal rogue, but not certain what we plan to face. Some history with elves and forests. ok maybe not, so I have a local image file and a yapcg sheet, protocol?

[Zen]

[bralbovsky]

Ok, so new attempt.
For reference class chosen

japcg doesn't entirely recognize it yet, will check other generators, but most of the notes seem to work.

Beginning Image also


In preview this looks unbelievably awkward, so if you prefer another way of managing it, let's do that.

For background, Kikain Ticitkingi
was, as all of his people are, the slaves/pets of the elves, who are necessarily benevolent. (Training avians is touchy business, for while they respond predictably to reward or promise of reward, they are fragile and NEVER forget injury or physical reprimand.)
Captivity is captivity.
His owner had been training him as a bodyguard,/entourage/hatchet, preparing to sell him as a tool for protection, assassination, political advancement. Fit perhaps for tasks elves might find personally distasteful. He had been careless with Kikain, however, both in allowing him to observe majicks that were normally forbidden (pets can't understand spells, of course, they're just dumb animals), and in expecting he would return from every errand. Perhaps they think he's dead. Perhaps there is a reward.Perhaps they think he won't return one day to free some of the friends of his youth. Time alone will tell.

[Zen]

I love that class! Which extra school did you choose?

The picture is awesome too!

One comment... I closed the excel file already, but I remember your WIS being higher than your CHA... You might want to swap those, since your spells are CHA based...

The easiest way to show the sheet is probably to use the "Save to PDF" on the "Options" tab and then share the link to the PDF. The program is pretty good at know what needs to be there.

[bralbovsky]

PDF at

Chose divination because of true strike specifically (which I wish was a paladin spell) and because not allowed to avoid the somatic, etc components, so instant, combat spells are less useful, and really I don't want him to be front line, scout type anyway. If he does the identify, det magic, loot stuff, that fits the tengu, and it frees up other magic users to focus on combat.
No idea what the adventure is about, so tried to bulk up options and impact up front. Maybe we'll suffer on the high end, but I'm not sure we're planning to run this one long term. Suppose we'll worry about that as a nice problem to have.
Revised wis and char; that's how they rolled out, and wis got a +2 racial, so it made the difference even bigger. May add stat to wis in 4 because rogue will saves aren't great.
There's also a tengu deity that I ran across Hai Feng, but they don't allow me to add him.

[Bluedevyl]

Jeez guys... now I have to get my s**t together. I dont have Hero Lab and I dont have Excel, so I'll have to figure out what I'm going to do to track all the sheets.

I'll see what I can do to convert them into LibreOffice...

I can't wait!

[Zen]

Ah... Tengu would make good Monk/Druids! LOL! I think you'll appreciate the extra spells per day, though... That Ninja sub-class is absolutely awesome! It's like dual classing without the hassle. I think it will be strong at high levels. (Dual class characters are the ones that you have to worry about. That's why I'm switching Kay to the Prestige Class, so she gets the best of both for the rest of her time. That way I don't have to choose between getting better at melee or spell casting... Win-Win! And she'll get "Tricky Spell" which is a combination "Silent Spell" and "Still Spell" without increasing the spell slot! It is limited per day, but I love the concept of just strolling along and BAM, cast a spell with no warning. Kind of like psionics...)

Andrew: I think we've got them saved as PDFs now, so you should be able to keep them as those... Alternately, we could set up a Roll20 site for the game (I'd see if Pat can set it up using his account) and we can put them in there. The sheets there are pretty easy to use and, frankly, it is darned easy to do rolls and things using that site. I know we weren't planning on playing there, but you could use it to do the rolls and stuff. (I'm not sure what the restrictions are for the free accounts. Maybe you wouldn't need to use Pats? Maybe Pat could set it up and set you up as having admin privileges for the game? I don't know how it works... Tahlvin? Do you?)