Before we get started...

Hey guys, thanks for signing up. I'm gonna ask people don't add characters yet; I'm waiting for the books from Savage Mojo to see if there are any details you'll need for chargen. Also being we're starting at a high level, we'll need to discuss some backgrounds. However, feel free to get char ideas started here. I believe a few of you already have a good idea of what you want to play?

Ideally if the setup in the books allows for it I'd like to play a full level 17 Inquisitor, of a good aligned god/dess that gives me access to the Glory subdomain. But we'll see how that works out.

I've never played high level Pathfinder, so that will be new for me (I've played several games, but only one got to level 12) - looking forward to seeing how the system feels at level 17!

As for character ideas, I'm always the guy who fills the gap in the party (and then makes something absurd and strange if there is no gap). I tend towards Monks and Druids in D20srd based systems such as Pathfinder, but I can make just about anything fun-for-me (which is why I fill gaps).

Ok, so got some clarifications. We're starting at 15, not 17. Not a huge deal. I got a copy of the Tome of the Lich Queen book, which I'm gonna start reading. I also recommend you go to Savage Mojo, to their Dungeonlands section. They have a bunch of freebies that can give you some ideas for characters.

So we're going for level 15, 240,000 starting gold. While spending that gold, I want you to think of 1 "special" item. You've each been adventuring for a while, so you've likely found an item unlike others in the world. It should be appropriate for a level 12 character or below. If you can't think of anything, make your standard build, and make sure you write out a character background. Whether you come up with an idea yourself or I do, either way I will be the one making your item, you should just have a concept on what you'd like.

Its awesome that we got a full group, I still haven't gotten a chance to read through all of the core rules but I think I would like to play a halfling bard if no one has any objections.

I still haven't decided on spells but I think a halfling slingstaff and dagger would be my weapons of choice, with a chain shirt for armor. Probably going to want one of those to be my "special" item, but something like jewelry or musical instrument with a special ability isn't out of the question.

A special instrument could be fun. Maybe something we can do with the slingstaff as well.

Considering my character's nature as an inquisitor a particularly special holy symbol would make sense, though I'm not entirely sure how that works mechanically in terms of item powers. The other option probably being a holy symbol that doubles as a weapon, a la a mace or morningstar with the holy symbol etched into it in gold filigree or something to that effect. Which I could then quite justifiably stat up as a Holy weapon.

A holy symbol with powers or that enhances your abilities could work. Go ahead and think a bit about it. What weapons do you plan on using?

Just reviewing the Pathfinder material, I've got to make a Monk. Level 15 means I'll get to have access to all of the cool class traits I always looked forward to when I rolled a monk.

Not sure on race, or background - but I may have something I can borrow from a different RPG. An L5R character that never got off the ground, but I always wanted to explore. He is a former member of a group of warrior monks bent on overthrowing the empire, he encountered a monk who walked the Path of Man (a special mode of meditation that is focused on the self and ascension instead of the elemental spirits) and for all of his combat prowess could not lay a finger on the man. Driven, by his orders creed, to win no matter the cost, he abandoned his group and became a Henshin (the group that follows the path of man). I'll have to revisit the character background and adapt it, but I may just do that.

Races on the docket: Changeling(?) or, from core, Gnome (because seriously, a Gnome Monk is hilarious!)

@Candi a Gnome Monk would be awesome. I can just see the antics, especially from a monk solely focused on self enlightenment. The body control and lightning fast reflexes would be awesome.

Mace or morningstar, haven't decided yet.

@JoHoover Yeah, I found this image and I became sold on the Gnome. Go figure, the last time I played Pathfinder I was also a Gnome. Guess I just like me my Gnomes :)

http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/197/0/f/pathfinder___mimzy_za_by_yuikami_da-d57gwy0.jpg

(Image is huge so I just linked to it instead of embedding)

I also haven't played a high level character before either - haven't gotten past 7 or 8 so far. ;) I have much fun playing barbarians, but also clerics/healers, often multiclass. (I've got a quite fun cleric of Sarenrae/rogue Swashbuckler right now, in a Paizo Adventure Path, aiming at a Riftwarden prestige class.) But I'm flexible. I have the PF core rulebook, and several of the others (Advanced PG, Ultimate Combat and Magic, etc.)

@Keleth - how are you doing character stats? Dice rolls or point buy system?

@Candi - That is some amazing art. now you have inspired me to find something cool for a Halfling Bard :-)

Ah, right, stats. 80 points distribution, 1:1.

That's 1 point is 1 increase to the stat? Starting from zero I take it?

Yeah, standard distro gives you an 18, 16, 14, 12, and two 10s, and you can adjust from there.

Hey out of curiosity, what's the pitch for the starting party? Are we a recently-formed adventuring party or have we been working together for a few levels?

Making some progress - Gnome Monk with Flowing Monk Alternate Class Features (contemplating a Vow of Truth to go with it). Tomorrow I'll start putting the statistics for this together.

As for a magic item, I'm liking that strange wrench/hammer thing in the picture I'm using for inspiration. Maybe a Monk Implement of some kind (are there monk implements in this system? I may be thinking of 13th Age), or weapon (because as a small monk my unarmed attacks leave something to be desired). Probably something of her own fashioning - while she may not have made it herself, it would have been made to her specifications. Depending on how it is swung and/or held, the shape of the head changes - sometimes it forms a "c" shape which is useful for catching a limb and redirecting it, sometimes it's a solid block of metal useful for bludgeoning, sometimes its more flat that bulky, useful for pushing foes around (and so on). I'm thinking, something that provides benefits to various combat maneuvers (I'm going to be feat-invested in Trip and Reposition at least, may also get Disarm and Feint feats as well).

The idea is that, as a "flowing monk" she has a weapon that suits her style - a weapon which changes form to suit the flow of the encounter (and her specific needs - be they offensive, defensive, tripping, repositioning, disarming or feinting).

Ok, I like that overall Candi. I can decide specific functionality once I see your feats/abilities.

Hey just a quick question for everybody: The character concept I'm toying around with is a Lawful Good inquisitor of noble bearing who worships Gerana, goddess of Justice. Is anyone playing an Evil character? If so I'll likely make some changes to the character layout and concept so that we're not pretty much immediately coming to intra-party conflict once play starts.

Oh, when generating: no traits, if you're using the SRD or the APG.

Not Monk Implements as I understand you meaning, but definitely monk-favored weapons. They're designated in the gear lists as such. (If you don't have the books, this is a good - and legal ;) - reference: http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ )

No traits, got it. Rolled HP, or assigned? Archetypes/multiclass okay, maybe prestige classes? ty :)

Rolled is fine, I trust you're not cheating, or you can roll your HP by attaching it to a post here (using the roll tool when making a post). Archetypes, multiclass, and prestige are all fine, as long as I confirm it. That's the point of discussing it here!

Silly questions but how do we use the roll tool in a post? Do we just roll the dice in a separate window and then copy paste?

Currently working on getting my Skills onto my character sheet, I just had to pick the class that has damn near all of the skills as class skills...

If you hit the Advanced button, you'll go to a post page, at the bottom you can add rolls to a post.

I need to look up the appropriate pantheon, but I'm leaning towards a sort of white necromancer cleric, maybe muticlassed, but I'm not sure on that. Maybe something along the lines of the Soul Warden prestige class, from Paizo (Undead Slayer's Handbook)

Gonna go rogue, still looking at options for rest of details

While I was discussing chargen with Loki at Savage Mojo, he mentioned that the dungeon is designed to be hard for level, so I think it would do well to make sure you guys are generally well rounded. I have a suspicion that a lopsided party will soon find themselves lopsided.

Hello everyone. Sorry I'm late to the discussion (I'm always late to the party). I'm new to this site and didn't know where to look. This will be my first time playing Pathfinder, but I've ran and played D&D 3/3.5e for quite a while. There are some great character ideas here being discussed. I don't see arcane casters though, so I was thinking of making one of those. I have an idea to be the son of a noble, wishing to learn magic (focusing on Abjuration) in order to protect the family lands once I inherit them.
How does that sound?

Bare in mind... wishing to learn magic probably isn't appropriate for a level 15 caster :p If he's just getting started at level 15, hes clearly a wizards college legacy, coasting classes because his daddy paid the archmage a ton of gold. Literally, a ton of it. As in weight. See? Joke. Haha. *walks away in shame*

That was bad, and you should feel bad.

Ha! Sorry, no, what I mean is that's the character concept for when he was level 1. He's been learning magic. He's driven to learn more so that he can be prepared to defend his lands as best he can. Private lessons got him only so far, that's why he adventures.

Ok well rounded is the aim so what do we have on deck:

Gnome Monk (melee, combat support)
Inquisitor (healing? Is this a cleric-y healing support class?)
Rogue (melee, combat and non-combat skills)
Halfling Bard (musical support)
Wizard (magics)

And we're missing one still? Sounds like we need a tank -

It's mostly a straight up combat build with some support thrown in. I get access to a separate inquisitor spell list and can take healing, but the primary focus is direct damage. A lot of my abilities are built around granting temporary bonuses on attacks or dealing extra damage to particular types of creatures. I'll have access to Cure Serious/Critical for when we need it but I don't get a ton of uses of it per day.

You missed Cyber who's looking at a divine class as well.

With definitely a focus on healing. :) And a few levels of fighter, so not entirely helpless. ;)

I picked up cure serious wounds and cure critical wounds as some of my bard spells, I also have some direct/indirect damage spells that I can cast but my spells per day is pretty limited so I'm not going to be through stuff around very often.

@DeusMalum could your guy tank or more combat support?

It seems like we might be light on damage absorption and healing, though 2 classes with heals isn't too bad. I think with a Monk, Rogue and Wizard we are going to have plenty of damage to sling around.

@CyberIstari good to hear we will have a healer, you posted right as I was writing mine :-)

I knew I missed someone! So we have lots of healing (a dedicated healing character, and lots of splashed healing). The volume of healing might substitute for the tank... I'm kind of a tanky build, not because I have lots of health and resistances but because under the right circumstances I can redirect damage away from me (Ie/ when I'm attacked while threatening a second foe - I can make a Reflex save to have the attack hit the other guy instead of me). I can go more all-in on the defences and focus less on damage (probably good actually because as a small monk my base damage is pretty bad). I'll do that, so I'll be a "tank" :P

Sounds like a plan @Candi.

I'm still just plugging away at getting my skills entered, haven't even decided on feats yet. I'm also thinking about upgrading my weapons and armor to spend some of that 240,000 gold we have to spend on equipment.

I'll also be the brave soul to roll HP first, come on lucky 8's...

Even a small monk's damage isn't bad by any means, and instead of spending money on weapons, you could get items or gloves/knuckles with permanent or limited spells that are affect attacks/you. Magic fang for example.

The damage isn't bad, but my Archetype already sets me up to pseudo-tank and we lack a full on tank so I figured why not lean more into it. I'll still do some damage, but instead I'll focus on controlling the battle and mitigating damage to myself.

I can tank. My HP isn't super high (95) but I've got a bunch of abilities that grant damage reduction and regeneration on a limited basis, as well as good saves and a planned high AC (though I haven't bought armor yet).

Plus my domain power grants us all Heroism for a limited amount of time whenever I use it.

My Rogue HP roll

Keleth: The Monk has a class bonus to CMD, but the character sheet on the site auto-calculates that and doesn't let me add a Misc modifier.

Tiana's Hit Points Roll

Question: My character uses a sling staff that requires 2 hands to load but only one hand to fire. would it be possible to add a buckler to my off hand and not impede loading of my sling?

Candi: I'll add that.

JoHoover: Yah, that works. Given you can use a crossbow without penalty with a buckler on, loading a slingstaff with a buckler makes sense.

Just to clarify the point about one special item, is that a limit of one magic item total? Or just one particularly awesome item?

You have 240k gold to spend: you'll have a lot of magical stuff (or a lot of gold you're dragging around, like chests of it :D). You can think of one item you found in a previous adventure, had particularly made, etc. Come up with what you want it to do, and though you can come up with stats, I'll make the final decisions there. It shouldn't be particularly powerful, something like what a +3 weapon could do. But you can also treat it as an augment to an existing item. For example, I'm working on a special hammer for Deus. I will come up with some special stats for it, and he'll have to pay for it to be a useful weapon. Like if I give it the shattering spell 2/day, he'll have to add stuff like making it a +3 shocking frost hammer. If instead its not an item that usually enchanted, I'll treat it as a minor to medium wondrous item.

Speaking of, I think I have everything together except equipment! Yay! I added her to the library (because the library needs more characters, and also now you can all look at her):

http://gamersplane.com/characters/pathfinder/114

I need to make it prettier (or get help from a designer to do that), but over all, I think the character sheets are lookin pretty decent; what do you guys think? And I haven't forgotten about adding a CMB and CMD misc input.

I wanted to check on a Lore Warden archetype for my fighter levels, a la Pathfinder Society. It fits my build, but okay if not. I'll worry about the prestige class later, maybe (Soul Warden).

Rolling HP here:

Do you know what book Lore Warden comes from? Or any online reference I can look at?

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/fighter/archetypes/paizo---fighter-archetypes/lore-warden

I like the look of it all filled in. If I was running a game of Pathfinder at the table, I'd almost encourage players to use this site to make character sheets. The only improvements I want are (from my experience with making the Monk, I imagine spell casters will have more demands):

1. I'd love to be able to rearrange the Feat section at my discretion. I like keep my Feats, EX and SU abilities in groups to find more easily, and as I level up my grouping will be ruined because new entries go to the bottom.

2. Vision, Speed and Languages should have boxes in the top chunk (these are commonly needed parts of characters, depending on your GM style - but definitely speed - and fly and swim speeds too because it's nice not to have to calculate that stuff on the fly).

3. I'd like a box to the right of Damage Reduction for Resistances (so I can put "Spell DC 25" there instead of commandeering the DR box).

Great input! I'm adding that to my todo list.

Beat me to it, Deus! :) And this is the considered prestige class, for later reference: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/prestige-classes/other-paizo/s-z/soul-warden

Both are fine Istari.

Gotta love the SRD and a job that lets me be on the internet for long stretches of the day!

So I have a couple of equipment questions and then one silly question

1) Since I use a sling staff, is it possible to buy magical bullets for that really special attack, something like +1 damage or even a spell effect like "acid arrow" or "chill touch"?

2) I would like to have a riding dog with adamantine chainmail barding and was wondering if i could upgrade a normal riding dog to like a war dog? Something like extra HD and maybe an extra attack. This of course would cost alot more but it seems fitting to have a better mount with high end armor.

OK now to the silly question: under the attack bonus its listed as +11/+6/+1... Does that mean I get three attacks per round? If so are these just melee attacks or can i do ranged as well?

I'm sure I will have more questions on equipment, spending 240,000 gp is hard :-)

@keleth as for your question about the character sheet I have a couple of suggestions:

1) I Like @Candi's idea of being able to move skills / Feats around in the list to keep them organized.
2) You might add a mount / familiars section for stats associated with those animals
3) having an add button for items that could include stats like weight and cost with a notes section like the feats would be nice

Also I noticed that every time I edit my character it resets my alignment to lawful good so I have to change that every time I edit my character.

@JoHoover I was just about to mention that about alignment.

Let's see if I can figure out this rolling-in-post thing.

Sweet.

JoHoover: It doesn't reset your alignment, it just doesn't properly display it. I can fix that reasonably quickly. As for the items thing, that's planned... eventually...

@keleth the set is awesome and I know how it feels to constantly be thinking of improvement. I have to say I haven't been this excited to start an adventure in a long time. Especially with the group we are putting together.

Any thoughts on my equipment/attack questions?

Somehow I missed this post...
As a ranged weapon, you would treat it as you could a bow or crossbow. Any enchantment on the staff would apply to any bullets fired from it. Any enchantment on bullets would also apply, except for where it overlaps or overrides (+2 staff with +1 bullets just gets a +2 to hit). You could put spells on bullets; we'd treat it as applying touch spells to a weapon, at the regular enchantment rate.
If you have a link to riding dogs, I'll take a look and determine an upgrade for it, if possible.
Yah, it means, unless otherwise indicated by feats or what not, if you choose to attack as your standard action, you'd make 3 attacks, the first at +11, the second at +6, the third at +1. I don't exactly remember the rules for firing a ranged weapon with reload time, but I'm pretty certain it can only fire one attack per round barring feats or augments.

Tiana is, I think, done (well, I have a tiny fraction of money left to spend, but it won't be a significant purchase).

HP 130, AC 33 (+2 Underground, +1 per adjacent enemy)
Fort +18, Ref +20, Will +18, Spell Resistance 25, CMD 27 (+2 vs Trip, +2 vs Reposition)
CMB: +20 (+2 Trip, +2 Reposition)

Unarmed Attack (not including BAB or Flurry stats): +12 Attack; 2d8+5 Damage (+2d6 vs Evil) - Lawful, Good, Silver/Cold Iron, Magic

Plus a bunch of misc. abilities (if I tumble through an opponent's square, I get +2 to attack and trip against them until the start of my next turn; I can redirect attacks against allies to myself; I can grant an ally +2 AC against a specific enemies attack; spells that fail against my SR can be reflected back onto the caster; when I am attacked I can trip and reposition the enemy in response and make them sickened).

Also, another bug - CMB and CMB correctly display my size as a penalty, but they are adding 1 not subtracting 1 from the total displayed.

I've got feats, skills, and stats done. Still need to do gear and spells. If I can't get it done tonight it's unlikely to get done til I'm back from San Fran.

Here is a link to a riding dog: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/animals/dog/riding-dog

thanks for clarifying the attack bonus, I did pick up the multi-shot feat so I will be able to take 2 shots on occasion.

Figured with the enhancement bonuses from gear and the fact that I previously did a hidden roll, I should probably roll my hp on here like everybody else.

Ok, Elandra's done except for spell selections and narrowing down the details on my special item. I'll add her to the game.

Submitted Damion Ash to the game!

Submitted Dimal to the Game! Though I still need confirmation of the war dog mount and @keleth could you take a look at my flute to make sure it passes muster.

Unique and Cyber, how are your characters coming along? I'm kind of waiting to see all 6 characters before creating/augmenting your special items, for balancing reasons. Plus, I'd like to start after Christmas if at all possible.

Almost done. Finished Feats and Skills last night, and have my first daily spells ready to type in. The only thing haven't found is a pantheon for Dungeonlands, or is it sort of pan-pantheon? ;)

The standard Pathfinder pantheon is fine.

There. After weird browser/form errors, I think it all saved properly. ::fingers crossed::

You got form errors?

Unique: I hope you're still paying attention to the forums. If I don't hear from you by Friday night, unfortunately, I'm gonna have to find a new player.

Yes, I am still here. I've had some hectic days recently and so today I hope to finish my character. I'll post when that's complete so you can review for anything I've missed.

Great. I'm sorry if I sounded rushed; I get that real life gets in the way. As long as I've heard from you, I can be reasonably patient.

I did, yes. Submitting the sheet with notes in the Feats section. I was also having script errors intermittently, but I honestly think that was my browser being stupid - a reboot took care of that.

Keleth, I have an idea about that special item you wanted us to have. How about a scrying mirror keyed only to my home? That sounds like something my character would have/want.

I have submitted my character. I spent 138,825 gold. Not sure what else to use it on. :/

Heh, I'll take a look at your character and make suggestions. I'll try to spend this weekend coming up with your items.

I didn't spend everything either ;)

If you haven't already, spend more money on your primary weapon and armour - or, get a bigger Cloak of Resistance (if that's your Cloak). I spent 100k on a +5 Amulet of the Mighty Fists (the monk equivalent to a primary weapon) and 25k on a Cloak of Resistance +5.

So I just need to update with spell selections and I'm good. I got it partially done before I flew out, now that I'm back I'll get it done by Sunday and should be completely finalized. Inqs cast like a sorcerer so I won't need to maintain a separate list for spells memorized, thankfully.

I'm still working on the back story for my character. I don't think we ever decided if we had been a group for an extended period of time or if we just met to start this adventure.

I vote for knowing each other before hand but it also means we have to intertwine our back stories a bit more that to encompass our joined pasts.

Your guys thoughts?

I've read through the first book; you could opt to go for having been a party up till now, or meet up for the first time at the start of the quest line. I'll alter the opening scene for either case.

I think knowing each other would be nice :)

Thanks. :) I wasn't sure what the price limit was on any one item, so I could probably upgrade a few things.

I'm all for knowing each other. Not sure how to go about entwining our back stories. Any suggestions?

There, much closer to gp limit. ;) And I'm fine with our characters already knowing each other. (Pharasma, for those who don't know Paizo's Golarion, is concerned with fate, death, rebirth, souls, etc. Neutral, but undead are an abomination.)

So, character backgrounds. An easy way to do this would be to describe the background and then find links. So, here's Tiana's, others can feel free to identify in roads where Tiana may have met (or joined up with) you (I'm also happy to alter details as necessary):

Tiana is a Gnomish Monk. When she was very young her home was destroyed - it was collateral damage in a large military conflict, the last Great War. The Gnome village she was born into just happened to be a good staging point for an ambush. It didn't turn out well for the Gnomes. Tiana, a child at the time, was found by a trio of traveling monks and they brought her back with them to their order. She was raised by the monks and had a natural aptitude for the flowing style, although her take on the techniques and maneuvers earned her the nickname "Tiana the Trickster". Instead of seamlessly redirecting momentum and action, as the techniques were taught to do, Tiana, with a gleam in her eye and a smile on her lips, used the same principles to lure her opponents into technical traps. Causing them to strike their allies instead of her, or to misjudge her physical size and attack with too much power, miss and stumble and fall. When she turned sixteen, old enough - by Gnome standards - to make her own way in life, she left the order to see the world and discover where she had come from.

She joined a rowdy band of adventurers she met at a tavern in a small town near the monastery. For a year or so they wandered from place to place taking on odd jobs suited for wandering adventurers. Killing kobolds, goblins and bugbears. Ransacking dangerous dungeons at the promise of treasure, and even - unwittingly, for they only took the job because of the promise of reward and riches - stalling an Orc invasion of the Western provinces when they assassinated the head Shaman in the keep of her stronghold. The Shaman, when they fought her, had cursed the Paladin who held the group together and he did not survive the trek back to the Western Capital. Once he was buried the group disbanded and most of them went their separate ways. Tiana took the opportunity to seek out her heritage.

She traveled alone for a few months and returned to her homeland. The land was still scarred from the horrific battle that had taken place there more than a decade before - magic often leaves such scars that can only be mended by a great deal of time and patience. She found a small tribe of Gnomes living on the fringes of the magic-scarred wasteland, and the turned out to be her distant relatives. The few survivors who had remained near to all they had ever known. She told them of the riches in the West and the glorious cities she had seen. After some convincing they left with her for the nearest big city where she discovered an old friend had purchased a rundown inn and was fixing it up. He was happy to hire on her extended family as staff and provide them temporary housing until they found their own way. It was through him that she heard of another member of her former adventuring party who had just passed through the city looking for allies to go on a grand quest to find some ancient forgotten treasure. Longing for her old life, Tiana went after them.

She joined the new adventuring party a month later when she caught up with them an at icy passage. They were besieged by frost giants and her timely arrival saved their lives (although, they'd never admit to having been saved by a Gnome). The next year they battled giants, Minotaur's and other beasts on the quest that eventually led them to a young dragon's hoard and more wealth than they could ever have imagined. The quest complete and the prize in hand, many of the party left to find their own way.

Tiana was again, at a loss. She longed to make a difference, to take on a challenge that was worthy of her fist and skill. She wasn't really driven by the treasure like her companions were, but instead driven by the excitement and the freedom of the adventuring life. It was then she heard of the Lich Queen. The tales of the danger, the power and the stakes. She reached out to all the warriors, mages and clerics she knew, inquiring if any were willing - nay brave enough - to face the Lich Queen. She kept an open ear for tales of great heroes seeking the Lich Queen's lair. It was an adventure in itself to pull together (and find) a team. A crew with the skills, motivation and determination necessary, but eventually, after many trials and tests, they were ready.

Damn Candi, Way to set the bar :-) Sorry I haven't posted Dimal's back story yet, Candi scared me off. Just kidding, our daycare has been closed since before Christmas and its really hard to get any typing done with a 1 year old in your lap. I will have it posted by the end of the weekend.

Hope everyone is have a great time this holiday season!

I know just what you mean. I don't think I've ever made a character's backstory like Candi's. I'm working on mine. Be warned, it won't be very long.

Yah, holidays tend to cause delays. I should have your items ready by the end of the coming weekend, so once you guys settle in, we'll be good to start. Quick question: would you prefer a slower, RPing ramp in, or just jump into the fun?

I didn't mean to intimidate. Really, I just asked myself "what was Tiana doing when she was level 1? What about at level 7? How about level 13?" then I strung those answers together to build a short history and threw in a bit of personal development in the middle of it.

I'd prefer to just jump into the fun. There'll be lots of time to RP along the way (and, I find it can be fun to retroactively sort out details of how you got to where you are - in media res campaigns are fun).

I agree about jumping right in :)

I was going to say RP ramping some, but Candi brings up a good point about retroactively sorting details. I say let's jump in.

That's a neat idea, as there are some campfire moments written into the game. I'll actually start up the first post as if we'd been going for some time already. I'm gonna try to get everyone's special item sorted today/tomorrow. That being said, if you haven't put up thoughts on what you want that item to be, please do so.

*polite cough*

Sorry, things have been kinda crazy at home, I'll be getting back to the games ASAP.

I will be away from February 4-10.

Yah, I'm certainly to blame for this going dead. I'll get it back up soon, and forgive anyone who drops or is inactive to start. But I'm still super excited to run this, and we'll get there.

Great to hear... I'm still really excited to get my lovely Gnome Monk into action :)

I know its been a while but is there any interest left in this game? I'm still down to get things rolling if everyone else is.

I've got an interest, no clue what's going on, though.

I'm still game...

Me too. I just figured it was a case of Life Happens (tm). ;)

Awesome thats 4 out of 6, hopefully Keleth can still find time for us. :-)

While I was really excited to be a player in this game, if Keleth is too busy and it's possible, I'd also be willing to GM. All of my games here have faded out, but I can handle one GM of Pathfinder in lieu of GMing my own system and playing in 2 game.s

I can commit to about 2 GM posts per week (at minimum, typically more).

I'm down.

If you're willing Candi, that may be for the best. And if you're ok with it, I'll switch to a character (that I can handle more easily). If you do decide to take it on, I can send you the book for the first dungeon for you to look over.

I would totally be down with Candi taking over.

Fine with me :)

Sounds great Keleth. I'll PM you my email, and you can get to work making a character!

I'll set you as the GM.

Ok, I'm GM, I've got the books and I'm starting to read through. I'll need some time before I'm ahead enough in the reading to start us up, but that won't be *too* far off. So, if you are still game go post in the Roll Call thread I created (Keleth this includes you too)! and on Monday I'm going to put out a call for more players.

I want to get the game going (at least as some lite introductory RP in a tavern while I read up on the adventure to get everyone in the groove and habit and build some character interactions) by the end of next week (characters don't need to be finished for then, mind you, just character concepts enough to RP).

Regarding special items:

Can each of you private message me a short, one paragraph description of what the 'perfect signature item' for your character would look like (don't limit yourself to items and powers within the game system already - in fact don't even think about mechanics. Just *describe* to me what would be a perfect signature item for your character).

Also, looks like roll call brought 4 out of the woodworks, I'm going to open the campaign to fill the last slot, and I won't seek replacements for the originals who haven't chimed in on the roll call until we've gotten started.

Hi folks. Glad to be here. So, I am not exactly sure what I want to play. My first thought is half-elf Summoner. I hesitate only because that effectively gives me two characters to run and I don't know if the GM (or anyone else) has an issue with that. I intend to spec the eidolon out as a heavy hitter melee type. Making it a potential assistant tank. Then the Summoner would make a buffing Arcanist. Alternatively, I considered using the Synthesist build option, eliminating the two character issue.

Spell casters are my favorite type of class to play, but if anyone thinks there is gap that needs covering I'd consider another option

Given the play by forum nature of the game, things go much more smoothly when players *don't* focus on summoning spells. That said, I'd streamline it the natural way and have your summon act on your initiative (so you can post yourself and your summon's actions at once) and as such, don't let "ease of play" deter you from the character you want to play!

Also, I'm going to start the game (hopefully today, if not then tomorrow for sure) with the "Usual Tavern Intro" scene, to give everyone a chance to start getting into it while others finish polishing up their characters.

And, for those wondering, I'm still thinking about the "unique items". They will probably be on par with a level 2-3 magic item, but whatever each of them is will be an effect unavailable through the normal means of the system, which is to say - I'm making it up :) and as such, these things take a bit of time to do well (balance, flavour and all that need to be brought carefully into alignment).

I'll try to get a character up in the next day or two. I'm kind of leaning to a rogue or rogue variant/hybrid. In DnD, I was a fan of Arcane Hands (Sorc/Rogue or Wiz/Rogue, leaning to the first).

Awesome. I agree with the "summon on my initiative" and hopefully it won't be to much to track

Rolling for Hp. I haven't decided how to use the bonus HP/skill from each HD gained so this is just class+Con mod.

Alright folks, good and bad news.

Good News: I'm writing up the first thread now. Those with a character personality / name can get started (even if you're not quite done with your stats).

Bad News: I'm not going to keep Keleth's promise for custom items. I know that's a bit of a let down, however it's genuinely part of the hold up on my end. I just haven't had time to sit down and do it right. So, just go shopping with the amount of money that the system says you are allowed for a lv15 character, and pick one of those items and identify WHY that one is so special for your character (what makes it their "signature item"). I'll treat it as a story hook, and I'm certain you'll be happy with what I do with that item as the game progresses :)

Sounds good. I think I've got an interesting idea or two.

Great News We're live!

Candi, you are a smarter person than I. I'll try to get a character in ASAP.

Damnit, you're saying I won't be able to walk around with a reusable Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch? CURSES, foiled again!

It's all good.

So, I found a ring that allows Summoners to absorb their Eidolons and gain temp HP. Normally while in the ring, Eidolons have returned to their or plane and cannot observe what is happening. What I would like to do for my ring to allow my Eidoln to manifest as a tiny creature with absolutely no impact on game play. This effect can be seen in the first play section. The Eidolon can't leave my presence or affect any of the real world beyond eating and drinking a little, maybe carring a little weight.

So slight change Candi: would you object to an alchemist/rogue or a pure alchemist? The only thing holding me back is that crafting alchemical things takes time/resources, but if possible, maybe I could have a magical item that either leads to an extradimentional alchemists shop or a "pop up" alchemy workbench, that would have general supplies/run faster? As long as I don't do something stupid?

If not, I'll go gunslinger :D I realize I always play a rogue, I wanna try something different.

foolsmask: I can't see a problem with that.

Keleth: I myself have always been fond of alchemists and less fond of the amount of time and resources it takes to be one (like, who ever wanted bookeeping to intervene on their fun!). So I'm happy with that. I'm not sure what a reasonable amount of time is, but lets say its an item that lets you (and you alone) pop into an extra-dimensional space where time passes more slowly. One round in game-time is 1 hour in that space. You can use it for up to 4 rounds per day. In that space there is all of your supplies.

Awesome! Let me know how much it will cost me. Can I also use it to set longer concoctions (things that might require a day or two) brewing, and return from them later? Or will it only work for things that take 4 or less hours?

Candi, is my flute of control going to fly or should I pick something else? Here is how I have it listed on my character sheet:

Flute of Control
3/3 per day; Lvl 10 caster; Range close (50 ft.); Targets up to 20 HD of huminoids or Monsters, no two of which can be more than 30 ft. apart; Duration 10 min.; Saving Throw Will negates; Spell Resistance yes

Also Keleth and I had discussed a riding war dog for my character is that still an option? If so I would like to upgrade the stats for a riding dog (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/animals/dog/riding-dog) something like a couple extra hit dice as well as a claw attack. What do you think?

So yeah, I'm dropping the effects I PMed you about but keeping the general idea of the holy warhammer, it's a relic of Gerana with part of her own godly warhammer worked into the hilt. Just a bit of flavor.

I'm going through Alchemist rules, and I'm having trouble with a few things, one of which is discoveries. I assume stuff I get from a discovery counts against my uses per day, but at least on the PFSRD, it doesn't list levels for some discoveries (like Wings), so I'm not sure how often I can make a Wings potion.

JoHoover - if you can buy the item with your lv 15 character creation allotment of gold, then yes it flies. If the Flute of Control isn't in the game system already, I'm afraid I can't approve it. I simply don't have the time to cross check to make sure it's balanced and fair, and to assign it an appropriate price point (also, I'm, in general, hesitant to allow any sort of 'mind control' effects, especially in play by forum as losing control of an NPC in the midst of combat suddenly splits the GM combat round into two combat rounds... which can significantly slow down a game).

Regarding the riding dog, again, it will need a cost (and to count against your gold allotment). The easiest solution to that is to do the following: Find a creature with a stat block you think is about the power level of the dog you want (don't worry about what the name of the thing is), determine it's CR, determine what level of summoning spell would summon such a creature, determine the cost of a wand for casting that summoning spell. Halve the wands cost (because your dog will be a real creature and so if it dies it's gone and cannot be resummoned). That's the cost you subtract from you gold for the riding dog. We rename the stat block you picked to "Riding Dog" and I'll make some adjusting to its abilities for thematic purposes (I recommend finding a similar kind of animal - a Black Hound, Tiger or something like that).

Deus - Great solution :) I mean, if possible to thematically incorporate your item ideas into the items you've already purchased for yourself please do that!

On my reading it works like this: Those discoveries do not count against your uses per day. Instead, they grant you a special alchemical compound limited as described in the discovery. For wings, you get X minuets worth of wings potion per day. The easiest way to count would probably be having X potions (since the minimum length of Wings is 1 minute).

Reads to me like Discoveries like wings grant you a special ability, and the authors didn't take the time to write it out in a way that preserved the theme of the alchemist (instead treating them like any other Ex ability).

Based on my reading of Alchemist Discovries, the Wings discovery has a caster level minimum of 6th level. The effect as written says you have cater level in minutes per day of the Fly spell. Meaning if you take wings as your 6th level discovery you get 6 minutes of wings/flight a day. You may select Wings again with future discoveries as you level up. This adds your caster level to the daily duration again but no other effect is granted. So if you take it at 6th and 12th level (I'm not looking at an Alchemist level chart so I don't know if you get a discovery at 12th...this is just an example) you would then have 18 minutes of the Fly spell per day.

That is how I'm reading it. But it clearly states minimum 6th level.

Hmm, that's a good point. Let me see if there's a way I can incorporate spell effects into a weapon and how much more that'd cost.
...

So spell storing is totally a thing, and works on spells up to 3rd level. Since I get access to Earth Shape as a 3rd level domain spell under Gerana's Earth domain, maybe I could translate that into a 1/day use of Earth Shape channeled through the weapon? It'd add about 30k to the cost of the existing weapon.

Edit: Scratch that, misread the post. Yeah I don't mind just sticking with a thematically appropriate weapon with a neat backstory.

Alright, I picked the tiger as my base animal stats (LINK: http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/animals/cat-great/tiger) and calculated the cost at 21k gc for the wand creation.

I changed the flute of control to a flute of Scrying with 3 charges per day.

Cool. The Tiger block is a good fit for riding dog (you can retheme it as a riding dog of course but you use the Tiger stat block). As with the Eidolon, the riding dog will act on your initiative.

I should have my character done today, though my class selection needs a final answer: if I took a few levels in Rogue, would my single-target bomb attacks be sneak attacks (if they're eligible)? Other versions of D&D and similar games explicitly list weapons that can deal SA damage; Pathfinder is more often, just saying if they're denied dex or flanked. I mean, if I'm a trained and board certified alchemist, wouldn't I know how to best hit someone with a bomb to hurt them more? :p

@foolsmark, you mentioned some ruins in your tavern intro that I played off of but I was wondering if there was a map available for me to look at to pull some names from? I realize that playing a bard that has interacted with nobility from across the lands is going to be hard if I have no idea what the kingdoms/map looks like.

I did a quick google search and didn't find anything.

Sorry @JoHoover, I just made that up whole cloth as I was writing. I decided that while Singer isn't a genius (only 10 Int.), she is an amateur archiologist. She is maxed out in the Linguist skill so she can translate old writings. So I made the ancient civilization older than any elf could be. So when she says she just got back from the ruins she was at a dig. I think this 'profession' works for a Summoner because her Eidolon can back her up if she gets in a tight spot in a ruin or cave or something. The same goes for the two people she was with. I just made them up. They may be no one or they may come up as NPCs if Candi runs with it. If you have a history of rubbing elbows with nobility, I say you are free to make up details about those two families as you see fit.

Sorry, realized that bombs increase at the same rate as sneak attacks, so doesn't make sense they'd stack. I think I'm gonna setup a 4 Rogue/11 Alchemist.

@JoHoover - there is technically a world this game is set in (the Dungeonlands universe) however, this adventure is mighty convenient because (as you will all soon see) it fits neatly into *any* world. So, make things up as you feel fit - however, remain consistent with whatever things have been established (and things are only established by someone posting about them!).

@Keleth - I love it when questions answer themselves.

Awesome. I wasn't sure if it was like D&D that has a very well established world or not. Didn't want to break anything.

Fair concern, and I appreciate it.

Fortunately, it's a totally open RP for this game (included game-world content).

Four players have checked in at the Inn. I believe that we are just waiting on Keleth. Once you tag in, we'll get rolling :)

In the meantime, I'm going to have some fun ;)

Yup, character and post will be in today.

Heh, well I won't get to have my fun for long then :P

(for those wondering, I DO NOT plan on running a GM PC - that's a big taboo in my books)

Character with basics are in. I'll be adding more of it tomorrow (I was at work till 9 today...). I'll add an RP post now.