Character Discussion

Slayer and Cav both fit wonderfully. I don't think Slayer needs any adjustments. For Cav, it depends on the archetype.

If you do see an unattainable magic item that would make a neat boon later on in the story, put a bug in my ear.

As just a dude, it is the dudest of dudery to claim divine origin. I'm am a large man, but not a very large one. It's a weekly occurrence that I blow the minds of men who are much larger than me. I just tell them I'm the main character and they get it. Usually they laugh, sometimes they agree. Never once offended anyone.

Main Character being a synonym for quasideity.

The Greek concept Arete is the zealous pursuit of greatness. I think possibly the origin of heroic storytelling is that part of the reason great characters throughout history became epics is they encouraged others to view them as icons, archetypes, not just merely mortal, but supernatural in origin.

Yeah... the caveat being this is a party-based game, so there's no main character within the group. How we as a group present ourselves to the rest of the world is up for debate.

As an example, I eyed the Vigilante class. I could imagine that my character often just appears like a strapping lad, but when he puts on a fancy helmet he is seen as an iconic hero (totally not batman). The rest of the party would know boy=hero, but the rest of the world wouldn't.

That said I haven't made a choice yet. Fighter and Unchained Rogue also seem like wonderful fits for the no-magic theme.

Edit: A mask something like this;

I like the idea of being something a bit "more"

I'm good with a regular dude, would be fun to overcome odds without constant use of magic, in a campaign like this.
Looks great, I like the nets/harpoon specialization a lot, as well as the diver aspects. Maybe this guy was a fisherman before the war, enlisted as sailor to make the best use of his skillset.

Yes, I would say he would know no magic at all...

Skills that spring to mind that might fit the sailor theme could be Climb (getting up those masts!) , Knowledge (nature) specific to marine life / birds, Swim, Survival.
I guess Profession (sailor) might cover a lot of the sailor tasks.

(just brainstorming looking at the SRD skill list)

I also maybe found an applicable Feat called Sea Legs ?

Aight, I can see i've been reading the room wrong. Gonna put the kibbosh on details for a minute because this matters a LOT.

When we speak of divine influence, what are you guys looking for?

1. The gods are present, they intervene in extreme cases, and the truly heroic can get boons from the gods who particularly like them, but you are just human. (This is where I thought we were).
2. Favorable relationships with the gods are more common, and it's not unheard of for folks to have a deity somewhere in their bloodline, albeit probably not a direct parent. Direct parents may be mythological creatures. (This is where Odysseys and Achilles fall, since Thetis was his mom, but just a nymph. I am comfortable bumping to here without any adjustments.)
3. First-generation demigods are more common, as is direct favoritism from deities, but the Big Six, Apollo, etc, are cautious about who they sire, thus you're more likely to be a demigod from a lesser deity. (This may change the tone of the campaign, but I can keep y'all fairly low magic until you complete a series of appropriate Trials.)
4. You're PC's, you're effectively writing your own myth, all bets are off. (This would change the campaign to normal Pathfinder, high magic, etc. To be honest, I'm not really interested in running another "I can melt you with my brain" RPG.)


And, Joms, you're welcome to play Tiwaz with that level of charisma and bravado, but I will roleplay the dangers of falling into Hubris because it's such a central theme to so many stories.

It sounds to me like we're really looking for level 2 or 3 here. Yes?

I was assuming 1.

Dr_B, yes to sea legs, and if you still want to be completely normal, I can work with that. Whether you accept the boons of the gods or not will be an RP decision, and I'll make sure there are some negatives to being "something more" so that your sailor's contributions are still clear. I mean, there should be negatives anyway. The Greek gods are complicated.

Alternatively, if the group is going towards magic knowledge, the way in which this sailor/fisherman could use a little magic could be the Gifts from the Sea feat (adapted for a human).

Perhaps he is no spellcaster, but an old seafarer from distant lands (or possibly an ancestor) revealed to him how to do this with water. With a limited, fitting list of spells.

That could add a little magic flavor and not break the character concept?

Always thought that all PCs are by default main characters. Since the action, suspense, and intrigue, revolve around them. Not in any way am I suggesting matginalizing anyone. More to say "I am THAT guy" who would ascribe any trait that sets me ahead of the ordinary as divinely inspired, even if that divinity is merely my work ethic and discipline.

As for thematically 1 is my general assumption. But that is already setting our heroes/antihero as a step further ahead than we have ever experienced in our real world. If the gods are real and really do influence players on the board, then our characters are by definition more than any of us ever have been. Considering that Deified humans exist in our real world with no concrete evidence of divine favor, it would be no stretch at all to assume that great men and women of our game world would hold similar, and grander, opinions of themselves.

Let us not forget, Alexander the Great was certainly no demigod. Yet, that never stopped Alexander from believing he was. And his life certainly seems to fit the Archetype of Demigod. He's written about in every religion that currently exists.

Not withstanding the feat that all of our characters just survived, the Sack and Razing of Troy. Troy has another name in mythology, Asgard. Or according to the myth of the cities founding, the seat of Palladium, literally a city of paladins.

It would be a wonder if the issuers of such a victory remained humble following such a feat.

I'm happy with whatever others want. I was aiming for 1 with my concept, or a little more, depending if we'd need a higher number for monsters as was leaning into into monster hunting with pike, but can also go daring champion if we're vs more humanoids.

Okay. This is good conversation. I like it.

Please move character mechanic discussions to your respective threads so we can focus on group dynamics here.

I will say, then, that we've got a slightly open-ended 1 for our theme. As GM I reserve the right to add a nymph cousin or something later if I see fit, but as GM, it is my responsibility to deck you guys out evenly (even if it's not at the exact same time).

My personal hope is a mix of environmental, human, and monster challenges. I know that doesn't narrow it down, but I'm still getting a feel for conflict, and your characters wouldn't be able to predict with that much granularity anyway. Rest assured, if someone picks an archetype, they will get some conflicts that showcase them. That's part of the fun for me.

I am going to ask that we not use the term "Main Character" due to conflicting connotations. This is an ensemble cast. I've been in a game with a stated MC and a clear "GM's pet", and the pacing was really stressful for everyone else. So I'm going to distance us from that terminology. Yes, you're the Player Characters, yes, that means you have some experiences and will have some experiences that others could only dream of.

Along those lines, be mindful of backstories. Trying to talk yourself up convincingly will require a bluff roll if you're exaggerating, or at least a flat charisma roll to see if you express it well. Starting at level 5, you guys actually do have more street cred than some farmer who picked up a sword.

But most if not all of that street cred is from the Trojan War.

And you're still "minor" enough that you deserted your king and (as far as you can tell so far) got away with it. So sure, have the bravado and reckless confidence. I acknowledge there may be some inter-party disagreement (please no full conflict). But recall that sometimes that won't be enough. I think that's reasonable, though. You are elite humans, but humans nonetheless.

Am I wrapping my head around your goals better now? Anything else to add?

If not, we can start discussing the ship: Larger ship with an NPC crew, which makes it harder over time to pilot ~ or a smaller ship you guys can handle on your own that might be less sea-worthy?

What's the point buy?

Standard fantasy, even though it's a low-magic campaign. I want you guys to be able to have decent martial or tactical stats.

Regarding ship, anything we should know now about the conditions of our desertion/flight/escape that might help make the size of the ship make sense? Or is that all stuff that will develop based on what we pick?

The broad stroke right now is "You heard Odysseus screwed up big time and are trying to avoid the aftermath."

The type of ship is a meta question. It really boils down to, do you want complicated resource management from the start (small vessel) or later on (larger vessel)?

Another note, C1NDER and Khulod, your characters have the easiest connection thus far, if you'd like to explore that.

Recall I'd like everyone to know at least one other party member personally. You know, enough that you'd trust them to steal a ship with you.

@Khulod - My PC, Nikias, will have been an officer in the war with about 100 soldiers in his command. Perhaps your PC was one of those soldiers? Would he have been likely to look up to and respect his commander enough to go along with him when he leaves?

@ All doing some quick reviewing online, it seems there was approximately 1 ship for every ~80 soldiers accounted for on the Greek side. It happens to be that Nikias is a Lochagos, a leader of a 100-man unit called a Lochos. A fair portion of his unit could have arrived to war with one of those ships. Maybe that's a ship he might have thought to take, due to familiarity?

@Dr_B would your PC have been the captain of said ship?

For that matter, he could have taken his ship in particular.

Great point!