13ones
2014-04-21, 12:14 PM
Morning all,
I've got a game coming up and as of right now I have NO idea what to pick in terms of a class. I have half a dozen concepts in mind but no idea how to pull some of them off. Normally I pick to compliment what the party is lacking, which in many cases with my friends has been Arcane support and Ranged damage. However this session everyone is still up in the air and keeping everything close to their chests, as per GM orders. He wants it to be natural and a surprise as to what our party forms into. So I've got a few concepts that I'll rattle off as well as the rules my GM likes to use.
Basically what I'm looking for is some focus and I'd like to toss down these ideas to see what you all think of them.
Concepts:
Ranger: Beast Master Archetype - Probably Half-Orc, Human, or Tiefling LN. Coming from a heavily arid part of the world that needs a sort of savage brutality and cunning to stay alive in. His people have a right of passage that involves a great hunt, trophies, and tales of glory and he has left his home in search of these. Giant Scorpion animal companion, a sort of skirmisher build with high strength and moderate dex and con. Starts at range but when it gets to it can draw a two-handed weapon and go toe to toe. Only reason I'm hesitating is the last game I played with a few of these guys was a Beast Master ranger, but I kinda cocked it up a little and I want to do it better.
Witch: Shadow Patron - Human NG or TN. For seven hundred years the title of "The Witch of Asmada Dark mistress of the Northern lands" has fallen to the female child of a witch. For the first time ever the male child of a witch was selected for this position drawing the ire of every witch, hag, and witch hunter in the lands. Not only that but the child of a white witch has taken the title, adding further insult. He sets out on the behest of his familiar, being guided by the tiny being (Scorpion, Raven, or Snake of some kind) towards some grand scheme at the hands of the being who the beast represents. Going to be heavy into debuffing, negative levels, hexes, and illusions with this one. More encounter control than battlefield control.
Ninja: Human or Half-Elf CG, CN, or NG. Youngest of Seven children of the land's proclaimed 'king of thieves' and leader of the thieves guild. Studied the art of stealth abroad on orders from his father to not only bring in new skills, but to scout potential recruits, and possibilities of new chapters of the guild. Returns to his father dead and his siblings fighting over who should hold the title and control of the guild with several different factions of thieve gangs fighting over it. Has a sense of honour that comes from his time away from home, even if it is a bit of a twisted sense of thieves honour. He now ventures out to seek allies to help him gain control of the guild. Another sort of skirmishing build. Attacking with a two-handed elven curve blade (cause finesse on a two hander) in melee but the main reason for this choice is ranged sneak attacks at level 10 when I'll get greater invisibility and sniper goggles to make encounters cry. So a primary ranged build after level 10, with melee two-handing before hand.
Oracle: Bones Mystery with Haunted or Clouded Vision Curse TN - Human. Born to cleric parents of the God of Light and Justice in a small town on the edge of the 'Dead Lands', land ravaged in times past by powerful Necromancers, still tainted and always attracting Undead. The Undead one day overwhelm the boarders of the town and kill the populace down to the last man, woman and child save for one. They spare that lone person and as they stand, begging for Death to join their family, Death himself appears. The God of Death appears and states there is a imbalance, and that they have been chosen to restore that balance to life and death, that they are chosen, thus becoming the oracle of the God of Death and Balance, and a pawn in his long chess game. Debuffing and Support is the name of this game.
Druid:NG Human. Raised among a group of Druids who are the Wardens of nature, keeping man separate from the sacred groves of the world, and keeping the beasts, fey, and other beings of those groves from overrunning the world of men. Their numbers are few, aging, and slowly dying out. He has left the Grove to seek the world for more to join the order, or help to bolster it so that if his 'family' falls their mission may not be forgotten. In doing so the family has branded him a lost cause and fear his return for he may bring corruption with him. Front line. Beast shape and then maul the ever loving crap out of people.
Wizard: Illusion School (Mage of the Veil subschool), Banned Schools - Necromancy and Evocation. Elf, Half-Elf, Drow, Fetchling, or Human. CG. Named among his peers as the Spell Thief. A thief who stole a spell book from the local archmage who then taught himself magic through the spell book he stole. He is forever on the run from his homelands, less the Archmage seek vengeance on the young man who stole from his library and taught himself magic. Focused on Misdirection and battlefield control more than straight damage. Key players will eventually be Shadow Evocation and Shadow Conjuration to pick up some of the slack.
Sorcerer #1: Arcane Bloodline. Human or Half-Orc. A Street rat in a part of the land ravaged so heavily by past magical wars between Elves, Humans, and Orcs that the land itself is now magical. The street rat has natural magical talents and is thus noticed by the Elven lord of the land and is taken as an apprentice. The young man learns quickly and his skills grow rapidly as he learns beside the Master's other apprentice. However the relationship between his master turns sour quickly. He learns that he wasn't taken as a serious apprentice, his female half-elf counter part that he had been studying beside and pining for was the real apprentice. He learns that he was brought on as a charity case bet between his master and the other Elven Nobles and Archmagi to see if they could civilize and educate a savage from the Arcane Wastes. Embittered he blows up part of the tower during a foolish Wizard's duel with his master and is cast out. He now travels the land to try and bolster his power while maintaining letters with his sweet-heart. His goal is to one day return and sweep her away from the foolish old elf. Evocation focus, blasting and reflex-save heavy build. Battlefield control, debuffing, and Damage.
Sorcerer #2: Dragon Bloodline (Red, Black, or White dragon). Human, Elf or Half-Elf. LG-CG. A young man from a tiny, sleepy sea side village that is incredibly boring where nothing interesting ever happens. It does, however have a fear of two things heavily engrained into its culture. Dragons and Wizards. A Wizard tower to the north of the village has always made the people uneasy, and even more so when they learn that the tower has recently become home to a dragon. When that young man starts to develop magical powers related to the element of the dragon in the tower he has some questions for his single-parent mother as to his father. Turns out his mom is the former wizard of that tower and his dad is the dragon hanging out there. Oops. They were mortal foes who hooked up one time and produced him. The mother deserted her tower to the dragon to sort of call a truce between them. They wouldn't interact with each other or their respective homes. so knowing the fear the villagers have towards both magic and dragons, and fearing for his and his mother's safety at the hands of an angry mob he strikes out on his own in order to prove that neither magic nor his dragon blood makes him evil or scary. Except it totally does. A jack of all trades, real generalist sorcerer who will eventually start taking dragon disciple levels.
So those are my ideas. Please feel free to help me narrow them down or suggest any general ideas for further research. These are the things that came to mind first and where I rally feel most comfortable.
Rules:
- No traits
- Main books only (so no Inner Sea stuff, or anything similar, sadly unless specifically approved by the GM)
- Will be going to level 20
- 25 point buy
- Starting at level 4
- NO GUNSLINGERS, EVER. STOP THAT SH*T (to quote the GMs email)
- 6k gold start, no more than 1500g on one item.
- Max HP at first level; at each additional level characters receive 1/2 HD plus one, plus modifiers.
- Item creation feats (EG Scribe Scroll) are not allowed. If your class receives it as an extra feat see substitutions: Alchemists get Extra Bombs instead of Brew Potion, Cavaliers get Skill Focus instead of Expert Trainer, Wizards get Spell Focus instead of Scribe Scroll
- LEADERSHIP IS PERMA-BANNED. ONCE AGAIN; STOP THAT SH*T!
- Clerics and Druids of the Nobility domain receive "Persuasive" instead of "Leadership"
- Oracles of the Nature mystery replace "Awaken" with "Animal Growth" for bonus spells.
- No Hero Points
I've got a game coming up and as of right now I have NO idea what to pick in terms of a class. I have half a dozen concepts in mind but no idea how to pull some of them off. Normally I pick to compliment what the party is lacking, which in many cases with my friends has been Arcane support and Ranged damage. However this session everyone is still up in the air and keeping everything close to their chests, as per GM orders. He wants it to be natural and a surprise as to what our party forms into. So I've got a few concepts that I'll rattle off as well as the rules my GM likes to use.
Basically what I'm looking for is some focus and I'd like to toss down these ideas to see what you all think of them.
Concepts:
Ranger: Beast Master Archetype - Probably Half-Orc, Human, or Tiefling LN. Coming from a heavily arid part of the world that needs a sort of savage brutality and cunning to stay alive in. His people have a right of passage that involves a great hunt, trophies, and tales of glory and he has left his home in search of these. Giant Scorpion animal companion, a sort of skirmisher build with high strength and moderate dex and con. Starts at range but when it gets to it can draw a two-handed weapon and go toe to toe. Only reason I'm hesitating is the last game I played with a few of these guys was a Beast Master ranger, but I kinda cocked it up a little and I want to do it better.
Witch: Shadow Patron - Human NG or TN. For seven hundred years the title of "The Witch of Asmada Dark mistress of the Northern lands" has fallen to the female child of a witch. For the first time ever the male child of a witch was selected for this position drawing the ire of every witch, hag, and witch hunter in the lands. Not only that but the child of a white witch has taken the title, adding further insult. He sets out on the behest of his familiar, being guided by the tiny being (Scorpion, Raven, or Snake of some kind) towards some grand scheme at the hands of the being who the beast represents. Going to be heavy into debuffing, negative levels, hexes, and illusions with this one. More encounter control than battlefield control.
Ninja: Human or Half-Elf CG, CN, or NG. Youngest of Seven children of the land's proclaimed 'king of thieves' and leader of the thieves guild. Studied the art of stealth abroad on orders from his father to not only bring in new skills, but to scout potential recruits, and possibilities of new chapters of the guild. Returns to his father dead and his siblings fighting over who should hold the title and control of the guild with several different factions of thieve gangs fighting over it. Has a sense of honour that comes from his time away from home, even if it is a bit of a twisted sense of thieves honour. He now ventures out to seek allies to help him gain control of the guild. Another sort of skirmishing build. Attacking with a two-handed elven curve blade (cause finesse on a two hander) in melee but the main reason for this choice is ranged sneak attacks at level 10 when I'll get greater invisibility and sniper goggles to make encounters cry. So a primary ranged build after level 10, with melee two-handing before hand.
Oracle: Bones Mystery with Haunted or Clouded Vision Curse TN - Human. Born to cleric parents of the God of Light and Justice in a small town on the edge of the 'Dead Lands', land ravaged in times past by powerful Necromancers, still tainted and always attracting Undead. The Undead one day overwhelm the boarders of the town and kill the populace down to the last man, woman and child save for one. They spare that lone person and as they stand, begging for Death to join their family, Death himself appears. The God of Death appears and states there is a imbalance, and that they have been chosen to restore that balance to life and death, that they are chosen, thus becoming the oracle of the God of Death and Balance, and a pawn in his long chess game. Debuffing and Support is the name of this game.
Druid:NG Human. Raised among a group of Druids who are the Wardens of nature, keeping man separate from the sacred groves of the world, and keeping the beasts, fey, and other beings of those groves from overrunning the world of men. Their numbers are few, aging, and slowly dying out. He has left the Grove to seek the world for more to join the order, or help to bolster it so that if his 'family' falls their mission may not be forgotten. In doing so the family has branded him a lost cause and fear his return for he may bring corruption with him. Front line. Beast shape and then maul the ever loving crap out of people.
Wizard: Illusion School (Mage of the Veil subschool), Banned Schools - Necromancy and Evocation. Elf, Half-Elf, Drow, Fetchling, or Human. CG. Named among his peers as the Spell Thief. A thief who stole a spell book from the local archmage who then taught himself magic through the spell book he stole. He is forever on the run from his homelands, less the Archmage seek vengeance on the young man who stole from his library and taught himself magic. Focused on Misdirection and battlefield control more than straight damage. Key players will eventually be Shadow Evocation and Shadow Conjuration to pick up some of the slack.
Sorcerer #1: Arcane Bloodline. Human or Half-Orc. A Street rat in a part of the land ravaged so heavily by past magical wars between Elves, Humans, and Orcs that the land itself is now magical. The street rat has natural magical talents and is thus noticed by the Elven lord of the land and is taken as an apprentice. The young man learns quickly and his skills grow rapidly as he learns beside the Master's other apprentice. However the relationship between his master turns sour quickly. He learns that he wasn't taken as a serious apprentice, his female half-elf counter part that he had been studying beside and pining for was the real apprentice. He learns that he was brought on as a charity case bet between his master and the other Elven Nobles and Archmagi to see if they could civilize and educate a savage from the Arcane Wastes. Embittered he blows up part of the tower during a foolish Wizard's duel with his master and is cast out. He now travels the land to try and bolster his power while maintaining letters with his sweet-heart. His goal is to one day return and sweep her away from the foolish old elf. Evocation focus, blasting and reflex-save heavy build. Battlefield control, debuffing, and Damage.
Sorcerer #2: Dragon Bloodline (Red, Black, or White dragon). Human, Elf or Half-Elf. LG-CG. A young man from a tiny, sleepy sea side village that is incredibly boring where nothing interesting ever happens. It does, however have a fear of two things heavily engrained into its culture. Dragons and Wizards. A Wizard tower to the north of the village has always made the people uneasy, and even more so when they learn that the tower has recently become home to a dragon. When that young man starts to develop magical powers related to the element of the dragon in the tower he has some questions for his single-parent mother as to his father. Turns out his mom is the former wizard of that tower and his dad is the dragon hanging out there. Oops. They were mortal foes who hooked up one time and produced him. The mother deserted her tower to the dragon to sort of call a truce between them. They wouldn't interact with each other or their respective homes. so knowing the fear the villagers have towards both magic and dragons, and fearing for his and his mother's safety at the hands of an angry mob he strikes out on his own in order to prove that neither magic nor his dragon blood makes him evil or scary. Except it totally does. A jack of all trades, real generalist sorcerer who will eventually start taking dragon disciple levels.
So those are my ideas. Please feel free to help me narrow them down or suggest any general ideas for further research. These are the things that came to mind first and where I rally feel most comfortable.
Rules:
- No traits
- Main books only (so no Inner Sea stuff, or anything similar, sadly unless specifically approved by the GM)
- Will be going to level 20
- 25 point buy
- Starting at level 4
- NO GUNSLINGERS, EVER. STOP THAT SH*T (to quote the GMs email)
- 6k gold start, no more than 1500g on one item.
- Max HP at first level; at each additional level characters receive 1/2 HD plus one, plus modifiers.
- Item creation feats (EG Scribe Scroll) are not allowed. If your class receives it as an extra feat see substitutions: Alchemists get Extra Bombs instead of Brew Potion, Cavaliers get Skill Focus instead of Expert Trainer, Wizards get Spell Focus instead of Scribe Scroll
- LEADERSHIP IS PERMA-BANNED. ONCE AGAIN; STOP THAT SH*T!
- Clerics and Druids of the Nobility domain receive "Persuasive" instead of "Leadership"
- Oracles of the Nature mystery replace "Awaken" with "Animal Growth" for bonus spells.
- No Hero Points