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LordDeath666
2018-01-22, 08:15 PM
Hey I'm a relatively new GM but I know the basics. I plan on running a Percy jackson based campaign in a month or two do to a local game shop asking me to. I have been doing research on creatures that could fit into the world of Percy jackson and some demigod classes or races yet to no avail. Could you guys help me out a little. It would be appreciated greatly.

ShiningStarling
2018-01-22, 08:54 PM
Well, in core monster rules, you have manticores, medusa, sphinxes, sirens, minotaurs, Pegasus, and dryads off the top of my head. For naiads just change all the dryad's plant based abilities to water based ones, for Cyclops just do hill giants with one eye and a mimicry ability, for the Nemian Lion just give a Dire Lion DR30/bludgeoning. I'm sure I could find or think of more, but I'm away from source material at the moment.

For classes, well, magic works different in Percy Jackson, if I can remember mostly right, don't allow anyone to take more than 4 levels in Sorcerer or Favored Soul, don't allow prepared casters, and other than like Hazel who is super magic based but really weirdly I think that would cover it.

For race, demigod are really mutable. Obviously they'll be powerful, but exactly how that manifests is up to you. The easiest thing to do would be to say that no one who isn't a demigod has levels in PC classes or has any stat above 14, then your players could just use normal character creation rules and still be leagues better than normal people. As for abilities that would make sense, they're really good at taking hits, and they have really sharp reflexes, so I would give them DR5, plus 4 Dex and a spell like ability or a large skill bonus based on their godly parent and call them normal humans after that. Possibly give them extra abilities as they level, regardless of what class they take, especially Big 3 kids.

Hope I helped, let me know if you need any more help!

LordDeath666
2018-01-22, 10:14 PM
Thanks I'll try that

Blackbando
2018-01-23, 12:58 PM
What edition is this for?

LordDeath666
2018-01-23, 05:06 PM
Pathfinder but I know how to edit threw editions

Deepbluediver
2018-01-23, 07:21 PM
What kind of campaign exactly are you aiming for? And/or what's your target group like? (age, experience, etc)
Something like a homebrewed mix of the d20 modern setting plus the standard swords-and-fantasy classes but capped with 6e rules seems like it might be a viable setting to represent the sort of stuff most of the characters got up to in the books.


Edit: One very important rule to keep in mind is that there are elements that go into telling a good story and other elements that go into running a good game and they don't always 100% overlap. Use the stories to inspire but don't get bogged down trying to replicate everything as it unfolded exactly like in the books. Make whatever edits you need to to have the game work well for your players.

Deepbluediver
2018-01-23, 08:00 PM
The other important question is- just how much homebrewing do you want to do? One nice thing about using 6e rules would be that anything you want to homebrew for only has to be viable for 6 levels, which makes it a lot easier to pack in more interesting stuff and quickly 'brew multiple classes.

I agree with Oblivimancer about the prepared casters- there wasn't really anything like that in the book. Then I got thinking further and I realized there wasn't much in the way of spell-levels or power points (psionics) either. For casters, I think your best bet might be the Warlock (from 3.5) and invocations. Homebrew a few alternate lists of invocations that fit the theme of the gods (fire, water, crafting, necromancy, partying, etc) and hand them out as appropriate.
There's actually a lot of stuff you can loot from the Warlock, like energy immunities.

Other core abilities that fit with stuff from the books:

The Bard's various SLAs; anything that inspires, enchants, demoralizes, etc.

Wildshape- but you should probably limit it to just 1 or two forms per character, unless that's all that someone does.

Rage- definitely, there are a lot of points in the books where characters let their emotions get the better of them. Rather than just having it boost Str/Con though, rename it something like Adrenaline Rush and have version that boost all the physical combos (Str+Con, Str+Dex, Dex+Con, etc).

Take a page out of 4th-edition's book. Rather than curative-spells, gives your players "healing surges" to represent their godly endurance/vitality.

Also, one thing that Pathfinder does better than 3.5 was the archetypes. There are some godly-bloodlines that just cry out to favor a specific class, but you can still allow different flavors. The children of Hermes are pretty much all rogues, but they can be thieves, swashbucklers, or tricksters. Depending on at what point in the books (I've read the 1st and 2nd series, but not the third) you are setting things, the Greek and Roman personifications have slightly different platstyles. Ares leans more towards Barbarian, while Mars is more Fighter/Marshal.

Depending on what kind of story you want to tell, you could have certain "zones" where the influence of one god or one version of a god was stronger, and characters were compelled to take certain actions like from the Bladebound Magus' weapon (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/base-classes/magus/archetypes/paizo-magus-archetypes/bladebound/), a Paladin's code of conduct (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/classes/paladin.htm), or a Taninim's draconic essence (https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Taninim_(5e_Race)#Draconic_Essences_and_Compulsion s).

If you like the sound of what I'm saying, let me know and I'll try to come with some more specific stuff for the various gods and goddesses. If not, give me a better idea of what you're thinking and I'll see if I can modify my suggestions to suit.

LordDeath666
2018-01-24, 03:41 AM
They are 19-29
They are relatively new to it
My main goal is to just have fun and get them hooked while teaching them the rules.

LordDeath666
2018-01-24, 03:45 AM
Oh and the main plot is based on a Percy jackson like world where the Titans have gained control of Olympus and enprisoned the gods and it's up to the gods children to free the gods and help over throw the Titans once again. Which leaves me with another issue. there aren't Titans as creatures to fight in Pathfinder that I've seen. Could you give me ideas on how to fix this too

Deepbluediver
2018-01-24, 07:49 AM
They are 19-29
They are relatively new to it
My main goal is to just have fun and get them hooked while teaching them the rules.
Do you intend for this to be a re-usable setting and/or played for a long campaign, or just used for a one-shot? Because the former requires a lot more work and you probably don't want to put in all that extra effort if you don't need it.

I'll try to think on it some more and come up with some specifics I can write down when I get home today, but to emulate the feel of the books I really think you DON'T want a regular selection of classes. All you really need are 3 main chassis: combatant, skill monkey, and not-combatant aka "thinker" or something like that. And then a list of abilities to go with each. Your godly parent basically determines a lot of your class, but if you are building for a campaign world you can still have variety with archetypes and choice of specific abilities.

Speaking of which, another good place to look for abilities to copy would be the Tome of Battle- it's got a lot more good melee-oriented stuff. You don't want the whole system, just peruse the list of maneuvers for stuff active (aka no stances) options that look fun, thematic, and easy to convert.


Again, depending on how much you trust the group and what kind of story you want to tell, it might be interesting to write up a dozen or so character sheets and have your players blindly pick one at the first session rather than letting them create their own. You don't get to pick your parent(s) after all, and avoids the issue if 90% of the player-base all want to be kids of Zeus or something like that. If your group is only familiar with the bastardized versions of Greek mythology presented in comicbooks and by Disney, I seriously doubt they are going to be familiar with anyone other than Zeus, Ares, or Hades.

jqavins
2018-01-24, 03:00 PM
One very important rule to keep in mind is that there are elements that go into telling a good story and other elements that go into running a good game and they don't always 100% overlap. Use the stories to inspire but don't get bogged down trying to replicate everything as it unfolded exactly like in the books. Make whatever edits you need to to have the game work well for your players.Yes. YES. YESSS!!


There aren't Titans as creatures to fight in Pathfinder that I've seen. Could you give me ideas on how to fix this too.See your other thread for my two cents on this. And, if that doesn't fit perfectly with titans as shown in the books (I have read none and seen one and a half of the movies) the see above.


Do you intend for this to be a re-usable setting and/or played for a long campaign, or just used for a one-shot? Because the former requires a lot more work and you probably don't want to put in all that extra effort if you don't need it.Also excellent advice. DBD, you're on a roll.


Again, depending on how much you trust the group and what kind of story you want to tell, it might be interesting to write up a dozen or so character sheets and have your players blindly pick one at the first session rather than letting them create their own.But building a character is a great tutorial for the rules.

You don't get to pick your parent(s) after all, and avoids the issue if 90% of the player-base all want to be kids of Zeus or something like that.
And that would be a problem because Zeus schutped so few mortal women and left so few mortal offspring. :smallwink: Seriously though, one idea might be to draw lots for which god is the parent, but go through character creation from there.


If your group is only familiar with the bastardized versions of Greek mythology presented in comicbooks and by Disney, I seriously doubt they are going to be familiar with anyone other than Zeus, Ares, or Hades.Deities and Demigods is a better source than Disney movies. It is not a good source for studying mythology, but it is usually good enough for gaming.

LordDeath666
2018-01-24, 05:00 PM
I plan on making it a reusable world for long campaign and some (including me) love mythology so I'm bringing in all gods and Greek mythology yet keeping some key characters and items from the books so I can cover everyone's bases

Deepbluediver
2018-01-24, 06:59 PM
But building a character is a great tutorial for the rules.
Yes, you're right, but I was thinking that the OP might want to keep character creation simple. A pre-session or half-session or online-prior-to-the-game session walking players through their characters might accomplish much of the same thing. Depending on when the OP wants to kick the story off, they can set it at Camp Halfblood shortly before things go ass-first up the creek. Maybe have the story-established main characters get kidnapped, too, which explains why the gods need to rely on a group of untested newbies.


Seriously though, one idea might be to draw lots for which god is the parent, but go through character creation from there.
Sure, also viable.


Deities and Demigods is a better source than Disney movies. It is not a good source for studying mythology, but it is usually good enough for gaming.
I had forgotten about that, and I'm not familiar with it. I have the sneaking suspicion that most of the stuff in it will be more of the pop-culture versions of various mythologies and it will just upset me to read it, but maybe I'll give it a shot and hope that I'm wrong.

jqavins
2018-01-24, 07:06 PM
I had forgotten about that, and I'm not familiar with it. I have the sneaking suspicion that most of the stuff in it will be more of the pop-culture versions of various mythologies and it will just upset me to read it, but maybe I'll give it a shot and hope that I'm wrong.
Go ahead and give it a shot, but don't expect to be too happily surprised. It's better than Disney, and better than the comics, but if you start out thinking that it'll be really good then you will end up upset. Just look to find out where on the spectrum it lies.

Deepbluediver
2018-01-24, 07:46 PM
I plan on making it a reusable world for long campaign and some (including me) love mythology so I'm bringing in all gods and Greek mythology yet keeping some key characters and items from the books so I can cover everyone's bases
Ok.

I still like the idea of using the E6 rules (http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/E6_(3.5e_Sourcebook)) for character creation in a d20 modern setting for the background as a good combo to represent the kind of world the stories built. If you aren't feeling it, let me know and I'll try to tear myself out of that mindset. Or tell me what you potentially don't like and I'll explore more about my way of thinking- for standard D&D games I don't like E6 either so I could understand the reluctance.


Anywho, I think you should sort things out into 3 basic chasis for class-design: Combatant, Skillmonkey, and non-combatant/thinker/diplomat, etc. (name-pending, maybe go with Warrior, Trickster, and Sage to represent various fantasy archetypes).

combat-centric
HP: d10
Skill Points per level: 4


Level

BAB
Fort
Ref
Will

Healing Surges


1st

+1
+2
+0
+0

2


2nd

+2
+3
+0
+0

3


3rd

+3
+3
+1
+1

4


4th

+4
+4
+1
+1

5


5th

+5
+4
+2
+2

6


6th

+6/+1
+5
+2
+2

7




skills-centric
HP: d8
Skill Points per level: 10


Level

BAB
Fort
Ref
Will

Healing Surges


1st

+0
+0
+2
+0

2


2nd

+1
+0
+3
+0

2


3rd

+2
+1
+3
+1

3


4th

+3
+1
+4
+1

4


5th

+3
+2
+4
+2

4


6th

+4
+2
+5
+2

5




ability-centric
HP: d6
Skill Points per level: 7


Level

BAB
Fort
Ref
Will

Healing Surges


1st

+0
+0
+0
+2

1


2nd

+0
+0
+0
+3

1


3rd

+1
+1
+1
+3

2


4th

+1
+1
+1
+4

2


5th

+2
+2
+2
+4

3


6th

+2
+2
+2
+5

3

Special: Characters with the ability-focused chassis can refresh a once-per-encounter ability as a Swift action. You can use this ability 1 +1/2 levels times per day.

Rules about abilities
Most active abilities can be used once and then need to be refreshed, which takes one minute of calm concentration. A short rest (~15 minutes) will refresh all of your "once per encounter" abilities.

Once-per-day abilities can be refreshed by a long rest (~8 hours sleep).
Include once-per-week abilities if you want, but I find those tend to be hard to balance.

Any spell, maneuver (tome of battle), soulmeld (magic of incarnum), or other special features (binds, auras, totems, class features, etc) should be considered for inclusion as an ability. There's enough stuff out there that you should be easily able to assemble a list for each bloodline, so long as you are willing to put in the effort.


Other Generic Rules:
(1) At first level and each time a player levels up, they gain one ability from their bloodline-list.
(2) Once you're at 6th level, each time you gain 5000 XP you can either gain a new feat (including the feat that lets you increase an ability score by +2) or choose a new ability from your list .
(3) ...WIP...


Zues/Poseidon/Hades
Children of Zeus can choose either the combat or ability focused chassis. Children of Poseidon can choose from either the combat or skills focused chassis. Children of Hades can choose from either the skills or ability focused chassis.

Once per day per level, children of the Big 3 can use one spell as an SLA at will, provided the spell has the following descriptor: Zeus-[air] or [electricity]; Poseidon-[water]; Hades-[evil]*

Max-spell level as follows:


Character Level
Spell Level


1st

0


2nd

1


3rd

1


4th

2


5th

2


6th

3

*In neither the books nor classic myths is Hades "evil", but that's where most of the necromancy ended up in 3.5. If it's significantly different in Pathfinder, then change it.


Athena
Children of Athena can choose from any chassis.
[In the books, Anabeth is usually the "smart" one of the group, but in classic mythology Athena is also a war-goddess. She's more strategy focused than Ares, who tends to be presented (at least by some authors) as the god of BATTLE and yes there is a difference. Athena's constant companion was Nike, the spirit of victory.]


Ares
Children of Ares are restricted to the combat chassis.

Children of Ares gain a Fighter Bonus Feat at levels 2, 4, and 6.

Sample Abilities: Adrenaline Rush
Once per day per level, Children of Ares can increase 2 of their physical ability scores for 1 minute. The increase is +2 at first level, +3 at 4th level, and +4 at 6th level. You also get an equivalent penalty to all skills checks and one save while using this ability: if you increase Con and Str, you take a penalty to Will saves; if you increase Con and Dex, you take a penalty to Reflex saves; if you increase Str and Dex, you take a penalty to Fortitude saves.

Bloodlust
Any time someone/thing dies within 30 feet of a child of Ares, they may refresh a single "once-per-encounter" ability of their choice. The creature that dies has to be of at least 1/2 your level (or equivalent CR) to provide this benefit.


Artemis
[In the books, Artemis doesn't have any children because she's one of the virgin goddesses* but she does have an organization called the Hunters of Artemis (I think) which fulfill much the same purpose.]
Feel free to create a bloodline for Artemis and have it overwrite the previous bloodline for any female character who joins the Hunters. Let them remain with the PC party, but have certain requirements like the Paladin's/Druid's Code of Conduct, and have them be required to quest for Artemis whenever she demands it.
Take inspiration from the Ranger and Scout classes.

*not that that stopped Athena; trust the smart one to find a loophole :smallbiggrin:


Apollo
In classic myths Apollo was a famed archer, like his sister, but 2 things that get less attention I believe are that he was also frequently accompanied by the Muses, and he's the designated god of healing. Draw inspiration from that.

Sample Ability: Lay on Hands
(as the Paladin ability (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/paladin/#TOC-Lay-On-Hands-Su-))


Hera
[I feel like Hera gets a bad rap in a lot of portrayals; she harrasses the wives and children of Zeus but she's just lashing out because she's the goddess of marriage, married to a serial philanderer, and can't target Zeus directly (at least not with backup from the other gods). It's not fair, but it's entirely logical (IMO) for someone who's experiencing literally god-like levels frustration. At the worst it's not that much worse that the stuff many of her counterparts get up to. She gets a slightly more sympathetic portrayal in the books for the most part.]
Make a bloodline for her and call it the "Champion of Hera" or something; make this position open to any character but only to one character (anywhere) at a time, and like Artemis have it overwrite a character's existing bloodline.


Aphrodite
Children of Aphrodite are restricted to the ability-focused chassis.

Sample Ability: [I]Charmspeak
Charmspeak gives a bonus to all Charisma-linked skills equal to 1+ 1/2 level. In addition, once per day per point of your Charisma bonus you can use a spell with the Enchantment school as an SLA at will (spell-level cap same as for the Big 3).


Hephaestus
Something crafting related- take inspiration from the Artificer class.


Hermes
Children of Hermes can choose from the skill or ability focused chassis.
Take inspiration from the Rogue & Swashbuckler classes.


Dionysus
[In pop-culture Dionysus usually gets portrayed as fat drunkard, which is most of the portrayal of him in the books, too. Some classical portrayals of him are like this, too, but there are also pictures of him as a handsome youth (more like Apollo, and in contrast to fatherly figured like Zeus). He's kind of a back-up god of agriculture and nature.]

Sample Ability: Animal Companion
(like the Druid (https://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/druid/animal-companions) ability)


Demeter


Hestia
[Hestia doesn't play a big role in the stories until she makes an appearance towards the end of the second series I think, encouraging Percy to "fight for hearth and home" or something like that. She's rarely mentioned in classic myths except that since there were only 12 thrones on Olympus, she gave up hers to Dionysus; she's also another virgin goddess.]
Some combination of healer/buffer abilities might fit the theme.


Other Minor Gods
WIP

LordDeath666
2018-01-25, 08:58 AM
Is e6 Pathfinder friendly and could you elaborate on exactly what it is. It's confusing

Digitalfruitz
2018-01-25, 05:11 PM
E6 means you only level up 6 levels instead of 20

Deepbluediver
2018-01-25, 07:00 PM
Is e6 Pathfinder friendly and could you elaborate on exactly what it is. It's confusing
It's an alternate version of D&D 3.5 designed with a certain kind of story in mind. I don't like it for standard fantasy because that's not usually the story I want to tell, but it IS the kind of story the Percy Jackson books tell. So yes, you could make it work with both Pathfinder and some d20 modern rules very easily I think.

I gave a link before, but here it is again: http://dungeons.wikia.com/wiki/E6_(3.5e_Sourcebook)
And here's the same thing in PDF format for easy printing: https://esix.pbworks.com/f/E6v041.pdf


I've also been thinking more about abilities- the large, complex stuff you get from classes (Wild Shape, Rage, Turn Undead, etc) feel like they should be the Bloodline-specific abilities. While the spells, maneuvers, soul melds, etc, form the list that each person can pick from every time they level up to customize their character.

jqavins
2018-01-25, 08:36 PM
Typo:

ability-centric
HP: d6
Skill Points per level: 7


Level



BAB

Fort

Ref

Will



Healing Surges



1st



+0

+0

+0

+2



1



2nd



+0

+0

+0

+3



1



3rd



12

+1

+1

+3



2



4th



+1

+1

+1

+4



2



5th



+2

+2

+2

+4



3



6th



+2

+2

+2

+5



3



Looks like "12" should have been "+1", unless you meant "0".

Dionysus
[In pop-culture Dionysus usually gets portrayed as fat drunkard, which is most of the portrayal of him in the books, too. Some classical portrayals of him are like this, too, but there are also pictures of him as a handsome youth (more like Apollo, and in contrast to fatherly figured like Zeus).
I think I've more often seen him as handsome, sometimes young and the best bro of Eros, sometimes like an uncle, i.e. a middle aged man but definitely not fatherly. I guess your fat, drunken John Candy uncle isn't really so very far from your good looking, drunken Dean Martin uncle. And the Dean Martin version can still be Eros's buddy despite the age difference.

Deepbluediver
2018-01-25, 08:44 PM
Typo:Looks like "12" should have been "+1", unless you meant "0".
You are correct- a combination of copy-pasta and my fat fingers mean my tables are rarely flawless. Thanks for catching that.


I think I've more often seen him as handsome, sometimes young and the best bro of Eros, sometimes like an uncle, i.e. a middle aged man but definitely not fatherly. I guess your fat, drunken John Candy uncle isn't really so very far from your good looking, drunken Dean Martin uncle. And the Dean Martin version can still be Eros's buddy despite the age difference.
A lot of the standard fantasy tropes exist for a reason, but I like to flavor my stories with just enough unexpectedness that it keeps people off guard. It was really just a suggestion for extra options that the OP might want to choose from.

LordDeath666
2018-01-25, 08:49 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong but E6 seems to be a short game. I'll prob stick to the normal 1-20 level game style do to it

Deepbluediver
2018-01-25, 09:02 PM
Correct me if I'm wrong but E6 seems to be a short game. I'll prob stick to the normal 1-20 level game style do to it
What do you mean by "short"? There's nothing that says you have to stop playing once you reach 6th level- you just advance your character via specialization from feats instead of with more HD.

Also, you can very easily control the pace of a game by altering how much experience people get and when you hand it out.

LordDeath666
2018-01-26, 09:03 AM
Is level advancement the same as Pathfinder

Deepbluediver
2018-01-26, 10:15 AM
Is level advancement the same as Pathfinder
It's the same as in 3.5, except once you reach level 6 and then you get an extra feat every 5k XP. I don't know if Pathfinder does level advancement exactly the same as 3.5, but E6 is really just a system you can slot almost any kind of D&D game into.

What exactly worries you that you won't be able to do for your story using this system? I know I said you shouldn't feel beholden to the story when you designed your game-world rules, but with the very thoroughly established setting you're using I feel like E6 is a better fit than the normal level 1-20 progression.

LordDeath666
2018-01-26, 10:52 AM
I just don't want to confuse the players. I have played 2 campaigns with them using normal pathfinder. I like the idea of it. I'll have to talk to them about it

Deepbluediver
2018-01-26, 01:17 PM
I just don't want to confuse the players. I have played 2 campaigns with them using normal pathfinder. I like the idea of it. I'll have to talk to them about it
By all means- I support more GM/player interaction during the pre-game phase. It should honestly play just like your normal games (barring any homebrewed classes) for the first 6ish levels.

LordDeath666
2018-01-27, 03:28 PM
ya I like having a session zero to get having everyone on the same page