(adapted from Superiors 3: Hope and Prophecy)
Awi
The Namer, The Gray Man, Our Shepherd
“The world has its own destiny. Accept it, embrace it, and help things along when possible.”
NG male yaim angel archangel of Destiny
CULT
Holy Symbol: A scroll from which the wings of a laughing dove spring
Temples: Libraries; booksellers; musea; places where events of great destiny occurred; anywhere that calls people to worship, contemplation, or inspiration
Devotees: Archivists, community leaders, debaters, fortune-tellers, researchers, scribes, town criers
Common Classes: Bard, expert, inquisitor, investigator, wizard
Servitor Words: Conception, Glossaries, Wisdom, Epiphanies, Inspiration, Forgiveness, Writers, Gossips, Holy Scriptures, Storytellers, Sages, Divine Mysteries, Divine Truths, Prophets, Secret Languages
Minions: balisse (NG; Bestiary 6), manasupatras of all sorts (LG; Bestiary 5), olethros (N; Bestiary 6), raelis (CG; Bestiary 6)
Obedience: Spend an hour engaged in deep philosophical conversation with at least one other person. Every 20 minutes or so, use some random element such as cards or dice to change the topic, line of argument, or style of reasoning to understand randomness and how it impacts destiny. Gain a +4 sacred bonus on Sense Motive checks to discern the greatest thing a person can achieve and the weaknesses that might seal their fate.
BOONS
1: Remembering the Forgotten (Sp): sow thought 3/day, anonymous interaction 2/day, or akashic communion 1/day
2: Divine Logic (Ex): The devotee can make practically anyone concede practically any argument ~ as long as they believe it themself. In two minutes (20 rounds), with a successful Intelligence roll (DC 10 + the target’s Will save), they will prove to their target by simple logic that a + b = c, therefore they are right and any other possibility must be absurd. Obviously, don’t try proving to a demon prince that good is better than evil. Somehow, it never works.
3: A Friend to All That is Written (Su): A devotee with this boon cannot be kept from recorded knowledge. Whether they want to walk into the private stacks of a scholar-noble’s library or to see an enforcer’s list of secrets, all mundane security measures effectively cease to exist for the devotee. Guards will cheerfully wave them toward the suddenly unlocked door, the door-servant will recognize whatever password they elect to try, and so on.
Awi, the very first soul created, spends most of his days in serene meditation in the Heavenly Library, wherein he gifts his kokabajhon with his knowledge of the universe from its most primal state and a miraculous ability to predict Creation’s future from that knowledge.
Awi is depicted as an elderly man, radiating calm good cheer and spiritual strength, with skin the color of fresh ink, gray hair, and deep blue eyes. In some descriptions, he’s a soft-spoken grandfather in monkish robes, and in others a regal and aging head of state, wearing the dashiki of a philosopher or oracle. Awi is the very definition of a gentleman scholar: his emotions are always in check and if he has nothing nice to say, he says nothing at all. Even when he has something to say, Awi is reserved and prefers to let others reach their own conclusions. To this end, he’ll subtly drop hints, even nudge the person in the right direction, but he’ll never force his opinions on others.
Awi and his angels are the givers of names, the guardians of knowledge. He is not omniscient, but he knows the names of all things, everything that has ever been written down, and ~ as raskokabajho of Destiny ~ all the best and brightest possibilities for the world. Awi teaches that without Destiny (or its hope) and Fate (and the fear of it) there can be no Creation. Without these two things, reality, the “Cosmic All,” even the Almighty would exist in lifeless stasis, frozen in potentiality for all of existence.
Destiny exists in everyone and everything. Each aspect of Creation has its part to play and it is Awi’s duty to ensure that this potential is actualized. Destiny is an all encompassing Word; it is not a thing like Stone, a place like the Spirit World, or an idea like Judgment, but all these and more. More concretely, Awi’s Word concerns itself with guiding Creation and ensuring that Light prevails over the Darkness. Unlike other raskokabajhon who preoccupy themselves with abstract concepts and often overlook the individual actions of mortals, Awi knows these actions are what define Destiny.
Destiny is a fragile and delicate thing that cannot be forced or manipulated. It is a culmination of individual choices, the important word being “choice”. Angels with the best of intentions have turned people from their destinies to their fates by interfering with their free will. Like a tender flower, Destiny needs to blossom on its own. It can be sheltered, eve protected, but it must grow by its own power. Everyone must decide what path to take. The choice is theirs and theirs alone.
However, destiny is more than just letting “what is meant to be” happen. Choices can’t be forced, but they can be educated. Without awareness of all the possibilities, there can be no Destiny. This is why Awi is the Giver of Names, and why his kokabajhon are chroniclers and scholars. It’s not enough to walk the less-traveled path; Awi’s followers must know where both paths lead and why. More important than knowledge and understanding, however, is faith. Without faith, one cannot have the confidence to let events unfold as they should.
Showing posts with label Celestial Obedience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celestial Obedience. Show all posts
Friday, August 17, 2018
Friday, August 10, 2018
Boanerges's character sheet 3/3 (Fantasy Friday #8)
Medium-size outsider (native)
Aura: good (moderate; only in vigilante identity); Senses: Darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4
Strength 11 (0)
Dexterity 17 (+3)
Constitution 17 (+3)
Intelligence 12 (+1)
Wisdom 7 (-2)
Charisma 15 (+2)
Hit Points: 28
Saves: Fort +4 (+1 class + 3 Con), Ref +6 (+3 class + 3 Dex), Will +1 (+3 class - 2 Wis)
Base Attack Bonus: +2
Base Speed: 30 feet
Special Qualities: Redemption inquisition, splintered identity (CN social, CG vigilante)*
Talents: Harsh judgment (purity +1, 1/day; vigilante)**, quick change (social)*, social grace (Intimidate; social)***
Special Defenses: Fire in the blood****, fire resistance 5
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day ~ burning hands (CL 1; DC 13)
Skills: Acrobatics +9 or +13 (3 ranks + 3 Dex + 3 class)*****, Diplomacy +4 (0 ranks + 2 Cha + 2 inquisition), Disguise +2 or +22 (0 ranks + 2 Cha)******, Intimidate +8 or +12 (3 ranks + 2 Cha + 3 class)**, Knowledge (planes) +7 (3 ranks + 1 Int + 3 class), Knowledge (religion) +7 (3 ranks + 1 Int + 3 class), Perception +4 (1 rank - 2 Wis + 3 class + 2 inquisition), Ride +7 (1 rank + 3 Dex + 3 class), Sense Motive 0 (0 ranks - 2 Wis + 2 inquisition), Survival +2 (1 rank - 2 Wis + 3 ranks)
Feats: Celestial Obedience (Awi), Cosmopolitan (Celestial, <language>, arcana, planes), Improved Unarmed Strike (B), Light Armor Proficiency (B), Martial Weapon Proficiency (all) (B), Medium Armor Proficiency (B), Shield Proficiency (B), Simple Weapon Proficiency (B)
Traits: Impressive Presence (DC 13)*******, Redeemer********
Languages: Celestial, Ignan, <insert national language here>, <insert other language>, <insert other language>
* Splintered Identity (Ex): A vigilante hides his true identity, allowing him to move about social circles and nobility without carrying the stigma of his ruthless actions. In effect, the vigilante has two identities: one is a polite member of society while the other is a skilled and cunning warrior. To keep up this charade, the vigilante usually has two names: his true name, used in polite company, and his vigilante name, used to strike fear in the hearts of those who oppose him. Knowledge checks about one do not reveal information about the other, unless the vigilante’s true identity revealed to the world at large. The vigilante can start each day in either of his identities, referred to simply as social or vigilante. Changing from one identity to another takes 1 minute and must be done out of sight from other creatures to preserve the vigilante’s secret. Changing identities is more than just changing outfits and clothing (although that is certainly a part of it); the process often also involves applying make-up, altering his hair, and adjusting other personal effects. Furthermore, the change is as much a state of mind as of body, so items such as a hat of disguise and similar spells and effects that change the user’s appearance do not reduce the time required to change identities. Most social talents require the vigilante to be in his social identity, but a vigilante who uses vigilante talents in his social identity risks exposing his secret. Despite being a single person, a vigilante’s dual nature allows him to have two alignments, one for each of his identities. When in an identity, he is treated as having that identity’s alignment for all spells, magic items, and abilities that rely on alignment. For the purpose of meeting a qualification for a feat, class, or any ability, he is only eligible if both of his alignments meet the requirements. A vigilante’s two alignments cannot be more than one step from each other on a single alignment axis. For example, a vigilante with a lawful neutral social identity could have a vigilante identity that is lawful good, lawful neutral, lawful evil, neutral, neutral good, or neutral evil. If a vigilante is the target of an effect that would change his alignment, it changes both of his alignments to the new alignment. Any attempts to scry or otherwise locate the vigilante work only if the vigilante is currently in the identity the creature is attempting to locate (or if the creature knows that the two identities are the same individual). Otherwise, the spell or effect has no effect, revealing nothing but darkness, as if the target were invalid or did not exist. A splintersoul’s two identities are even more distant from one another than those of a normal vigilante. He cannot use any of his vigilante talents while in his social identity. However, for the purpose of qualifying for classes, feats, and other abilities, he is eligible if one of his alignments meets the requirements. While in an identity whose alignment is incompatible with an ability, class, or feat, he temporarily loses access to the feat or ability or is treated as an ex-member of the class, as appropriate. For example, a splintersoul with barbarian levels, a lawful-good social identity, and a neutral vigilante identity can’t use his vigilante talents or his rage class feature while in his social identity, but he regains these abilities and can use them as normal as soon as he changes to his vigilante identity. A splintersoul with paladin levels must follow the paladin’s normal code of conduct while in a lawful-good identity, but while in an identity with a different alignment, the following changes apply to his code: Willingly committing an evil act (for example, casting a spell with the evil descriptor) still causes the vigilante to become an ex-paladin, but otherwise, he can do whatever else he feels is necessary to uphold the causes of law and good. He should strive to act with honor and uphold the tenets of his faith, but failing to do so is not a violation of his code. At the GM’s discretion, other classes or archetypes with similarly strict codes of conduct can also follow a less strict version of a code of conduct while in an identity with an incompatible alignment.
Quick Change (Ex): The vigilante learns to shift between his identities with ease. Instead of needing 1 minute to change his identity, he can now do so as a full-round action. If, after a quick change, he encounters any creature familiar with both of his identities, he must attempt a Disguise check to avoid the creature seeing through his hastily donned disguise and realizing that the identities are, in fact, the same person. The vigilante can spend 1 additional round adjusting and perfecting his appearance and persona to negate the need for this check.
** A vigilante with this talent can pronounce judgment upon her foes as a swift action. Starting when the judgment is made, the vigilante receives a bonus or special ability based on the type of judgment made. At 1st level, a vigilante can use this ability once per day. At 4th level and every three levels thereafter, the vigilante can use this ability one additional time per day. Once activated, this ability lasts until the combat ends, at which point all of the bonuses immediately end. The vigilante must participate in the combat to gain these bonuses. If she is frightened, panicked, paralyzed, stunned, unconscious, or otherwise prevented from participating in the combat, the ability does not end, but the bonuses do not resume until she can participate in the combat again. Purity: The vigilante is protected from the vile taint of her foes, gaining a +1 sacred bonus on all saving throws. This bonus increases by +1 for every five inquisitor levels she possesses. At 10th level, the bonus is doubled against curses, diseases, and poisons.
*** Social Grace: The vigilante selects any one Intelligence-, Wisdom-, or Charisma-based skill other than Perception or Use Magic Device. Whenever the vigilante is in his social identity, he receives a +4 circumstance bonus on checks with the selected skill. At 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter, he can select another skill (with the same restrictions) to gain this bonus.
**** Ifrits with this racial trait mimic the healing abilities of the mephits, gaining fast healing 2 for 1 round anytime they take fire damage (whether or not this fire damage gets through their fire resistance). The ifrit can heal up to 2 hit points per level per day with this ability, after which it ceases to function.
***** Belt of Tumbling: Aura: faint transmutation; CL 1st; Weight 1 lb. This thin and flexible cotton cord is meant to be wrapped several times around wearer’s waist. The belt’s wearer gains a +4 competence bonus on Acrobatics checks made to move through a threatened square or through an enemy’s space.
****** Seamless Guise (Ex): A vigilante knows how to behave in a way that appears perfectly proper and normal for his current identity. Should anyone suspect him of being anything other than what he appears to be while either in his social or vigilante identity, he can attempt a Disguise check with a +20 circumstance bonus to appear as his current identity, and not as his other identity.
******* Impressive Presence: Your grandiose posturing often makes it difficult for anyone to concentrate around you. Once per day as a full-round action, you may attempt to distract adjacent foes with a lengthy display of your martial prowess. All adjacent foes must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your level + your Charisma modifier) or gain the shaken condition. This condition persists for 1 round.
******** Redeemer (Faith): You’ve always held the strong belief that morality is everyone’s choice, and that those who act in wicked ways have simply never been shown how their actions truly affect others. If they could be shown their errors, then they would accept a more positive course of action—and you have just enough patience to see this through. When acting as a sponsor for an evil creature seeking redemption, your patience and kindness grant the creature a +3 bonus on its save rather than a +1 bonus.
********* Armbands of the Brawler: Aura: faint transmutation; CL 3rd; Weight 1 lb. These scarred and worn armbands have clearly seen rough use, and are constructed out of coarse leather and fastened with thick leather straps. They grant their wearer a +1 competence bonus on grapple checks and checks to break a grapple.
********** Seer’s Tea: Aura: faint divination; CL 3rd; Weight —. This rich tea can be made from any number of herbs. When the tea is brewed without a filter and imbibed, the drinker can read the patterns in the leaves remaining at the bottom of her cup, gaining the benefits of an augury spell. Additionally, the unbrewed tea can be used as an extra material component when casting augury, removing the need for a focus. In this case, the caster instead reveals information as if she had cast divination instead.
*********** Warpaint of the Terrible Visage: Aura: faint necromancy; CL 1st; Weight —. This thimble-sized clay container of thick, moist face paint has enough material to paint streaks and whorls of any color on one creature’s face. Once applied, the wearer can, as a swift action, make the paint rearrange itself into a ghastly mélange of colors, making her appearance momentarily disturbing and hideous. The wearer chooses one creature who can see her painted face within 30 feet to be affected by cause fear (DC 11). Once the paint is used in this fashion, it loses all magic and becomes normal face paint. Once applied, the wearer has 24 hours to use the paint’s magic; otherwise it fades away.
************ Whacking Stick: Damage: 1d4 B&P or 1d6 B; Critical: x2; Range Increment: 10 feet; Weight: 1 lb. The whacking stick looks like a club, but is closer in function to brass knuckles. The head of a whacking stick is made from the hardened root bulb of a sapling, and is either sharpened to a dull point, or carved into flanges or facets like a mace. The tail end of the haft is sharpened as well. The head of the whacking stick is grasped in the hand and used for punching attacks, while the haft is allowed to trail along the forearm for use as a makeshift buckler. The grip on the weapon can also be reversed, still grasping the head but jabbing with the pointed end of the haft. Finally, the haft of the weapon can be used as a grip, allowing the user to swing it like a club. If the user is fighting defensively, the whacking stick adds an additional +1 to the user’s AC to represent the added defense provided by using the haft as a makeshift buckler. A whacking knife cannot be used defensively on the same arm as a sheathed arm knife. If used as a club, the whacking stick inflicts 1d6 points of damage, but it inflicts blunt damage instead of blunt/piercing damage, and the haft shatters on a natural roll of 1.
************* When applied directly to a wound, these herbal balms speed healing and produce a sedative effect. They are not especially useful in the heat of combat, as it can take several hours for the sedative effect to wear off and for the subject to return to normal. A healing salve converts 1d4 points of damage into the same amount of subdual damage. The subdual damage heals at the normal rate of 1 hp per character level per hour of rest. For one hour after the use of a healing salve, the user is drowsy; drowsy characters suffer -1 to all skill and ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws. A healing salve can only be effectively used once per hour ~ penalties and healing do not stack with multiple uses during that time ~ though subsequent application after an hour’s wait do convert more damage.
************** This liquid, distilled from the bark of trees, provides partial protection from malaise, a common but occasionally dangerous ailment caused by mosquito bites. Drinking marsh water allows a victim to take 10 on any saving throws against malaise for one week.
Aura: good (moderate; only in vigilante identity); Senses: Darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4
Strength 11 (0)
Dexterity 17 (+3)
Constitution 17 (+3)
Intelligence 12 (+1)
Wisdom 7 (-2)
Charisma 15 (+2)
Hit Points: 28
Saves: Fort +4 (+1 class + 3 Con), Ref +6 (+3 class + 3 Dex), Will +1 (+3 class - 2 Wis)
Base Attack Bonus: +2
Base Speed: 30 feet
Special Qualities: Redemption inquisition, splintered identity (CN social, CG vigilante)*
Talents: Harsh judgment (purity +1, 1/day; vigilante)**, quick change (social)*, social grace (Intimidate; social)***
Special Defenses: Fire in the blood****, fire resistance 5
Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day ~ burning hands (CL 1; DC 13)
Skills: Acrobatics +9 or +13 (3 ranks + 3 Dex + 3 class)*****, Diplomacy +4 (0 ranks + 2 Cha + 2 inquisition), Disguise +2 or +22 (0 ranks + 2 Cha)******, Intimidate +8 or +12 (3 ranks + 2 Cha + 3 class)**, Knowledge (planes) +7 (3 ranks + 1 Int + 3 class), Knowledge (religion) +7 (3 ranks + 1 Int + 3 class), Perception +4 (1 rank - 2 Wis + 3 class + 2 inquisition), Ride +7 (1 rank + 3 Dex + 3 class), Sense Motive 0 (0 ranks - 2 Wis + 2 inquisition), Survival +2 (1 rank - 2 Wis + 3 ranks)
Feats: Celestial Obedience (Awi), Cosmopolitan (Celestial, <language>, arcana, planes), Improved Unarmed Strike (B), Light Armor Proficiency (B), Martial Weapon Proficiency (all) (B), Medium Armor Proficiency (B), Shield Proficiency (B), Simple Weapon Proficiency (B)
Traits: Impressive Presence (DC 13)*******, Redeemer********
Languages: Celestial, Ignan, <insert national language here>, <insert other language>, <insert other language>
Equipment: Belt of tumbling, armbands of the brawler*********, 1 dose seer’s tea**********, 1 dose war paint of the terrible visage***********, masterwork whacking stick************, masterwork leather armor, 2 traveller’s outfits, large darkwood shield, woven backpack, light blanket, bottle calabash, 2 wooden boxes (used instead of leather belt pouches), wooden headrest, wooden game board, 3 doses healing salve*************, 4 doses marsh water**************, iron fishhook, iron pot, iron sewing needle, tent, disguise kit, silver holy symbol of Awi, 1 piece papyrus, 1 piece charcoal, labor elephant, Huge pack saddle, 3 days elephant feed, 8 days of trail rations, 1 gp, 7 sp, 9 cp.
* Splintered Identity (Ex): A vigilante hides his true identity, allowing him to move about social circles and nobility without carrying the stigma of his ruthless actions. In effect, the vigilante has two identities: one is a polite member of society while the other is a skilled and cunning warrior. To keep up this charade, the vigilante usually has two names: his true name, used in polite company, and his vigilante name, used to strike fear in the hearts of those who oppose him. Knowledge checks about one do not reveal information about the other, unless the vigilante’s true identity revealed to the world at large. The vigilante can start each day in either of his identities, referred to simply as social or vigilante. Changing from one identity to another takes 1 minute and must be done out of sight from other creatures to preserve the vigilante’s secret. Changing identities is more than just changing outfits and clothing (although that is certainly a part of it); the process often also involves applying make-up, altering his hair, and adjusting other personal effects. Furthermore, the change is as much a state of mind as of body, so items such as a hat of disguise and similar spells and effects that change the user’s appearance do not reduce the time required to change identities. Most social talents require the vigilante to be in his social identity, but a vigilante who uses vigilante talents in his social identity risks exposing his secret. Despite being a single person, a vigilante’s dual nature allows him to have two alignments, one for each of his identities. When in an identity, he is treated as having that identity’s alignment for all spells, magic items, and abilities that rely on alignment. For the purpose of meeting a qualification for a feat, class, or any ability, he is only eligible if both of his alignments meet the requirements. A vigilante’s two alignments cannot be more than one step from each other on a single alignment axis. For example, a vigilante with a lawful neutral social identity could have a vigilante identity that is lawful good, lawful neutral, lawful evil, neutral, neutral good, or neutral evil. If a vigilante is the target of an effect that would change his alignment, it changes both of his alignments to the new alignment. Any attempts to scry or otherwise locate the vigilante work only if the vigilante is currently in the identity the creature is attempting to locate (or if the creature knows that the two identities are the same individual). Otherwise, the spell or effect has no effect, revealing nothing but darkness, as if the target were invalid or did not exist. A splintersoul’s two identities are even more distant from one another than those of a normal vigilante. He cannot use any of his vigilante talents while in his social identity. However, for the purpose of qualifying for classes, feats, and other abilities, he is eligible if one of his alignments meets the requirements. While in an identity whose alignment is incompatible with an ability, class, or feat, he temporarily loses access to the feat or ability or is treated as an ex-member of the class, as appropriate. For example, a splintersoul with barbarian levels, a lawful-good social identity, and a neutral vigilante identity can’t use his vigilante talents or his rage class feature while in his social identity, but he regains these abilities and can use them as normal as soon as he changes to his vigilante identity. A splintersoul with paladin levels must follow the paladin’s normal code of conduct while in a lawful-good identity, but while in an identity with a different alignment, the following changes apply to his code: Willingly committing an evil act (for example, casting a spell with the evil descriptor) still causes the vigilante to become an ex-paladin, but otherwise, he can do whatever else he feels is necessary to uphold the causes of law and good. He should strive to act with honor and uphold the tenets of his faith, but failing to do so is not a violation of his code. At the GM’s discretion, other classes or archetypes with similarly strict codes of conduct can also follow a less strict version of a code of conduct while in an identity with an incompatible alignment.
Quick Change (Ex): The vigilante learns to shift between his identities with ease. Instead of needing 1 minute to change his identity, he can now do so as a full-round action. If, after a quick change, he encounters any creature familiar with both of his identities, he must attempt a Disguise check to avoid the creature seeing through his hastily donned disguise and realizing that the identities are, in fact, the same person. The vigilante can spend 1 additional round adjusting and perfecting his appearance and persona to negate the need for this check.
** A vigilante with this talent can pronounce judgment upon her foes as a swift action. Starting when the judgment is made, the vigilante receives a bonus or special ability based on the type of judgment made. At 1st level, a vigilante can use this ability once per day. At 4th level and every three levels thereafter, the vigilante can use this ability one additional time per day. Once activated, this ability lasts until the combat ends, at which point all of the bonuses immediately end. The vigilante must participate in the combat to gain these bonuses. If she is frightened, panicked, paralyzed, stunned, unconscious, or otherwise prevented from participating in the combat, the ability does not end, but the bonuses do not resume until she can participate in the combat again. Purity: The vigilante is protected from the vile taint of her foes, gaining a +1 sacred bonus on all saving throws. This bonus increases by +1 for every five inquisitor levels she possesses. At 10th level, the bonus is doubled against curses, diseases, and poisons.
*** Social Grace: The vigilante selects any one Intelligence-, Wisdom-, or Charisma-based skill other than Perception or Use Magic Device. Whenever the vigilante is in his social identity, he receives a +4 circumstance bonus on checks with the selected skill. At 5th level and every 4 levels thereafter, he can select another skill (with the same restrictions) to gain this bonus.
**** Ifrits with this racial trait mimic the healing abilities of the mephits, gaining fast healing 2 for 1 round anytime they take fire damage (whether or not this fire damage gets through their fire resistance). The ifrit can heal up to 2 hit points per level per day with this ability, after which it ceases to function.
***** Belt of Tumbling: Aura: faint transmutation; CL 1st; Weight 1 lb. This thin and flexible cotton cord is meant to be wrapped several times around wearer’s waist. The belt’s wearer gains a +4 competence bonus on Acrobatics checks made to move through a threatened square or through an enemy’s space.
****** Seamless Guise (Ex): A vigilante knows how to behave in a way that appears perfectly proper and normal for his current identity. Should anyone suspect him of being anything other than what he appears to be while either in his social or vigilante identity, he can attempt a Disguise check with a +20 circumstance bonus to appear as his current identity, and not as his other identity.
******* Impressive Presence: Your grandiose posturing often makes it difficult for anyone to concentrate around you. Once per day as a full-round action, you may attempt to distract adjacent foes with a lengthy display of your martial prowess. All adjacent foes must succeed at a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your level + your Charisma modifier) or gain the shaken condition. This condition persists for 1 round.
******** Redeemer (Faith): You’ve always held the strong belief that morality is everyone’s choice, and that those who act in wicked ways have simply never been shown how their actions truly affect others. If they could be shown their errors, then they would accept a more positive course of action—and you have just enough patience to see this through. When acting as a sponsor for an evil creature seeking redemption, your patience and kindness grant the creature a +3 bonus on its save rather than a +1 bonus.
********* Armbands of the Brawler: Aura: faint transmutation; CL 3rd; Weight 1 lb. These scarred and worn armbands have clearly seen rough use, and are constructed out of coarse leather and fastened with thick leather straps. They grant their wearer a +1 competence bonus on grapple checks and checks to break a grapple.
********** Seer’s Tea: Aura: faint divination; CL 3rd; Weight —. This rich tea can be made from any number of herbs. When the tea is brewed without a filter and imbibed, the drinker can read the patterns in the leaves remaining at the bottom of her cup, gaining the benefits of an augury spell. Additionally, the unbrewed tea can be used as an extra material component when casting augury, removing the need for a focus. In this case, the caster instead reveals information as if she had cast divination instead.
*********** Warpaint of the Terrible Visage: Aura: faint necromancy; CL 1st; Weight —. This thimble-sized clay container of thick, moist face paint has enough material to paint streaks and whorls of any color on one creature’s face. Once applied, the wearer can, as a swift action, make the paint rearrange itself into a ghastly mélange of colors, making her appearance momentarily disturbing and hideous. The wearer chooses one creature who can see her painted face within 30 feet to be affected by cause fear (DC 11). Once the paint is used in this fashion, it loses all magic and becomes normal face paint. Once applied, the wearer has 24 hours to use the paint’s magic; otherwise it fades away.
************ Whacking Stick: Damage: 1d4 B&P or 1d6 B; Critical: x2; Range Increment: 10 feet; Weight: 1 lb. The whacking stick looks like a club, but is closer in function to brass knuckles. The head of a whacking stick is made from the hardened root bulb of a sapling, and is either sharpened to a dull point, or carved into flanges or facets like a mace. The tail end of the haft is sharpened as well. The head of the whacking stick is grasped in the hand and used for punching attacks, while the haft is allowed to trail along the forearm for use as a makeshift buckler. The grip on the weapon can also be reversed, still grasping the head but jabbing with the pointed end of the haft. Finally, the haft of the weapon can be used as a grip, allowing the user to swing it like a club. If the user is fighting defensively, the whacking stick adds an additional +1 to the user’s AC to represent the added defense provided by using the haft as a makeshift buckler. A whacking knife cannot be used defensively on the same arm as a sheathed arm knife. If used as a club, the whacking stick inflicts 1d6 points of damage, but it inflicts blunt damage instead of blunt/piercing damage, and the haft shatters on a natural roll of 1.
************* When applied directly to a wound, these herbal balms speed healing and produce a sedative effect. They are not especially useful in the heat of combat, as it can take several hours for the sedative effect to wear off and for the subject to return to normal. A healing salve converts 1d4 points of damage into the same amount of subdual damage. The subdual damage heals at the normal rate of 1 hp per character level per hour of rest. For one hour after the use of a healing salve, the user is drowsy; drowsy characters suffer -1 to all skill and ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws. A healing salve can only be effectively used once per hour ~ penalties and healing do not stack with multiple uses during that time ~ though subsequent application after an hour’s wait do convert more damage.
************** This liquid, distilled from the bark of trees, provides partial protection from malaise, a common but occasionally dangerous ailment caused by mosquito bites. Drinking marsh water allows a victim to take 10 on any saving throws against malaise for one week.
Friday, July 20, 2018
Finishing off Boanerges (Fantasy Friday #5)
Time to choose Boanerges’s two feats. We’ve already chosen one, of course: Celestial Obedience (Awi) at 3rd level. The question is his first-level feat. Feats are often the most time-intensive aspect of D&D3.x/PF character creation, of course. I start by spending some time to see if can find an appropriate feat to counteract Boanerges’s Wisdom deficiency, but after looking through www.d20pfsrd.com and every book I could think of covering magic and religion, all I was able to find was a Rogue Genius Games 3rd-party feat that would allow me to just change his spellcasting attribute. The powergamer in me would want to shift it over to Charisma, but that (once again) seems to diminish the discomfort theme in Boanerges’s character. Intelligence makes more sense considering Awi’s associations with knowledge and books, but is still rather unsatisfying, to be honest. Furthermore, I seem to have grown a little bit more conservative as I age ~ the fact that it’s 3rd-party is, in itself, an argument against using it. Sadly, none of the books I looked through offered anything much terribly exciting even beyond that idea. The most interesting were various ways of improving Boanerges’s ability to make nonlethal attacks and one that improves his ability to redeem evil creatures, which is definitely a frontrunner possibility.
The idea of perhaps giving him Amateur Swashbuckler has been in the back of my mind from the beginning, as that’s how I imagine the army that gave rise to Boanerges, as composed of barbarians with the Amateur Swashbuckler feat, barbarian/swashbucklers, hooded champion rangers, devoted muses (from a variety of base classes), dancing blade fighters, wildstrider swashbucklers, and the like, all pumped up with teamwork and panache feats to make them even more frightening. By itself, however, the feat seems rather ho-hum and, more damning, not adding terribly much to Boanerges that he doesn’t already get from vigilante.
I get bored poring through the list of feats on the SRD, and the teamwork feats don’t provide anything overly attractive. Same story for the Improved Unarmed Strike tree and style feats. The afore-mentioned redeemer feat seems to be the best and most obvious choice, so let’s go with that. Except it’s a trait, not a feat >.< Well, I’ll definitely take that in the next step!
Realizing that I’ve mentioned Awi’s association with knowledge a few times but haven’t built that into Boanerges yet, I start looking for appropriate feats to do so. Searching “Knowledge” in the SRD and restricting it to Feats turns up nothing more interesting than Scholar, which feels kind of blah for Boanerges. But I later find Cosmopolitan, which weirdly feels more exciting as a marker of Awi’s blessing (and, in some ways, more powerful than Scholar, too, as it could be seen as the equivalent of 8 skill ranks at lower levels, as opposed to Scholar’s four). Yeah, let’s take Cosmopolitan, giving Boanerges access to two more languages (one of which, for sure, is Celestial) and two Knowledge skills ~ I’m gonna go with planes and arcana ~ as class skills.
That done (finally), we turn our eyes to character traits. As stated, Redeemer from Champions of Purity is a definite go, leaving only one more trait to be chosen. The other one involves a lot of scrolling through the Traits database on the SRD page. Enough that I started to despair of finding something good, until way down near the end, I come upon a list of traits from the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play (sidenote: that abbreviates to P.S.O.P., which makes me think of the brandy qualification system and its V.S.O.P. Does the Pathfinder Society produce brandy to finance its operations? That could be the seed of a rad adventure/campaign idea). The rather-despicable-to-my-anarchist-mind Sovereign Court has a trait associated with it called Impressive Presence that does pretty much exactly what I want it to do. Much like most all of the ifrits in Boanerges’s horde have access to panache through Amateur Swashbuckler, archetypes, or the swashbuckler class itself, most all of them also have the Impressive Presence trait. It is the basis for their entire tactical understanding.
The last step with Boanerges is to equip him. A third-level character is supposed to get 3000 gp of equipment (that’s wealth equivalent to about $600,000 to $1,500,000 in modern money). It’s usually a good rule of thumb to spend no more than half of one’s wealth on an individual ite, but a prophetic paraphenalia from Faiths & Philosophies seems just a little bit perfect for something Awi might have given him ~ it’s very much in line with Awi’s style, and is 2000 gp (500 more than I should spend on an individual item). I usually despise limited-use magic items, a hatred borne of an over-extended critique of industrialized late capitalism’s disposable, planned-obsolescence, addiction-economy obsession. Ultimate Equipment offers four other possibilities for magic items: belt of tumbling, armbands of the brawler, seer's tea, and war paint of the terrible visage. I know I said I was wary of third-party content, but I also happen to own Nyambe, for the express reason of helping me add more African elements to my world, borrowing from someone who (hopefully) has better knowledge about it than I do.
Neither Nyambe nor Eberron’s Secrets of Xen’drik adds any droolworthy magic items to our list, but Nyambe can help us decide what mundane equipment we want Boanerges to buy, which can determine our budget. Let’s start with a large darkwood shield, which would cost 257 gp ~ a masterwork small would be 153, if we need more room in the budget. Nyambe lists a wooden plate armor; if we make that darkwood, it would cost 450 gp, which might be a bit much (especially with the -2 armor check penalty). So let’s go with masterwork studded leather (which I just learned is actually brigandine ~ the “studs” are rivets holding the plates beneath the leather) for 175 gp. So, armor as a whole costs 432 or 328 gp. For a weapon, we’ll call the whacking stick the official weapons of these swashbuckling ifrit barbarians. A masterwork version would be 303 gp.
We’re left with 2265 gp, or 2369 gp if we want the space. If we leave the prophetic paraphenalia behind, then the magic items I’ve chosen come out to 1950 gp, leaving 315/419 gp. He gets a traveler’s outfit for free, and we buy a woven backpack (2 gp), light blanket (3 sp), bottle calabash (5 sp), 2 wooden boxes (used instead of leather belt pouches; 2 sp), wooden headrest (2 sp), wooden game board (5 gp), 3 doses healing salve (30 gp), 4 doses marsh water (20 gp), iron fishhook (1 sp), iron pot (5 sp), iron sewing needle (5 sp), tent (10 gp), disguise kit (50 gp), and a silver holy symbol of Awi (25 gp). That comes out to . . . 144 gp 3 sp spent. We have at least 170 gp 7 sp left to spend. A light warhorse is 150 gp, but we wouldn’t be able to afford any barding for it. A labor elephant costs the same, and a pack animal is better suited to my visual image of Boanerges, anyway. A Huge pack saddle swallows up 10 gp, and 3 days of feed another 6 gp. We finally buy 8 days of trail rations for Boanerges himself, and are left with 3 gp walking money. Oh, let’s not forget a second traveller’s outfit for the Unseen Heart of the Flame’s costume. That’s a gold piece out of the walking money.
The idea of perhaps giving him Amateur Swashbuckler has been in the back of my mind from the beginning, as that’s how I imagine the army that gave rise to Boanerges, as composed of barbarians with the Amateur Swashbuckler feat, barbarian/swashbucklers, hooded champion rangers, devoted muses (from a variety of base classes), dancing blade fighters, wildstrider swashbucklers, and the like, all pumped up with teamwork and panache feats to make them even more frightening. By itself, however, the feat seems rather ho-hum and, more damning, not adding terribly much to Boanerges that he doesn’t already get from vigilante.
I get bored poring through the list of feats on the SRD, and the teamwork feats don’t provide anything overly attractive. Same story for the Improved Unarmed Strike tree and style feats. The afore-mentioned redeemer feat seems to be the best and most obvious choice, so let’s go with that. Except it’s a trait, not a feat >.< Well, I’ll definitely take that in the next step!
Realizing that I’ve mentioned Awi’s association with knowledge a few times but haven’t built that into Boanerges yet, I start looking for appropriate feats to do so. Searching “Knowledge” in the SRD and restricting it to Feats turns up nothing more interesting than Scholar, which feels kind of blah for Boanerges. But I later find Cosmopolitan, which weirdly feels more exciting as a marker of Awi’s blessing (and, in some ways, more powerful than Scholar, too, as it could be seen as the equivalent of 8 skill ranks at lower levels, as opposed to Scholar’s four). Yeah, let’s take Cosmopolitan, giving Boanerges access to two more languages (one of which, for sure, is Celestial) and two Knowledge skills ~ I’m gonna go with planes and arcana ~ as class skills.
That done (finally), we turn our eyes to character traits. As stated, Redeemer from Champions of Purity is a definite go, leaving only one more trait to be chosen. The other one involves a lot of scrolling through the Traits database on the SRD page. Enough that I started to despair of finding something good, until way down near the end, I come upon a list of traits from the Guide to Pathfinder Society Organized Play (sidenote: that abbreviates to P.S.O.P., which makes me think of the brandy qualification system and its V.S.O.P. Does the Pathfinder Society produce brandy to finance its operations? That could be the seed of a rad adventure/campaign idea). The rather-despicable-to-my-anarchist-mind Sovereign Court has a trait associated with it called Impressive Presence that does pretty much exactly what I want it to do. Much like most all of the ifrits in Boanerges’s horde have access to panache through Amateur Swashbuckler, archetypes, or the swashbuckler class itself, most all of them also have the Impressive Presence trait. It is the basis for their entire tactical understanding.
The last step with Boanerges is to equip him. A third-level character is supposed to get 3000 gp of equipment (that’s wealth equivalent to about $600,000 to $1,500,000 in modern money). It’s usually a good rule of thumb to spend no more than half of one’s wealth on an individual ite, but a prophetic paraphenalia from Faiths & Philosophies seems just a little bit perfect for something Awi might have given him ~ it’s very much in line with Awi’s style, and is 2000 gp (500 more than I should spend on an individual item). I usually despise limited-use magic items, a hatred borne of an over-extended critique of industrialized late capitalism’s disposable, planned-obsolescence, addiction-economy obsession. Ultimate Equipment offers four other possibilities for magic items: belt of tumbling, armbands of the brawler, seer's tea, and war paint of the terrible visage. I know I said I was wary of third-party content, but I also happen to own Nyambe, for the express reason of helping me add more African elements to my world, borrowing from someone who (hopefully) has better knowledge about it than I do.
Neither Nyambe nor Eberron’s Secrets of Xen’drik adds any droolworthy magic items to our list, but Nyambe can help us decide what mundane equipment we want Boanerges to buy, which can determine our budget. Let’s start with a large darkwood shield, which would cost 257 gp ~ a masterwork small would be 153, if we need more room in the budget. Nyambe lists a wooden plate armor; if we make that darkwood, it would cost 450 gp, which might be a bit much (especially with the -2 armor check penalty). So let’s go with masterwork studded leather (which I just learned is actually brigandine ~ the “studs” are rivets holding the plates beneath the leather) for 175 gp. So, armor as a whole costs 432 or 328 gp. For a weapon, we’ll call the whacking stick the official weapons of these swashbuckling ifrit barbarians. A masterwork version would be 303 gp.
We’re left with 2265 gp, or 2369 gp if we want the space. If we leave the prophetic paraphenalia behind, then the magic items I’ve chosen come out to 1950 gp, leaving 315/419 gp. He gets a traveler’s outfit for free, and we buy a woven backpack (2 gp), light blanket (3 sp), bottle calabash (5 sp), 2 wooden boxes (used instead of leather belt pouches; 2 sp), wooden headrest (2 sp), wooden game board (5 gp), 3 doses healing salve (30 gp), 4 doses marsh water (20 gp), iron fishhook (1 sp), iron pot (5 sp), iron sewing needle (5 sp), tent (10 gp), disguise kit (50 gp), and a silver holy symbol of Awi (25 gp). That comes out to . . . 144 gp 3 sp spent. We have at least 170 gp 7 sp left to spend. A light warhorse is 150 gp, but we wouldn’t be able to afford any barding for it. A labor elephant costs the same, and a pack animal is better suited to my visual image of Boanerges, anyway. A Huge pack saddle swallows up 10 gp, and 3 days of feed another 6 gp. We finally buy 8 days of trail rations for Boanerges himself, and are left with 3 gp walking money. Oh, let’s not forget a second traveller’s outfit for the Unseen Heart of the Flame’s costume. That’s a gold piece out of the walking money.
Friday, July 13, 2018
Religion and Boanerges (Fantasy Friday #4)
When we get to determining the proficiencies Boanerges gets as a splintersoul zealot vigilante, the time comes to finally determine his patron. Alignment matters here, too ~ vigilantes can have two alignments next to each other, zealots have alignment restrictions like clerics, and splintersouls qualify for class features and things if only one (not both) alignments does. I’m fairly strongly attached to him as CG/CN in a predominantly CE society, which (I realize now) changes who I’ve been thinking his archangel is.
Presterjho’s pantheon, as it were, is modeled on that of one of my favorite not-quite-obscure RPGs, In Nomine, Steve Jackson Game’s complete redesign of a French angels-and-demons game. So far, as I’ve been digging into the details of Boanerges, I’ve been assuming that he would follow Telakh, the hola archangel of Faith (equivalent to Khalid in In Nomine). But Telakh is staunchly lawful! Back to the drawing board . . . Gebhuri, naifo archangel of Fire (Gabriel) is something of a chaotic counterpart to Telakh, the burning ecstasy of faith as opposed to the rigid discipline thereof. But I’m feeling like Boanerges’s patron should be more neutral good. For one, this gives the splintersoul splintered identity some oomph, but on another, it reinforces the “sneaky redeemer” aspect of Boanerges, which I fear is getting lost. Let’s see, the list of neutral good archangels is:
Dhanebsonhi, kruv archangel of Dreams
Khashamsorof, kruv archangel of Children
Nanahoy, hola archangel of Lightning
Yorethil, faras archangel of Revelation
Themnoth, yaim archangel of the Voice
Newosli, kruv archangel of Flowers
Sennao, wekyosthet archangel of the Ocean
Awi, yaim archangel of Destiny
Razal, rogigyos archangel of Death
That’s 9 out of the 22 most popular archangels in Presterjho, easily the most common alignment thereamong.
Let’s see . . . I want a focus on redemption and converting folk to the cause of good, yeah? So we can immediately rule out Nanahoy, Yorethil, Themnoth, Sennao, and Razal, as they’re all more concerned with other things. That leaves Dhanebsohni, Khashamsorof, Newosli, and Awi. As much as I really enjoy making unusual servitors of Children in In Nomine, I think I’ll have Boanerges serve the very mysterious Awi, whose focus is entirely on ensuring that the world turns out for the better. It also makes Boanerges quite cosmopolitan, as he comes from Not-CentralAfrica and follows a religion from neighboring Presterjho shaded by the atheistic Jedi-like worship of Time centered in Scarhas (Destiny and Fate replace the Light and Dark Sides in that religion).
Awi believes that the use of weapons leads to rash actions, and that rash actions tend to fulfill Fate far more often than Destiny. Accordingly, his favored weapon is the unarmed strike, and Boanerges gets Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat.
Social talents available to Boanerges at 1st level are somewhat disappointing, actually. I think you’re expected to take renown, but that would dilute the theme of his discomfort at having to stuff his normally huge and flamboyant personality into a small and subtle secret identity, of intimidating bluster struggling towards compassionate persuasion. I consider gossip collector for a hot second, but it feels kinda tacked-on, not hitting any particular element of his character or background. I decide to go with social grace finally. We’ll choose Intimidate, to further the contrast (and cuz it’s Boanerges’s highest mental skill).
Zealot replaces vigilante specialization with an inquisitor’s inquisition, the choice of which is ridiculously easy: Boanerges benefits from the Redemption inquisition. Awi chose him as their agent specifically to seed goodness within an evil horde. The vigilante talent at 2nd level isn’t so easy. I consider the channel energy zealot talent, but that still seems like an “overwhelming presence” thing. Harsh judgment? It does allow the judgment of purity, which is awfully tempting when surrounded by inherently magical beings like ifrits. Magical familiarity, on the other hand, is within Awi’s purview, as he is the most arcane of the archangels, and also the most associated with time. I wonder if there are any good time-related cantrips to give Boanerges? Shadow’s speed and shadow’s sight seem like good, solid, boring workhorse talents, while steely resolve makes some sense for a servant of Awi, I suppose. Team player, on the other hand, seems appropriate enough to join harsh judgment (purity) and magical familiarity as the front-runners. A quick glance at the list of cantrips reveals nothing I want for Boanerges. Let’s go with harsh judgment (purity). And splintersoul requires us to take an early quick change talent at 3rd level (the earliness costs us unshakable, too).
When in his vigilante identity ~ which I realize I really should name . . . . how about, like, the Unseen Heart of the Flame? ~ Boanerges possesses a moderate aura of good. He can also cast spells like an inquisitor as the Unseen Heart. Or would, if his wisdom was higher >.< 5 points is a lot to ask for, but I wonder if we can’t make up for it with a magical item? The answer, sadly, is hell no ~ even the smallest boost of a +2 costs 4000 gp, and at 3rd level, Boanerges only has 3000.
I know a lot of players out there would say that I’ve made catastrophically suboptimal choices when building Boanerges, but I like to think that Awi had this exact process in mind by choosing him. Boanerges is meant to seed goodness within his horde, and the process of doing so is meant to build within him the wisdom that Awi so prizes. The plans of an archangel, let alone a yaim archangel (the yaim are not like other angels ~ they are direct emanations of the divine), are fractal, complicated, and multifaceted. In terms of planning for the future, Boanerges should be all caught up in terms of spellcasting by 7th level (with his 4th-level ability increase going to Wisdom, and a headband of inspired wisdom +4 costing 16,000 gp).
Presterjho’s pantheon, as it were, is modeled on that of one of my favorite not-quite-obscure RPGs, In Nomine, Steve Jackson Game’s complete redesign of a French angels-and-demons game. So far, as I’ve been digging into the details of Boanerges, I’ve been assuming that he would follow Telakh, the hola archangel of Faith (equivalent to Khalid in In Nomine). But Telakh is staunchly lawful! Back to the drawing board . . . Gebhuri, naifo archangel of Fire (Gabriel) is something of a chaotic counterpart to Telakh, the burning ecstasy of faith as opposed to the rigid discipline thereof. But I’m feeling like Boanerges’s patron should be more neutral good. For one, this gives the splintersoul splintered identity some oomph, but on another, it reinforces the “sneaky redeemer” aspect of Boanerges, which I fear is getting lost. Let’s see, the list of neutral good archangels is:
Dhanebsonhi, kruv archangel of Dreams
Khashamsorof, kruv archangel of Children
Nanahoy, hola archangel of Lightning
Yorethil, faras archangel of Revelation
Themnoth, yaim archangel of the Voice
Newosli, kruv archangel of Flowers
Sennao, wekyosthet archangel of the Ocean
Awi, yaim archangel of Destiny
Razal, rogigyos archangel of Death
That’s 9 out of the 22 most popular archangels in Presterjho, easily the most common alignment thereamong.
Let’s see . . . I want a focus on redemption and converting folk to the cause of good, yeah? So we can immediately rule out Nanahoy, Yorethil, Themnoth, Sennao, and Razal, as they’re all more concerned with other things. That leaves Dhanebsohni, Khashamsorof, Newosli, and Awi. As much as I really enjoy making unusual servitors of Children in In Nomine, I think I’ll have Boanerges serve the very mysterious Awi, whose focus is entirely on ensuring that the world turns out for the better. It also makes Boanerges quite cosmopolitan, as he comes from Not-CentralAfrica and follows a religion from neighboring Presterjho shaded by the atheistic Jedi-like worship of Time centered in Scarhas (Destiny and Fate replace the Light and Dark Sides in that religion).
Awi believes that the use of weapons leads to rash actions, and that rash actions tend to fulfill Fate far more often than Destiny. Accordingly, his favored weapon is the unarmed strike, and Boanerges gets Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat.
Social talents available to Boanerges at 1st level are somewhat disappointing, actually. I think you’re expected to take renown, but that would dilute the theme of his discomfort at having to stuff his normally huge and flamboyant personality into a small and subtle secret identity, of intimidating bluster struggling towards compassionate persuasion. I consider gossip collector for a hot second, but it feels kinda tacked-on, not hitting any particular element of his character or background. I decide to go with social grace finally. We’ll choose Intimidate, to further the contrast (and cuz it’s Boanerges’s highest mental skill).
Zealot replaces vigilante specialization with an inquisitor’s inquisition, the choice of which is ridiculously easy: Boanerges benefits from the Redemption inquisition. Awi chose him as their agent specifically to seed goodness within an evil horde. The vigilante talent at 2nd level isn’t so easy. I consider the channel energy zealot talent, but that still seems like an “overwhelming presence” thing. Harsh judgment? It does allow the judgment of purity, which is awfully tempting when surrounded by inherently magical beings like ifrits. Magical familiarity, on the other hand, is within Awi’s purview, as he is the most arcane of the archangels, and also the most associated with time. I wonder if there are any good time-related cantrips to give Boanerges? Shadow’s speed and shadow’s sight seem like good, solid, boring workhorse talents, while steely resolve makes some sense for a servant of Awi, I suppose. Team player, on the other hand, seems appropriate enough to join harsh judgment (purity) and magical familiarity as the front-runners. A quick glance at the list of cantrips reveals nothing I want for Boanerges. Let’s go with harsh judgment (purity). And splintersoul requires us to take an early quick change talent at 3rd level (the earliness costs us unshakable, too).
When in his vigilante identity ~ which I realize I really should name . . . . how about, like, the Unseen Heart of the Flame? ~ Boanerges possesses a moderate aura of good. He can also cast spells like an inquisitor as the Unseen Heart. Or would, if his wisdom was higher >.< 5 points is a lot to ask for, but I wonder if we can’t make up for it with a magical item? The answer, sadly, is hell no ~ even the smallest boost of a +2 costs 4000 gp, and at 3rd level, Boanerges only has 3000.
I know a lot of players out there would say that I’ve made catastrophically suboptimal choices when building Boanerges, but I like to think that Awi had this exact process in mind by choosing him. Boanerges is meant to seed goodness within his horde, and the process of doing so is meant to build within him the wisdom that Awi so prizes. The plans of an archangel, let alone a yaim archangel (the yaim are not like other angels ~ they are direct emanations of the divine), are fractal, complicated, and multifaceted. In terms of planning for the future, Boanerges should be all caught up in terms of spellcasting by 7th level (with his 4th-level ability increase going to Wisdom, and a headband of inspired wisdom +4 costing 16,000 gp).
Friday, July 6, 2018
OK, maybe not from Prester . . . (Fantasy Friday #3)
Thinking about the charau-ka as a possible race for Boanerges brings the jungliest region of this continent to mind. It occurs to me that an elemental theme could work well there, drawing on images of the rainforest as a place of nature at its most intense and individual (as opposed to the, like, unitary image of powerful nature that comes with places like mountains, the arctic, and oceans). That as-yet-unnamed region, analogous to Central Africa in geohistorical placement, shares a border with Prester in the middle of the continent. If I place Boanerges just on one side or the other of that border, they can be a member of a swashbuckly force of evil ifrit, perhaps based on something like Boko Haram or God’s Army. I like that idea! OK, Boanerges is now officially an ifrit.
Looking at the race description, I note already that there’s a base trait I wanna replace with an alternate trait ~ as a vigilante, even if Boanerges is a zealot and a divine spellcaster, the fire affinity trait helps him out all of not at all. Fire in the blood (which gives him a morsel of access to fast healing when he takes fire damage) would replace fire affinity not only ably, but in line with some of Boanerges’s themes, I daresay. Hypnotic (which boosts an ifrit’s ability to fascinate) is a little tempting, as a reference to the swashbuckling element. But Boanerges, again, would probably gain spellcasting through the zealot archetype, and I dunno how many inquisitor spells cause fascination. Nor do I actually know yet if Boanerges will take the zealot archetype. And the same arguments apply to the boons given by his Celestial Obedience to his yet-unchosen archangel. Fire in the blood it is!
As for their gender, making them female would seem to play into old Victorian ideas of the woman as the civilizing force (an idea that pops up unfortunately in too many Second Wave feminisms). Similarly, making them trans or nonbinary in any way would seem to underscore too much the dual nature of Boanerges ~ another trope that can lead to icky things. An agender Boanerges is more tempting, gives them more texture to their psyche, but in the end has, I think, the same problems. I guess cismale is the best option for Boanerges.
Choosing his race also lets us determine Boanerges’s age, height, and weight. I’m gonna call vigilante a self-taught class so we roll 60+6d6 for his age, getting 76 as his age. That makes him a little young for an ifrit vigilante (average age would be 81), which I think is appropriate for his character. He’s tall, though, living up to his personality, as a 2d8 roll of 14 tells us that he’s 6’4” and a 2d8x5 roll of 40 gives us a weight of 150 pounds. I think he’s actually come out pretty skinny, though his charisma makes him seem larger than he actually is.
I also note that there are several racial feats available to ifrits. Blistering Feint, which makes the ifrit better at feinting when using a fiery weapon and does damage with the feint as well, is especially noteworthy ~ although we’ve already chosen Boanerges’s 1st-level feat (Celestial Obedience, recall), I’d wanna pick up Combat Expertise at 3rd level, Improved Feint at 5th, and Blistering Feint itself at 7th (assuming the redeemer theme in Boanerges doesn’t cause me to grab any feats in between all these). Firesight (which improves visibility in smoky conditions) and the Scorching Weapons feat tree (which lets you make your weapon fiery) are tempting; maybe if there’s ever a chance for Boanerges to pick up a bonus feat.
Oh, wait. Celestial Obedience requires Knowledge (planes) 3; it can’t be taken until 3rd level. OK, I’ll create Boanerges at level 3, then, and have him take Combat Expertise at level 1. Except he’s obviously not smart enough >.<
Vigilantes have a Hit Die of d8, so rolling 2d8+8+9 gives Boanerges 28 hit points. 6 skill points per level gives us 21 skill points. Knowing that we want Boanerges to have Celestial Obedience, we immediately spend 3 of those on Knowledge (planes), which is a cross-class skill. Cross-referencing the vigilante skill list with the barbarian list (in order to reflect Bonerges’s evil horde origin), we find that Acrobatics, Climb, Craft, Intimidate, Perception, Ride, Survival, and Swim are on both lists. Let’s drop Craft and Swim out of that list out of hand as being inappropriate for Boanerges’s cultural origins, leaving a total of 6 skills. Intimidate definitely gets the full 3 skill ranks and Acrobatics, too, as both are central to the tactics of the ifrit horde that birthed Boanerges. That’s 12 points left. If we give Perception, Ride, and Survival 2 points each (all of them are basic, universal skills in the region and the horde), we’re left with 6 more skill points. I’m thinking that I want Boanerges to qualify for the mystery cultist prestige class at 8th level, so I need to make sure that Knowledge (religion) (another cross-class skill) gets the full 3 ranks. And we’ll use the last 3 skill points to give Boanerges the ability to protect his secret goodytwoshoes identity, with a rank each in Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth. Yeah, that’s pretty low ~ Boanerges was raised to be flashy and big and eye-catching, not subtle and quiet and unseen!
Gawds! I’m making so many mistakes with Boanerges >.< Zealot, which I think I am in fact taking along with splintersoul, swaps out a few class skills for Knowledge (religion) and Spellcraft. More importantly, it reduces the skill points per level to 4! My 21 points get reduced a full 6 points to 15 ~ I’ll take a point out of the various general-ed skills I gave Boanerges (Perception, Ride, Survival, Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth).
Looking at the race description, I note already that there’s a base trait I wanna replace with an alternate trait ~ as a vigilante, even if Boanerges is a zealot and a divine spellcaster, the fire affinity trait helps him out all of not at all. Fire in the blood (which gives him a morsel of access to fast healing when he takes fire damage) would replace fire affinity not only ably, but in line with some of Boanerges’s themes, I daresay. Hypnotic (which boosts an ifrit’s ability to fascinate) is a little tempting, as a reference to the swashbuckling element. But Boanerges, again, would probably gain spellcasting through the zealot archetype, and I dunno how many inquisitor spells cause fascination. Nor do I actually know yet if Boanerges will take the zealot archetype. And the same arguments apply to the boons given by his Celestial Obedience to his yet-unchosen archangel. Fire in the blood it is!
As for their gender, making them female would seem to play into old Victorian ideas of the woman as the civilizing force (an idea that pops up unfortunately in too many Second Wave feminisms). Similarly, making them trans or nonbinary in any way would seem to underscore too much the dual nature of Boanerges ~ another trope that can lead to icky things. An agender Boanerges is more tempting, gives them more texture to their psyche, but in the end has, I think, the same problems. I guess cismale is the best option for Boanerges.
Choosing his race also lets us determine Boanerges’s age, height, and weight. I’m gonna call vigilante a self-taught class so we roll 60+6d6 for his age, getting 76 as his age. That makes him a little young for an ifrit vigilante (average age would be 81), which I think is appropriate for his character. He’s tall, though, living up to his personality, as a 2d8 roll of 14 tells us that he’s 6’4” and a 2d8x5 roll of 40 gives us a weight of 150 pounds. I think he’s actually come out pretty skinny, though his charisma makes him seem larger than he actually is.
I also note that there are several racial feats available to ifrits. Blistering Feint, which makes the ifrit better at feinting when using a fiery weapon and does damage with the feint as well, is especially noteworthy ~ although we’ve already chosen Boanerges’s 1st-level feat (Celestial Obedience, recall), I’d wanna pick up Combat Expertise at 3rd level, Improved Feint at 5th, and Blistering Feint itself at 7th (assuming the redeemer theme in Boanerges doesn’t cause me to grab any feats in between all these). Firesight (which improves visibility in smoky conditions) and the Scorching Weapons feat tree (which lets you make your weapon fiery) are tempting; maybe if there’s ever a chance for Boanerges to pick up a bonus feat.
Oh, wait. Celestial Obedience requires Knowledge (planes) 3; it can’t be taken until 3rd level. OK, I’ll create Boanerges at level 3, then, and have him take Combat Expertise at level 1. Except he’s obviously not smart enough >.<
Vigilantes have a Hit Die of d8, so rolling 2d8+8+9 gives Boanerges 28 hit points. 6 skill points per level gives us 21 skill points. Knowing that we want Boanerges to have Celestial Obedience, we immediately spend 3 of those on Knowledge (planes), which is a cross-class skill. Cross-referencing the vigilante skill list with the barbarian list (in order to reflect Bonerges’s evil horde origin), we find that Acrobatics, Climb, Craft, Intimidate, Perception, Ride, Survival, and Swim are on both lists. Let’s drop Craft and Swim out of that list out of hand as being inappropriate for Boanerges’s cultural origins, leaving a total of 6 skills. Intimidate definitely gets the full 3 skill ranks and Acrobatics, too, as both are central to the tactics of the ifrit horde that birthed Boanerges. That’s 12 points left. If we give Perception, Ride, and Survival 2 points each (all of them are basic, universal skills in the region and the horde), we’re left with 6 more skill points. I’m thinking that I want Boanerges to qualify for the mystery cultist prestige class at 8th level, so I need to make sure that Knowledge (religion) (another cross-class skill) gets the full 3 ranks. And we’ll use the last 3 skill points to give Boanerges the ability to protect his secret goodytwoshoes identity, with a rank each in Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth. Yeah, that’s pretty low ~ Boanerges was raised to be flashy and big and eye-catching, not subtle and quiet and unseen!
Gawds! I’m making so many mistakes with Boanerges >.< Zealot, which I think I am in fact taking along with splintersoul, swaps out a few class skills for Knowledge (religion) and Spellcraft. More importantly, it reduces the skill points per level to 4! My 21 points get reduced a full 6 points to 15 ~ I’ll take a point out of the various general-ed skills I gave Boanerges (Perception, Ride, Survival, Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth).
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