"Balor's Head" Cad Goleór IRC: Planning

[HippopotamusDundee]

That sounds fine to me.

[Seraph]

That sounds fine to me.

Cool.  Any more thoughts on character choice?  With Kindling as a Fighter, and Ghostman talking about a warrior type, if you went with Atann like you were considering, we'd have a party of all fighting types.  Which could be really great in some scenarios, but frighteningly unequipped to handle others.  Of course with the right group that could be part of the fun...

[HippopotamusDundee]

I think from a tactical standpoint the risk of frighteningly unequipped trumps the possibility of fun and limited greatness.

With that in mind, I think I'll be rolling up some kind of a spellcaster after all. Probably a druid(in which case, are we running with the proposed alternate Druid you posted or just the standard Pathfinder one?), but maybe a witch or Ovate instead. We'll see.

[Seraph]

With that in mind, I think I'll be rolling up some kind of a spellcaster after all. Probably a druid(in which case, are we running with the proposed alternate Druid you posted or just the standard Pathfinder one?)

My proposed alternate Druid is incomplete, and I don't think it is fully playable yet.  I will see if I can fiddle with it to get somewhere workable, but if I don't get something up quick, I'd suggest making a "standard Pathfinder" one, though some of the Archetypes are fun, especially "Menhir Savant."

[HippopotamusDundee]

Alright, standard Druid it is.

On another note, what are the guidelines for calculating Enech?

[Seraph]

Alright, standard Druid it is.

On another note, what are the guidelines for calculating Enech?

Oh, I suppose I haven't provided that yet.  Ok, here's what I have on Enech.

Your character class determines your "starting enech" but your history and your deeds increase or decrease it from there, as would things like family.  I am willing to, within reason, give some freedom on that, but here are the guidelines:

Starting Enech
Barbarian    10
Bard   15
Cleric 15
Druid    20
Fighter   10
Oracle   15
Ranger   10
Rogue   1d6+4
Witch   10

Background Adjustments
Status "Fliath" (Noble)   +5
Status "Fuidir" (Slave)   -5
Kinless   -10
Ancestral Hero   +2
Ancestral Failure   -2
Family reputation good    +1
Family reputation outstanding    +2
Family reputation mostly bad    -1
Family reputation bad   -2

Adjustments for Actions
Avenging Murder of Kinsman   +5
Being caught lying   -1
Breaking one's word   -2
Breaking an Oath   -5
Breaking a Geas        -10
Refusing a contest   -2
Serving a powerful king   +2
Fulfilling a family debt   +7
Leading a force to victory   +5
Saving the life of another at the risk of your own   +5
Fulfilling an Oath   +2
Giving a valuable gift to an NPC   +1
Granting a favor to an NPC   +1
Overindulgence in food or drink    -2
Rash or improper social behavior   -2
Failing an assigned task   -3
Kin Slaying   -5
Losing to inferior opponent of same class   -2
Defeating feud enemy   +4
Defeating superior opponent of same class   +1
Defeating Monsters   +1/CR above

[HippopotamusDundee]

Here's my proposed character.

I did want to run the Fey Foundling feat by you as to whether that works within the setting and your plans for the game. Character description and write-up coming later in a couple of days.

[ic=Medraut]
Medraut
Human Male Druid 5
[ic=Background]
Conceived in the middle of a backwoods feud between two families each claiming distant descent from eldritch forebears (one Formorian and the other Unseelie), Medraut was blessed or cursed by his heritage; inheriting all the more darkly aspected elements of his ancestors' respective natures and a strong touch of the otherworld along with it.

Born silent and with dark eyes that were already open even as his mother bled out and breathed her last, Medraut was instantly reviled by her kin and abandoned in the wilderness to die; a nameless, kinless and defenceless child who survived only through the attentions of a mother wolf who mistook the fey and eerie babe for one of her own cubs.

Raised by animals under the shadow of the deepwoods, Medraut grew up tall and straight and silent, often wandering alone through the dark deep places of the woods and ever-aware of a brooding sense of watchfulness concentrated around certain caves, rivers and groves of thorn trees where he would glimpse figures at once wondrous and terrible as though through a veil.

Captured and imprisoned by the leaders of a caravan that his wolfish mother's pack had attacked while it was passing through the woods, Medraut was spared from an ignoble end only by the word of a wandering druid named Mynydd the Dark, an old man who proposed that instead the feral-child be punished by being bound to him in indentured apprenticeship for seven years and a day.

Though he was worked to the bone by his new master, nonetheless Medraut learned quickly and after the end of seven long painful years of humiliation and toil, he had learned the secrets of the dark side of Druidry; the power of the winter chill during which the earth lies fallow and rests, the necessity for death to occur in order for life to spring forth again, the power to call storms and to tame them.

Now a fully-fledged Druid in his own right and no longer bound by his oath of servitude, Medraut wanders the land making his living as a healer and weatherworker. Though he is respected for his skills, something about the fey and unearthly cast of his features makes folk uneasy and reminds them that he could just as easily turn his skills to great harm rather than help. Deep down in the secret places of his heart, this is a fear that Medraut shares and one that clenches around his heart every time he meets with or faces Formorii and Unseelie alike.
[/ic]

STR: 8 | {-1 pts}
DEX: 14 | {+2 pts}
CON: 14 | {+2 pts}
INT: 14 | {+2 pts}
WIS: 18 | {+4 pts}
CHA: 9 | {-1 pts}

HP Total: 42
Defense Bonus: +7 (+5 Training, +2 Dex)
Initiative: +4
Base Attack: +3
Enech: 20

Saving Throws
Fortitude Total: +6
Reflex Total: +3
Will Total: +8

Weapons
(Quarterstaff) - Attack:+2 |Damage:1d6-1 |Crit: x2

Skills
(Handle Animal) = Total: +7 | Ranks: 5
(Heal) – Total: +12 | Ranks: 5
(Knowledge [geography]) – Total: +10 | Ranks: 5
(Knowledge [nature]) – Total: +12 | Ranks: 5
(Perception) – Total +12 | Ranks: 5
(Spellcraft) – Total: +10 | Ranks: 5
(Survival) – Total: +16 | Ranks: 5

Feats
Aspect of the Beast (Wild Instinct): Gain +2 bonus to Initiative and Survival
Fey Foundling: When healed magically heal an extra 2 points per dice rolled, +2 to saving throws vs. death effects, take +1 damage from cold iron weapons.
Greater Wild Empathy: +2 bonus to Wild Empathy, Fey can now be effected by Wild Empathy, Wild Empathy can be used for Intimidate as well as Diplomacy.
Toughness: +3 hit points, +1 per HD over 3.

Class Abilities
Orisons: Prepare 0-level spells as per usual, but aren't expended when cast.
Nature Bond: Gain access to the Weather Domain as a Cleric of equivalent level, add Obscuring Mist, Fog Cloud and Call Lightning to spell list.
Storm Burst 7/day: Create a storm burst that targets a creature within 30ft as a ranged touch attack dealing 1d6+2 non-lethal damage and giving a -2 penalty to the target's attack rolls for the next round.
Nature Sense: Gain a +2 bonus to Knowledge (nature) and Survival.
Wild Empathy +6: Improve the attitude of animals as per the Diplomacy skills.
Woodland Stride: Move through any mundane undergrowth at full speed without taking damage or suffering any impediment.
Trackless Step: Leave no trail in natural surroundings and cannot be tracked.
Resist Nature's Lure: +4 bonus on savings throws vs. spell-like and supernatural abilities of fey as well as effects or spells that target plants.
Wild Shape 1/day: Take the form of a Small or Medium animal for 5 hours once per day.

Equipment
-Cloak, Wool
-Fidchell Set
-Quarterstaff
-Staunchgrass
-Druid's sickle
-Flint belt-knife
-Wooden Ogham runestones
[/ic]

[Seraph]

Generally looks ok.  Looked up Fey Foundling.  I think that would be cool, and works for the setting. 

I think you have "Storm Burst" at too much damage, though.  The text of it says:

The storm burst deals 1d6 points of nonlethal damage + 1 point for every two cleric levels you possess

At it's most liberal, for a lvl 5 character this would result in 2d6+2, though I can just as easily see it as suggesting only 1d6+2, if it's only the extra point(s) that increase per every 2 levels.  You currently have it at a whole (1d6+1) per druid level, which is too fast, unless I am missing something somewhere.   

[HippopotamusDundee]

I think you have "Storm Burst" at too much damage, though.  The text of it says:

The storm burst deals 1d6 points of nonlethal damage + 1 point for every two cleric levels you possess

At it's most liberal, for a lvl 5 character this would result in 2d6+2, though I can just as easily see it as suggesting only 1d6+2, if it's only the extra point(s) that increase per every 2 levels.  You currently have it at a whole (1d6+1) per druid level, which is too fast, unless I am missing something somewhere.   

Herp de derp. My mistake - there's a reason that I dropped Maths in school as soon as I could :P

[Seraph]

I suggest players look to the provocative questions thread for inspiration on some questions that might be helpful to answer during character building.

But here are a couple more for consideration:

Do you belong to any particular clan?
Are you well respected?  Why or why not?   
Who would you risk your honor for?  Your life?
Who would risk their honor for you?  Their life?
In your opinion, what is best in life?
What is your darkest secret?   Who do you fear will find out?  What would they do if they did?
What are your character's hobbies? Candle-making? Gardening? Herbalism? Wood-carving?
What is your worst fear? What terrifies you? What do you dread? Is it something terribly personal, or a generic phobia? How did you acquire this fear? Are you ashamed of it?
Is there a geas upon you?  What is it?
Is there an oath you have undertaken, that is yet to be fulfilled?

[sparkletwist]

At it's most liberal, for a lvl 5 character this would result in 2d6+2, though I can just as easily see it as suggesting only 1d6+2, if it's only the extra point(s) that increase per every 2 levels.  You currently have it at a whole (1d6+1) per druid level, which is too fast, unless I am missing something somewhere.   

I've always seen it used as 1d6+<bonus>, because of the separation.
They say "1d6, plus 1 point per 2 levels," not "1d6+1 per 2 levels."
(Magic Missile is a decent example of the other style of writing it, though it's a bit less clear because of the way it talks about multiple missiles)

And, yes, this makes the ability not that great. Most of the inherent/domain/whatever powers are like that.

[Seraph]

At it's most liberal, for a lvl 5 character this would result in 2d6+2, though I can just as easily see it as suggesting only 1d6+2, if it's only the extra point(s) that increase per every 2 levels.  You currently have it at a whole (1d6+1) per druid level, which is too fast, unless I am missing something somewhere.   

I've always seen it used as 1d6+<bonus>, because of the separation.
They say "1d6, plus 1 point per 2 levels," not "1d6+1 per 2 levels."
(Magic Missile is a decent example of the other style of writing it, though it's a bit less clear because of the way it talks about multiple missiles)

And, yes, this makes the ability not that great. Most of the inherent/domain/whatever powers are like that.

I am inclined to think you are correct.  That is what the wording suggests.

Any interest in making a character yourself?

[Kindling]

Your suggested time could be fine for me, but will mean late nights (if my understanding of the time difference is correct) so if it COULD be any earlier that would be much appreciated. If not, don't worry :)

[Seraph]

Your suggested time could be fine for me, but will mean late nights (if my understanding of the time difference is correct) so if it COULD be any earlier that would be much appreciated. If not, don't worry :)

With my current schedule I could push it an hour earlier, but that also might change in the future.

[Seraph]

Any else want in on this?

Anyone have more details about their characters?  Back-stories, current info?

Anyone still have questions, or want more general knowledge about Ceann Balor, for character building purposes?