Fimbulvinter Characters

[Weave]

Vidar would appear as a handsome (by Hrafnii standards) young man were it not for a gruesome battlescar that forks jaggedly down the left side of his face, starting just below his eye and ending midway down his neck. The pallid, white flesh of the scar prevents his beard from growing in on one side of his face, but Vidar, ever arrogant, carefully keeps a well-cropped beard on the other side of his face, earning him the nickname "Half Beard" by his friends. His otherwise narrow face is set with sharp features: a long, thin nose, piercing blue eyes, high cheek bones, and a tight, narrow mouth that, when he smiles, twists into his scar and distorts it, giving him an appropriately crooked smile. His raven black hair is wild despite its several braids that reach down to his waist, but Vidar takes delicate care to keep his features sharp and clean when he can - in the throes of battle, Vidar spurns his narcissism for the glories of Odin and gets lost in the wilds of combat, his hair unbound, his voice bellowing warcries and rallying songs as he joins in the fray of bloodspray and mayhem.

Vidar takes very few things seriously and enjoys a good laugh and a better drink, but above all, Vidar loves combat. The act of forgetting all worldly ties and throwing it all on the line of cold steel and blood invigorates him, and he seeks to live each day like it was the last, raucous and spontaneous, wild and free, irreverent and lustful... and yet such actions also earned him the scar he now carries with him for the rest of his life, one that, deep down, he regrets despite his efforts to parade it about like a trophy, as if to say "I care not for this petty thing! My only regret is that I don't have one to match!" Vidar is young, but yet a man in the eyes of the Hrafnii, and like all youth once thought himself invincible and, to some (perhaps shameful) degree, would still like to, were it not for the scar. Deep down there are complexities within Vidar that scare him, and so he keeps them buried. Until the day he need unearth those wretched things, Vidar lives a life of wanton disregard for any but himself.

Vidar
Male Hrafnii Human Skald 4
Medium humanoid
XP: 17,500
Init +2 (heightened awareness - consume for additional +4 init); Senses Perception +5 (+7 with heightened awareness)
Languages North-Speech
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AC 18 (+2 Dex, +4 Armor, +2 Shield), flat-footed 16, touch 12; CMD 18 (20 vs. Trip)
HP 32 (4d8 +4 +4 [Toughness] +3 [Favored Class])
Fort +5, Ref +3, Will +4
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Speed 30ft
Melee MW Spear [Trident] +7 (1d8 +3, 20/x2, 10ft), Seax [Dagger] +6, (1d4+3, 19-20/x2, 10ft)
Ranged Composite Yew Shortbow +5 (1d6+2, 20/x3, 70ft), Spear (as above), Seax (as above)
Base Atk +3; CMB +6 (+10 when Tripping)
Special Actions: Bardic Knowledge, Raging Song (11 rounds/day, Inspired Rage: +2 Str/Con, +2 Will Saves, -1 AC), Song of Marching
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Skald Spells Known (6/4/2, CL 4; Concentration +) Skald Spells Per Day (0 - unlimited/1st - 4/2nd - 2)
2nd (2/day) - mirror image (1d4+1), bladed dash
1st (4/day)— cure light wounds (1d8+4), heightened awareness, feather fall, saving finale, grease
0th — create water, detect magic, ghost sound, message, light, stabilize
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SQ Well-Versed (+4 vs Bardic songs and language-dependent effects)
Str 16, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 14
Feats Scribe Scroll (B), Toughness (B), Improved Trip, Fury's Fall
Skills(armor check penalties included at -3) Acrobatics +6, Bluff +7, Diplomacy +9 (Versatile Performance), Knowledge (Local) +6 (+2 bardic knowledge), Knowledge (Geography) +6, Knowledge (Nature) +6), Knowledge (Religion) +6, Perception +5, Perform (Oratory) +9, Sense Motive +9 (Versatile Performance), Spellcraft +5, Swim +4, Use Magic Device +4
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Possessions carried (52 lbs):
Chain Shirt (25 lbs)
MW (magical) Heavy Wooden Shield (10 lbs)
MW (magical) Spear (4 lbs)
Seax (1 lb)
Yew Bow (2 lbs)
50ft Hemp Rope (10 lbs)
Waterskin (-)
Light Horse (Combat Trained)
5 sheets of paper
charcoal
123 gold

[Steerpike]

I'll think of some backstory later.

Perfect. This may be useful: tribes.

Is it okay if I took a trident and re-skinned it as a spear? There's no good martial spear weapon.

That's totally fine. We also have some homebrewed rules for spears. Anyone with simple weapon proficiency uses spears two-handed as per normal. Anyone with a martial weapon proficiency, however, can wield spears one-handed, with a x2 critical multiplier.

I also don't know what sort of gold everyone has, but I've spent 267 of the 500 starting gold as is.

Perfect.

Also, what languages are there? Is North-Speech "common"?

North-speech is common. Other languages:

[spoiler=Languages]North-Speech is the principle tongue of the North which all Northmen speak.

Southron is the common tongue the Southron peoples.

Gaeilish is the tongue of the Fir Bolg, inhabitants of the island of Ériu.

Cymric is the tongue of the island Avalon and the various tribal peoples who dwell there.

Bjarmic is the language of the Beormas, a people who live east of Kvenland.

Thule is the language of the Thules, who dwell on an icy island and sometimes war with the Northmen settled there.

Skrællish is the tongue of the Skrælings, inhabitants of a vast land in the distant west.

Húnnish is the language of the Húna, the fierce bow-wielding peoples of the eastern steppes.

Kvennic is the language of the strange bear-worshipping Kvenlanders.

Neuric is the tongue of the Neuri, a fair-haired people of the northeast.

Ásan is the unusual language of a far-flung folk from the other side of the world, further east even than the lands of the Neuri and the Húna.

Hunding is the tongue of the Hundings, or Dogfolk, a degenerate tribal people who sometimes raid the Northlands.

Dreki is the Dragon-tongue, which sounds like crackling flames.  Humans can only speak a crude approximation of it.

Giantish is the harsh Jötunn language – the tongue of Rime Thurs, Múspellsmegir, Trolls, and similar beings.

Álfari is the sibilant, often unfathomable language of the Elves, both Light and Dark.

Dvergar is the intricate, ponderous tongue of the Dwarves.  Learning it is said to drive lesser minds mad.

Helmál is the torturous tongue of the dishonoured dead, which always sounds screamed.  It is rarely learned by the living, and is said to be painful to speak.[/spoiler]

Would certain knowledge skills show up more often than others? I would hope to get some mileage out of them, if small.

I would say Knowledge (local), Knowledge (religion), and Knowledge (nature) are all fairly common and useful. Knowledge (arcana) does crop up. Knowledge (planes) may very occasionally be useful. Other skills like Knowledge (history) and Knowledge (nobility) would be less useful. Knowledge (geography) isn't currently super useful but might become so, as might Knowledge (engineering).

Note I'm also OK with players asking for Knowledge rolls rather than being prompted for them, so to a certain extent you can "make" a skill more useful, but it's still unlikely that, say, Knowledge (nobility) is going to be super helpful in the majority of situations.

Also, how are you doing HP? I did 1st level max, and then 4.5 per level plus con modifier for the rest. I didn't include favored class bonuses; should I?

Generally we've done rolling for HP, but I'm OK with 4.5 per level. Do include favoured class bonuses.

[Polycarp]

Generally we've done rolling for HP, but I'm OK with 4.5 per level. Do include favoured class bonuses.

I seem to remember asking some other players in chat about this and discovering that I was literally the only one who was rolling, so I switched to rounded up average.  Just throwing that out there.

[Steerpike]

Ha! News to me. Though to be honest it's been long enough since I thought about it that I forgot how we handled it.

[sparkletwist]

[ic=Vintersdottir]
In many ways, she is the epitome of the horrors and depravity into which the once-proud Bloodbeard clan has fallen. At one point, she was apprenticed to a völva, but a darker time has led her to pursue darker arts. Her healing arts are still put to good use-- used to heal her wounds after a savage battle-- but her other arts have been forgotten, replaced with dark incantations calling upon things that would be left buried in a saner time. Pale blonde hair cropped short, masked, and clad in armor made of the flayed and tanned skins of her fallen enemies (as is the fashion among her people) she wanders the wastes, paying no heed to the hardships of Fimbulvinter. The cold does not bother her. She is not slowed by deep snow, and leaves no tracks, instead seeming to glide above it. She lights her own way through the darkness. No town will have her, but she has no need for town. She carries with her a pair of especially long seaxes, her weapon of choice; engraved with runes, always kept sharp, always ready. Wise men and beasts run from her presence, while the foolish ones attempt battle and end up slain, flayed, and eaten. If they are lucky, in that order. She is not educated, not articulate, but she possesses a malicious cunning that has been the undoing of many wicked men who thought they could take advantage of her. Her one saving grace is that she does not prey upon the innocent... perhaps, in these dark times, that is enough to make her a hero.

She is known only as Vintersdottir, for that is what she is... winter's daughter.

Stalker (Apostate) 5 (XP: -)

Str 10 (0)
Dex 18 (+4)
Con 14 (+2)
Int 8 (-1)
Wis 10 (0)
Cha 14 (+2)

HP: 36
AC: 18 [10 + Dex 4 + Armor 3 + Dodge 1]
BAB +3, CMB +3, CMD 18
Initiative: +6 [Dex 4 + revelation] (+10 in Battle Dragon's Stance)
Fort +3 [1 + Con 2]
Ref +7 [1 + Dex 4 + revelation]
Will +4 [4 + Wis 0]

Melee: Long Seax +9 (1d6+4)
[+2d6 Sneak Attack]

Ranged: Curved Knife +7 (1d8)

Class Features:
Curse: Feral (-4 to Diplomacy, count as animal, +7 Wild Empathy, Wild Shape 1/day)
Mystery: Winter
Sneak Attack 2d6
Focus Weapon: Long Seax
Dazzling Display Restoration
Gruesome Restoration
Active Element (Change with standard action)
Stalker Art[1]: Child of Winter
Stalker Art[3 - Extra]: Killer's Implements: Long Seax
Stalker Art[5 - Extra]: Ice Shape (5/day)

Maneuvers (IL 5):
- [Ready] Dimensional Strike (Level 1 - Resolve attack as if target were flat-footed)
- [Ready] Eldritch Shield (Level 1 - Immediate Action; Get acid, cold, fire, electricity, sonic resistance 10 to one attack)
- [Ready] Fading Strike (Level 2 - Shift up to movement speed before or after attack)
- [Ready] Spark Strike (Level 1 - Add +2d4 elemental damage to an attack)
- [Ready] Swift Claws (Level 1 - Use two weapons to attack as a standard action)
- [Ready] Taunting Laugh (Level 3 - Swift action; Intimidate check to make target demoralized and flat-footed)
- Energy Spark (Level 2 - Swift action; Combine with melee attack to add ranged touch attack that does 3d6 elemental damage)
- Seraph's Wrath (Level 2 - Melee attack +2d6 damage, DC 14 Reflex or knocked prone)

Stances:
- Drake Hållning - Battle Dragon's Stance (Level 3 - +4 to Initiative, remove TWF penalty and add +1d6+2 damage while TWF)
- Anda Hållning - Spirit Sensing Stance (Level 1 - Gain scent, detect ethereal creatures within 30' )
- Kliva Hållning - Unbroken Stride Stance (Level 1 - Walk over liquids and weak surfaces, constant spider climb without need for hands)

Skills (35 ranks) [5 FC]
Acrobatics +12 [5 + Dex 4 + class]
Bluff +6 [1 + Cha 2 + class]
Climb +4 [1 + Str 0 + class] (+12 in Unbroken Stride Stance)
Diplomacy -2 [0 + Cha 2 - curse]
Disable Device +8 [1 + Dex 4 + class]
Escape Artist +8 [1 + Dex 4 + class]
Intimidate +10 [5 + Cha 2 + class]
Knowledge(Nature) +3 [1 + Int -1 + class]
Knowledge(Religion) +3 [1 + Int -1 + class]
Linguistics 0 [1 + Int -1]
Perception +8 [5 + Wis 0 + class]
Sense Motive +4 [1 + Wis 0 + class]
Sleight of Hand +5 [1 + Dex 4]
Stealth +12 [5 + Dex 4 + class]
Survival +8 [5 + Wis 0 + class]
Use Magic Device +3 [1 + Cha 2]

Feats
(1) Deep Fear
(H) Two-Weapon Fighting
(3) Extra Stalker Art
(5) Extra Stalker Art

Languages:
North-Speech, Helmál

Current Spells (CL 3):
Orisons: detect magic, light, prestidigitation, purify food and drink
Level 1 (4/day, DC 13): cause fear, entropic shield, face of the devourer, tracking mark

Possessions:
Dauðahlatr ("Death's Laughter" - masterwork studded leather armor)
2 long seaxes (short swords, one is masterwork)
2 curved knives (chakrams)

[spoiler=Notes]
- Prestidigitation isn't normally a divine spell, but it was approved.
- Flickering around the battlefield just doesn't feel right, so Fading Strike is instead going to be presented like preternatural agility.
- Unbroken Stride is from Sleeping Goddess, which is not really suited to Vintersdottir; that one stance is very much is, though.
[/spoiler]
[/ic]

[LoA]

Hey Steerpike, I'm working on my explorer character. So far he's a Level 3 bard (Archeologist Archetype), and he has pretty good stats (10, 12, 12, 14, 11, 16 with human bonus). I'm still working on feats, and I'm wondering if there's anything that I can trade in spellcasting for? I don't like the idea of him being a spellcaster.

[Steerpike]

You can bump him up to 4th level.

What I might suggest instead of trying to remove spellcasting from the Bard - which is a pretty difficult proposition, I think, since spellcasting is very integral to the Bard - is actually just to make a Rogue of some kind. Archaeologist removes bardic performance and adds Rogue abilities like Trap Sense and Uncanny Dodge, so to remove spellcasting as well you'd have a Bard minus spellcasting and performance but with a bunch of Rogue abilities - I think you'd just be very close to a Rogue. I'd be OK with maybe tweaking a Rogue archetype to resemble the Archaeologist though. Really the only Archeologist-unique abilities are actually Archeologist's Luck and Clever Explorer. The former is somewhat Bard-specific and so might not be a good fit, but if you still wanted it, it could replace trapfinding with it. Clever Explorer could easily be taken in lieu of a rogue talent, and the Rogue's Sneak Attack at 5th could be replaced with the Bard's Lore Master abilitiy. You could call the Archetype "Explorer,"

[sparkletwist]

I'm not sure how useful or good they are, but these archetypes were designed to replace large pieces of existing classes, and Bardic spellcasting is one of the options that can be swapped out.

[Steerpike]

I like that approach a lot actually!

Love of Awesome, how about swapping out the Bard's Spellsinger archetype package for the Ranger's Scout package, then applying the Archeologist archetype? You could call the resulting class the Explorer.

[Weave]

Hey Steerpike, I was talking with sparkletwist and thinking about how I wanted Vidar to perform in combat and was wondering if I could change a few things around on his character sheet, namely make his stats to: 16, 14, 12, 10, 10, 14, and ditch Iron Will and grab Improved Trip as a feat. I think Vidar fighting dirty by tripping would fit his character better. Also, to add to that, I would be dropping Dodge for Fury's Fall (which allows me to add my Dex to CMB when tripping). Would that be okay?

[Steerpike]

Especially since Vidar never really engaged in combat, I'm totally fine with those changes.