I have no gaming group, and I must RP! - Or Game Brainstorming

She's in, joining the forum shortly. She's a bard

 

Anyone who can flip that many tables over a Homestuck joke is welcome here. And bards are actually good in 13th Age, they can do everything except tank.

 

Hm, well, depending on how long it has been since Incandescence was made... At the start, I think they were pretty focused on protecting life/smiting evil, with priorities on their creator. Later on, they probably ended up a bit more thoughtful and quirky (possibly they started collecting random bits of cool things, idk what specifically yet.) By the Age of Ruin they've probably gotten to being a bit weird personality-wise.

Sorry that's not very explanatory, my brain is tired.

 

Incandescence would have been made well into Saetha's Zealous Crusader days, so Saetha's priorities around then would be:

Discovery and protection of Truth and Light at All Cost
The Great Wyrm is the Embodiment of Light and Glory, All Who War Against Him Shall Fall

And she sings when she fights, who knew hymns could work as battle-chants?​

I dunno if I'm going to have her go Full Megalomaniacal WarPriest in this world, she'll definitely be more laid back about things in the beginning of the Age. Towards the end she gets vicious and jaded and who knows, maybe a little nuts.

 

Well, Incandescence would probably get the Protection Of Truth And Light thing. Though they would probably have spent quite a bit of time considering the second principle in light of the first (those who war against him have yet to fall, what is the timeframe of the second priority? If all light and glory comes from the Wyrm than how do those that fight against him have various illumination devices? Define glory. Define light - light does not appear to be destroyable, therefore why does it require protection?)

 

This is personality, you're supposed to be evocative, not explanatory, and you're doing great at that. Now I'm imagining the all-terrain spellcasting deathbot wanting to show you its rock collection. Yes, yes, we will smite the wicked and lay low the corrupt in a moment, but have you seen this bit of jadeite? Ninety-four percent of first-time observers find it impressive.

Ahem.

Now, backgrounds. They are sort of like skills, except instead of putting points into specific things you're good at, you put points into things from your backstory that explain why you're good at certain things. You get eight points, and a single background can have up to five points.

 

Not sure how Light is defined here. Generally relates to the light from the Sun.

wrt Glory: Basically she puts the Wyrm on a pedestal as the source of everything Good in the world and she does everything in His name. He is Glory in that he is Glorious and to be worshiped. (As far as she's concerned, he saved her life.)

In PF Light was the antithesis of Dark, so she was automatically against Drow, dark dwarves, Undead, creatures that live in the Underdark, etc. She would actively seek out fights with those types, as well as anyone who fights for an icon in that is an enemy of the Wyrm. That's the second priority. The enemies of the Wyrm shall fall in that she will personally destroy them if she has to.

Light itself does not require protection, but things/people/etc require protection from the Dark and she will be that protection.

I might not be making words do the thing.

 

In this setting, morality is less of a literal metaphysical force than in most D&D and Pathfinder universes. The Great Gold Wyrm is indeed ancient and heroic and powerful, not to mention symbolically associated with light, and would be easy to mistake for the source of all good, but there may not actually be any such thing. Also his war with the demons has basically been a holding action and/or a siege for thousands of years, so despite the Wyrm's immense power you could reasonably conclude he's not omnipotent. (Though he is doing well, he's the one heroic icon in the 14th Age who's not losing his fight... not that he's going to have anyone to protect for much longer.) The Wyrm is big on truth, loyalty, honor, protection, and altruism. His particular enemy used to be the Diabolist, but there is no Diabolist icon in the Age of Ruin. Most of his Order went down fighting against the Four, Lich King, and Orc Lord, and he has other enemies who don't have an icon presently: the demons, the nightmares of the underworld, the dark gods. A fanatic of the Wyrm would also hate the Prince of Shadows, and either the Pretender or the Exile depending on whose story they believe.

 

Okay, that. That's 13th Age Saetha's priorities, motivations, etc. Perfect match for how she is in my thinkmeats. V. Good.

Proclivity for smitings increases with age/how long the war's been going on, basically.

Actually it'd been cool if Incandescence kept the wide-eyed idealism Saetha had early on, while Saetha became more the bad kind of crusader.

 

@TheSeer Anything else you need from me chargen-wise other than feat and origin of Yx (which i'm not sure about)?

I'm torn between the range tricks feat and some sort of quick draw to swap weapons quickly (useful for eg. being able to soften enemies up with a bow before they close, then swap to spear or saber to engage)

 

Okay, I'm going through a chargen checklist for Twp, Taiga, and Incandescence. (Edit: And Moth!) Summary: you all need feats, and you all have better AC than you think.

I think I'd prefer if you made stat edits to your original posts, but let me know when you've done so - it's good to have everything in one place but there's already been one edit that I didn't notice until days after it was made. Once I'm satisfied with your changes (or explanations of why it was right the first time) I'll strikethrough that item on your list below.

@Wiwaxia: Done!

• Twp's AC should be 20, 21 with her shield. 16 (base) + 2 (middle of Dex/Con/Wis) +1 (level) +1 (Bastion talent)
• Twp needs a feat. Since you mentioned switching weapons, that would normally be a quick action - in other words, it can be the "other thing" you do in a round besides attack and move. I would allow a feat that would make switching weapons a free action, once per round - call it Quick Draw.
• While I appreciate the attention to chronological detail, I'm not sure what the Aimless Wanderer background would be useful for? Or at least, I'm not sure what it would do that neither Sole Survivor or Refugee Guide would cover. Did you have ideas about what Twp learned from her wandering? Or would you like to fold that point into another background?
• Since you've decided that Twp is the world's only dragonfly-knight (that is, Yx is her unique thing) I agree that the noble steed should have an origin story.
• Does Twp have anything going on that connects her to previous ages? Or will her orphaned rootlessness serve as contrast for when she has a better backstory in later cycles?

@Aviari: Ready to go!

• Taiga's AC should be 12. 10 (base) + 1 (middle of Dex/Con/Wis) +1 (level)
• She needs a racial ability. The standard Half-Elf ability Surprising isn't useful for a witch, so you should probably take Quick to Fight (roll initiative twice, take the best result) and an extra feat instead, which is an option for all races because I gave humans a real racial ability of their own.
  
• Taiga only knows one hex at 1st level.
• She also needs a feat (or two, see above). In addition to generic feats (which I can list on request), all her class talents have feats available, as do the Cursebolt and Chill Touch spells. Or, since it's a homebrew class anyway, if there's a spell you think needs a feat and doesn't have one, just ask.
  
• Witches aren't proficient with short bows, she'll take a -2 to hit with that weapon, or with spells while holding it. A light crossbow is another option - only -1 to hit but it takes a quick action to reload between shots.
• Technically Quick to Fight is a racial ability - wasn't your second feat buffing the Hex Mastery talent?

@KarrinBlue: Finished!

• Incandescence's AC should be 15. 10 (base) +2 (middle of Dex/Con/Wis) +1 (level) +2 (Spell Fist talent)
• Choose one of the following to be a permanent feature of Incandescence's familiar. All bonuses are to your rolls. It will get two more of these at random each day. (It's modular!)
  • Agile: +2 to Dex skill checks
  • Alert: +2 to Wis skill checks
  • Counter-bite: once per round, an enemy hitting you in melee takes (level)d4 damage in return
  • Flight: it can fly
    
  • Mimic: Copy an ally's racial power once per day
  • Poisonous: Once per battle, when you hit an enemy engaged with you (that is, at melee range) add 5 damage ongoing
  • Scout: It can go out alone and scout for you once per day.
  • Tough: +1 to saves
  • Talkative: it can talk
• Though Incandescence has more feet than the other characters, she still has no feats! There are feats to improve Gather Power, Metallic Protector Heritage, Sorcerer's Familiar, Spell Fist, or the spells Burning Hands, Lightning Fork, Resist Energy, or Scorching Ray, plus some general feats available to all classes.
• I've already mentioned backgrounds in an earlier post, but I'm listing that again here for completeness.

@Salem: You're all set!

• I'm afraid Moth's attributes are too high. I think you applied +2 for race and class bonuses? But that's based on the old-fashioned 3-18 range scores. Since we're using the modifiers directly, race and class bonuses are +1 each. See my post on page 2 of this thread.
  
• The HP multiplier for level 1 is x3. Moth starts with 24 HP. Also note that his recovery roll is 1d8+1, with eight recoveries available per day.
• You, and you alone, have calculated your AC correctly! Huzzah! However, Moth's MD should be 16 if you keep his Int and Cha where they are, or 15 if you lower at least one of them to +3.
• You didn't mention a racial ability. The special High Elf ability is a short range teleport once per battle - very nice for getting out of unwanted melee. Or you can take Quick to Fight (roll initiative twice, take the better) and an extra feat, an alternative available to all races.
• For your Mythkenner class talent, pick two:
  
  • All bard spells and abilities use Wisdom instead of Charisma (you probably don't want this one unless you rearrange your stats)
    
  • Take two extra points of backgrounds - you can use this to raise a background relating to religion mythology, or history up to +6.
  • Take one extra point of relationship with the Great Gold Wyrm or the High Druid (the book says Priestess, but the Priestess is dead.)
• As the drunken dwarf said to the treant, I don't see your feat. In addition to the general feats, you could also buff Move It! or Stay Strong!
• Bards are definitely proficient with rapiers, and roll d8 damage dice with them, though if Twp borrows your sword... okay if Twp borrows your sword it's a zweihander in proportion and she can roll d10. But for most people a rapier would use d6 damage dice.
• Your AC assumes some sort of light armor. Leather, chain shirt, buff coat, rapier-and-cloak fencing style, however you want to describe it.
• In combat, bards are supposed to be fencing when they're not casting. I strongly suggest either more Dex or a spell that deals damage. Battle Chant is supposed to be the go-to for bards that want to stay at range, because it's At-Will and compatible with battle cries, but if you take it, take the feat for it. Nobody likes d4 damage dice.
• Do you want a background for the prodigious story memory, so you can use it for plotful things?

 

Taiga has the extra hex because of her feat, Hex Mastery. I'll poke at other feats tomorrow for the second and upd8 her sheet

 

>.< Somehow it didn't occur to me that the ability to use two hexes at once would require the ability to use two hexes. Okay, noted that Taiga has the Adventurer-tier feat for Hex Mastery, and I'm going to say that either the feat or the talent itself should allow the witch to know one additional hex, for a total of (level+1) hexes.

 

Hey guys, I'm the table-flipping bard as promised! I'm really slow at the character-building thing, plus I'm working my way through the whole forum, but I'm going to try and get caught up today.

 

Welcome!

 

Alright, here's my 14th Age character. I plan on starting to plot two more after a couple of errands.

Moth Burlarse
High elf bard

Abilities:
Strength 0
Constitution 1
Dexterity 2
Intelligence 3
Wisdom 1
Charisma 3

Combat Stats:
1st Level Hit Points 24
Armor Class 14
Physical Defense 12
Mental Defense 15
Initiative Bonus 2
Recovery Dice 1d8+1, 8 per day

Racial Ability: short range teleport once per battle

Talents:
Mythkenner
Storyteller
Songmaster

Battle Cries:
Move It
Stay Strong

Spells n Songs:
Battle Chant (+ adventurer feat)
Song of Spilt Blood

Icons:
Bullroarer: positive 1
Pretender: conflicted 2
High Druid positive +1

Background:
Traveling performer +3
Page/Head servant +3
Refugee/Street rat +2
Repetoire +2

Gear:
Waterskin
Rations (5 days)
Blanket
Lantern
Slapstick
Prop knife
Mask (for costuming— not a useful disguise)
Small book of poetry (which he can’t read)
Lute

Weapons:
Dagger (1d4)
Bow (1d6)
Rapier (1d8)

Unique thing: He has a plethora of not only songs, but poems, skits, and slapstick bits memorized, which he can and will pull out at the drop of a hat (whether or not a performance in necessary, appropriate, or wanted).

Who are you?

Moth Burlarse is surprisingly short for an elf. No one ever lets him forget it, either. He dresses simply— tunic, pants, boots, and leather armor, all high-quality but worn. He does have a bit of a thing for nice hats, but hasn’t been able to acquire (read: shoplift) a good one for a while. He’s the gingeriest ginger to ever ginger, freckles and all, with short hair that USED to be neatly combed but now just kinda does what it wants, which usually means 10000000 Cowlicks You Never Asked For Dear God How Can So Many Cowlicks Exist In The Same Place No Seriously My Head Must Be A Ridiculous Shape. He is the elven equivalent of around 16. This makes him much wiser and more capable than most sixteen-year-olds, but he’s still quite young.

He is a heat-seeking missile for people to mock and is game for almost any stupid scheme. He does not look before he leaps because he is fidgety as FUCK and will jump at any opportunity to do SOMETHING. He is also a talented street performer with quite a few years of experience running with a troupe of comedians/acrobats/actors/musicians/improvers (think Commedia dell’Arte if that helps— actually, that’s exactly what it was minus the name) under his belt. Moth is a sarcastic little fuck who likes to attach himself to someone bigger and richer but far less intelligent than he is— this is his favorite target for intense, constant mockery. Although he likes to stick close to his victim, he never gets attached to them as a friend. No he doesn’t. Shut up. He does not!

Where are you from?

Moth grew up in a big family in a small elf settlement in the woods… like an elven suburb. He would leave home in the warmer months and perform with his troupe, returning in the late fall to bring money home to his family. One summer, while performing in a marketplace in Axis, he was approached by a young human lord who introduced himself as Don Adriano de Armado. Armado offered Moth a steady job as his personal page and bard at a much higher salary than he could earn prancing around in a mask. Never one to ignore low-hanging fruit, Moth happily accepted, recognizing Armado as exactly the kind of pompous, romantic idiot who could be ridiculed mercilessly to his face and never even know it. For several years, this arrangement worked out nicely. Moth got to enjoy a much higher standard of living, as did his family back home. Soon, though, war efforts and taxes started to drain Armado’s treasury. That, coupled with a rather hilarious and embarrassing scandal involving Armado, a common woman, and a baby with ambiguous parentage, upset the comfy status quo. Armado made a pact to his lover, vowing to stay with her and help her run her household and raise the child. He left the estate under Moth’s care until his return. Unfortunately, before he was due to come back, the war had escalated to the point where evacuation was the only option. Armado’s estate burned to the ground. Moth and a few other servants fled to the Bullroarer’s territory, begging asylum. Without their lord and their home, nothing much binds them together. Moth has taken to street performances to survive, although not many people have cash to spare, nor are they much interested in idle entertainment while the threat of war still looms. Although he won’t admit it, he is worried about Armado’s fate. He suspects that he is still under the protection of the Pretender (or at least he hopes so), and if so, he would like to rejoin him in safety. Until then, he is keeping his former loyalties under wraps. You never know how many powerful people your boss has pissed off, especially when he’s as big an idiot as Armado. As for his family, last he heard, the settlement was found abandoned. A ghost town. He sees no reason to return.

What is your Unique Thing and where does it come from?

Moth has a head for memorization. In addition to useful spells and songs, he knows countless other ballads, limericks, sonnets, skits, bits, scenes, slapstick routines, stage combat moves, dances, monologues, lazzi, and gags. Most of these are standard street troupe fare, but he will whip them out whether onstage or in the bath. These bits are left over from his days performing with his troupe and entertaining Armado. He doesn’t know if there will ever come a time when it is safe and profitable to be a performer, but until then, he will treat his fellow heroes to the Age of Ruin equivalent of “Who’s On First,” whether they ask him to or not.

How are you connected to the past?

The traveling performance troupe Moth ran with for many years often did skits and performances based on stock characters so familiar and revered as to be considered legendary. Actors always played the same characters, and it is no longer clear whether or not their silly, cartoonish parts were ever actually based on real people. Moth is an elf, though, and elves have long memories. He has spoken with some of the older members of his hometown and suspects that the ridiculous caricatures they play might not be as far off the mark as they think. He feels a particular kinship to the two characters he regularly played: Brighella, the clever, decidedly evil servant, and Arlecchino, the playful trickster*.

*Subject to change. I have to think hard about who would fit nicely into the 13th Age.

 

@Salem: Looks spoony to me! I added Moth to the checklist post, look up the page for issues that need fixing, but on the writing/characterization side I'm thrilled, no complaints. I love impulsive characters, keeps the game from getting bogged down in overplanning. I'm looking forward to the Moth Story Hour!

 

@TheSeer I will fix those ASAP! Thanks for the help-- like I said, I'm a bit slow at the character stat thing... something about all those exceptions and rules makes my head spin.

Ahaha, disclaimer time: I totally just stole Shakespeare's intellectual property. Moth and Armado (and Armado's girlfriend) are all from the play "Love's Labour's Lost." Obviously I took some serious liberties, but credit to the Bard for giving me the inspiration for my bard.
... Having said that, Shakespeare took a lot of ideas from other people, so it's kind of a passing-it-forward thing.

 

I'm kicking around a 12th Age character right now... I've got a sadistic Ruler of the Underworld tiefling rogue in the 'shop at the moment. I'm still trying to decide what to do about the 13th Age, but Brighella here is turning out to be fun

 

Yeah, and this is a simple system. I used to run actual D&D! Your head has not spun until you've tried to understand Thac0 for the first time. Basically Gary Gygax was to roleplaying what Sigmund Freud was to psychology. Yes, he was a pioneer and a genius and all, but then you look at his actual work and... what? no. Just... what? Why?

And don't worry about the Shakespeare - I'm stealing all over the place. Stealing from Tolkien is traditional, (and in this respect at least I'm being very traditional) but you're going to see Homer, Chrono Trigger, Miyazaki, Terry Pratchett... Roleplaying is when I go "hey, go ahead and steal it, sounds like fun." Once I played Sora from Kingdom Hearts as a Solar Exalt. And recreated the 1000 Heartless scene, because Exalted is like that.

Boy, the Age of Heroes party is sounding awfully disreputable so far. :-) If only your brave 14th Age survivors knew what a pack of scoundrels they were trusting to save the world.