CRB

A Green Thumb

2018-06-09T00:00:00.000-04:00

Gardeners of Immonhiel

Many of the gods of good bring their healing powers to bear on the world. Much of the time this is only accessible through the use of divine might. This week’s deity choose to bring healing to the world that requires no magic and does so even in places where the divine is outlawed, like Rahadoum. Immonhiel is the Empyreal Lord of herbs, medicine, and toads, and he is the patron of chronically ill. Today we look at three possible sects for our healing minded god that you may want to use in your games.

As always, let us imagine we are sitting at our theoretical gaming table. Our imaginary GM sets out the rules for the game that we will play. In this game, we are to make a follower of Immonhiel. The character does not need to be a divine caster, just a devotee of Balm-Bringer. What character do you make?

For more information on Immonhiel

Immonhiel’s Pathfinder Wiki Page

Immonhiel’s Archives of Nethys Page

The Gardeners

In the wilds of the River Kingdoms dwell an entire commune of Immonhiel worshipers. They live on a plot of land made up of fertile soil near the bank of one of the many flowing arms of the Sellen River. It is on this small commune that The Gardeners raise a variety of crops. Some of which they sell as food, but most of which are rare or newly bred healing herbs.

The groups is made up of five families that sought to better understand their patron. Each family has a history of plant breeding some for alchemical purposes, others for healing, but all have passed down agricultural secrets for generations. Many witches, alchemists, and brewers come to The Gardeners for their special herbs.

The Tree-Root Tribe

Although more frog-like than toad-like the Grippli tribe known as The Tree-Root are staunch followers of the Balm-Bringer. Worship of Immonhiel spread among the tribe when a travelling healer brought the then chief’s son back from the brink of death. The chief proclaimed the Empyreal Lord the patron of the entire tribe.

The healers of Immonhiel are now the moral center of the tribe. Being chosen to be one of the sacred herbalists is considered the greatest honor among the grippli. And among the tribes in the region the Tree-Root tribe is held in great esteem due to their often miraculous healing powers.

The Bramble Brewers

Half-Elves are often written off by both their parent races. However, they tend to be innovative combining aspects of both their parent’s cultures. The Bramble Brewers merge their human side’s need for change with their elf side’s love of nature under the auspices of their patron deity Immonhiel.

These alchemists’ concoctions are made from all natural ingredients as they shy away from the bizarre chemicals many of their peers use. Because of this many of their extracts and even their mutagen have effects that outwardly mimic plant life. Becoming a Bramble Brewer is a calling and any half-elf alchemist who wishes to learn their ways can.

From the simplest herb can come great healing as can from the simplest of followers of this week’s deity. Who is your disciple of Immonhiel? Why have they chosen to dedicate themselves to The Balm-Bringer? Where does their devotion to this Empyreal Lord come from? Let me know in the comments.

If the CRB has helped you take a closer look at those inspired by the divine, please consider showing support and become one of my patrons by donating to my Patreon or making a donation to my Paypal. Looking for more out of the CRB? Then you’re in luck! Facebook, Google +, Tumblr, and Twitter all have a CRB presence. And if you’re as impatient as I am, have the CRB pushed directly to your Kindle with every new post by signing up for Kindle Subscriptions.

Those Who Stand

2018-06-02T00:00:00.000-04:00

Faithful of Soralyn

In the realms of the celestial the Empyreal Lords look over those things that the major gods miss in their portfolios. Some are warriors, some art artists, and others are protectors. Soralyon is the Empyreal Lord of guardians, magic, and monuments and this week we’re gonna take a look at three possible sects for this powerful angel.

As always, let us imagine we are sitting at our theoretical gaming table. Our imaginary GM sets out the rules for the game that we will play. In this game, we are to make a follower of Soralyon. The character does not need to be a divine caster, just a devotee of The Mystic Angel. What character do you make?

For more information on Soralyon

Soralyon’s Pathfinder Wiki Page

Soralyon’s Archives of Nethys Page

The Momumentalists

In most of the world Empyreal Lords are worshiped like saints, as servitors to the higher gods. In Magnimar there are numerous cults dedicated to these elevated celestial beings, and one of the three most revered of these beings is The Mystic Angel. The Monumentalists see the city as their holy protectorate with all of the statues and structures new and old strewn around the city for them to keep watch over. The cult believes that all the monuments are somehow connected but only Soralyon knows how and thus far has been unwilling to share his secret.

The sect takes the study of the monuments of Magnimar very seriously. They are one of the few mystery cults that practice out in the open. Membership requires little more than an affection – some would say obsession – with the city’s historical structures. Those who join can come from any class but often all have a background in history, engineering, art, or the arcane.

The Star-Struck

Soralyon is said to be the keeper of magical secrets, things even Nethys doesn’t know. Although it is said he shares these secrets with a deserving few, what ‘deserving’ means is up for debate. The Star-Struck believe that The Mystic Angel will only reveal these secrets to those who seek it themselves and get close. The answers, they posit, are in the stars and so to the heaven’s they search for their patron’s secrets.

Because The Star-Struck seek their answers in the heavens they are all astronomers of one sort or another. Many casters join the group seek a means to expand their power, but also more mundane star seekers can find a home within the sect as well. Their leader is actually a Lunar Naga named Hexilcris who claims to have felt the touch of Soralyon personally.

The Storm Dogs

The Empyreal Lord’s home is Steward’s Stone which watches over the chaos of the Maelstrom. It is said that Soralyon is a guardian of the world against that chaos, specifically chaotic magic. The Storm Dogs hunt down creatures and spellcasters that attempt to subvert reality.

The sect is a small group hardly ever growing more than a dozen members at a time. They work in small to covertly to contain situations they deem unstable. Although all members have been touched somehow by magic, not everyone is a caster. Most in fact specialize in countering magic in one form or another.

Like the monuments they revere these worshipers stand tall against adversity. Who is your disciple of Soralyon? Why have they chosen to dedicate themselves to The Mystic Angel? Where does their devotion to this Empyreal Lord come from? Let me know in the comments.

Troubled Waters

2018-05-19T00:00:00.000-04:00

The Wracked of Roqoloros

Water is often seen as the bringer of life; a symbol of healing and a resource any living being cannot survive without. But when that life-sustaining element is corrupted or tainted, you get death and disease. Among the foul outsiders of the lower planes, one being represents the corruption of water and that is Roqorolos, the Daemon Harbinger of castaways, fouled water, and oceans. Today we peek into the depths of his followers and present to you three possible sects of The Prince of the Wracked.

As always, let us imagine we are sitting at our theoretical gaming table. Our imaginary GM sets out the rules for the game that we will play. In this game, we are to make a follower of Roqorolos. The character does not need to be a divine caster, just a devotee of The Seadrinker. What character do you make?

For more information on Roqorolos

Roqorolos’s Pathfinder Wiki Page

Roqorolos’s Archives of Nethys Page

The Poisoned Well

The Daemon Harbinger Roqorolos serves Apollyon, the Horsemen of Pestilence. His domain over fouled water serves the purposes of his master. And the members of the Poisoned Well, in turn, serve the purposes of the Prince of the Wracked. They do so by befouling the water of settlements large and small to spread disease amongst the populace.

The members of this small sect consider themselves connoisseurs of waterborne contagions, both mundane and magical. Each settlement they seek to ravage is a chance for them to test their newest creations. Alchemists, Investigators, arcane casters of all kinds, and some of the most twisted druids on Golarion make up the core of these demented bringers of blight.

The Broken Bow

Those who find themselves stranded on small islands often fall to madness. These castaways can lose it enough to beg for the blessings of The Seadrinker. These damned souls please the daemon harbinger and The Broken Bow find favor from Roqorolos by stranding these unfortunate souls.

The Broken Bow is actually an extended family of weresharks and their skinwalker kin who occupy the Valashmai Sea off the Southern coast of Tian Xia. They hide in plain sight as movers of cargo – albeit often illicit things. They pick their targets when in port and then attack the chosen ship, sinking it and devouring most of its crew and passengers. They leave one sad soul alive and he usually wakes on some small uninhabited island.

The Lost

When one seeks the favor of Roqorolos, one must suffer his purview. The Lost is a group of oracles who take this suffering and solitude to the extreme in order to gain clarity from their master. Each member secludes themselves for seven years on an isolated island with no contact with other sentient beings. Every day they drink the salty ocean water in an attempt to poison their own bodies.

The Lost keep a shrine somewhere in The Shackles, where others of Roqorolos’ faithful come to find them for guidance. Although they are all considered oracles and conduits to the Daemon Harbinger, not all of them are of the oracle class. Shaman, druids, clerics, and even some sorcerers find a home among those who choose exile. The sect will accept any who can survive their seven years.

As corrupt as the befouled water of their lord are the followers of The Prince of the Wracked. Who is your disciple of Roqorolos? Why have they chosen to dedicate themselves to The Seadrinker? Where does their devotion to this Daemon Harbinger come from? Let me know in the comments.

Back to the Past

2018-05-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

Musings on Flashbacks in the Gaming Narrative

Lately, I’ve been thinking about narratives that work in books which could be used in RPGs. Most games tend to be pretty straightforward with play being in the moment. Things like cutscenes, flashbacks, and dream sequences can often seem more like the GM talking to himself, or like one player getting the spotlight for a longer period of time than anyone else. And you certainly don’t a want to use cutscenes to shift to the villain’s point in the plot like you might in a book or a movie, because you don’t want to give things away to your players. For the past few days, I’ve been thinking about flashbacks and the ways they can be used in games to strengthen the narrative.

One of the things I like about flashbacks is it allows character growth for players who may not be the best at writing backstories. Not everyone is like me and has a five-page character background, and although some GMs might not like that, I understand that not everyone is a writer. Flashbacks can help draw out portions of a character’s past during play which can give the player a deeper connection to the game and the GM some things for the player to use as hooks later.

There’s a game I played once that had an awesome mechanic to draw out these narratives from the players; I played it at a one-day gaming event and it left a lasting impression on me. 3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars is basically Starship Troopers the game, but what got me was the flashback mechanic. You could use a flashback twice each session; once to have a critical success and once to flee and not take damage.

This mechanic worked by telling the GM that you wanted to cash in on the ability to do either of these things during the battle. I think there were poker chips or another token that represented each use. Once you did this you had to narrate a brief flashback that explained why you’d be good at doing the thing that you were about to do. For my critical success, I narrated being a standout basketball player in high school known for my jump shot, and that was why throwing my grenade directly into the mouth of the bug-alien would succeed.

I’m not sure how this method could transfer over to games like my current game of choice, Pathfinder, but having players narrate their critical hits or critical failures in terms of a flashback could work. The difficulty then becomes monopolizing time. The problem with flashbacks is they often only include one person’s character. This can leave other players out in the cold if they aren’t short narratives like in 3:16. So how do we bring the whole party into that moment?

One way requires quite a bit of work on behalf of the GM. The flashback must be prepared ahead of time. NPCs that represent people that the player having the flashback might meet need to be premade so they can be handed out to the other players. This should allow the GM to include the entire group in the cutscene, but as mentioned it is far more work.

You could attempt a more fluid version of this, and as the player mentions people he interacts with during the flashback hand those sheets out to the other players. This requires some trust in the person telling their character’s history. They need to be able to come up with enough peripheral characters to allow the whole group to play along. And both methods require the player flashing-back to trust the other players won’t mess with their “moment.”

I haven’t personally used a lot of flashbacks in my games. Pathfinder isn’t really geared toward the way more narrative games are. It is something I’m looking to incorporate more into my play, though, and I hope my thoughts on it might allow you to do so as well.

In what ways have you used flashbacks or other cutscenes in your games? How have you incorporated these narratives into games that aren’t specifically designed with them in mind? In what ways do you keep all your players engrossed when one person’s character currently has the spotlight?

Your past informs your future. If today’s article has helped you expand your narrative tools, please consider becoming a supporter. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

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Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

2018-05-09T00:00:00.000-04:00

Using Loses to Help Advance Your Story

A lot of times when going to see a film people are expecting the happy ending. Except for maybe a handful of horror movies the villain doesn’t win. Empire Strikes Back is my favorite of the three original films because it leaves us with the villain out ahead. So why don’t we see the big bad actually being the victor in most games? Is losing that bad for the heroes? There’s an old adage about learning more in defeat than in victory. So can your heroes learn from a decisive loss to your antagonist?

I think it all depends on how you frame it. A loss shouldn’t be the end result of an entire campaign. But one or even multiple losses during the middle part of a game can often compel the heroes to do better. In the search for pieces of an artifact what if the big bad’s minions get there first and make off with some of the pieces. This happens often but in most games I find the heroes are always winning the day. But they still have a chance to defeat the villain before he can actually put the artifact to use, even if he has collected all the pieces.

One of the other hurdles I see is that many groups will fight to the death at every instance. Especially when a GM usually fudged die rolls or doesn’t allow character deaths, the players will just try and persevere. It often needs to be impressed upon the players early in a campaign that it’s ok to flee. Or even if the bad guy has the ability to kill the players he choose not to. Let them know that they would have died but he thinks their beneath him and so he doesn’t finish them off.

Capturing player’s is a difficult method of handing the party a loss. If we look at the end of Empire Solo’s capture is part of the party’s defeat. But in a game the player of solo would now be out of a character and that can be unfair. I find capturing important NPCs works better for this type of defeat so that the group still has some one to rescue but one player doesn’t need to make a new character.

The last issue is the sparing use of defeat. If the players feel like they are being stymied at every turn then they’ll feel like they have no chance. In wrestling the bad guy will often beat on the good guy for a while building up hatred in the fans. But the good guy needs to get a little back, even if he gets cut off again not to soon after. This is called the hope spot and you need to give your players hope.

The ebb and flow of the games drama can be seen in victories and losses. And it’s ok to have more losses than victories because if the player’s succeed in the end all that heartbreak will be vindicated. The question becomes what is the right win to loss ratio for your group. That’s something you’ll have to figure out for yourself. But if you can find the right balance you can really enhance your story telling.

I’ve used defeats in my game but how have you used them in yours? How many losses are you willing to give your players? How do you guide your players to a setback without killing them? What kinds of failures are your group able to handle?

Everyone likes a big win after any defeat. If the CRB has helped you find your success, please consider becoming a supporter. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

Following Your Own Path

2018-05-02T00:00:00.000-04:00

Ways of Making a Pre-Written Adventure Your Own

I am not now, nor have I ever really been a fan of sandbox games. Just because that’s true does not mean, however, that I believe a story must be a straight shot with immutable conclusions. There are many ways for GMs to roll with the punches of their players and make minor adjustments or additions to a game with a defined plot. Many veteran GMs have learned this fine art but I think it’s time to share some ideas with new GMs trying to find their way in the hobby for the first time.

The first way a world can be made to feel more dynamic is its people, so your NPCs are going to help make the game more interesting. Your PCs are going to latch onto all the NPCs you didn’t expect them to like and ignore all the ones you thought would tickle their fancy. This is a fact of gaming. So even when you are throwing in a character that’s only supposed to be met once, you have to be prepared to bring them back if need be.

In one of my games, the players met with a woman who runs the dockside area, kind of like a mob boss. They found a locket that belonged to her father in an underwater part of a dungeon and returned it to her. This was a literally supposed to be a throwaway part of the adventure. There was the possibility they may not even have found the locket or met the NPC. Upon meeting her they took an interest in her and as a side quest for the adventure they’ve run errands for her and we even roleplayed a whole shopping excursion where they wanted some items that only a black-marketeer could find.

I’ve also discussed my dislike for random encounters . But I do add encounters – especially during travel – that are placed to give the players a way to see what’s going on in the region they’re in. Many modules and adventure paths also add these one-off encounters that have nothing to do with the plot. You can expand on these and add other aspects to it to connect the characters past, making their previous actions matter.

As an example one of the Pathfinder adventure paths has an encounter with some boggards. The players are meant to defeat them but my players have a tendency to try and redeem anything that isn’t undead or an evil outsider, so they tried to make the boggards change their way and let them go. Later they encountered a few dead hunters that another group of boggards had killed earlier and this put the characters on a path to hunt down the boggards who wouldn’t change their ways.

A book earlier in the campaign they faced off against another group of boggards and a boggard “witch” escaped. I decided to add this character to the encounter as a recurring villain. Later, when the player went to save the hunter’s younger son who was going to be sacrificed to their dark god, they found this witch leading their efforts. She escaped again and has popped up two books later.

This list of NPCs that have become allies, acquaintances, and recurring enemies – there is a wererat my players hate – is a mile long. The one big rule is don’t force an NPC on the players. Let them pick the ones they like and make those ones a part of your story. A robust cast of characters from the unnamed shopkeeper, to the escaped minor villain, to the town guard whose barbershop quartet you are going to go see can become important characters. And, if need be, events can be made more personal if one of these friendly characters meet their demise by your villains.

Some GMs are afraid of character death, but really a dying character can be a great way to have a little fun and play with the script of the game. One of the characters in my game died and the player really wanted to play something else, so we came up with an idea. The character was resurrected but turned on his partners. He stole a few pieces of the McGuffin they were hunting down and might have kidnapped their paladin – the player was leaving the game. Now the players have a new challenge to overcome to complete their quest. It wasn’t originally a part of the game layout, but it makes the game something created by the character and their actions and not wholly what was written.

So there are plenty of opportunities to put your stamp on a game as a GM. Even if you’re running a module, there are points where you can veer off while still keeping the overall plot intact. Don’t be afraid to try new things, and most of all, don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

In what ways have you made a module your own? What characters did you not expect to become reoccurring that have? How have you adjusted your own stories to take into account the decisions of the players?

Everyone likes to put their stamp on things. If the CRB has helped you get that stamp ready, consider becoming a supporter. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

Random Roll 103 - The Randomness

2018-04-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

This week’s character presents an interesting conundrum from a background perspective, two actually. The first is he’s raised in an elven homeland, but on the elven home land chart he rolled a non-elven town or village. How can you be from an elven homeland but not from an elven town? The second is his drawback being race. How can one be uncomfortable around others not his race when he is basically a bastard half breed? Does he not trust anyone who isn’t an elf or a human? Or does he truly not trust any of his parent races and only feel comfortable around other half-elves? We’ve gotta lot of work cut out for us so let’s see what we can come up with.

Gender:Male

Race:Half-Elf

Human Ethnicity:Shoanti (Skoan-Quah)

Nationality:Varisian

Age:26

Height:6’ 4”

Weight:180

Alignment:Chaotic Good

Str: 11

Dex: 18

Con: 12

Int: 15

Wis: 10

Cha: 10

Homeland: Raised in an Elven Homeland - Non-Elven Town or Village

Parents: Both of your parents are alive.

Siblings: You have no siblings.

Circumstance of Birth: [Prophesied] Your birth was foretold, as recently as during the last generation to as far back as thousands of years ago.

Parent's Profession: Thieves

Major Childhood Event: [Competition Champion] You distinguished yourself at an early age when you won a competition. This might have been a martial contest of arms, a showing of apprentice magicians, high stakes gambling, or something mundane like an eating championship.

Influential Associate:[The Fool] One of your close associates was a clown who mocked propriety and custom, instead engaging in wild and somewhat random actions from time to time. After a while, you learned that there was simple wisdom to this foolery—a careless worldview that taught you how to cast off concern.

Conflict: [Major Theft] You stole expensive items.

Conflict Subject: Leader.

Conflict Motivation: Family.

Conflict Resolution: [You Enjoyed It] Those who cling to petty morals have no understanding of what true freedom and power is. The fact is, you enjoyed your part in the conflict and would do it all over again if the opportunity presented itself. Many people know of your misdeed, and they also realize your complete lack of remorse.

Deity/Religious Philosophy: Count Ranalc

Romantic Relationship(s):[Several Inconsequential Relationships] You have had many lovers but no long-lasting, meaningful relationships.

Drawback:[Race] You are truly comfortable only around others of your race, and you have a hard time putting faith or trust in those of races different from your own.

(Trait) Child of the Streets

(Trait) Failed Apprentice

(Trait) Influence

(Trait) Prophesied

(Trait) Shaper of Reality

(Trait) Unpredictable

(Story Feat) Champion

(Drawback) Xenophobic

In the comments give us your ideas for how to make this into a fully realized character? What class would this character take up? What was the prophecy of his birth? What Competition did he win? Who was his foolish friend? And don’t forget to stay tuned Friday when my background hits the CRB.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but makes you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to created please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me right – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

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Flood of Lies

2018-04-14T00:00:00.000-04:00

Heretics of Geryon

Each layer of Hell has its own ruler that represents the purpose of that particular area. We’ve looked at a number of these archdevils, including Barbatos, Dispater, Mammon, and Belial. This week we take to the fifth layer of Hell known as Stygia and try to come up with followers of Geryon, the archdevil of forbidden lore, heresies, and snakes. Presented are three sects you might use in your game.

As always, let us imagine we are sitting at our theoretical gaming table. Our imaginary GM sets out the rules for the game that we will play. In this game, we are to make a follower of Geryon. The character does not need to be a divine caster, just a devotee of The Serpent. What character do you make?

For more information on Geryon

Geryon’s Pathfinder Wiki Page

Geryon’s Archives of Nethys Page

The Oath Bearers

This sect of followers of Geyron seeks to emulate his diabolic followers that man the Library of Oaths in Stygia. Masters of the deal, they seek out the desperate and the lost with honey words of vows to help better their situation; if only they make a promise. These oaths are kept secure in special books that each acolyte binds themselves and are stored in a central library, presumed to be in Abasalom, for safekeeping when full.

Becoming an Oath Bearer is a promise in and of itself. The first oath recorded by each supplicant is their own before becoming a full member. Because each pledge is also recorded in the infernal library in Stygia, divine power is unnecessary when coercing one, but many of this sect’s followers are still clerics. Bards also make up a number of the small group’s membership, but really anyone who can talk a good game has a chance at becoming and Oath Bearer.

The Fetid Water

Every lie told on the material plane becomes a drop of poison that fills the swamps of Stygia. The Fetid Water is a group of assassins who have dedicated themselves to Lord of Filth. Unlike most assassins guilds that have an image to uphold, the members of the Fetid Water more closely resemble homeless urchins living in a sewer than a proper guild. They specifically take jobs where one person betrayed another by breaking a promise and have an odd habit of showing up just when someone wishes a liar dead.

The leader of the cult is a Chelish oracle named AverniusKreuger. Although he has lost his ability to see, he says he has visions of where his assassins need to be. They operate out of the sewers in Egorian but their influence spreads as far as Riddleport in Varisia to the North and Augustana in Andoran to the East. Those few who know about The Fetid Water call them the liar’s death.

The Lost Prophets

Geryon was one of the Asura Rana before becoming an archdevil. Mixing his former life’s love for taking over ruined holy sites and abandoned deific domains with his no positions as the master of all lies, he has become known as the source of all great heresies. The Lost Prophets look to spread heresy on Golarion in the name of their master. They do so by creating completely new deities that fit the needs of those they wish to convert, or by claiming to be a small sect of an existing deity; twisting the chosen god’s dogma until the unwitting congregation is too far gone to do anything about it.

These false clerics are consummate liars with the ability to contort the emotions of their small groups of worshipers. Although a few true clerics of Geryon join the sect’s ranks, sorcerers, bards, and mesmerists make up a large portion of their numbers. Many of the downtrodden folk they claim as a “flock” don’t know the difference between divine intervention and arcane magic.

Like their master, these serpents revel in what is unknown and what is untrue. Who is your disciple of Geryon? What lie has brought them to worship the Source of Lies? Where does their devotion to this Archdevil come from? Let me know in the comments.

If the CRB has helped you take a closer look at those inspired by the divine, please consider showing support and become one of my patrons by donating to my Patreon or making a donation to my Paypal. Looking for more out of the CRB? Then you’re in luck! Facebook, Google +, Tumblr, and Twitter all have a CRB presence. And if you’re as impatient as I am, have the CRB pushed directly to your Kindle with every new post by signing up for Kindle Subscriptions.

Character 102 - Vasuman Walia

2018-04-13T00:00:00.000-04:00

I write the intro to these things after I actually write the character. It gives me a chance to comment on difficulties I may have had and my process. I say that specifically because I am going to point out that even I cannot tie everything together. As I was writing the background I thought I had hit on all the little tidbits, but upon rereading the random rolls post I realized I missed something. I liked what I had and I couldn’t see shoehorning another piece into it, so you will find that the influential person – the academic – has been left out. It just goes to show that this is not always easy and it’s ok if you miss a piece when creating your character.

As for character choices I went looking through the Advanced Races Guide for some information on Suli but there wasn’t a lot. I wanted to play on their natural ability as negotiators, his worship of the Empyreal Lord of communication and music, and his need for pleasure. Although charisma was not his best stat it was still good so I choose the celebrity bard archetype from Ultimate Magic.

Vasuman Walia

The nation of Katapesh has become a common home for Vudrani who seek a life outside of the caste system of their homeland. The people of The Impossible Kingdoms have spread through the region, finding homes not just in the cities, but in the towns and villages as well. The city of El-Fatar, where adventures come to plumb the depths of ancient ruins, is where the Walia family have made their home now on three generations.

VasumanWalia is one of nine children born to Bhupati, a farmer who inherited his land from his father before him. The boy was in many ways the most unremarkable of his brothers and sisters; not the strongest, fastest, or most attractive. And he most certainly was not the smartest, a fact that infuriated his father often.

The boy did have a good heart and a decent voice, and could often be heard in the kitchen singing as his mother prepared meals. His lack of critical thinking occasionally caused him to act out of bad judgment, even if he meant well. He once overheard his father complain about how a merchant “robbed him blind” and so he snuck into the trader’s caravan and stole a few mostly worthless trinkets to recoup his father’s losses. He would never understand why his dad was so mad, but he made him return the baubles.

Vasuman also had a tendency to literally get lost in his own thoughts. He desperately wanted to be famous. Seeing all the powerful warriors, wizards, and occasional scoundrels flock to his city made him dream of that kind of life. Often while practicing swordsmanship or pretending to learn spells he would find himself lost in the desert. Sometimes he could find his way home, other times his eldest siblings would have to search for him.

On one adventure among the dunes the boy ran into a man sitting under a palm tree. He was like no person Vasuman had ever seen before with bronzed skin and eyes that almost sparkled like stars in the night sky. The man at first seemed insulted by the interruption of his nap but he soon realized it was just a boy.

The two talked well into the night with both Vasuman and the man losing all sense of time. The being explained that he was a janni, a type of genie that lived on Golarion itself. The boy asked about wishes, which from a grown less innocent man would have been a grave breach of etiquette, but the janni let it slide with a few tactful words. Before the night was through he told the boy that he too would feel the pull of the elements and left him with that thought at the gates of his parent’s farmhouse.

Eventually, as he aged Vasuman began to see that his chance meeting may not have been by chance. His own blood seems to have been laced with that of the janni, and like the mortal genie he was blessed with the natural ability to understand the desires of people and play to their wants. With a honeyed word and a pleasant tune, the young Vudrani began to make a name for himself in his hometown.

Vasuman hopes to one day be known throughout Golarion for, well, anything really. But that day is not today. Today he starts his adventure in the deserts of Katapesh.

Did you come up with something similar to Vasuman? Which class did your suli gravitate to? What creature did he meet as a child? Why did he steal from a merchant? Who was her academic influence? If you haven’t written your background yet you still have a chance.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but helps you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to create, please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me, right? – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

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Random Roll 102 - The Randomness

2018-04-09T00:00:00.000-04:00

This week’s character should prove interesting. A lot to work with in the stats especially an intelligence of five. An unlucky roll got me a seven and the Suli’s racial negative took it down even further. I personally tend to play skill monkeys and high intelligence characters so this kind of roll would definitely have force me to play outside of my comfort zone. So I’ll look over the background bits and see if I can’t make it all add up.

Gender:Male

Race:Suli

Human Ethnicity:Vadruni

Nationality:Katapesh

Age: 16

Height:5’ 7”

Weight:186

Alignment:Neutral Good

Str: 13

Dex: 16

Con: 11

Int: 5

Wis: 16

Cha: 14

Homeland: Town or Village

Parents: Both of your parents are alive.

Siblings: You have 8 biological siblings.

- biological younger sister

- biological older sister

- biological older brother

- biological younger brother

- biological older brother

- biological younger sister

- biological younger brother

Circumstance of Birth: [Middle-Class Birth] You were born to the middle class, which includes merchants, artisans, and tradespeople. You likely grew up in a good-sized settlement, and one of your parents is likely associated with a guild or other trade organization. As a free person, you don't experience the bondage of serfdom or peasantry, but you also lack the privilege of the nobility.

Parent's Profession: Yeomen

Major Childhood Event: [Met a Fantastic Creature] When you were only a child, you made contact with a magical creature, such as a dragon, unicorn, genie, pixie, or similar creature. You learned a powerful lesson or a magic trick from that creature. This meeting changed your life and made you different from the other children.

Influential Associate:[The Academic] One of your associates had such a lust for knowledge that she could never be satisfied with simple answers or obvious solutions. This desire for knowledge frequently exceeded her need for companionship, but you were the single exception. Through this association you developed a keen appreciation for numbers, geometry, logic, hard study, and problem solving.

Conflict: [Minor Theft] You stole several small or inexpensive items that belonged to someone else.

Conflict Subject: Merchant.

Conflict Motivation: Money.

Conflict Resolution: [Denial] You feel little if any regret, and deny the event mostly so others won’t judge you. Few if any know of your part in the conflict, and your constant denials are meant to keep it that way.

Deity/Religious Philosophy:Seramaydiel

Romantic Relationship(s):[One Significant Relationship] You had a true love once, but that time has passed.

Drawback:[Pleasure] You crave luxury, entertainment, and pleasure. You might indulge in every passing fancy or hold strong against a temptation that constantly eats at you.

(Trait) Artisan

(Trait) Empyreal Focus

(Trait) Gifted Adept

(Trait) Kin Guardian

(Trait) Mathematical Prodigy

(Trait) Merchant

(Trait) Militia Veteran

(Trait) Savanna Child

(Drawback) Hedonistic

In the comments give us your ideas for how to make this into a fully realized character? What class would this character gravitate towards? What fantastic creature did he meet as a child? Why would an academic take interest in a child who wasn’t at all bright? Who are all of his eight siblings? And don’t forget to stay tuned Friday when my background hits the CRB.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but makes you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to created please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me right – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

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Silent Night

2018-04-07T00:00:00.000-04:00

Faithful of The Black Butterfly

Some beings come from the very fabric of what it means to be good, or evil, and others are created by mere chance. Even true gods don’t always understand their own power and today’s being of divine power was formed by accident from the creation of the stars by the deity Desna. The Empyreal Lord known as The Black Butterfly is concerned with distance, silence, and space. We look today at this defender against the madness of the Dark Tapestry and I present you with three possible sects to The Silence Between.

As always, let us imagine we are sitting at our theoretical gaming table. Our imaginary GM sets out the rules for the game that we will play. In this game, we are to make a follower of Black Butterfly. The character does not need to be a divine caster, just a devotee of The Silence Between. What character do you make?

For more information on Black Butterfly

Black Butterfly’s Pathfinder Wiki Page

Black Butterfly’s Archives of Nethys Page

Monks of the Black Tower

There is a saying about becoming the monster you hunt. Delving too much into how any evil creature thinks and acts is likely to rub off on the one studying them. This is even truer when the creatures you wish to understand are the personifications of madness. But the Monks of the Black Tower do just that as they study the Dark Tapestry – the void between the stars – for hints into the workings of the great old ones and the outer gods.

Wizards, sorcerers, occultists, oracles, and astronomers make up the membership of the Monks. They each take a vow of silence, as to speak the names of these eldritch creatures is to invite them into your heart. They also take a vow of isolation never to leave the monastery again. All of their findings are kept on scrolls that are locked away until the information is needed to battle specific threats.

Void Hunters

Whereas the Monks of the Black Tower isolate themselves, the Void Hunters actively seek out the agents of their enemies on Golarion. Far older than the Monks. it is believed that one of the members of this sect was the founder of the Black Tower Monastery. The Hunters are believed to have come into existence as some of the earliest explorers of the crashed starship in Numeria. They were very active in Osirian during the second age in AR -1498, where they fought against a mysterious cult they discover from their findings in Numeria.

The Void Hunters consists of active field agents who work in small cells to hunt down agents of the mysterious Dominion of the Black. Any person who has felt the touch of these emissaries of the void can join. Often, though, hunters and investigators of the occult find their way into the ranks. Clerics, rangers, investigators, occultists and other psychic classes make up the core of this sect.

The Silent Gift

Battle against the unknown isn’t the only way followers of the Black Butterfly make their presence felt on Golarion. Like many Empyreal Lords, there is a small mystery cult to The Silence Between in the city-state of Magnimar. Their existence is mostly unrealized but their impact is felt by many of the most downtrodden of the citizens of the City of Monuments.

Most of the sect members were at one point destitute themselves and know what it means to want for even basic necessities. As such the cult members perform seemingly random acts of charity every day, often taking from the well-off to give to those truly in need. The leader is a shadow dancer by the name of NyvenWildershins, a Varisian who grew up in the shadow of the irespan known as Underbridge. His followers are mostly rogues and a few clerics to the Black Butterfly who came from the slums of the city they call home.

Some fight the darkness and some use it to do good, but all pay homage to this chaotic deity. Who is your disciple of Black Butterfly? Why have they chosen to dedicate themselves to The Silence Between? Where does their devotion to this Empyreal Lord come from? Let me know in the comments.

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Character 101 - Amere Inistar

2018-03-30T00:00:00.000-04:00

I had a rough go with this week’s random rolls. It was tough trying to stick with the lore of the world and two aspects of the rolls that didn’t mesh well. Our Dhampir this week had some kind of academy training but didn’t really have the intelligence to be an arcane caster or any type of learned person. She was almost assuredly going to be a martial of some type with the strength of sixteen but finding the names of actual martial academies in Andoran proved difficult. Although I never found the school of combat I was looking for I did find other inspiration.

Along with class, one note on mechanics I will make is that I dislike that Dhampir start out at such an old age. I know they are longer-lived than humans but it makes having living parents and siblings tough. Paizo made adjustments to the Aasimar and Tiefling, reflecting that because they are raised by humans they generally reach the age of maturity when a human would. So although they’ll live longer eventually they have a starting age for play now more in line with humans. To that end even though I rolled 130 years old for this Dhampir I am disregarding that and making her in her early twenties.

As for class I decided on cavalier. I knew I needed a martial and the cavalier fit into the background I had been generating. Although, in this case, she could have just as easily been a fighter as, unlike many of the other characters I have come up with, the class wasn’t central to the character.

Amere Inistar

When you’re born in Claes everyone is always talking about history. For such a small fishing town the people there tend to act much like big city folk; not that a certain amount of pride is unwarranted. One of their own is the commander of the Eagle Knights. But as a child, the legend of General Reginald Cormoth is not easy to live up to.

Being held to the standard of the General was nothing compared to what Amere would later learn was common treatment for those of her kind. Born after an attack by vampires on the village, the eldest Inistar daughter retained some of the taint after her mother was bitten. Most Dhampirs cause the death of their mother during birth and are often ostracized by family and their community. But Amere was loved by birth her parents and, for the most part, accepted by the community at large.

Life is not without its conflicts, and although the Dhampir lived a life that would be considered idyllic by the standards of most of her race, she did butt heads often with her younger sister. Kalistree despised the fact that her sister had an otherworldly beauty about her as well as the fact that she was stronger than even most of the boys in their village. The younger Inistar girl was constantly playing pranks and trying to ruin her sister’s reputation.

In the battle with her sister, Amere would not always stay on the right side of the law. Although she never got caught, she would occasionally break or mar things her sister loved, even if they didn’t technically belong to the younger Inistar girl. The war of the sisters would never be won but Amere never felt too bad about what she did.

Being a Dhampir in a small town felt confining to Amere as she grew up. She longed to see the world around her. She would pray to Desna for the chance to travel the world and meet new people. Her parents knew they couldn’t keep her there forever so they reached out to a friend in Almas. Keiron was a man who came from Claes but unlike the General, he wasn’t world famous. What he was, though, was a man who knew everybody.

Amere left home to see Andoran with Keiron, sent on her way with a hand knit hat from her mother. He traveled from Almas to Augustana to Carpenden; he did business everywhere. And anywhere they went, there were the Eagle Knights. What had been her childhood obsession of pushing away the trial of living up to General Cormoth’s legacy became a young adulthood of trying to embrace it. And with her mentor’s help, she was enrolled in one of the military academies in Augustana.

Although she graduated for the academy with high commendations in the Andoran Defense sword style, a life in the military was not for her. Amere knew that the Eagle Knights recruitment methods were often non-traditional so she decided that she would make a name for herself on the road. With her trusty steed, the girlfriend she met at school, and her dedication to the order of the shield and the protection of her people, AmereInistad headed out into the wider world looking for adventure.

Amere is the direction I went but who was your Dhampir? Which class did your character become? Who was the well-connect friend? What academy did she go to? How why did she commit minor crimes either for or against a family member? If you haven’t written your background yet you still have a chance.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but helps you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to create, please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me, right? – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

Random Roll 101 - The Randomness

2018-03-26T00:00:00.000-04:00

A Dhampir child born to a peasant family in Andoran is the base for this week’s character. A good spread of stats in everything except for intelligence gives us a lot of options too. Sometimes though the paradox of choice makes these things even harder to make because you have so many paths you can take. The question is which path will I take? Which path will you take?

Gender:Female

Race:Dhampir

Human Ethnicity:Taldan

Nationality:Andoran

Age:130

Height:5’ 11”

Weight:115 lbs

Alignment:Neutral Good

Str: 16

Dex: 12

Con: 12

Int: 10

Wis: 13

Cha: 14

Homeland: Town or Village

Parents: Both of your parents are alive.

Siblings: You have 1 biological sibling.

- biological younger sister

Circumstance of Birth: [Lower-Class Birth] You were born among peasants or slum denizens. You grew up working the land around a village or manor, practicing a rudimentary trade, or begging in a settlement.

Parent's Profession: Serfs/Peasants

Major Childhood Event: [Academy Training] You attended a private academy where you studied a number of skills and gained training in your current profession. Whether you were a brilliant student or a dropout, the university environment was your home for a good portion of your formative years.

Influential Associate:[Well-Connected Friend] In your circle of disparate associates, there was someone everyone knew. This person collected friends like trophies, and she had contacts in every social or professional circle. Through this connection, you continue to meet and associate with a wide variety of people in every walk of life.

Conflict: [Petty Crime] You committed a minor crime, like vandalism, trespassing, or mischief.

Conflict Subject: Family member.

Conflict Motivation: Hatred or Malice.

Conflict Resolution: [No Guilt] Either guilt is for the weak, or you know you made the right decision. You might not openly brag about your part in the conflict, but you don’t deny it when confronted either.

Deity/Religious Philosophy:Desna

Romantic Relationship(s):[Current Lover] You are currently involved in a romantic relationship.

Drawback:[Attachment (Object)] You are attached to a precious possession with immense sentimental value and significance. Without it, you are no longer yourself and are prone to suffer from depression, moodiness, or aggressive behavior.

(Trait) Child of the Temple

(Trait) Focused Mind

(Trait) Militia Veteran

(Trait) Poverty-Stricken

(Trait) Starchild

(Trait) Well-Informed

(Story Feat) True Love

(Drawback) Attached

In the comments give us your ideas for how to make this into a fully realized character? What class would this character take up? How was a Dhampir born to this family? Which family member does she hate? How did he end up in a formal academy? And don’t forget to stay tuned Friday when my background hits the CRB.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but makes you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to created please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me right – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to get the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon. And to keep up with my other musings and thoughts you can follow the CRB on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Character 100 - Beldar Seven-Toes

2018-03-23T00:00:00.000-04:00

Sometimes random rolls have a certain flow to them, this week’s were all over the place, which made this character a bit of a challenge. An orc unlike his people. A follower of a god of deductions with a low wisdom and middling intelligence. Many people suggested a kind of Sherlock Holmes but that stats and the background – to me at least – did fit that and I had to find something that did.

I had ideas, of course, but finding a class that fit with my ideas was the first challenge. I looked through many and decided that somehow linking to the past while giving him abilities – magic and class features – that could aid enhancing his deficiencies at the things his god held dear was where I wanted to go. I went with the medium specifically the relic channeler archetype from the Occult adventures book. He could use the spirits to bolster himself and the relics could be his connection to an older time.

Beldar Seven-Toes

Above the Lands of the Linnorm Kings, between the Winterwall Glacier and the west coast of Golarion, live some of the toughest orcs on the face of the world. These winter orcs exist in some of the most brutally cold climates and manage to survive and in some cases thrive despite their harsh environment. Although some of the orc tribes move out of the frozen wastes or the Stormspear Mountains to live in the slightly less frigid lands of the Ulfen, they are still just as tough and cold as the winds that blow across the Crown of the World.

Although still considered uncivilized and barbaric these orcs are far less chaotic than their southern kin. They have an intricate set of laws and taboos which get passed down from one generation to the next by storytellers around the fires during the endless night of winter. Every orc knows these stories by heart and looks to add their own name to the stories that future generations will hear.

Beldar was born into a clan that lived among the forested hills of Hasanalit. In times of plenty his people actually traded with the native human population of the Erutaki tribes. When times were lean, which was far more often, they would raid those same peoples to build up their stores for hibernation during the days of endless light. The one rule was to avoid trade on the Path of Aganhei, lest they bring the wrath of many nations upon them.

Brought into the frozen world by parents who were lowly ranked in the tribe Beldar, and his family often slept on the outside of the communal pile on cold nights. They didn’t have it as bad as many of the half-orcs of the tribe but before he was ten the young orc lost three of his toes to frostbite. Life was never easy for the winter orcs and even less so for Beldar and his family.

Compared to his other clanspeopleBeldar was weak. He didn’t exhibit the strength that most of the other young orcs did. He was just as durable and survived many winters, but that came down to his flabby layers of fat which was just one more thing he was ridiculed for. His peers were cruel and Beldar fought back by trying to ingratiate himself. This only made his bullies even more apt to take their anger out on him. “An orc doesn’t plead,” they would say.

Things got worse the winter his parents died. The bullying turned into outright terrorizing and Beldar was driven from the tribe into hills alone. His hatred toward his people brought him to the attention of a sorcerer who made the mountain region her home. She took him in and cared for him and helped stoke his anger toward the tribe.

Not stupid by any means, but quite oblivious, Beldar didn’t realize he was being used. The sorceress became his lover and both taught and manipulated him. She had her own reasons for hating the orcs and she used Beldar to weaken them. She helped him harness the power of the spirits of his ancestors through sacred relics he would steal from his former tribe. What she didn’t count on was that eventually these spirits would lead the young orc to the truth.

Beldar never regretted making his former tribe suffer, but he swore to never be fooled again. He knew his own acumen for deduction was weak, but the spirits he channeled and the power they gave him could enhance his poor ability. He took to the worship of the goddess Erecura to beseech the deity to aid his cause.

Abandoning his lover and his tribe left him with no home, so Beldar chose to travel out of the frozen reaches and into the slightly warmer Lands of the Linnorm Kings. Although orcs were not always well received Beldar had a certain presence about him, and an ability to articulate many of his brethren did not. Bolstered by the power of his ancestors he managed to find a place for himself as a soothsayer of sorts, using the knowledge of the ancients to aid those in the present.

Adopting the ancient dress of his tribal people Beldar has become a fixture in the Ulfen lands, traveling from town to town to peddle his abilities. Occasionally he even takes on with adventurers if the spirits give their blessing. Living by his own strict code, he has overcome in many ways the stigma of his people as savages and looks to live a full life as his own man.

And so is born the orc channeler of the past, but what did you make of him? Which class did your character become? Who was his lover? Why was he bullied? How did he come to join forces with an evil spellcaster?

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but helps you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to create, please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me, right? – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to get the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon. And to keep up with my other musings and thoughts you can follow the CRB on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Random Roll 100 - The Randomness

2018-03-19T13:08:00.000-04:00

Brought up away from traditional orcish society in the forests of the Land of the Linnorm Kings, this week’s character is an orc who does not follow traditional orcish norms. Still stronger than many humans he is weaker than even an average orc. He is still tough but in comparison he smarter and more socially adept than most of his kin. A follower of the goddess deductions, mind reading, and subtlety we have a lot to work with for this week’s character.

Gender: Male

Race: Orc

Nationality: Land of the Linnorm Kings

Age: 17

Height: 6’ 7”

Weight: 268

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Str: 12

Dex: 10

Con: 15

Int: 12

Wis: 8

Cha: 14

Homeland: Unusual Homeland - Forest

Parents: Both of your parents are dead.

Siblings: You have no siblings.

Circumstance of Birth: [Lower-Class Birth] You were born among peasants or slum denizens. You grew up working the land around a village or manor, practicing a rudimentary trade, or begging in a settlement.

Parent's Profession: Serfs/Peasants

Major Childhood Event: [Bullied] In your early life, you were a victim— easy prey for those stronger or cleverer than yourself. They beat you when they could, using you for their sport. This abuse nursed a powerful flame of vengeance.

Influential Associate: [The Lover] You had a romantic connection in your adolescent years, and this person deeply influenced your personality. Perhaps this was a first love, a casual partner you grew close to, or the one who got away. The experience bolstered your confidence in romantic interactions even though you often find your thoughts still straying toward that special someone from so long ago.

Conflict: [Malign Associates] You allied with a destructive creature, organization, or individual.

Conflict Subject: Spellcaster.

Conflict Motivation: Hatred or Malice.

Deity/Religious Philosophy: Erecura

Romantic Relationship(s): [A Few Significant Relationships] You’ve tried to make deep connections with individuals on several occasions, but it’s never worked out.

Drawback: [The Past] You long for the world to return to a past age. You’ve adopted the manners and style of this age, and are fascinated by its customs, relics, and artifacts, and by the historical figures of that time. Perhaps you live so much in this past age that your connection to the present is tenuous. Or your pretentiousness annoys others.

(Trait) Bullied

(Trait) Charming

(Trait) Log Roller

(Trait) Orphaned

(Trait) Poverty-Stricken

(Story Feat) True Love

(Drawback) Sentimental

In the comments tell us this orcs story? What class would he most likely become? Why did his family live in such an unusual place? Who were his bullies? How did he come to worship a Erecura? And don’t forget to stay tuned Friday when my background hits the CRB.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but makes you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to created please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me right – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to get the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon. And to keep up with my other musings and thoughts you can follow the CRB on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Character 99 - Mkpulunma Usweko

2018-03-16T00:00:00.000-04:00

Picking a class for this week’s character was difficult. Although the high charisma screamed some kind of charisma caster; Bard, Bloodrager, Oracle, Skald, and Sorcerer all had magic that in the Mana Wastes would be unreliable at best and dangerous at worst. This goes to show that although the stats may lean toward one thing, background information may dictate another.

I was originally thinking that she would be some sort of charisma-monkey rogue. Then I remembered that constitution was the core stat for the kineticist from Occult Adventures. In looking through their archetypes I found one for specifically for changelings out of the Blood of the Coven book called the Arakineticist. Upon further delving I also found the Overwhelming Soul, which replaced con as the core stat with charisma. The fact that they stacked was just the providence I needed to make this character.

Mkpulunma Usweko

The Mana Wastes is a barren place, but life can be found here and there amongst the mutants and monsters. In many instances, these small towns and village fall along what few trade routes pass through these desolate lands. In one of these towns is where Yafeu Usweko made his home after leaving the jungles of Mwangi with his first wife and son.

Yafeu was a merchant among his people and used what money he made to expand his business upon his arrival in the Wastes. Just as his career grew, his family did as well. His late wife bore him one more child, although she passed before her youngest son even turned ten.

It took a few years but the merchant eventually remarried. The woman reminded him very much of his first wife. The married quickly and within a year she produced a daughter. But on the night of their child’s birth, the mother mysteriously disappeared leaving Yafeu to raise the child alone. The coming of a daughter and the loss of a second wife was bittersweet.

Mkpulunma grew the youngest child with two overprotective brothers. Even if she was only their half-sister they still loved her very much. As she grew up, the young girl exhibited a certain unnatural beauty that attracted many of the boys in their town. Nothing ever lasted and she often used her brothers to help her break off a romance that she decided she was over so as to protect her ego from the pain of being broken up with.

When she was spurned for another girl by a young man who she took a fancy to she became exceedingly jealous. She used her position as the daughter of one of the more prominent tradesmen to humiliate the young girl, who she felt stole the affections of the boy she wanted. Again her pride would not let her be hurt in this way.

Things began to change for her when Mkpulunma was sixteen. Aspects of her true heritage began to show themselves. The curse of her mother’s bloodline began to overwhelm her body with negative energy. The blood of a hag almost tried to kill her and those around her as she began to lash out with blasts of entropy and decay.

The young changeling began to hide from the world; her ego could not allow for those around her to see her so vulnerable. In her quest to remain unseen she turned to the lady of veils. She begged to be made invisible to those who would seek to know her. She also took up the wearing of many veils to cover the green hair and different color eyes that gave her away as the daughter of a hag.

The Mana Wastes are full of chaos. Magic has gone awry when it even works at all. Those who exhibit some of these wild talents do not go unnoticed. Although Mkpulunma’s abilities were neither divine nor arcane in nature they were still seen to some as a symptom of the anarchy of power in the region. One such person to take notice was the hunter Heracrix.

Heracrix’s powers came from the discordant nature of the land around them. His wild soul infused with the beasts of the land, but not so much that he could manage true druidic magic. As a member of one of the few druid groups in the region who looked to heal the land, he chooses to do so by helping others with wild talent to find some sort of balance within themselves.

The Hunter took Mkpulunma under his wing as her mentor and trainer. He found her strength in the force of personality she exhibited and helped her to learn to use that to control the power of her curse. Although it lessened what she was able to accomplish, it did keep her constant production of negative energy from eating away at her physical being.

Through years of constant study, learning to force her mind over her body, Mkpulunma eventually gained control of her curse. She still wanted very little to do with others, lest her fragile pride be hurt. She decided to leave all those who knew her in the past and make her way in the world where the new her was the only her people would know. What that will bring she is quite unsure of.

With that I give you a complete background but what class do you think this character would have become? Who was her mentor? Why was she jealous enough to humiliate someone? Where did her worship of Sivanah come from?

Random Roll 99 - The Randomness

2018-03-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

A daughter born to a father who already had two boys, but her mother was not what she seemed. Such is the beginning of all changeling lives. A middle class life in the Mana Wastes is still a harsh life. An average intelligence and wisdom leaves a lot of the casting choices most common to changelings out, although her high charisma still leaves her many options. A follower of the goddess of illusion and mystery opens up some interesting background choices and class options as well.

Gender: Female

Race: Changeling

Human Ethnicity: Mwangi (Zenj)

Nationality: Mana Wastes

Age: 19

Height: 5’ 9”

Weight: 120

Alignment: True Neutral

Str: 12

Dex: 12

Con: 14

Int: 11

Wis: 10

Cha: 17

Homeland: Town or Village

Parents: Both of your parents are alive.

Siblings: You have 2 biological siblings.

- biological older brother

Parent's Profession: Merchants

Major Childhood Event: [Mentorship/Patronage] A mentor or patron took an interest in your development and volunteered to train or sponsor you. This creature's motives might not be entirely clear, but without its influence you would not be who you are.

Influential Associate: [The Hunter] This person was a lone wolf who nonetheless cautiously allowed you to become a member of her solitary pack. She taught you how to thrive on your own in spite of the many perils and natural dangers of your native environment.

Conflict: [Humiliation] You publicly humiliated or scandalized someone with either true or slanderous information.

Conflict Subject: Child or young person.

Conflict Motivation: Jealousy.

Deity/Religious Philosophy: Sivanah

Romantic Relationship(s): [Several Inconsequential Relationships] You have had many lovers but no long-lasting, meaningful relationships.

Drawback: [Pride] You present an image to the world that can’t be tarnished. When someone questions your motives, criticizes your actions, or insults your honor or pride, you question his friendship or count him among your enemies until he makes amends.

(Trait) Artisan

(Trait) Child of Nature

(Trait) Kin Guardian

(Trait) Mentored

(Trait) Merchant

(Trait) Militia Veteran

(Trait) Strip the Veils

(Drawback) Pride

In the comments give us your ideas for how to make this into a fully realized character? What class would this character take up? Who was the hunter that influenced her? What was she mentored in? Why does he worship Sivanah? And don’t forget to stay tuned Friday when my background hits the CRB.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but makes you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to created please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me right – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to get the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon. And to keep up with my other musings and thoughts you can follow the CRB on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Character 98 - Amaras Igneri

2018-03-09T00:00:00.000-05:00

There were two hard parts to writing the background for this week’s random rolls. Writing this intro, which I typed and erased a dozen times, and deciding which class this character should be. There was a rich character to be built off of a Samsaran with a desire to live in the past. Dead parents and a god of accidental death seemed almost too good to be true. I had most of the history of this character figured out before I even managed to come up with what mechanical class her background would take her into.

The cult and high wisdom almost screamed for her to be a cleric but I felt there was something else that would fit my idea of a nihilistic character. In searching through the psychic classes from Occult Adventures I came upon the geist channeler archetype and I knew I found what I was looking for. Further investigation into the spiritualist class netted me the scourge archetype from the Haunted Heroes Handbook – from which I took an archetype for last week’s character – and I knew I could link the emotionless nature of the giest channeler with this archetype’s pain aspect.

Amaras Igneri

Kaer Maga. It all comes back to Kaer Maga. In the flashes of her memory, every past life she’s lived has brought Amaras back to Kaer Maga. This life, however, started in a small village along the trade river between Magnimar and The City of Strangers. Her parents settled there to be at the center of things; to help trade flow in both directions. They wanted to raise their daughters outside of the major cities and away from what they thought was corruption.

But as Amaras often tells people, “Kaer Maga always calls me.” She found herself again in that ancient city when a great storm saw the river break its bounds in the middle of the night and wipe her village from the face of Golarion. Most of the population drowned except for a handful clutching to the floating debris of what remained of their homes. Amaras’ parents were washed away and only she and her sister remained.

When the refugees came people were waiting. Many looked to take advantage of the tragedy that befell the people of the flood for their own gain, others wanted to help those lost souls beset by this terrible accident. Some others would masquerade as the latter to do the former while still others were waiting as if they knew that this accident would happen. A couple showing concern for the children of the tragedy took in Amaras and her sister.

The girls were hurting. Keila, her sister, lashed out in anger at everything. Her adopted parents could never control her rage. When she got older, she fled the home and lived on the streets of Kaer Maga, leaving her sister alone. Little did she know she would be the lucky one.

Amaras internalized her pain, shutting off her feelings. Her adopted parents encouraged this in subtle ways. The only way the young Samsaran could feel was through pain, which her parents taught her to inflict on others. When she was a young adult she was brought into the fold of her guardian’s religion and became a full member of the cult of Zyphus, the god of accidental death.

The worship of a god who represented the pain of her early childhood seemed in some small way comforting to Amaras. As she grew in her faith, she learned how Zyphus’ chosen would arrange accidents to furnish him with more souls in his war against Pharasma. It seemed right to her, although she never once questioned the accident that brought her to her city. The truth might have broken her further, but cultists of the Grim Harvestman have never been big on truth.

Amaras was, for the most part, a nihilist. Nothing really mattered and everyone was going to die in the end anyway. However, she was a nihilist with a sense of style; an archaic style. Beyond her connection to her god she had a stronger connection to what she called her city and she lived in the city’s past. Like many Samsarans, she could remember her past lives. They only came in snippets, as if something were blocking them, but each and every one of them lived in Kaer Maga. From its earliest days as The City of Strangers, to its time as a major hub in the Thassilonian Empire, to even before Xin and his apprentices left Azlant to forge their own way.

Love is a fleeting thing, but in the moment it can feel like it will last forever. Love is also an emotion and in general Amaras did not feel those. When she caught the eye of a young mercenary attached to a local branch of the Children of Steel she actually felt something. The two bonded through their love of Kaer Maga’s past, and as much as they both loved her city, she was enamored of his tales of the outside world. When she went on her first mission with the fighter she saw that they both had a talent for causing pain.

The Samsaran had been finding her path through the cult of Zyphus and her own methods to cause pain and misery. Many thought she would grow to be a cleric of the Grim Harvestman, but her path came more from her own strength of will than in a connection to her deity. She could see the pain-wracked spirits sent to her god. Stripped of emotion in the torture, he had them endure before being absorbed by him. And when they tried to break his grasp, she could capture them and use them to her master’s ends in her own way.

Amaras reveled in the past and hated the future, so when it was her time to show her devotion by formulating an accident to send a soul to Zyphus’ realm she chose one of the troll augurs. Although many of them were charlatans she knew a few had the actual gift of foresight and she thought it the height of irony that a prognosticator could never see an accident coming. She planned for months – her lover assisting her with ideas – until the day it happened.

A cart carrying runoff from one of the many factories in the district of Bis overturned right onto the troll, washing him away, as her former home was, in a torrent of corrosive acid. One of the only two ways to stop a troll’s regeneration and a highly unlikely scenario. Yet with the subtle manipulations of the follower of a god of tragic accidents, the unlikely became not only possible but reality.

Soon after Amaras was reminded that life is pain, and that love is a trap. For a mercenary, money talks and you can’t change a tiger’s stripes. One of the trolls saw in a vision that the death of their number was engineered and through their vast web of contacts they set to finding out how. Her lover saw the gleam of coin in the clawed green hands of the augurs and set to make his own fortune.

The Trolls may be excellent information brokers, but in her years in Kaer Maga Amaras has made her own connection in “her” city. A warning from one of the vampire lords, who much appreciated the Samsarans attachment to the era of his mortal days, warned her of the meeting between her lover and the trolls. She set about circumventing this and found him before he could find his payday.

A battle in the dark alleys of The Bottoms was brief but bloody. She and the cultists’ tormented spirit left the swordsmen writing in pain. Amaras, however, stayed her hand and let him live. She wanted a reminder that all life his pain, and she knew he would cause misery for others if he still lived. She did warn him that she should never see him in her city again.

What class do you think this Samsaran’s background would have driven her toward? How did her parents die? What accident wiped out her village? Who was her one lover? Why would she take up the worship of Zyphus?

Random Roll 98 - The Randomness

2018-03-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

A samsaran who lost her biological parents only to be adopted by clergy or cultists. A disaster wiped her settlement from the face of Golarion, was this the cause of her parents death? After all this tragedy and death is there any wonder she took up the worship of Zyphus. A weak constitution will limit this character’s ability to be a frontline fighter by a high wisdom, intelligence, and charisma leave a lot of doors open for appropriate classes.

Gender: Female

Race: Samsaran

Nationality: Varisia

Age: 84

Height: 6’ 3”

Weight: 162

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Str: 14

Dex: 10

Con: 8

Int: 14

Wis: 18

Cha: 13

Homeland: City or Metropolis

Parents: Both of your parents are dead.

Siblings: You have 1 biological sibling.

- biological older sister

Circumstance of Birth: [Adopted] You were not raised by your birth family, but taken in by another family within your race or culture.

Birth Parent's Profession: Merchants

Adopted Parent's Profession: Clergy or Cultists

Major Childhood Event: [Major Disaster] You witnessed—and survived—a major disaster in your childhood years, such as a great fire, flood, earthquake, volcano, or storm. It obliterated the settlement where you lived, whether a small village, large city, or entire island.

Influential Associate: [The Mercenary] With this person, there was always a cost. No deed was done making a trade for something of equal or greater value. Whether this individual's actions tended toward good, evil, or pure balance, he was always fair in his dealings. You respected this trait and it influenced your own philosophy.

Conflict: [Murder] You killed someone.

Conflict Subject: Humanoid monster.

Conflict Motivation: Amusement or Entertainment.

Conflict Resolution: [Mixed Feelings] Sometimes you regret the conflict, but other times you feel as if you didn’t have a choice in the matter or that you made the right decision. Most of the time, you just avoid thinking about the conflict. Only you and maybe a select few people know of your involvement.

Deity/Religious Philosophy: Zyphus

Romantic Relationship(s): [One Significant Relationship] You had a true love once, but that time has passed.

(Trait) Child of the Temple

(Trait) Civilized

(Trait) Accident Resistant

(Trait) Mercenary

(Trait) Merchant

(Trait) Orphaned

(Trait) Resilient

(Trait) Vagabond Child

(Story Feat) Unforgotten

(Drawback) Sentimental

In the comments give tell us this character’s tale? What class did her life lead her too? Who did she murder? What was the disaster she witnessed? How were her parents killed? Why does she worship Zyphus? And don’t forget to stay tuned Friday when my background hits the CRB.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but makes you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to created please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me right – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to get the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon. And to keep up with my other musings and thoughts you can follow the CRB on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter.

Character 97 - Saiki Tatsumi

2018-03-02T00:00:00.000-05:00

So this character – beyond the difficulties in my work life – posed some really onerous challenges. The high intelligence, being born at a time of power, and having mystic as an influence screamed for her to be a caster of some kind. Being a follower of the Black Butterfly made we want to make her a mute. The problem is that being able to cast spells without speaking is exceedingly hard. I had to search high and low for ways to add silent spell to her spells at a reduced cost, and there aren’t many of them.

Looking through a number of threads I found that the oracle curse “deaf” gave free silent spell to all spells. Finding a way to get the oracle curse on a caster that wasn’t an oracle – because it didn’t fit what I was looking for – was no easy task. I’m not a fan of variant multiclassing, although one could have built the character using VMC oracle, but I did find the one archetype that gives a curse; PactWizard from Haunted Heroes Handbook, not to be confused pact wizard from the Familiar Folio.

Admittedly this will hamstring the character till level 5 when she can choose the deaf curse, but I’m ok with that for the story purposes. I do like that the pact wizard gets a witch’s patron and I thought that stars would be appropriate for a god who was literally created by first being a constellation. For this character, you need to take silent spell at first level, but she’ll retrain it at fifth when she no longer needs it due to the oracle curse.

The exploiter wizard archetype stacks nicely with the pact wizard archetype and will give her some versatility that I think she needs. One of the exploits she can take is dimensional slide, which I think is definitely something someone who worships a goddess of space and distance would take, so I went with that as well.

Saiki Tatsumi

The dangers of The Worldwound abound leaving many homeless and emotionally scarred. As the borders of Mendev slowly recede the Demon hordes take prisoners from the border towns. There are many families that either came to fight the abyssal incursion or followers who traveled with these crusaders from across the face of Golarion. The Saiki family arrived with such warriors from their homeland of Tian but they were taken prisoner by demons when their outpost was sacked.

Saiki Okada and his wife Setsuko saw their lord torn up before their very eyes before they were carried off into the night. Setsuko was pregnant and Okada knew he must help his family escape. On the night that the twins were to be born three of the planets aligned, causing chaos in an already chaotic land. Okada took this as an opportunity to help his wife make their escape.

They traveled through the night led by the light of the stars, although one star itself moved across the sky like no other they had ever seen. They stopped for the night huddled at the border of a desolate forest, which is where Setsuko gave birth. In the morning they were found by outriders from the one liberated town in the demon-infested region, Gundrun.

Although Gundrun is far from the major loci of demon activity, it isn’t always safe. Some believe that there are demonic agents living in the town itself. On occasion, a demon raid will fall upon the town but it is usually repelled. Sadly not everyone survives, and Tatsumi and Chiyu lost their mother when they were only ten. This left a scar on both children with Tatsumi retreating into herself, barely speaking. Her sister Chiyu went the opposite route and began to act out violently.

When the two girls turned twelve and started going through puberty it became evident why they had processed their grief in different ways. The blood that ran through their veins came from two different ancestries. Somewhere along their bloodline a dalliance with the elemental must have happened as Chiyu began to show signs of the fiery blood of the efreeti in her veins while Tatsumi manifest some of the djinn bloodline as a sylph.

It is here that the path of the girls truly diverged. Driven by emotion, Chiyu was drawn to the often savage ways of the Kellid of Gundrun, who descended from the people of Sarkoris, which is now known as the Worldwoud. Tatsumi again took to a life of quiet contemplation, which attracted the notice of a traveler known as The Voiceless Monk.

The Voiceless Monk was a disciple of the powerful Empyreal Lord called the Black Butterfly. Born deaf, he never truly learned to speak, but later in life a pact with the being known as Desna’s Shadow saw him develop arcane powers. Although Tatsumi was not deaf, or truly mute, her mental block on speaking drew him to her. Her training was difficult -- learning to cast spells without speaking didn’t come as easily to her as it did her master.

Tatsumi still had the urges of an adolescent to deal with as well. Although she was quiet, that didn’t mean she didn’t desire the affection of other people. Being unwilling to speak made these relationships more difficult but it didn’t stop her from trying. Sadly, abandonment issues from the death of her mother meant she often used coercion to keep her partners from leaving her. This was a tactic she would secretly regret as she got older.

Although she and her sister took different paths – Chiyu channeling her elemental nature into a bloodrage – they both held strong to a need for fairness and justice. The two saw the injustice in a world that would take their mother; in a world that would allow demons to wipe out an entire country and its peoples. They sought to help those who seem to have been treated unfairly, whether by the world itself, by people, or even by unjust laws.

So there you have it. Yes, this is not the most optimized character at the beginning. You really eat a hefty penalty by willingly not using sound to cast spells, but to me it’s worth it. And even when you get the cure, the deaf penalty is pretty hefty. I wish there was a mute curse that was similar, but I will take what I can get. The Black Butterfly is, after all, the patron of both the deaf and the mute.

What class did your version of this sylph gravitate toward? Who was her sister? How did her mother die? Why did she choose The Black Butterfly as a patron, or was she chosen?

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but helps you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to create, please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me, right? – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

Life Delay

2018-01-16T20:15:00.000-05:00

Although peak season was supposed to be over, higher than normal volume at my job and the snow storm in the north east causing delays meant last week was just like peak season. 12+ hour days with only two hours at home where I wasn't sleeping. Followed by a long trip to Boston for a con - Arisia - immediately after work on Friday. So things have gotten delayed significantly for me.

That said last monday's random rolls background will be pushed to this Friday. And barring any massive change in the work schedule due to the snow that is supposed to arrive tomorrow I hope that my life can come out of the peak season inability to do anything this week. I appreciate everyone's patience as I love creating for this blog, but I do need to pay the bills.

Giving Magic Flavor

2018-01-10T00:00:00.000-05:00

What Do Potions Taste Like

I’ve touched on the topic of dynamic magic before; noting that one can make their world seem more real by using descriptions of how one casts spells. This kind of depth can be added to much more than just immediate spell casting. Although I’ve talked about it before with some of my groups, it dawned on me the other day while drinking some tea to help defrost, “I wonder what different potions taste like?”

Potions definitely have a flavor. When attempting to identify a potion – in Pathfinder at least – you have to take a little taste of it. Different potions will have differing flavors and that healing potion won’t taste the same as a portion of barkskin. I would imagine that something like a portion of healing might taste a little like kids cough syrup, and describing this to your players will help immerse them more deeply into your world.

Although the ability to determine what a potion is by tasting a bit suggests that all of the same types of potions taste alike, I’m not sure I’d like it if that were true. It might be interesting if the more scientific minded alchemists’ healing potions tasted like chalky medicine while the motherly witch has healing salves that taste like chicken soup. Making the flavors dependent on the one who brews the potions could add an interesting twist to identifying them.

Tasting something isn’t always about flavor either. Texture plays a big part in how we consume food. The aforementioned barkskin potion my feel like moss on your tongue while having a woody taste. A potion of haste might slide across your tongue and down your throat. And a potion of slow might feel like molasses and stick to the sides of your mouth.

Adding little things like the flavor and texture of potions can honestly be the difference between a memorable game and just a good one. What do you think potions taste like? Do the common ones like cure potions all taste the same? What is the flavor of a love potion?

Today we brewed up another bit of flavor for your games here at the CRB. If you’d like to throw some ingredients in the cauldron, please consider becoming a contributor. Monthly donations of as little as one dollar can be made to my Patreon. A one-time donation can easily be made to my Paypal. Every bit helps me keep the lights on so I can concentrate on bringing you the content you deserve.

Random Roll 97 - The Randomness

2018-01-08T00:00:00.000-05:00

A wind touched sylph born with a twin sister, during a time of power, to a lower class Tian family living in The Worldwound. With every stat being above average there are a lot of options in terms of what class to choose. We also have a lot of rich information from which to craft our background; including a dead mother, an attack by raiders, and being influenced by a mystic.

Gender:Male

Race:Sylph

Human Ethnicity:Tian-La.

Nationality:The Worldwound

Age:16

Height:6’ 1”

Weight:170

Alignment:Chaotic Good

Str: 7

Dex: 14

Con: 14

Int: 16

Wis: 14

Cha: 12

Homeland: Town or Village

Parents: Only your father is alive.

Siblings: You have 1 biological sibling.

- biological twin sister

Circumstance of Birth: [Progeny of Power] You were born during a particularly powerful conjunction or in some other time of power.

Parent's Profession: Serfs/Peasants

Major Childhood Event: [Raiders] A horde of raiders attacked your settlement and killed several of your people. This could have been a tribe of brutal humanoids or the conquering army of a civilized nation. As a result, you harbor deep resentment toward a particular faction, race, or country.

Influential Associate:[The Mystic] You were especially close to a holy person in your community who fundamentally changed your life by opening your eyes to the incredible powers that exist beyond the natural world. Regardless of whether you follow a faith, certain religious artifacts, rituals, and texts played a large part in making you the person you are.

Conflict: [Blackmailed] You used sensitive knowledge or threats to force someone’s cooperation.

Conflict Subject: Lover or former lover.

Conflict Motivation: Amusement or Entertainment.

Conflict Resolution: [Secret Regret] You regret the conflict, but go to great lengths to keep it secret and try desperately to forget it ever happened. Only you and maybe a select few people know of your involvement in the conflict.

Deity/Religious Philosophy:Black Butterfly

Romantic Relationship(s):Several Significant Relationships] You’ve engaged in a number of partnerships, but for some reason or another your relationships always fail.

Drawback:[Justice] Unfairness and injustice are intolerable. Whenever you witness them, you feel compelled to act or speak out. When you’re personally wronged, you require appeasement—or revenge if you don’t receive it.

(Trait) Axe to Grind

(Trait) Charming

(Trait) Child of the Temple

(Trait) Empyreal Focus

(Trait) Magical Talent

(Trait) Militia Veteran

(Trait) Poverty-Stricken

(Trait) Sacred Touch

(Story Feat) Foeslayer

(Story Feat) Vengeance

(Drawback) Headstrong

In the comments tell us how you’d craft this character’s background? What class would he gravitate too? How did his mother die? Why are there Tian living so far from home? Who is his mystic inflence? And don’t forget to stay tuned Friday when my background hits the CRB.

The CRB not only brings you the creative content you desire but makes you look inside for your own creativity. If you feel both inspired and pushed to created please consider supporting your favorite content provider – that’s me right – by pledging as little as $1 on my Patreon or making a direct donation to my Paypal.

If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to get the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon. And to keep up with my other musings and thoughts you can follow the CRB on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter.

To Stone They Pass

2018-01-06T00:00:00.000-05:00

Faithful of Magrim

Everything dies in its time. This is not a bad thing, it is the natural order. For the dwarves, there is one deity who overlooks the afterlife and helps send those souls that wish a second go-round back to the mortal plane. Magrim, brother of the father of dwarves Torag, is the dwarven deity of death, fate, and the underworld. Today I give you three possible sects of this divine being.

As always, let us imagine we are sitting at our theoretical gaming table. Our imaginary GM sets out the rules for the game that we will play. In this game, we are to make a follower of Magrim. The character does not need to be a divine caster, just a devotee of The Taskmaster. What character do you make?

For more information on Magrim

Magrim’s Pathfinder Wiki Page

Magrim’s Archives of Nethys Page

Ward of the Restless

Not all of the spirits that pass on wish to wait for their proper time to return. The Ward of the Restless is a sect of Magrim worshipers who seek to force these spirits to follow their rightful path into the underworld. They specialize in fighting ghosts and other incorporeal undead. They use both the ability to hit these insubstantial creatures as if they were solid and special runes granted them by Magrim.

All followers of the Wards of the Restless are specially trained by the church of The Taskmaster. They consist of clerics with the wards and souls subdomains, inquisitors, and some of the few paladins of Magrim. No lay folk may join the sect and they have a strict hierarchy led by the Divine Commander Oran Ironside.

Faith of the Forebears

Dwarves are nothing if not respectful of their history and ancestors. Magrim’s position as lord of the dwarven underworld gives his followers better access to commune directly with the spirits of their foremothers and forefathers. The Faith of the Forebears speak to their people’s ancestors to guide their communities.

All members of the sect must have some way to speak with the long dead. Oracles of the ancestor mystery, shaman, and clerics make up the core of this sect. Joining the sect is done at the behest of the ancestors themselves. New members are whispered into the ears of a current member by one of the forebears.

The Returned

The Returned is considered a heretical sect by most, although they still draw some power from Magrim. Sometimes fate gets things wrong and a dwarf dies before their time. The Returned travel the planes to the afterlife to return a soul back to the material world where it can achieve its fated destiny. How The Returned choose the souls that must be brought back is unclear.

The Returned is a small sect that consists mainly of dwarves who have themselves returned from the dead. The dozen or so members include a few who can travel between the planes as well as those who are strong enough to fend off the powerful divine or profane beings they might have to face to retrieve a soul.

For the dwarven followers of this deity, death isn’t always the end. Who is your disciple of Magrim? Why have they chosen to dedicate themselves to The Taskmaster? Where does their devotion to this dwarven god come from? Let me know in the comments.

If the CRB has helped you take a closer look at those inspired by the divine, please consider showing support and become one of my patrons by donating to my Patreon or making a donation to my Paypal. Looking for more out of the CRB? Then you’re in luck! Facebook, Google +, Tumblr, and Twitter all have a CRB presence. And if you’re as impatient as I am, have the CRB pushed directly to your Kindle with every new post by signing up for Kindle Subscriptions.

Character 96 - Kerrac

2018-01-05T00:00:00.000-05:00

Going off stats alone, the options for this week’scharacter were a charisma-based caster or a ranged or possibly finesse weapons, combatant. I wasn’t quite fond of either of those concepts as I didn’t see the background information really pushing him toward being a charisma caster but I wanted social situations to be his wheelhouse. I looked through the rules on a class I have never really used before and decided that I could really sink my teeth into the background of a vigilante.

Kerrac

Although Andoran is seen as one of the most progressive countries in all of Golarion, its democracy is still fledgling and its people are not all equal. Even in the capital city, where elves, dwarves, humans, and halflings rub elbows as equals, the poor and homeless fill the streets. Half-elves and half-orcs are still looked down upon by those of pure blood even if they are availed the same “rights” as anyone else.

Kerrac was born to an elven mother whose family fell on hard times a generation before. His father was a strapping Kellid lad from Numeria who traveled halfway around the world looking to become rich and famous. The two fell in love – despite the protests of his mother’s parents – thus Kerrac was brought into the world in the slums of Almas.

Growing up, Kerrac saw the prejudices that those with money still had for those without. Even without kings and queens, the line between the upper class and the lower were still there. On top of his family’s social standing, being a half-elf saw him get bullied not only by the well-off, who believed they were better than him, but also by pure-bloods in his own neighborhood.

Kerrac’s father never found the life he was looking for, although he continued to try and make his fortune. His hard work kept his family afloat but they were never able to leave the Almas district of Mugget, and the smell of dead meat and lye. It was in the gore of the slaughtered animals they found his body, mugged for what little he had earned that day.

Life was not all heartache and pain for the young half-elf. His mother loved him and did her best to see her son taken care of. Kerrac also found friendship and love to brighten his days; the halflingBaggard, his best friend who knew everyone from the lowliest beggar to the highest patrician’s aide and his lady love, Jania, who stuck with him even through his mistakes.

Even Kerrac was subject to his own prejudices. When he was trying to woo Jania, he wanted to show her that he was daring and strong. He knew of the mongrelmen encampments that laid just below the surface of the city and snuck into one. He destroyed some of their small shanty houses, thinking himself the hero for vanquishing the “monsters”. But what he saw as he left was people, not unlike himself, trying to make do. This was one of the few things he never told anyone, not even Jania, but it helped put him on his path.

Regardless of the corruption and the class disparity, Kerrac loved his city and sought to make it a better place. He knew he couldn’t do anything from his position in the slums of Mugget, but Baggard knew a guy who knew a guy. In order to bring justice to those who thought their money could buy them a free pass, the half-elf would have to mingle with those people. And thus was born Talric Phillarand III.

A rumor started here, a favored cashed in there. After many months the name of Talric was getting around. When the well-to-do foreign investor came on the scene, people were clamoring to know more about the mysterious figure. Little did anyone know that the man was a figment of Kerrac’simagination. An identity backed up with the help of Baggard and Jania, the only two who knew it was a false identity.

Talric was how Kerrac would gain confidences and information. He would move within the circles of the elite and help bring down those who felt they were above Andoran’s democratic ways. Although he prefers to find ways to out his target so that they can be made an example of by the justice of the realm if there is no other choice he will do away with the wrongdoer on his own. It is a task he’d rather not perform and has only had to once.

Still new to the life of a vigilante, he is lucky to have two confidants to back his play. He only hopes that what he is doing is right and the Abadar blesses his mission to bring justice to the places where the law can be bought.

What life path did your half-elf take? Who was his lover? How did his father die? Which monstrous humanoid did he destroy the property of?