Author Topic: [Modified 3.5 D&D gestalt] Mythic Sagas - Setup (Viking/Scandinavian theme)  (Read 33902 times)

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Nanshork

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Level 1.
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skydragonknight

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Level 1.

Correct. The fact that I, SDK, will be applying for a level 1 game says something about the expected quality of the game.
It always seems like the barrels around here have something in them.

ksbsnowowl

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Heh, your gestalt rules tease me with the bit about LA and Goliaths, yet you only want humans and half-elves. (wants to be a Goliath :()
Sorry, they are just my generic gestalt rules; not specific to this setting.
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ksbsnowowl

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I think I'll be some kind of Bard//Beguiler that sings and manipulates, etc...
If Beguiler is okay?
Beguiler is perfectly acceptable.  Quite the incarnation of a Seidr caster (historically, Seidr magic dealt with mind manipulation and divination).

Yeah, no factotum. Sorry.
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ksbsnowowl

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Correct. The fact that I, SDK, will be applying for a level 1 game says something about the expected quality of the game.
Oooo, thanks  :D
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skydragonknight

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Correct. The fact that I, SDK, will be applying for a level 1 game says something about the expected quality of the game.
Oooo, thanks  :D

More pressure on you not to disappoint. How do we do starting wealth? I assume it's the greatest of the two classes. But do you want rolled, average or maximum?
« Last Edit: February 07, 2009, 11:51:14 PM by skydragonknight »
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ksbsnowowl

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How do we do starting wealth? I assume it's the greatest of the two classes. But do you want rolled, average or maximum?
Take 75% of the max gold for the higher of your two classes.

For example, a Barbarian//Rogue would have 150 gp (75% of 200, which is a Rogue's max gold).
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skydragonknight

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Alright. Thanks. :) Character preliminary below.

Here's pre-fluff Lupis (just needs equipment and background). He's a barbarian//fighter with a bit of giant blood from the northern part of Rasheman headed towards Berserk PrC. Member of the Wolf Berserker Lodge and has (not surprising) been working on mastery of a combat style centered around tripping. Any tips on the culture in that part of Rasheman would go a long way towards fleshing out his background. Like, for example if the tribesmen wear the animal skins of the animals they revere. Nomadic or not. Major beliefs. That sorta thing.

Crunchy Bits:
[spoiler]Lupis
Human Wolf Totem Barbarian(UA/SRD) 1 // Fighter 1

Medium Humanoid
Hit Dice: 1d12+2 (14 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft
Armor Class: 15 Touch: 12 Flat-footed: 13
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+8
Attack: Guisarme +4 (2d4+4) or Trip +4 (+11 on check)
Full Attack: Guisarme +4 (2d4+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft (10 ft with Guisarme)
Special Qualities: Fast Movement
Saves: Fort +4 Ref +2 Will+2
Abilities: Str 16 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 14 Cha 8
Skills: Climb +7, Intimidate +3, Jump +11, Listen +6, Survival +6
Feats: Jutunbrud, Wolf Berserker, Power Attack
Environment: Berserker Lodge or Adventuring Party
Organization: Individual(Unique) or Adventuring Party(self plus 3-5 other PCs) or Lodge(self plus a lot of barbarians)
Challenge Rating: 1
Alignment: NG
Languages Spoken: Common(Rashemi)
Level Adjustment: +0
 
Possessions: Guisarme, Studded Leather armor (59 spent)

Daily Abilities: Rage 1/day(7 rounds; +4 Str/Con, +2 Morale to Will saves, -2 AC)

Character background: (in progress)


The following statistics apply while Lupis is raging:

Medium Humanoid
Hit Dice: 1d12+4 (16 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft
Armor Class: 13 Touch: 10 Flat-footed: 11
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/+10
Attack: Guisarme +6 (2d4+7) or Trip +6 (+13 on check)
Full Attack: Guisarme +6 (2d4+7) or Trip +6 (+13 on check)
Space/Reach: 5 ft/5 ft (10 ft with Guisarme)
Special Qualities: Fast Movement, Rage 1/day, Illiteracy
Saves: Fort +6 Ref +2 Will+4
Abilities: Str 20 Dex 14 Con 18 Int 10 Wis 14 Cha 8
Skills: (Climb +9), Intimidate +3, Jump +13, Listen +6, (Survival +6)
Feats: Jutunbrud, Wolf Berserker, Power Attack
Environment: Berserker Lodge or Adventuring Party
Organization: Individual(Unique) or Adventuring Party(self plus 3-5 other PCs) or Lodge(self plus a lot of barbarians)
Challenge Rating: 1
Alignment: NG
Languages Spoken: Common(Rashemi)
Level Adjustment: +0

Adventure Path: Barbarian 20 // Fighter 2/ Scout 1/ Fighter+2/ Berserk 10/ ??? 5

Feats: 1 - Jutunbrud, Wolf Berserker(human), Power Attack(fighter 1)
2 - Improved Trip(wolf totem barbarian 2), Knock-Down(fighter 2 - in Divine SRD/Sword and Fist)
3 - Extra Rage
5 - Track(wolf totem barbarian 5), Leap Attack(fighter 4)
6 - Righteous Wrath(in BoED)
8 - (retrain Extra Rage to Improved Bull Rush)
9 - Shock Trooper
12+ - ???[/spoiler]
« Last Edit: February 11, 2009, 09:00:17 PM by skydragonknight »
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Nanshork

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Venn, from what I can tell officially there aren't ANY characters right now.  We need to come up with something by next weekend that ksb likes enough to let us be a character.  :p

Ok, I've narrowed myself down to three basic ideas and I'd like some feedback because I'm having a hard time deciding.  Assume that there will be barbarian levels if I don't list them.  There definitely will be barbarian levels.

The Grappler:  I could go Bear Warrior and Black Blood Cultist and be a grappling machine.  I've been looking around and I could manage to make this work out well, except for Freedom of Movement kicks my ass.  Then I'm just a bear who eats people   :P

The Animal: Going Wildshape Ranger/ Nature's Warrior/ Primeval and turning into an animal AND THEN raging, getting lots of bonuses.  This and Bear Warrior both have the problem of a lack of super awesome equipment except for the fact that if I power Primeval's shapechanging with Wild Shape uses then I could use wilding armor/clasps/whatever.

The Doesn't have to turn into an animal to be awesome Guy: Runescarred Berseker.  It's just awesome, and has the advantage of massive flavor in this particular campaign.  Don't get the awesome stat boosts of the other two builds, but I do get self-buffs and room to take other PrCs.  Plus I can use all of my equipment all of the time.


Thoughts?

Any ideas about this or shall I just hash this out on my own?
My babies - A thread of random builds I've come up with over the years.
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ksbsnowowl

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Alright. Thanks. :) Character preliminary below.

Here's pre-fluff Lupis (just needs equipment and background). He's a barbarian//fighter with a bit of giant blood from the northern part of Rasheman headed towards Berserk PrC. Member of the Wolf Berserker Lodge and has (not surprising) been working on mastery of a combat style centered around tripping. Any tips on the culture in that part of Rasheman would go a long way towards fleshing out his background. Like, for example if the tribesmen wear the animal skins of the animals they revere. Nomadic or not. Major beliefs. That sorta thing.

The crunchy stuff looks good.  Only things I noticed were forgetting to put the armor check penalties on Jump, Climb, etc, and under organization you should also list a Fang.  Fangs are the battle units of Rashemi Berserkers, usually divided by berserker lodge.  Just making sure, you're intending to head toward the Berserk PrC from Deities and Demigods?  :plotting :D

Rashemi do tend to wear furs (it's bitterly cold in winter, after all - cold enough that trees will split open from the sap freezing in their trunks), but they aren't stereotypical flaunting barbarians about it; it's just a reality of life in the cold north.  Woolens and leather are also prevalent, along with linen shirts or blouses.  The topography of Rasheman is sort of a mirror image of the real-world scandinavian peninsula.  The "asian" landmass is to the west, and the open sea is to the east.  There is a jagged mountain range in the northern half of the peninsula that follows along the eastern side of the landmass.  The southern end of the mountains lessen into rocky hills, while the western half of the peninsula tapers away from the mountain range into lower rolling mountains and hills that provide decent areas for a short farming season (though much of the soil is still rather rocky).  This is similar to Norway being more mountainous than eastern Sweden, but in reverse.  With the mountains to the east, the farms on the western half of the peninsula get a decent amount of rain.

The peninsula narrows as it heads north, and eventually it is merely mountain range from west coast to east coast as the mountains get lower near the norther edge of Rasheman.  As I said in a separate thread, the northern edge of Rasheman is a natural stone bridge (Rasheman is technically an island, but for this natural phenomena) a quarter mile long, roughly an eighth of a mile wide, and approximately a quarter mile above the sea level it crosses over.

The men who live in the more remote mountainous regions are very superstitious folk, not trusting of any non-Rashemi, and often suspicious of other Rashemi who live in the lowlands.  But, they have reason to be superstitious, as there are quite a few stone monoliths and menhir circles that have imprisoned within them demons from Niflheim.  Animals refuse to go near such stones, and the men of the mountains heed the animals' wisdom.

The men in the mountains are semi-nomadic, as they are primarily hunters and trappers.  There are a few small settlements in the mountains, however, and at least one has a Berserker Lodge (the Wolf Berserker Lodge, as it happens).

The berserker lodges are fairly common in most communities.  Any village of 400 or more probably has at least one berserker lodge.  Some larger towns have more than one.  Berserker Lodges organize by fighting style (ie- berserker lodge feat), and a lodge serves as a drinking hall and barracks or dormitory for those of the berserker lodge.  Most unmarried berserkers live at their berserker lodge instead of keeping a separate home.  When traveling, a berserker can expect ready hospitality at his (or her) associated lodge-house.  He could even get lodging at another society's lodge-house, but he should expect some friendly competition (wrestling, a footrace, a drinking contest, some combination of the above...) to earn his stay.

All Rashemi are taught from a very young age to respect the spirits of the land.  Even within their own land Rashemi are surrounded by strange and potentially hostile powers - spirits in the very rocks, trees, and waters.  Rashemi are trained at a young age to avoid certain landmarks, to leave gifts for helpful spirits, and to ask permission of the telthors before touching anything in an unfamiliar place.  When hunting in the Ashenwood, an unpopulated dense forest known for its many spirits, a Rashemi hunter will begin by praying and offering a small gift to the spirits of the land, thus ensuring their favor.  A typical offering includes a flask of clean water, a handful of fertile soil, and a meal composed of several kinds of food that would appeal to the creatures of the forest; this meal is then burned on a smoky fire in the middle of a small circle of stones, so that the smell of it will reach the spirits.  Hunts within the Ashenwood are special things, usually seeking out a perfect specimen of a stag or some other animal.

Also, Rashemi revere the Asgardian pantheon, but Odin, Thor, and Frey foremost among them.  Most barbarians chose Thor or Uller as their patron, or perhaps Sif if they are female.  Note that women are equally accepted into the berserker lodges, though they are more rare than men.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2009, 01:49:53 AM by ksbsnowowl »
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ksbsnowowl

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Any ideas about this or shall I just hash this out on my own?
I'd love to see a Runescarred Berserker in action, but the Primeval would be an interesting compliment to SDK's Berserk.

One other important class I should point out is the Shapeshifter from Oriental Adventures.  That class is perfect for this type of setting.  It is possible to get full casting with that class (due to gestalt); I'll post tomorrow to explain how if you don't see it.  In fact, I will have a thread specifically designated for example builds using my gestalt rules, so everyone can clearly see how things can be built and interact.  But for now, bed, because I work at 6 am tomorrow...
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Nanshork

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ksb, I do have one more question for you.  Just because it keeps tempting me, what do you think of someone going for the Durthan PrC out of UE?
My babies - A thread of random builds I've come up with over the years.
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ksbsnowowl

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ksb, I do have one more question for you.  Just because it keeps tempting me, what do you think of someone going for the Durthan PrC out of UE?
Your characters won't realize it at the campaign start, but the Durthan do exist.  The possibility of entering it does exist, so far as the setting is concerned, but I don't know about this campaign.  In either event, I'd prefer you stay non-evil though (just a general DM preference, though LE who doesn't stab the party in the back can work.)

Let me think on rubber-stamping that...  The good news is if you build toward a Hathran, you can later trade those levels in if I do open that option up...
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Nanshork

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If I went towards Durthan I'd be Neutral, not evil.  The Telthor companions keep calling to me.
My babies - A thread of random builds I've come up with over the years.
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ksbsnowowl

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Another bit of info.  Most Rashemi villages have an earthen wall around them, and many of them have a Broch near the center of the village.  The Brochs are the "wizard's towers" of the Hathran.  The ground floor provides a place to stable horses or for animal companions to stay, while the upper two floors provide a small living quarters and workspace for two or three Hathran or Ethran.  The very top "floor" is a stone-floored tower-top that allows for a lookout and observation of threats from afar.  It is often covered with a conical thatched roof.  Few people other than Ethran and Hathran visit higher in a broch than the ground floor where animals are kept.  In the most dire of defensive situations, a village's children and some cattle will be gathered in the ground floor of the broch to keep them safe during a battle.
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ksbsnowowl

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If I went towards Durthan I'd be Neutral, not evil.  The Telthor companions keep calling to me.
The overthrowing of your country's hierarchy keeps calling to you...  :p
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ksbsnowowl

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Here are a few pictures so you get an idea what typical Rashemi homes look like.  Most of them are sort of half underground, and have turf roofs that come flush to the ground, making the roof-peaks look like small mounds.

A small home


A more prosperous home with a larger front


More homes (and a Christianized church)


The Berserker Lodges are larger, in the ilk of a longhouse, and they are not sunk into the ground like most homes are.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2009, 02:39:43 AM by ksbsnowowl »
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Nanshork

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Yes, yes, I'll admit that does sound tempting too.  :D  That a problem?  :p
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woodenbandman

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I think I've decided to go Sorcadin, mainly because it's a bit simpler to play without all the preparation, and because I like divine feats. I'll stick around long enough to get turn undead and use it to power some devotion feats. But the main point of the build is when I enter Telflammer Shadowlord and combine it in some way with battle jump. This build should end up being incredibly mobile, despite having little actual dexterity score, as well as excellent saves. I'll just go paladin for a while, dip Pious Templar or Witch Slayer for Mettle, and I'll be pretty boss.

Flavor wise, this character probably worships either Odin or Freya. She'll be crusading to basically spread the justice of Freya/Odin and protect him/her from his/her enemies. I'm thinking I want to play her like a Dragoon from Final Fantasy Tactics, but I can't figure a way to get pounce without taking Barbarian levels, and Paladins have to be lawful good.

PhoenixInferno

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I'm thinking something like Beguiler\\Ranger/Fighter/Barbarian.  I'll have to think about the warrior side, but definitely Beguiler.

Is the worship of Loki allowed?