CRB is a repository of all the creative things that float through my mind about the RPG Pathfinder. Two major features are random character generation and building characters based on the god they worship. Anything that seems like it adds to the creative aspects of the game will pop up from time to time, including location descriptions, adventure ideas and even short stories. CRB won't just be my own creativity, it will open the floor to anyone who has an idea sparked by what I present to you.

Showing posts with label Android. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Android. Show all posts

Friday, June 9, 2017

Character 80 - Brangnar Steelgut

This week’s random rolls yet again limited our class choice with such low stats in all the mental ones and dexterity. What I was left with however, made for some interesting ideas. I needed to bend RAW a bit to get it done – giving an android a dwarf only archetype – but in this case the story required it. So I present you the android that thinks he’s a dwarf, Brangnar.

Brangnar Steelgut


Druma is well known as the land of traders. The people of the young kingdom see wealth as divinity. Because of these things it is said that anything can be found in Druma. If a commodity will go for any amount of gold it can be found in the land of the Prophecies of Kalistrade.

Although the government and most of the population Druma is human, there is also a sizeable minority of dwarves. Not only is Druma bordering on, and occupying some land formerly belonging to, the Five Kings Mountains, it was also instrumental in uniting the dwarves of the five kingdoms with the Kerse Accords. There are still many towns with dwarven populations, Peddlegate being one of the largest populations.

The Steelgut clan is a minor family of dwarves made up mostly of low ranking career soldiers. KravmarSteelguts is the current patriarch of the family, and both he and his wife Baltklin were grunts in the Peddlegate militia. Kravmar has always wanted to break away from family tradition and become a famous inventor but fate kept the Steelguts in a life of service. Even so Kravmar would constantly tinker in his few free moments.

With Drumish merchants a constant presence in Peddlegate, Kravmar was always on the lookout for interesting bits to play with. One such peddler game through town lugging what looked like dead man. The trader claimed that it was some kind of metal man, like a golem but broken beyond repair. The Steelgut family head spent almost a year’s salary to purchase the thing – much to the chagrin of his wife – and he took it home to play with.

Illustration by Luis Perez
Kravmar would work on it while his young son watched and as the years went by their new daughter also took up a fascination for the pale blue man with the weird lines on his face. Baltklin was pregnant with her third child when the unbelievable happened. The thing rose, like a man from the grave.

The thing began gibbering and as the family began speaking to it, it began to process dwarven. It began to speak back like a child but its vocabulary grew quickly. Little did the family know that a number of its processors were damaged and this left the creature not only with gaps in memory but also an inability to process large amounts of data. The creature they named Brangnar actually believed it was a dwarf.

There was little Kravmar and Baltklin could do to dissuade Brangnar from his beliefs. Eventually they stopped trying and accepted him as a member of the family, a second son. The android began to affect the mannerisms of a dwarf. Sadly Brangnar barely understood stoicism and even that seemed forced, although he did manage to master the dwarven accent.

Like his ‘father’ Brangnar took up military endeavors. He trained with his older ‘brother’ to join the Peddlegate militia. The guard captain – a lot more inquisitive than most dwarves – took a keen interest in Brangnar. He even took the young ‘dwarf’ under his wing. Although not technically a dwarf, Brangnar was the first member of the Steelguys family to really move up the ranks.

The captain not only taught Brangnar the traditional dwarven way of fighting with a warhammer, but he also brought him on many important actions. When the guard had finally gotten enough evidence to take down the Blackbeard organization, a long time thorn in the side of the people of Peddlegate, Brangnar was present. The android was even able to make one of the arrests himself.

Brangnar did his duty with strength and honor just as the teachings of the family patron Kols asked. But that didn’t mean life wasn’t without problems. Between his hampered processors and his lack of ability to understand or affect emotion, Brangnar was what some would call naïve. When sent to deal with business for his father, poor Brangnar was taken advantage of by the Drumish merchant. Although everything was perfectly legal, the middle Steelgut still failed his family. The bigger problem was that even though he knew he had done poorly his lack of emotion didn’t allow him to feel any regret.

Brangnar would always be on the cusp of greatness but never quite. His own inability to see himself succeed was always a hampering factor. To some it could be called self-doubt although the android didn’t quite comprehend the thought of self. He was a dwarf, a member of the guard, and a Steelgut. When his older brother sought something more Brangnar went with him, because maybe, just maybe, he was something more.

So what became of your android? What class did your he choose? Why did he come to follow a dwarven god? What thing did he see fall from grace? How did he have a family?

Bringing these characters to life is a second full-time job. A pledge of as little as one dollar a month on Patreon or a one-time donation to my paypal can help keep the lights on while I concentrate on producing new content for you.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media; please join us on Facebook,  Google+Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

The character illustration was created by the fine artist Luis Perez. You can find him on TwitterTumblr, and on Instagram at luisperezart

Monday, June 5, 2017

Random Roll 80 - The Randomness

Androids are one of the more difficult races to do random rolls for. A lot of the information doesn’t really pertain to them. In this case after randomly rolling the deity and getting a dwarven god I choose to roll on the random background charts as if he were a dwarf.  So we have a slightly less than average intelligent Android that is somehow influenced by dwarves. I think its funny he has a high constitution and a low charisma like most dwarves do so that should be interesting.

Gender: None
Race:Android
Nationality:Druma
Age:Unknown
Height:6’ 2”
Weight:194lbs
Alignment:Lawful Neutral

Str: 12
Dex: 12
Con:  18
Int: 9
Wis: 12
Cha: 11

Homeland: Hills or Mountains
Parents: Only your father is alive.
Siblings: You have 4 biological siblings.
- biological younger sister
- biological older sister
- biological younger sister
- biological older brother
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: Soldiers
Major Childhood Event: [Fall of a Major Power] In your early years, an old power with far-reaching influence fell into decline. This could have been an empire, a major organization or gang, or a person such as a benevolent king or evil dictator. Your early memories were founded in a world where this great power affected your region for good or ill.

Influential Associate:[The Boss] You once gained employment under an organized and powerful individual with farreaching influence. When the boss was present, everyone listened. This could have been a military commander, tribal chieftain, guild leader, or gang leader. From the boss, you learned how to make people listen, make them see reason, and keep them in line.

Conflict: [Minor Failure] You failed a friend, family member, or loved one who depended on you to fulfill an important task.
Conflict Subject: Family member.
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:Kols

Romantic Relationship(s): [Several Inconsequential Relationships] You have had many lovers but no long-lasting, meaningful relationships.
Drawback: [Self-Doubt] No matter what you do, it’s never good enough. You cannot help but see in your victories many little defeats and failures. If you were stronger, smarter, faster, or more powerful, maybe you could be better. However, stuck in the body and mind you have, you feel you’re destined to fail.

(Trait) Goldsniffer
(Trait) Highlander
(Trait) Kin Guardian
(Trait) Natural-Born Leader
(Trait) Poverty-Stricken
(Trait) Tactician
(Trait) Strict Judgement
(Trait) Worldly
(Drawback) Doubt

In the comments please tell us what character you would make with these disparate pieces information? What class would this android naturally gravitate towards? Why do they follow a dwarvengod ? Who was the powerful person they learned under? 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.d Twitter.

Friday, April 14, 2017

Character 72 - Aufeillian Morgethai



This week’s random rolls brought me a challenge. I found myself with an android, living in Kyonin with a family of sorts. How to go about reconciling these oddities was quite a challenge. Tying in a love, a hated, and a god who represents a search for self, added to this conundrum. But first of course I had to choose a class.

I wasn’t really feeling any magical abilities, although a decent intelligence and exceedingly high wisdom meant he could of excelled as either an arcane or divine caster. The high wisdom and dexterity combo with a decent strength mean Monk would have been my first choice if he wasn’t neutral good. So I sought inspiration by looking at the androidentry on the PFSRD and this is where I found the Living Weapon Brawler archetype. And that was the launching off point for everything.

So a few mechanical notes before we get started. I knew I was going brawler so a warrior and I knew he was raised by elves or at least educated by them so I wanted to add something mechanically into this portion of the story. I went with the elf race trait Warrior of Old.

Secondarily I realized that two parts of his background pointed to emotion; committing his theft out of hatred or malice, and having a current lover. At their base androids are emotionless which posed a problem. Luckily there is an alt racial trait called Anomaly. This made our character not only subject to emotion, but being overwhelmed even by it. I thought it added a lot to the story and I love it when mechanics can tie in nicely.

Aufeillian Morgethai

Some two-thousand years after their return from their homeworld to Golarion the elves of Kyonin are still reclaiming their ancestral lands. Much has changed through the age of darkness but they continue to make the lands once again their own. One of the most successful families to stake their claim in their forest home are the Morgethai.

The town of Riverspire is now the home of the Morgethai clan and all those who marry into the family. At one point the clan was incredibly fecund, forcing the town to grow around the stone tower that is home to the family leaders. In this day and age that has slowed to the point that many aren’t reproducing at all. Such was the case for Aleeriead Morgethai and his wife Valiani.

With his wife’s inability to bear children Aleeriead took up adventuring. His major work was with parties of elves that sought to explore and reclaim portions of Kyonin. It was with one of these parties that his family would begin to grow, for Aleeriead made a great discovery.

After the elves left Golarion – although possibly before Earthfall and the Age of Darkness – there was Rain of Stars. Much of the falling debris from the space between Golarion and the outer worlds hit in the desolate plains of Numeria. But apparently some pieces had fall far afield. Aleeriead uncovered a small pod which contained within it a creature the shape of a humanoid, but whose flesh and bone were metallic.

Ever curious Aleeried took this being back to Riverspire to be studied. His initial attempts to determine its origin and purpose proved fruitless, until – quite by accident – the being stirred and opened its eyes. Its initial words were garbled and it seemed confused. But Alleeried with the aid of Valiani worked tirelessly to find a way to communicate.

Language took it some time, but after months and years it had a grasp of the elven tongue. And although it had the ability to walk, talk, and process complex ideas, much of its memory – save snippets of the blackness of the void – was missing.  Aleeriead and Valiani took him in as their own child and taught him how to be an elf. They called him Aufeillian after Valiani’s grandfather.

Although his “parents” never hid how he was different without any history of his own, Aufeillian always consider himself elven. He was especially fond of the tales of the elven warriors of old and he studied the combat techniques of his parent’s forbearers. Like the elves Aufeillian aged slowly – if he aged at all – and he would spend hours, days, even weeks on one task to master it to elven standards.

Aufeillian was a skill combatant and despite his non-elven heritage he was taken in by one of the elven masters as an apprentice. He trained in his masters dual dagger style and eventually himself begun winning combat competitions. He was quickly becoming renown among the elves of Riverspire as one of their greatest warriors.

The turning point for Aufeillian was he finally had to compete against his master. Something had been creeping into the android’s mind. He had sense of confidence – even overconfidence – that had not been there before. No feeling had been there before. Aufeillian battled and lost but in defeat he also felt anger.

The android’s anger manifested itself in an act unlike any he had ever committed. With pure malice in his circuitry one night he stole his master’s daggers. Although he regretted his actions soon after, he could not return what he had stolen. To this day – even though he was never caught – he denies his envolvement even to himself.

Emotions were new to Aufeillian. With no sense of what he really was or where he came from he had no idea if these sensations were common to his people. He could find no answers from without so he sought answers from within. He took up a form of elven meditation and began to plumb his own feelings.

In his mind he touched what felt like another presence. He had never needed to sleep, so he had never dreamed and when the visions came he didn’t understand. Pictures of an Ibis headed woman guiding him to find other emotions within himself. He pressed some of the elven scholars as to what these visions might mean and learned of the lost Empyreal Lord Shei.  This being was a powerful agathion who taught self-actualization over the course of life and aging.

As Aufeillian began to explore his emotions he found love. At first he embraced the love of his parents and then his younger siblings. He fostered a love for all elven kind next as he appreciated his adoptive people’s acceptance. And then he found romantic love. Ulee another warrior and master swordswoman had piqued his fancy and he learned the fine art of elven courting. Sadly he was horrible at it, but she found that endearing.

Exploring his emotions mostly meant how he felt about other people. But soon the gentle push of the Ibis Matron made him look at how he felt about himself. He needed to know who he was, and what he wanted. Aufeillian sat for a full cycle of the moon. He was unmoving under the trees in his parent’s garden. And like that he had an epiphany, he was meant for battle.

At the next opportunity he set upon himself to challenge his master one more time. Aufeillian moved quicker and more precisely than before. Still has master had decades of training and the android lost one, and then the other of his daggers. Reaching within Aufeillian still surged forward and then he felt the power writhe through his limbs. From his hands daggers of pure energy emerged and his battle raged on.

Aufeillian still did not win, but he did fight his master to a standstill. He learned much about himself that day, beyond just his ability to become a weapon. He now knew that he craved competition. The elven raised android wasn’t meant to compete and he was meant to win. He desired the fame that it brought. And so Aufeillian and his love left Riverspire to head out into the world and test their skill.

I saw some great interpretations of these stats on facebook this week, but it’s never too late to add yours. What class did your android choose? Where did he find love? How did he become a champion? Who are his noble parents? Why does he choose to worship Shei?

Bringing these characters to life is a second full-time job. A pledge of as little as one dollar a month on Patreon, or a one-time donation to my paypal can help keep the lights on while I concentrate on producing new content for you.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media. Please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.
This week’s random rolls (link rolls) brought me a challenge. I found myself with an android, living in Kyonin with a family of sorts. How to go about reconciling these oddities was quite a challenge. Tying in a love, a hatred, and a god who represents a search for self added to this conundrum. But first of course I had to choose a class.

I wasn’t really feeling any magical abilities, although a decent intelligence and exceedingly high wisdom meant he could have excelled as either an arcane or divine caster. The high wisdom and dexterity combo with a decent strength meant Monk (link monk tag) would have been my first choice if he wasn’t neutral good. So I sought inspiration by looking at the android entry on the PFSRD (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/races/other-races/more-races/advanced-races-11-20-rp/android-16-rp/) and this is where I found the Living Weapon Brawler (link brawler tag) archetype. That was the launching off point for everything.

So a few mechanical notes before we get started: I knew I was going brawler, so a warrior, and I knew he was raised by elves or at least educated by them so I wanted to add something mechanically into this portion of the story. I went with the elf race trait Warrior of Old.

Secondarily I realized that two parts of his background pointed to emotion; committing his theft out of hatred or malice and having a current lover. At their base androids are emotionless which posed a problem. Luckily there is an alt racial trait called Anomaly. This made our character not only subject to emotion, but even being overwhelmed by it. I thought it added a lot to the story and I love it when mechanics tie in nicely.

Aufeillian Morgethai

Some two-thousand years after their return from their homeworld to Golarion the elves of Kyonin are still reclaiming their ancestral lands. Much has changed through the age of darkness but they continue to make the lands once again their own. One of the most successful families to stake their claim in their forest home are the Morgethai.

The town of Riverspire is now the home of the Morgethai clan and all those who marry into the family. At one point the clan was incredibly fecund, forcing the town to grow around the stone tower that is home to the family leaders. In this day and age that has slowed to the point where many aren’t reproducing at all. Such was the case for Aleeriead Morgethai and his wife Valiani.

With his wife’s inability to bear children Aleeriead took up adventuring. His major work was with parties of elves that sought to explore and reclaim portions of Kyonin. It was with one of these parties that his family would begin to grow, for Aleeriead made a great discovery.

After the elves left Golarion – although possibly before Earthfall and the Age of Darkness – there was Rain of Stars. Much of the falling debris from the space between Golarion and the outer worlds hit in the desolate plains of Numeria. However, some pieces had apparently fallen far afield. Aleeriead uncovered a small pod which contained within it a creature the shape of a humanoid, but whose flesh and bone were metallic.

Ever curious Aleeried took this being back to Riverspire to be studied. His initial attempts to determine its origin and purpose proved fruitless, until – quite by accident – the being stirred and opened its eyes. Its initial words were garbled and it seemed confused but Alleeried, with the aid of Valiani, worked tirelessly to find a way to communicate.

Language took it some time, but after months and years it had a grasp of the elven tongue. Although it had the ability to walk, talk, and process complex ideas, much of its memory – save snippets of the blackness of the void – was missing.  Aleeriead and Valiani took him in as their own child and taught him how to be an elf. They called him Aufeillian after Valiani’s grandfather.

Although his “parents” never hid how he was different and without any history of his own, Aufeillian always consider himself elven. He was especially fond of the tales of the elven warriors of old and he studied the combat techniques of his parent’s forbearers. Like the elves Aufeillian aged slowly – if he aged at all – and he would spend hours, days, even weeks on one task to master it to elven standards.

Aufeillian was a skilled combatant and despite his non-elven heritage he was taken in by one of the elven masters as an apprentice. He trained in his master’s dual dagger style and eventually himself begun winning combat competitions. He was quickly becoming renowned among the elves of Riverspire as one of their greatest warriors.

The turning point for Aufeillian was when he finally had to compete against his master. Something had been creeping into the android’s mind. He had sense of confidence, even overconfidence, that had not been there before. No feeling had been there before. Aufeillian battled and lost, but in defeat he also felt anger.

The android’s anger manifested itself in an act unlike any he had ever committed. With pure malice in his circuitry one night he stole his master’s daggers. Although he regretted his actions soon after, he could not return what he had stolen. To this day, even though he was never caught, he denies his involvement even to himself.

Emotions were new to Aufeillian. With no sense of what he really was or where he came from he had no idea if these sensations were common to his people. He could find no answers from without so he sought answers from within. He took up a form of elven meditation and began to plumb his own feelings.

In his mind he touched what felt like another presence. He had never needed to sleep, so he had never dreamed, and when the visions came he didn’t understand. He dreamed images of an Ibis-headed woman guiding him to find other emotions within himself. He pressed some of the elven scholars as to what these visions might mean and learned of the lost Empyreal Lord Shei.  This being was a powerful agathion who taught self-actualization over the course of life and aging.

As Aufeillian began to explore his emotions he found love. At first he embraced the love of his parents and then his younger siblings. He fostered a love for all elvenkind next as he appreciated his adoptive people’s acceptance. And then he found romantic love. Ulee, another warrior and master swordswoman, had piqued his fancy and he learned the fine art of elven courting. Sadly he was horrible at it, but she found that endearing.

Exploring his emotions mostly meant how he felt about other people. But soon the gentle push of the Ibis Matron made him look at how he felt about himself. He needed to know who he was, and what he wanted. Aufeillian sat for a full cycle of the moon, unmoving under the trees in his parent’s garden. Though he appeared to make no progress, a sudden epiphany surged within him and he understood his purpose. He was meant for battle.

At the next opportunity he set upon himself to challenge his master one more time. Aufeillian moved quicker and more precisely than before. Still his master had decades of training and the android lost one, and then the other of his daggers. Reaching within Aufeillian surged forward and then he felt the power writhe through his limbs. From his hands daggers of pure energy emerged and his battle raged on.

Aufeillian still did not win, but he did fight his master to a standstill. He learned much about himself that day, beyond just his ability to become a weapon. He now knew that he craved competition. The elven raised android was meant to compete and he was meant to win. He desired the fame that it brought. And so Aufeillian and his love left Riverspire to head out into the world and test their skill.

I saw some great interpretations of these stats on facebook this week, but it’s never too late to add yours. What class did your android choose? Where did he find love? How did he become a champion? Who are his noble parents? Why does he choose to worship Shei?

Bringing these characters to life is a second full-time job. A pledge of as little as one dollar a month on Patreon or a one-time donation to my paypal can help keep the lights on while I concentrate on producing new content for you.

The CRB has been growing as a community on social media; please join us on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. If you don’t want to miss a beat make sure you sign up to have the CRB pushed directly to your e-reading device with Kindle Subscriptions through Amazon.

Monday, April 10, 2017

Random Roll 72 - The Randomness

This week’s character will be the first time I have to write up an android. Our rolls give us a character that is aware, smart, reflexive, and with above average strength. We’re also going to have to work with the fact he is frail and lacks anything in the way of charisma. From Kyonin we’ll have to work with the fact he has parents and siblings, are these other androids? Are these adoptive elven parents? Are they something else entirely? There is so much to wrap up here and with the alien nature of an android we’ll see how that goes.

Gender: Male
Race:Android
Nationality:Kyonin
Age:  Unknown
Height: 5’ 8”
Weight: 154lbs
Alignment:Neutral Good

Str: 12
Dex: 14
Con:  8
Int: 15
Wis: 18
Cha: 6

Homeland: Town or Village
Parents: Both of your parents are alive.
Siblings: You have 2 biological siblings.
- younger brother
- younger sister
Circumstance of Birth: [Noble Birth] You were born to privilege among the nobility. Unless one of your parents is the regent, your family serves a higher-ranked noble but lesser nobles serve your family in turn.
Parent's Profession: [Gentry] You are the child of a minor lord, lady, or noble with an income, hereditary land such as a manor, and titles. You likely grew up in a manor and your parents were paid tribute by peasants. Your parents serve a higher baron, count, or duke.
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 Champion] You were close to someone who excelled at athletic endeavors and tests of strength or skill. Through your friendship or rivalry, you developed the competitive spirit that continues to drive you in everything you do.

Conflict: [Minor Theft] You stole several small or inexpensive items that belonged to someone else.
Conflict Subject: Soldier or warrior.
Conflict Motivation: Hatred or Malice.
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:Shei

Romantic Relationship(s): [Current Lover] You are currently involved in a romantic relationship.
Drawback: [Reputation or Fame] You’ve worked hard to establish your identity and reputation, and someone who slanders or insults you must answer for it. You strive to promote your identity to the point where everyone knows your reputation.

(Trait) Ambitious
(Trait) Influence
(Trait) Kin Guardian
(Trait) Militia Veteran
(Trait) Rich Parents
(Story Feat) Champion
(Story Feat) True Love
(Drawback) Vain

In the comments please tell us what character you would make with these disparate pieces information? What class would this Android naturally gravitate towards? How did he end up in elven lands? What was he a champion of? 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.