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 Brawler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brawler. Show all posts

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.

Friday, June 17, 2016

Character Exploration 42 - Najila Dunestrider

I like the idea that planar-blooded creatures are not just from human stock. This premise was brought up in Pathfinder for aasimar and teiflings but I also apply it to the elemental planar-blooded creatures. We saw this first with my orc oread and most recently with my elf undine. This week I work with my third oread character, one of halfling stock. A twin with great strength and dexterity as well as decent amount of will. From the sandy lands of Qadira, a satrapy of the Kelesh Empire. The question I answer today from the random stats and background information is “who is this character”?

Quick moving but strong with a trickster god for a patron, I decided to go with brawler as a class. Sometimes when all the jokes go wrong, she needs to fight her way out of a situation. I also like to think that the brawler’s martial flexibility represents her ability to read people and adapt to situations as needed. With that in mind I see Snake Style’s use of Sense Motive as a means to make attacks hit harder and to riposte against missed attack as something this character might take.

Najila Dunestrider

In the Keleshish Empire halflings are considered incredibly lucky. To this end many halflings travel with caravans so that their luck might rub off on the trade expedition. Many enterprising halflings have not only taken up jobs as luck bringers in caravans, but have laid claim to some of the many oases across the empire to create their own caravan stops. These stops, in many cases, have sprung into full-fledged halfling settlements, one of which is where Najila and her twin brother Nen was born.

The Dunestrider family had lived at the Abassia Oasis settlement for many generations. Both of Najila’s parents were excellent potters whose work was sought out by many along the trade route. Beyond their dedication to their craft, the Dunestrider clan also had a penchant for shrewd investment. Although not rich by any means, growing up Najilia wanted for very little.

Najila and her brother were as opposite as could be, but they were also inseparable. Like many twins they seemed to almost know each other’s thoughts. Before they could fully speak halfling, they had a language all their own which they used to communicate. This secret tongue meant the two siblings often kept things hidden from others, as they would only confide in each other.

Although not identical Nijila and Nen were similar in appearance, enough so that only their parents could tell them apart. When they hit puberty, however, their true differences began to manifest. Najila stopped growing altogether and was shorter than most other halflings, although her body proportions stayed the same she felt heavier than most. Her brown hair became the color of sand and her skin took on an almost grainy texture. Like many in the Kelesh Empire the blood of a genie, in this case a Shaitan, flowed through her veins.

Her brother, who had always been her opposite, also showed signs of genie blood. He manifested the earth’s opposite with the watery traits of a Marid. Even though their differences became more pronounced, the two could never be separated, they lived for each other and always would. And like sand and water the pair was always mud in someone’s eye.

Into their formative years, the two halfling twins lacked the hard-working trait for which generations of their family had been renowned. Najila and Nen were more interested in having fun than working hard. The two were constant practical jokers who were the only ones in on their little pranks. Although not overly bound to religious matters themselves, many claimed they were children of the Empyreal Lord Picoperi.

Their jokes never really went too far, at least not in their own eyes. When a haughty sorcerer came through town hawking his wares and flashing his power, the two jokers knew just what to do. A bit of acting on Nen’s part and a little white lie sent all the sorcerer’s snake oil into the oasis pool with no money to show for it. Suffice it to say, the finger wiggler wasn’t at all happy about it.

Where Nen was a master of words and could talk a camel out of a drink of water, Najila was a master of fists. Their jokes would occasionally get them into trouble with a capital “T” and when Nen couldn’t talk their way out of it Najila would make sure no harm came to either of them. One of her best traits as a fighter wasn’t how hard she hit but how well she read people. She could usually see a strike coming from a mile away just by reading her opponent.

The only thing the pair had in common was a certain sense of pride. They each thought they were the best there was at what they did. The problem became that they also felt they were too big for the small town. When a younger sister was born, the two decided it was time to strike out into the larger world. Sad to see them go, their parents revealed to them their “Grams” had left them an investment. When they cashed out, the twins had more than enough money to get them to any city on Golarion.

With money burning a hole in their pockets and the need for adventure burning a hole in their soul, Najila and Nen set out on the next caravan into the larger world. What Golarion holds for them only Picoperi knows, and he ain’t telling because that’s the big joke.

And there you have my little halfling oread, but is this what you would have made? Does brawler fit your thinking or is another class better? Would Picoperi be more prominent in your character’s life or is acceptance of the Empyreal Lord as a patron with minor prayers enough? What would you have done different?

Tricksters are needed because they teach us much about the world through their jokes. The CRB tries to expand our knowledge of the gaming world by examining it much the same. If the CRB has helped you expand your gaming repertoire, please consider donating to my Patreon. The CRB is also becoming a large community on social media; come join us on G+, Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. My inbox is always open on all accounts.