The Fight In the Dog

Digging Deep into the Background of your Fighter

There was an interesting topic of discussion that came up this week on one of the Pathfinder Facebook pages I’m on. Someone wanted to expand the possibilities of the backgrounds he uses for fighters. A lot of fighters end up either being a kid off a farm who picked up his father’s sword and just walked off into the world or a trained military man. There are, however, a lot of ways to go in between, so today we’re going to look a little at bringing your fighter to life.

The first thing about fighting is that there are two basic types: those who are trained and those who are self-taught. The world can be a tough place, so learning to defend yourself is common among all walks of life. The untrained, for the most part, are thrown into situations where they are forced to fight or die, or at least be grievously injured. Anyone who’s lived in a rough neighborhood knows what that’s like. The trained more often want to learn how to fight instead of have to.

When coming up with untrained characters you also have to think about why they had to fight. You’ll find that most people who’ve learned to stand up for themselves on their own are poor or low on the social ladder. If you grow up on the wrong side of town you have to learn to defend yourself from thugs. Slaves or criminals may be forced to fight for the enjoyment of their masters. Those who live on the frontier may have to learn to fend off wildlife, bandits, or marauders.

The thing to consider about these self-taught warriors is also that their fighting “style” is really no style. It is usually a mish-mash of techniques that they’ve learned work through trial and error. While a trained fighter might be more focused – in game terms, taking specific feat lines – a self-taught fighter will know a little bit of everything. They will also usually have a ‘whatever works’ mentality which can probably be seen in their personalities as well as their fighting styles.

Trained fighters come in many forms as well. You’ll find that outside of the officers much of the rank and file of any military are – like untrained fighters – poor. Although not as highly trained as our modern military, soldiers of the day still went through rigorous training. Becoming a soldier, much like it is today, was often a way the poor thought they could elevate their station. You’ll notice a vast difference in fighting style between a foot soldier and an officer who went to military school as a child before gaining his rank.

Outside of the military, you’ll find trained fighters are more often well-off. It costs a lot of money to hire a tutor or to send a child to school. Now there will often be a child so naturally gifted that a teacher takes her on at no cost – and this is a common story trope – but generally, this is not the case. When deciding to make a character who’s trained in a certain style of fighting, keep in mind how she was able to afford to be trained.

Those who can afford training will have two options. The first is going to a well-known combat school. A teacher there will have many students, usually other noble born whose parents want to get them out of the house. The second is a personal tutor. In the Golarion setting, the Aldori Swordlords come to mind; each master trying to train the best student he can so his specific style may live on after he’s gone.

Trained fighters tend to be more orderly: for this attack there is this defense. To properly mount a battlefield defense all members of the unit must work in unison. This can also play out in a character’s personality – just like the untrained fighter – with the character being much more precise and deliberate.

So when creating your fighter’s background consider how he would get where he is when the game starts. Is he trained or untrained? How did his family’s status affect what and how he learned? How does his personality play into how he fights?

Many of us are self-trained GMs, the CRB hopes to add to your pool of GM knowledge. If you’ve found this article useful 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.

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.

With Your Powers Combine

 Thoughts on Multiclassing

When I’m building a character I like to think about things I want him to be able to do and how best I can get those abilities onto my sheet. Sometimes the things I want to accomplish for my character cannot be done with just the base class. Now Paizo has made it easier to switch around some class abilities with the cunning use of archetypes, but often you have to resort to the dreaded practice of multiclassing.

Now multiclassing is a touchy subject for some people. I personally enjoy the hell out of mixing and matching class abilities to find odd synergies. I’ve always found it odd that some folk will claim that level dipping is min-maxing a character while others will claim that multiclassing at all is always subpar. I’m not sure how it can be both things. I just look at it as a way to get the character the abilities that you need. And as I’ve already discussed, since your character isn’t a class you can very well make a sword fighter by mixing rogue and fighter, or slayer and swashbuckler.

One of the main arguments against multiclassing is the decrease in effectiveness of level based abilities. Anything that has a DC based on your level or gives you a bonus that is half your class level will be affected. It’s also a big no-no to multiclass out of a full spellcasting class because it hinders your growth into the more powerful spells in the game. And while all this can be mechanically true, you can build a character that can have a lot of fun with one or two abilities that synergize well by multiclassing.

Now there is a fine line between fun and useful and completely ineffective. You should be making a character that can do interesting things but can still contribute to the party. I’m not one of those folks that thinks you should level dip into commoner or anything. I just don’t think every character has to be made exactly to a formula, or else you just get the same exact wizard or the same exact rogue at every table and that gets dull.

One of the current characters I am playing is a multiclass character with three classes. The character originated from an idea that Alex Augunas put up on his Iconic Designs section of know direction. I did, however, make some adjustments to make it fit what I was going for. When I first did the build neither my GM nor I realized that sleuth and steel hound didn’t stack, and although we left it be for the game I’m going to present the character that actually works without the stacking issues.

Like Alex’s build, I went with investigator and gunslinger, but I also added in a level of swashbuckler. For my version of the build I went with the sleuth archetype of investigator, the mysterious stranger archetype of gunslinger, and the picaroon archetype of swashbuckler. So what is the synergy of these classes you might ask? Grit, luck, and panache are different pools that combine into one bigger pool, and with these archetypes each of those pools is based on charisma. So I get a combine grit/luck/panache pool of charisma times three.  And once I’ve hit one level in each of these classes I have nine deeds as well, all fueled by the same pool.

Now is this the most overpowered combination of classes to build from? Probably not, but it has been effective and most of all it’s been a lot of fun to play. Now I just took a one level dip in both gunslinger and swashbuckler because the core of my character is a detective for the Magnimar city guard, but from there I could have gone five levels in gunslinger for dexterity to damage and played him a little more combat heavy.

One of my other favorite multiclass combinations is barbarian and the mutagenic mauler archetype for brawler. It’s an idea that got better fleshed out by other people, particularly when our friend Neal over at Improved Initiative used it as a conversion for Bane, but it’s something that seemed pretty obvious, and I played it as my first brawler character ever. The obvious mechanical synergy is stacking the increased physical stat bonus (usually strength) with the bonuses granted from rage. The thematics of the multiclass is a person who takes a drug and gets both angry and more powerful. To run with the idea that the drug makes you angry, though, it makes sense to only rage when you take your mutagen.

There are hundreds if not thousands of other ways to multiclass. Although many times the prestige classes out there are not that great many of them you need to combine some classes to get into. Mystic Theurge gets a lot of crap because people are dead set on the idea that you must hit level nine spells for full casting class, but I’ve seen it played pretty effectively. There are also dozens of different ways to multiclass into eldritch knight which can be fun as well. It all depends on your balance between fun (or thematic) and useful.

Do you like to multiclass or do you prefer staying one single class straight through? If you do enjoy it what are some of your favorite multiclass combos? What kind of synergies do you search for when multiclassing?

Like multiclassing, the CRB combines my love of gaming with my need to write. If that’s a synergy you enjoy, please consider becoming a contributor to the CRB. 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.

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.

Behind the Curtain

My Process for Random Roll Background

Last week someone on reddit asked me about my process in making determinations for what I’m going to do with my randomly rolled characters. In the Friday write-ups I mostly just focus on the background with an occasional notation on a trait or feat that the character intends on taking, but little more than that. So for this week’s article I’m going to really go over how I come up with the backgrounds for these random characters.

To show the process I have I will use last week’s character as an example. You can find the random rolls here and the finished background here. My work begins with determining what class the character might choose. The problem is that as I write, things might take shape that I wasn’t thinking about, so I begin by narrowing it down. Including occult classes and alternate classes – like antipaladin and samurai – there are 39 classes, so this can be a chore.

Taking a look at the stats we have two high, charisma and dexterity, one above average, strength, and the other three at average. This made the narrowing down a bit easier. To begin the process I removed classes where the stats just wouldn’t make a good fit. Eleven for both wisdom and intelligence took most arcane and divine casting classes out of the running from the get-go. The constitution of ten meant being a Barbarian or a Kineticist was right out. Lastly, Gunslinger uses wisdom to determine grit, taking that class out of the running.

Next we had to look at non-stat game elements. Being chaotic good meant that we could get rid of a few alignment dependent classes, so Monk, Paladin, and Anti-Paladin were out too. Worshiping a god of athletics I decided that I wasn’t feeling any of the other casting class including Bard, Skald, and the occult classes. Hailing from Numeria I decided against the oriental themed classes as well. And finally I just didn’t see Vigilante as working here so I crossed that off the list.

Heading into researching other portions of the character I’m left with seven classes: Brawler, Cavalier, Fighter, Ranger, Rogue, Slayer, and Swashbuckler. Then I head to my three biggest resources; the PFSRD, Archives of Nethys, and the Pathfinderwiki. I start by looking up catfolk on the wiki. There’s very little there except that they are most often found in Garund. This doesn’t help me because this character is from Numeria, specifically from a catfolk settlement in the Land of Fallen Stars. That left me having to make up quite a bit, which is fine. Not every avenue of research will produce fruit.

From the background information alone I have some ideas. Catfolk are mostly tribal, so even though these ones have settled they’ll have some tribal customs. I needed a way to have the character worship the Empyreal Lord Marishi so I worked in the idea that prominent members of the tribe had their own gods. To add to this, and work in the aspect of a pariah as a mentor, I added the idea of god-talkers; Oracles who would reach out into the beyond and find a tribesman’s personal god.

That leaves a lot of information to be worked in; the betrayal by a close friend or family member and the reputation or fame seeking drawback. Since his family are peasants I figured it might be another family member looking to rise above their rank. To give this family member a reason to betray him I also gave him a rival. I tied that all together by having the older sister being pursued by the rival and her turning in her brother for breaking the taboo of having a personal god to better ingratiate herself to her suitor.

This all worked out well but I was still missing something. I needed to really hammer home the class I was going to go with.  By this point I had kind of narrowed it even further to Cavalier, Fighter, and Swashbuckler but I need a reason to pick one of those classes. Looking at the cavalier listing on the PFSRD I found the thing that cemented that as a choice, the Order of the Cockatrice. This really connected with reputation and/or fame aspect of the random rolls.

It was a toss-up between Cavalier and Swashbuckler and it was a hard choice. But then when I was looking through the archetypes I came across the Daring Champion. I could effectively have my cake and eat it too, so everything fell right into place.

Even though I don’t post a lot of the rules options for the character I write, I do research them while writing. Referencing back to the catfolk entry in the wiki I was reminded that the Blood of Beasts book had come out and I decided to look and see if it had more on catfolk. The first thing that jumped out was the feat Graceful Athlete, seeing as he is more dexterous than strong, I knew that he had to have this feat. The second feat listed was Mobile Acrobat and I thought this two would work out great for the character.

Lastly, there was one bit I was considering, but it would have to be approved by a GM. There is a prestige class that fits this character to a tee; The Darechaser. The only problem is that it is specifically for worshipers of the god Kurgess. Personally I think it fits in nicely with Marishi as well – seeing as the two have similar portfolios – but again it would need to be approved.

And there you have it, that’s how I put together one of my randomly rolled characters into a fully realized background. How do you piece together random rolls? What process do you use to research a randomly rolled, or any character really? How much do mechanics reflect how you  write your background?

Hopefully a peek into my thought process will give you some ideas for the next character you build. If you find the CRB helpful in your gaming life, please consider supporting this endeavor. A pledge of as little as one dollar a month on Patreon, or a onetime 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, and my inbox is open on all forums for questions, comments, and discussion. And 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.

Its Alive, Alive

Many Ways to Create a Character

For the player, their character is the core of what the game is about. Just as there are a million and one characters to make, there are many ways to actually create your character. A lot of folks have one way that they are constantly set in, but sometimes it’s fun to try a different tact and see what you come up with. I personally like trying different methods of character creation because I find that I play a lot of the same characters if I stick with one method. But let’s talk about some different ways to do it.

Random Rolling

Every week the background for a character based on random rolls that I make. I find this to be a rather exciting challenge and not just because it’s what I grew up with. Obviously this is a more old school style coming from 1st ed D&D and a number of the games that follow, but it has many variations and levels as to how much randomness you want to use.

The traditional hardcore way doing it is 3d6 straight down the line and building your character based around this. Unless you’re incredibly lucky this usually leads to what these days can be considered slightly underpowered characters. The standard, at least for D&D, if you choose the rolling method is 4d6 drop the lowest and place stats. This lends itself toward slightly more powerful characters but usually not overly so and gives players some freedom for choosing what they want to be.

Some games also have background charts you can roll. I remember cyberpunk having one, and pathfinder has added a random background table. Legend of the Five Rings had background tables for each individual clan in their respective clan books as well. Some people find these charts restricting as it does not allow them full control over their character, but others –like myself – enjoy the challenge of weaving this disparate pieces of information into a cohesive character.

My preferred method, when I choose to make a character randomly, is  to pick a race first then roll 4d6 straight down the line. This is often seem subpar to some people because what if you roll a high charisma for a dwarf or a low dex for an elf, it doesn’t allow you to purposefully maximize the race’s strengths. Personally, I think that playing the world’s most charismatic dwarf is entertaining.

I like to add rolling also rolling on the random background chart to basic stat rolling. I then have to look not only at the stats but at the small snippets of history to determine what class this character would gravitate towards. Once I’ve made that decision, I then craft an background based on the class picked and rolls made. As an example here are the random rolls for a hobgoblin character I made, and the final background.

Point Buy

For some making the exact character you want to play is how they want to build their PC. For this point buy is the preferred method. Beyond the ability to craft the character you want, each player also starts out on equal footing — well for the most part. Those people with system mastery and a good grasp on statistics will often be able to build a statistically more viable character than those without.

Although when making my own characters I like rolling, I understand the level playing field aspects of this system. I was personally first exposed to it in World of Darkness games and then saw it in Champions and later Legend of the Five Rings. It was completely new to me coming from D&D and even Palladium’s system. It seems that is has become the more commonly used method, but even with in this method there are many ways to build your character.

Some folk come up with a character and a background before even sitting down to look at rules and stats. This allows for a ton of creative freedom, you can’t always make the character you envision with the rules at hand. If you have a very flexible GM they may work with you, but you can also only bend the rules so far before you break them.

Some folks build their character based around a rule and then work the background backwards from there. I once build a monk based on the ability to move around the battlefield and then counter attack all the attacks of opportunity he provoked. And I’ve worked with another player to build a character based around hitting things so hard you break them or knock them back very far. In these cases rules came first and I built the character background up around them.

Sometimes just an interesting piece of lore will catch your fancy and you’ll want to build around that. Having played through the first part of a boxed adventure before a new group was making a second attempt at it, I already knew some of the lore of the game. I made a character specifically built around being related to one of the NPCs that I knew existed. I like that when Paizo puts out there APs they also put out a player’s guide for it. It has bits of lore to help build your character and allows you to make a character for the game you’re in.

I’ve also touched on the idea of making theme characters before. Whether it’s a medival version of the Scooby gang, Arabian nights, or building around the classical elements, theme characters can be fun. I talked about it more in an earlier article so I won’t go into to much detail here. The one thing I really like about the whole party being built around a theme is that you really have to work with the group when building your characters.

Character creation is the first steps into getting sucked into a new world, even if your game is just a traditional hack and slash dungeon crawl. Without a character that both interest you and fits into the game your GM is running there is very little chance you’ll have any fun. Although these methods may be old hat to our veteran players, it’s good to take the time to talk about them for those new to the hobby.

What is your favorite method of character generation? Do you like complete randomness? Some randomness? Or total control? Which system has had the most interesting character generation rules to you?

Whether you’re a new player who finds inspiration to create or an veteran who’s going to try something new to them, 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 that 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.

Expecting the Unexpected

Breaking Stereotypes

Illustration by Luis Perez

Throughout the history of gaming, written fantasy, and science fiction there have always been conventions. We mostly go about calling the tropes these days, but some things just have a deep-seated history of being so. Some tropes like ‘you all meet in a tavern’ are easily broken, or used and expanded upon. But when some things - especially making characters - become commonplace, it’s hard to break the stereotypes.

The divide between who is good and who is evil is often hotly debated. Even in games where there is no alignment system, a line is drawn between good guys and bad guys. For many people, but not all, a creature’s race determines whether it is a good guy or a bad guy. Goblins, kobolds, and orcs among others sit firmly on the bad guy side. And although games like Pathfinder very specifically indicate that not every member of every race has the same alignment, many people gloss over this fact.

Going against convention in this manner can often be fun. The good orc or goblin can add a little something different; if your GM lets you break the mold of traditional races choices that is. Going the other way can often be fun too. Evil, and not drow, elves can throw people for a loop. As a GM I’ve used innocent seeming halflings as the bad guys to great effect. Many times tieflings are thought of as leaning toward evil and aasimar toward good because of their respective outside blood. Like this week’s randomly rolled character breaking the norm and playing a wholly evil aasimar can shake things up.

Breaking moral norms also goes hand-in-hand with breaking cultural norms. Orcs and their half-orc kin are often thought of as savage brutes. Playing an erudite character from any race that is traditionally thought of as savage can throw people’s perceptions for a loop. As can an elf that is more at home in a crowded city than a forest or a dwarf that’s claustrophobic and hates being underground. And my favorite has always been savage little Halfling barbarians.

Race and class stereotypes are also a thing. 1st and 2nd edition D&D set the tone by restricting what classes certain races could take and how far they could go. As a side note, the woodlands-loving elves couldn’t be druids, which I always found odd. Even after these limits were taken out people still had this feeling that some of these limitations should remain, like dwarves shouldn’t be arcane spellcasters. Even in non-D&D games like Shadowrun, which didn’t have restrictions at all, you’d see people cleave to stereotypes; troll Street Samurai ‘cause they’re strong, dwarven Deckers ‘cause technology is the new smithing.

For me, I like to break these norms often, even so far as taking classes that don’t necessarily sit well with a race’s stat modifiers. You’ll hear a lot of people tell you that dwarves shouldn’t play sorcerers because of the negative to their charisma, or that elves shouldn’t be barbarians because of their constitution negative. These are exactly the types of characters I love to play because they aren’t the same ones that everyone else plays.

Even within class there are many tropes to which we cleave. The sneaky rogue, the white knight paladin, the savage barbarian, and many others are done time and time again. One of my own recent favorite characters is the rogue brute. He’s an intimidation monster with impressive strength who hits things really hard after he scares them. Neal Litherland – friend of the CRB – has done some oddball class concepts over on his blog Improved Initiative. Check out the unexpected barbarian and the savage wizard and see what I mean.

Sometimes sticking with the tried and true works. That dwarven fighter with a Scottish accent, who loves a good drink and wields an axe can go a long way. But sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zones and try something new and different. Whether you’re playing D&D/Pathfinder or one of the myriad other games out there, role playing is our opportunity to really get creative.

What stereotypes have you gone against? Which ones do you think should remain strong? As a GM do you like to throw the unexpectedly different at you players? As a player do you try and talk your GM into letting you try something new?

Hopefully the CRB helps you reach out and try new and unexpected things. Creating content is a second, non-paying full-time job. Creators can focus on bringing you the content you deserve when they don’t have to worry about keeping the lights on.  If the CRB has enhanced your gaming experience, please consider contributing to my Patreon for as little as $1 a month. Or if a one-time donation is more your speed try my Paypal.

You can also join the growing community of CRB readers. We have a presence on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. My inbox is always open so feel free to ask questions, leave comments, or start discussions.

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

The Path To Hell

When Good Falls

Illustration by Luis Perez

There are many stories that we like to see over and over again. They may get retold in different fashion but the same basic principles of archetypal stories have been enjoyed for years. Fitting into one of those many archetypes includes the fall of good, their rise as evil, and usually their ultimate redemption. This makes for some great storytelling, although it can sometimes be iffy in gaming and I’ll get to that as well.

The fall story works best the when the character is near the pinnacle of what it means to be good. When it’s a shock that the person who becomes evil does so, the whole story keeps your interest longer. In star wars I didn’t care so much that Anakin fell — and not because I knew it was coming — when the entire second and third movies he was kind of an over confident jerk. The fall didn’t see that big of a deal.

Reasons for falling are very important to the story. Characters who fall because they see so much atrocity that in fighting against it they become the evil they once sought to destroy is one great way to have a character fall. Characters who fall to protect the ones they love make the evil character more relatable. The necromancer who went to the dark arts because his family was savagely murdered and he just wants to find a way to bring them back can be an excellent foil to your protagonists.

There are even epic falls on a cosmic level. Lucifer’s fall from the kingdom of heaven is an excellent example. Depending on who is telling the story, the devil isn’t such a bad guy. In Pathfinder Asmodeus, the king of hell who saw the destruction that chaos — specifically mortal’s free will — wrought and so he tried to impose order and in doing so became totalitarian, and thus his slide into being evil.

So a character has fallen, the rise is the time to really get into the meat of the tale. How do his former friends or family members bring him around? How many vile acts does he perform in the meantime? What is the catalyst for his eventual eye-opening to what he’s done? Maybe the necromancer finally retrieves the souls of his family but they don't wish to come back. They confront him with the evil he’s done and he cracks. You can always be very cliche and have him yell, “what have I done,” but it's up to you.

As much as I love these stories — and so do many others, as we retell it so often — they do not always work in a gaming setting. Some of the worst games I was ever a part of were when a GM literally went out of his way to put the paladin in situations where he would have to fall no matter how he tried to get out of a situation. Some players don’t want the fall from grace story. It also doesn’t work very well in a game with a group dynamic because now what does the good aligned party do with their villainous member?

Unless it's an agreed upon part of the story, a fall should probably happen to NPCs. The childhood friend who rose to greatness with the party members who has now turned to evil is an excellent adventure. How do they both stop and hopefully redeem their long time friend? Can he be redeemed in the first place? This allows you to tell the tale while not driving one of the PCs away from the party. Unless, of course, the whole party falls.

Have you used the fall from grace story in your campaign? Have you additionally added the redemption story? Have you worked it in with a PC? And if so how? Tell us your experiences in the comments.

Stories are the central crux of any good RPG. If the CRB sparks ideas for the tales you are going to tell please consider contributing to my Patreon. or donating directly to my Paypal. Your support of content providers allows us to focus on providing you the content you love without dealing with life’s little difficulties, in this case replacing the cracked monitor on my laptop. 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.

The CRB is also spreading across the social media sphere. There is a presence on Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and Twitter. Join the other storytellers and let us hear from you. My inbox is always open for questions, comments, or discussions.

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