Character Creation Procedures

Subpages
Campaign, House, and Variant Rules
Brief History of Talingarde
Talirean Gazetteer
Villainous Accomplishments
Adventure Synopsis
This game is invitation-only, and so you will not find a prefabricated form for character applications or any of the other usual RTJ dressings. There are still rules in place for actually creating your villainous PCs, however, which are listed below. If you have any questions or require clarification, feel free to ask about them via PM or in the OOC thread.


Generating Ability Scores:
One of the most valuable ideas from Way of the Wicked is "focus and foible," of which we will employ a modified version in this game.

To create attribute values for your PC, roll 4d6 four times, dropping the lowest die result each time and rerolling 1s. Distribute the totals, along with an additional 18 and an 8, among your six stats. You do not need to roll in a particular order; you may apply your results however you wish before adding in racial modifiers and so forth.

Material Restrictions:
All Paizo-official Pathfinder material is available for use in creating your characters. No homebrew, no third-party, no questions.

This differs somewhat from the campaign designers' recommendations and original restrictions. So, to make things as explicit and clear as possible:
  • All classes are permitted.
  • All alignments are permitted, but evil alignments are obviously preferred (and non-evil alignments will require some fantastic writing and justification).
  • Yes, this means the pact servant faith trait is permitted, enabling such unusual combinations as a lawful good paladin of Asmodeus (just come prepared with an amazing backstory).
Traits:
You may select two traits, as per usual, or you may select a drawback in exchange for a third trait. Either way, the "campaign trait" stand-in provided by your chosen crime (covered in more depth on the Campaign, House, and Variant Rules subpage of this wiki) does not count against your trait selections. Essentially, your crime counts as a free trait, bringing the total available to you up to three (or four, should you opt for a drawback).

Languages:
The most widespread languages in Talingarde are (of course) Talirean common and, perhaps surprisingly, Dwarven. Other local, but far less common, languages include Celestial (the "holy tongue" of the Mitran church), Elven, Goblin, Iraen, Norspik, and Yutak. Even more rare, but possibly still useful, are Aklo (for the dark places of the wilderness), Aquan (since you're on an island, after all), Infernal (the tongue of devils), and Sylvan (should you run into any mischievous fey).

Variant Rules:
As indicated on your character sheet templates, we will be using the official Paizo background skills variant rules in place of the AP's suggested bonus skill ranks. The concepts are very similar, but by employing Paizo's version, we have more first-party support for the idea and can use the system with greater confidence.

This is also covered on the Campaign, House, and Variant Rules subpage of the wiki.

Characters will advance along the fast experience track.

Handicaps:
As indicated by the AP, characters begin with no equipment, including money, and any animal companions, familiars, mounts, or other special companions are not present. We can work out individually whether these creatures might be important enough to your character concept that they have somehow survived Talingarde's "justice" and are subsequently waiting to be reunited with you, or if they were simply killed when you were taken prisoner, etc. Unless otherwise stated, the latter will be the default assumption: Either your companion(s) is/are likewise victims of Talirean punishment, or they have yet to appear and will come to you later.

Should you choose to play a spiritualist or summoner, your phantom or eidolon (respectively) remains available to you, although you do not begin play with either actively summoned, and there may potentially be other restrictions depending on whether the authorities imprisoning you are aware of your abilities.

Wishlists:
Since loot drops must be adjusted from the original version of the AP, please try to supply a list of 5 to 10 items you'd like for your character to potentially obtain during the course of the game. This will make it easier to properly alter the campaign for a successful endeavor. Thematic items will receive preference for insertion over generic treasure, such as weapons with high enhancement bonuses or other objects any sensible adventurer might want.