Character Background

This info may change a litte but I wanted to share it with you. It appears that the PCs may be gathering in a nearby city and then traveling to Cauldron. I should have it locked down by the 15th.

This adventure path is supposed to take PCs from 1st level up to 20th level. The Dungeon Master is supposed to inform players that it will be a “difficult campaign”. The adventure path is designed to challenge a group of six players.

The campaign focus is urban and dungeon environments. Take this into account when generating your character. If you play a ranger, your best choices for your favorite enemies are animals, dragons, humanoid (human, goblinoid, or orc), or outsider (evil). There will be undead in this campaign, but they are not the campaign’s focus. Note the existing temples in Cauldron if you play a cleric.

Provide a reason for working together with at least two other characters in the party. Explain why another character not in the party might follow in your footsteps should you fall.

Characters may be locals or recent arrivals. Locals are eligible for the Knowledge (local) skill. In addition to that, locals may choose (or randomly determine) one of the following traits:

D% Local Trait
01-10 Child Of Jzadirune
11-20 Demonscarred
21-30 Dream Haunted
31-40 Long Shadowed
41-50 Mark Of The Beast
51-60 Nobility
61-70 Scarred Soul
71-80 Scion Of Surabar
81-90 Touched In The Head
91-00 Wyrm Blooded

Child Of Jzadirune

One of your ancestors lived in Jzadirune at the time The Vanishing struck. You are especially resistant to diseases, but find the prospect of becoming sick yourself horrifying.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on all saving throws made to resist the effects of disease.

Drawback: You suffer a -2 morale penalty on saving throws against fear while in the ruins of Jzadirune, or when fighting creatures that are diseased or can inflict disease with a spell or ability.

Roleplaying Ideas: Your parents told you harrowing stories about The Vanishing, and your dreams are haunted by visions in which you catch the disease and slowly fade away.

Demonscarred

One of your ancestors was a half-fiend. As a result, you carry some of that taint with you.

Benefit: Regardless of your actual alignment, spells and spell-like abilities with the Evil descriptor treat you as if your alignment were Evil.

Magic items are similarly fooled. An unholy blight spell, for example, won’t damage you, no matter what your actual alignment is.

Drawback: Regardless of your actual alignment, spells and spell-like abilities with the Good descriptor treat you as if your alignment were Evil. Magic items are similarly fooled. A holy word spell, for example, will harm you, no matter what your actual alignment is.

Roleplaying Ideas: You are moody, gloomy, and have a short temper.

Dream Haunted

Your dreams are haunted by strange visions or tortured landscapes and deformed monsters. In some of these dreams, you are the deformed monster.

Benefit: You are used to fatigue, and suffer no penalties when you become fatigued. When you become exhausted, you are instead treated as if you are fatigued.

Drawback: You suffer a -2 penalty on saving throws against effects that cause madness or insanity, and on saving throws against sleep effects. If you are normally immune to sleep effects, you lose that immunity.

Roleplaying Ideas: You are always tired, though not to the point of fatigue. You tend to nod off when bored, and sometimes find it difficult to remember minor, relatively unimportant bits of information.

Long Shadowed

You are descended from a tribe of indigenous peoples who died out as a separate tribe many centuries ago. Still, this tribe’s penchant for necromantic magic runs in your blood.

Benefit: You automatically stabilize if reduced to negative hit points. When you take damage from negative energy, you reduce the actual damage you take by 5 points.

Drawback: Healing magic works poorly on you. Whenever you regain hit points from magical healing, you gain 1 less point of healing per character level you possess, to a minimum of one point per die rolled.

Roleplaying Ideas: You are somewhat morbid and intrigued by death and undeath, even if these interests are purely to learn more of your enemies.

Mark Of The Beast

One of your ancestors was a lycanthrope. Select a predatory animal of your choice; that animal feels a mystic bond with you.

Benefit: Animals have a strong reticence when they attack you, and suffer a -2 penalty on all attack rolls made against you. If you have the wild empathy ability, you gain a +1 bonus on wild empathy checks.

Drawback: You suffer a -4 penalty to saving throws made to resist lycanthropy, and take +1 point of damaghe from attacks made by silver weapons.

Roleplaying Ideas: You have a curious animal magnetism that is at once intriguing and disturbing. Your manners might be a bit crude, but you’re loyal to your friends.

Nobility

You were born into a noble family.

Benefit: You start play with an additional 200gp and gain a +1 bonus on all Diplomacy and Intimidate checks made against citizens of Cauldron or nearby villages. Certain NPCs in this campaign may react more favorably to your presence.

Drawback: You are well-known and recognizable, and suffer a -4 penalty on Disguise rolls made against citizens or the nearby villages. Certain NPCs in the campaign may react more poorly in your presence.

Roleplaying Ideas: You might be haughty, impatient, or condescending to others. You might spend money frivolously, believing that there’ll always be more income to be had.

Scarred Soul

You’ve led a particularly tough life. Perhaps you’re an orphan, or maybe you suffered some sort of traumatic experience as a child. Whatever the cause, your childhood experiences have left you jumpy and haunted.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on initiative checks.

Drawback: Your experiences have left your mind less able to deal with trauma, and as a result you suffer a -1 penalty on all Will saves.

Roleplaying Ideas: You are quick to anger, jumpy, and possibly even a bit hyperactive. You’re prone to feelings of paranoia and unfounded fear.

Scion Of Surabar

You are a descendent of Surabar Spellmason, the man who discovered Cauldron, helped settle the region, and aided in the defeat of an ancient demonic army.

Benefit: Pride for your lineage girds your mind and soul. You gain a +2 morale bonus on saving throws against fear, death effects, and insanity or confusion.

Drawback: Demons that encounter you in this region (not those that you might fight on other planes) can instinctively sense your lineage and connections to their old enemy, and gain a +1 morale bonus on attack rolls and weapon damage rolls when fighting you.

Roleplaying Ideas: You are proud of your heritage, and quick to anger if another mocks it. You find demons intolerable, and some might see you as haughty or imperious.

Touched In The Head

You’re a little crazy.

Benefit: Your mind is disorganized and chaotic. You gain a +1 bonus on all saving throws against mind-affecting effects, save for those effects that cause confusion or insanity.

Drawback: Your inability to concentrate for long makes you suffer a -1 penalty on all Wisdom-based skill checks.

Roleplaying Ideas: You have a number of strange quirks (whistling off-key, eating raw meat, a nervous tic, a tendency to scream at odd moments, and so on) that can make you difficult to get along with.

Wyrm Blooded

One of your ancestors was a half-black dragon. You have some sort of distinctly draconic feature, be it reptillian eyes, scales on the backs of your hands, or tiny vestigial horns on your hands.

Benefit: You gain a +4 bonus on all saving throws against acid effects, a +2 bonus on Swim checks, and a +1 bonus on Listen and Spot checks.

Drawback: Your body isn’t quite as limber as it should be. You take a -1 penalty on Reflex saves.

Roleplaying Ideas: You have an intensity about everything you do, and your emotions are powerful and often difficult for you to control.