[Conan/Call of Cthulhu d20]Shadow over Stygia Recruiting

[Ancient History]

Well, you can multiclass in whatever order you want. The "variant" multiclasses are twenty-level roadmaps for multiclassing in a specific way, and if you do that, you get the option to take some variant abilities.

But really, I just want you to have a character you want to play and will have fun playing. So if there's any particular thing you want to do, lay it out so we can all look at it.

[Korgan0]

Awesome. I'll be a brawler starting barbarian, then- I'll edit my sheet and work on backstory.

[Kurama314]

Quick question. It's clear that using the bonus skill points from a high intelligence you can buy cross-class ranks at a 1:1 ratio. But it's unclear about the cap on ranks.

The bonus skill points from a high Intelligence may be spent on any skill without penalty. In effect, all skills are treated as class skills for the various skill points gained through having a high Intelligence. This applies both at 1st level and at subsequent levels. - pg 74

This seems to suggest that ranks bought with bonus skill points can exceed the the 1/2(lvl + 3) stated elsewhere for cross-class skills. It's never clearly stated though.

[Ancient History]

If I read it correctly, you can exceed the level limit for cross-class skills, but you cannot exceed the typical level limit for class skills (level + 3) on skill ranks. Unless of course, you take that feat in the Aquilonia book which removes the level limit cap on skills ranks entirely.

[Korgan0]

So, my planned backstory is that my character grew up the scion of a moderately wealthy merchant family with pretentions to nobility in northern Aquilonia, got restless, and at ten years old stole a horse and ran off to join the Cimmerians. Surprisingly, they didn't kill him, and instead took him in, raising him as one of their own. His loins girded with bear-fur, he took up the ancient Cimmerian custom of drinking and fighting. Sadly, he began to miss baths, comfortable beds, and not having to piss in the middle of a blizzard, and he decided to bid his adoptive tribe farewell and head back to the warm embrace of the family. However, he was greeted with an empty manor house- his father died, and his brothers ran off with the family business, leaving him nothing. Armed with nothing but a frighteningly large weapon and a tremendous stomach for alcohol, he set out to make his living as a sellsword and enforcer.

Long story short, would it be possible for my character to qualify, as a result of this strange upbringing, to (a) have Cimmerian as a possible bonus language and (b) qualify for the Fighting-Madness feat?

[Ancient History]

If your mother was Cimmerian, you could use the Half-Breed rule from the Player's Guide to the Hyborian Age and say that you mostly take after your father (Hyborian race attributes) but with some influence from your mother (Cimmerian as a bonus language, count as a Cimmerian for feats). How's that sound?

[Korgan0]

That sounds hella awesome. I'm guessing he ran away to his mother's clan, so that works out quite well.

[Whipstitch]

I completely forgot about the skill point thing--I usually played barbs and thus had no shits to give--so I'll be heading back and tweaking my points to keep Bluff and maybe some other stuff topped off. That's a quick fix though.

[Kurama314]

Well I think I'm finished.
Backstory: Growing up poor in the coastal capital city of Kordava my character quickly turned to crime as a means of income. He honed his abilities over the years but never fit in with the other thieves. Since he never abided by the idea of "honor amongst thieves" he not only angered those he stole from but most of the criminal underworld as well. For the most part they tolerated him though, he wasn't enough of a problem. Eventually he ratted out the wrong person for reward money and ended up with a contract on his life. Nothing that big but large enough that he fled the city on the first boat he could find. Several days into the voyage they were attacked by pirates and he managed to talk his way onto their crew. He took to piracy quite well and sailed for a few years. Eventually his crew was captured by the authorities while in port. He managed to escape prison and since then has been wandering doing whatever will put coin in his pocket, primarily theft and banditry. As of late he's been dealing in some light mercenary work as well.
While growing up in Zingara and sailing with Zingaran pirates he studied Zingaran fencing. Never from an actual teacher of course, but he's picked up bits and pieces here and there.

Velasco

Zingaran Pirate 5/Thief 1

Favored classes: Pirate, Soldier.


Str 13
Dex 17
Con 13
Int 14
Wis 12
Cha 17
Sanity 49/60


Hit Points: 45
Fate Points: 4

Initiative: +3
BAB: +3

Attacks:
Arming Sword
Attack: +7(using finesse) Damage: 1d10 + 3
Ghanata Knife
Attack: +6(using finesse) Damage: 1d8 + 3
Sneak Attack Damage: 4d6 (3d6 + 1d8 with arming sword)

Saves
Fort: +4
Ref: +9
Will: +4 (+1 for Corruption checks)

Dodge vs Melee: 17 (21 for AoO for moving in and out of threatened areas)
Dodge vs Ranged: 17 (18 w/ Duellist Cape)
Parry: 13 (14 w/ Duellist Cape)

Armor Damage Reduction: 4
ACP: -1

Reputation: 8
Code of Honor: None

Skills Situational bonuses in parentheses, final total bolded.
Balance 6 (7 while on a boat or at sea)
Bluff 11
Climb 3
Disable Device 11
Gather Information 6
Hide 11
Knowledge (Fencing: Zingaran School) 11
Bonuses: Move Away From the Attack, Impressive Lunge, Improved Feint
Listen 3
Move Silently 11
Open Lock 11
Profession (Sailor) 4
Search 9
Sense Motive 4
Tumble 7
Use Rope 5



Languages: Zingaran, Argossean, Pictish, Aquilonian, Shemitish, Ophirean

Racial Features & Background Skills
• +1 to Sense Motive, -1 to Diplomacy
• +1 to Profession(Sailor), Balance, and Use Rope
• +1 Racial bonus to attacks with arming swords and broadswords
• Martial Weapon Proficiency: Arming Sword
• Sneak Attack: +1d6 sneak attack, stacks with classes
• Weapon Familiarity: Greatswords
• Background Skills: Profession(Sailor), Balance, and Use Rope

Class Features
• Seamanship +1
• Ferocious Attack
• Pirate Code (Zingaran Trumpets)
• To Sail a Road of Blood and Slaughter
• Sneak Attack Style (Arming Sword)
• Sneak Attack +2d6/(1d8 + 1d6)
• Trap Disarming

 • Sneak Subdual
• Uncanny Dodge
Feats:
• No Honour
• Dodge
• Mobility
 


• Fencer's Finesse
• Master Fencer
Equipment
Superior Leather Jerkin, Duellist Cape, Arming Sword, Ghanata Knife, Hunting Bow, 19 Arrows, Work Boots, Silk Breeks, Cloak, Knight's Belt, Masterwork Thieves Tools, Bow Satchel, Bedroll, Flint & Steel, Grappling Hook, Hemp Rope (50 ft.), Kit Bag, 2 Sacks, Wooden Bowl, Waterskin, Zingaran Trumpet, Trail Rations (5 days), Riding Camel, Riding Saddle, Bit & Bridle, Feed (5 days), Fishhook

Clothes, arming sword, ghanata knife, and thieves tools are carried on person. The rest is on the horse unless specified.


Wealth:
In Equipment: 424 sp
Carried: 212 sp

[Ancient History]

Small not on everybody's characters - don't forget your Sanity stat! Sanity = Wisdom x 5 (max 99, although if any of you start the game with Wis 20 that would be weird.)

[Nebuchadnezzar]

(EDIT:I'm in my cups, so this might ramble a bit. Sorry.)

The intelligence skill point thing is nice, and had gone unnoticed. That explains how scholars can get Prestidigitation early on. I might use that to snag some Diplomacy.

I have a few questions, the first couple for anyone:

Has anyone noticed any interesting cheaper alchemical/herbalism items? I'm poking around the different sources, and I suppose just need to put together a full list. I figure I'll mainly try to make drugs and poisons for everyone else to use, because I'll have a harder time delivering them myself.

Does anyone see any glaring gaps in our collective skills? I can max out basic heal checks with a healer's kit and reference materials, but that's not saying much. Are there any further uses of Heal stuck away in some random book? As is I think we're looking at a fair amount of complete bedrest.

Where in the world is the game starting?

What are you thinking for CoC spell access? The faster ability score healing in Conan certainly makes it more viable than before. Corruption seems like it might be more of a concern than sanity loss. My dude would have had to make 4 Corruption saves (DC20 and 22 @1st level, 21 and 23 @ 3rd), so he's already at least a little corrupt, and likely insane if he doesn't opt to fail subsequent saves. Plus, it's kind of hard to get things going sorcery-wise at low levels, which is why I'm not really aiming for much combat utility, save the kinda silly Defensive Blast.

[Ancient History]

Does anyone see any glaring gaps in our collective skills? I can max out basic heal checks with a healer's kit and reference materials, but that's not saying much. Are there any further uses of Heal stuck away in some random book? As is I think we're looking at a fair amount of complete bedrest.

I think Stygia has some synergy bonuses from Craft(Herbalism) and whatnot tucked away, but I'll have to check.

Where in the world is the game starting?

Remember that opening blurb? That's not just flavor text, that's a good chunk of the exposition for the opening post of the game. Expect to start in Stygia.

What are you thinking for CoC spell access? The faster ability score healing in Conan certainly makes it more viable than before.

With hybrid rulesets, things get interesting, but I'll stand with houserule #2 for now: all terms in common between the two magic systems apply equally to both systems. So for example a CoCd20 magical effect is a "spell" and a Conan d20 effect is a "spell" and the Scholar class feature "Bonus Spell" lets a character gain a spell - so yeah, if you want to make that bonus spell a Mythos spell, I think that would be acceptable. Otherwise, pre-human sorcery is fairly rare in sorcerous circles, which is why the Big Bad is off looking for it...

Corruption seems like it might be more of a concern than sanity loss. My dude would have had to make 4 Corruption saves (DC20 and 22 @1st level, 21 and 23 @ 3rd), so he's already at least a little corrupt, and likely insane if he doesn't opt to fail subsequent saves.

Well, see house rule #1. Corruption is a concern for your characters, but it's also a bit of a gentle slope easing your characters in to the Sanity loss that lies ahead... As for your character's Corruption rating, I'll let you roll those saves.

Plus, it's kind of hard to get things going sorcery-wise at low levels, which is why I'm not really aiming for much combat utility, save the kinda silly Defensive Blast.

Which is true enough for a number of low-level sorcerers in the Conan milieu.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I think Stygia has some synergy bonuses from Craft(Herbalism) and whatnot tucked away, but I'll have to check.

Yeah, I've gone through a lot of that. The next step up would the 2 surgery feats, but I can't quite justify that. So amateur surgery it is!

if you want to make that bonus spell a Mythos spell, I think that would be acceptable.

I suppose that was my question, if Mythos spells found in the future would use scholar slots.

Which is true enough for a number of low-level sorcerers in the Conan milieu.

Sure. A game like this is definitely an exercise in genre-emulation. I'm totally looking forward to learning just enough to make my inevitable horrific death all the more deserved.

[Ancient History]

I don't think there's a set maximum number of spells - some of the spellbooks in Conan d20 give you bonus spells, for example - so I don't think Mythos spells don't "count against" your Scholar spells, I'm just saying that lacking a Mythos tome if you want to learn a Mythos spell, the Bonus Spell class feature is a way to do it. Does that make sense?

[Nebuchadnezzar]

Oh, I absolutely misunderstood that. I suppose I was comparing it to this variant scholar someone made, which makes being able to learn new spells explicit, and so thought it wasn't an option. Well, I totally need to shuffle some skill points around now, and snag some Decipher Script.

Thanks for the amazingly prompt replies in this, which to me, is the wee hours.

[OgreBattle]

Finesse fighting feels weaker than STR, with its inability to punch through armor using str. But I'm kind of unclear as to what that means though. They say that you can't use your STR to bypass DR if you're using finesse fighting... but could I use my weapon damage roll to bypass the armor, then apply strength to damage? Or does that mean that Strength is not calculated at all for Finesse attacking? What throws me off is that it says "can't add strength to armor piercing rating", instead of "strength to damage".

Ancient History:
-Do you allow retraining feats at level up?

[Whipstitch]

It's still a melee attack, so I would think you get to keep your strength bonus to damage rolls unless specified otherwise--that's how my old groups rolled, at any rate.

[Ancient History]

Re: Finesse
I'll look at finesse when I get home.

Re: Retraining
If the group wants to allow retraining, I have no problem with it.

[Ancient History]

OKay, looking at finesse rules from p.171 and p.180 of the 2nd edition:

When you use finesse fighting, you must be using a finesse weapon. You add your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier to your attack roll. You do not add your Strength modifier to your Armour Piercing rating of the weapon, but if (Attack Roll + Dex Bonus) > (Defense + DR) you bypass the armour and ignore the DR.

There's nothing in the rules saying finesse fighters do not add their Strength bonus to their damage result, so I assume that they do so.

[Korgan0]

I'm fine with retraining.

[Prak]

If I read it correctly, you can exceed the level limit for cross-class skills, but you cannot exceed the typical level limit for class skills (level + 3) on skill ranks. Unless of course, you take that feat in the Aquilonia book which removes the level limit cap on skills ranks entirely.

In Conan, cross class skills have the same max ranks as class skills.

[Nebuchadnezzar]

I'm fine with retraining, and would take advantage of it

[Whipstitch]

In Conan, cross class skills have the same max ranks as class skills.

Only in second edition, not Atlantean.

[Ancient History]

Well, we're doing 2nd edition. If I ever said Atlantean, I was wrong.

[OgreBattle]

Well, we're doing 2nd edition. If I ever said Atlantean, I was wrong.

I've been using the Atlantean core book (but I think Martial Disciple is a 2nd edition class), but do you know what the big changes were between editions?