Do you have a character concept you were thinking of for the next character? I have a list of several integrated character ideas i will try and match with (it looks like we are going in that direction). Im not giving the list out to everyone because i want things to remain a surprise for a while. All the character concepts i’ve outlined have mechanisms to be viable, despite some of their strange appearances and traits (which make for RP opportunities).

Are we doing the spaceship-crashed Tarmisians plotline, or something else?

well, some of that. there are off world humans (not much diff except bio engineer tweaks), humans, lizard folk, and an off world character race sort-of-human-like of minor empaths still available.

I’m still thinking for the most part, but the off-world humans sound interesting if I can match an idea to what’s possible. What are the options for the off-world humans bioengineering tweaks? I definitely don’t expect Clark Kent- level or like an X-man…

They had the standard acceleration package. It helps resist disease, poison and a little bit of accelerated healing

What can you tell me about the lizard folk? Are we still attempting to… ‘restore the commonfolk’s faith’ of/in Elancil?

I think the Elancil angle is a bust. That would be tied to the Tarmysian characters, but no one is taking them. The lizard folk. Calm, stoic, guttural, he retreated into himself, the party brings him out of his shell, is a non spell casting ranger as a default.

What is the angle for the integrated characters then? All I’m aware of is the Tarmysian characters, and Elancil… Are you wed to the idea of the lizardfolk being a non spell caster ranger? Could that char be something like a scout rogue instead?

The elancil angle is not going to work, not enough people went for human tarmysian. Ranger would be nice, but i can work in a different back story. Eldritch Knight path (probably with some unique unarmed stuff) fighter, or a scout path rogue might work

That’s too bad, because my first several character ideas were either the bio-enhanced human Tarmysian, Elancil-faith, or both.

you can still be one of the tarmysian. The faith aspect seems a wash, but if you wanted to be the priest, i could make that work

I was thinking Tarmysian Bio-Human Elancil-faith: Redemption Paladin with CHA-spells, Tempest Cleric, or Zealot Barbarian. If the Elancil-faith aspect is just not feasible, I was also thinking Hexblade, pact of the blade warlock, race unknown. I have feats and mechanics I’d be testing for msost of those those character ideas, but no worries. Those were just the 1st 4 I thought of to play, but we can always brainstorm other options. By NO means do I want you to bend over backwards trimming a square peg (char idea) trying to fit it into the round hole (of your campaign). I did that pretty heavily with BE/SN, so this character needs to be less work.

yea, its my job to create the bond between characters up to level 1. My plan is to sit down as a shared session 0/1 and have you guys decide on motivating factors for the group going forward driven by your choice or mine. Having players vote sometimes creates resentment, so i prefer GM driven, but i want to do something different. I could work the paladin angle, but you would have to be the group leader to make any potential long range plans work. If there wont be a cleric, it would work better for WIS based spells. Group leader does not mean front man, but having a strong leader, principled and undeterred, would be AMAZING. Could you play that role? Man, it would be really cool to take up the paladin gauntlet. Theres a couple characters i could test shared litany + conviction with. what do you think?

The nearest to leader I’ve played is the ‘veto vote’ guy. Like a 2nd in command? The party leader would look to my character, and I’d say Y/N. IDK if the group could/would be willing to follow me as leader. I’m also worried I’d slow the sessions down as party leader. What do you mean the paladin gauntlet?

Pick up the challenge. I’m not sure why the party wouldn’t follow you as a leader. As a player, you ask good questions, you’re interested in the history and context of the campaign, as a PC, your characters are deliberate And embrace their core ideas. And you’re a good role player.

You have more faith in my abilities than I do, I guess.

ok, so next idea for PC then. seems like you want to play a physical type character with all the options you listed. that removes the eorthna for sure. the lizard folk character would just not be a spell caster but a rogue would work with the personality concept ive got… would that be next pick?

My 2nd character option was the Tempest domain Cleric. As for the physical type characters, it was more feats that I wanted to test. For the barbarian, I wanted to test the… durable? feat that was changed for your guys 5E, that was accelerated healing, I believe? Then paired that with the better healing from being a BioEnhanced. The warlock Hexblade idea was more of ‘I can melee, but will be ranged to start’ in combat. All of those, the paladin, the cleric, the barbarian, and the warlock were Elancil- and/or Tarmysian-based. What is the eorthna? I that the empath character? I’m not saying no to the redemption paladin idea, just not sure I can pull off being party leader with aplomb and alacrity. I tend to need time to think, and don’t think the party will be willing to sit and wait for my dialup brain to work.

Well, being a party leader doesn’t mean you have to make decisions quick all the time. Tom Potter was a party leader in my Seattle group. He was exactly like you, he didn’t make quick decisions. Analysis paralysis was his biggest drawback. But he did learn to delegate in certain situations. But that was only because the purity of the party. Everybody could be relied upon to do what was right and best because they were unified. A party like we last had was never unified. I’m looking to fix that. Alternatively, you appoint somebody combat leader and that leaves your brain power for making the larger decisions. Which is what Tom eventually did.
To clarify, Tom filled the role that you often feel, which is the moral compass. This is why everybody wanted him as a leader is because out of everybody he can be trusted to do what was right and probably more good than anybody else ‘s gut decisions. If you want to play the role though, I want it to be your choice so it’s up to you.

I’m overthinking this. I keep wanting to explain. Analysis paralysis is definitely happening. I just don’t fucking know.

Then as GM, I’m going to push you into this role. I want to test this out. As long as you dont say no, im going to do this. If you trust me, i think you’ll find in yourself the way to make this work. Worst that happens is you die and/or someone else steps in. You’d make a great counterpoint to the type of character Ben wants to run – the opposite of his last character! im thinking an oath of glory… acceptable? Also, please state the gender of character you wish to play (i can change it)

Spent all day thinking about it. Decided: Fuck it, lol. Playing a paladin. As far as Oath, why glory? Especially with your focus on WIS-based non-caster paladin, Glory Oath is pretty much just a professional athlete with good publicity. Very possible I’m missing something, but that was my take: Buff, big teeth, big smile, shakes hands, kisses babies, loves the spotlight, autographs everything in reach. I can play that, but it’s prolly going to come across as fake/cheesy/insincere.

glory is really the path that the PCs will be on. theres not much to recommend where they begin, and they will have been insulated – content to stick together, make a living and live their lives. But then there’s a moment, a vision… and they realize they can be a force to be reckoned with beyond protecting trade merchants and military caravans. Glory is the constant reminder to strive for more, to push beyond. I thought about redemption, rehabilitating an image, but that was too passive. No meek paladin here, and actions will ensure its not seen as insincere. Also, preferred gender?
> DICE ROLL 17 w/adv; This is a “bond of water” check (more revealed later)
The primary faith can be either Green (water goddess) or Elancil

My Redemption idea would be attempted pacifism, almost a …I forget the word, but conviction, addiction, promise? None of those words are the right one… to do no harm to any but the intentionally evil/irredeemable. Chuck’s bard/paladin had one for benevolence? To attempt discourse towards nonviolence before even drawing my weapon, would only wear armor if I knew irredeemable evil was going to be met (Unfettered paladin playtest?). But if glory is the path, glory it is… My characters will always be male and southpaw, unless forced/cursed(Baldur’s Gate 1, belt of genderswap), loss of dominant limb, etc. My original idea was Redemption Oath to Elancil, but if (water goddess) of the Green is better for your campaign story, I’d need a name, brief description of the god herself, and holy symbol design. Is ‘Toltret’ the first name, last name, or nickname of the character?

Non violence will not work for Elancil (Pacifism is not a good approach for an adventuring band – though I understand the challenge you want in it). Absolute/irredeemable can be too subjective in practice, its a nice ideal but leads to toxic zealotry. . I can work with benevolence, but it would be by a beacon of example. The female side of the elemental worship IS the benevolent side specifically (male is violent). I can work with the unfettered/conviction angle. Most of the PCs essentially follow the more benign symbols and metaphors of water, with Elancil as the swift ending of last resort. I’ll incorporate your ideas as much as I can.

It was more of giving people the chance to be nonviolent via persuasion, etc. If a person is asked not to, and chooses violence anyway, they would be choosing -consciously- to be evil. And intentional evil must be stopped. The idea would be to be as nonviolent as possible, leading people to make good choices and be good people. That was the thought process.

I can incorporate some of that, however that’s not a great foundation for an “epic” level storyline that everyone voted for. While I prefer a lot of intrigue, the literature inspired trope based fantasy world of gaming is still at the heart. I will bend and twist it to something I hope we both like. I got months.

I can completely abandon that, as it’s meant for a redemption paladin trying to minimize pain, hurt, damage on a world-scale, one person at a time. If Glory is what you’re pushing for, -seems like you are- I can lean into being an awesome shining example of goodness, but my dice luck may make me a goober with grand aspirations.

the dice luck will always be there, no matter what you choose. If that’s what you want to play, and it seems like you do, then i’ll work with it.

I can honestly go either way, as I trust you. ‘False pacifism’ with the Redemption, or ‘shiny beacon of hope’ as Glory. I think the Redemption should be a caster tho, as he’d spend downtime pretending to be jesus, healing the sick and curing the ill in the name of (insert god). Glory can be either way, either a Deity-backed not-fighter, or as a buffer, frontline supportish type. Reallly depends on how the unfettered paladin comes along. Going into a dangerous situation, for a martial class, armor and a shield are going to be hard to beat.

well, it seems like the concept is kind of tied to redemption on your side, so i’m not going to absolutely impose my vision – its all just notes and easy to change at this point. right now the unfettered paladin would be using ‘armor of conviction’ with an AC bonus = conviction rating, and natural resilience = pb in a short rest cycle.

I’ve really only spent time thinking of the redemption oath, is why there’s more of a leaning towards it. As an example, I’ve already thinking of the RP-style character inspiration for the Glory oath. If Glory would suit your story better, then Glory it is. SN/BE was a lot of work for you, and I’d prefer an easier time on your end to get my character idea to work. As you mentioned earlier, Glory is the path the PC’s will be on.

the harder i force my concepts, the tighter the group will be at the start generally, but that fades. Id like it not to, but the reality is different. Like i said, its just notes and can easily change and i’ll adapt. So, pretty much ignore any elements or approaches we’ve talked about up to now and we will go with redemption. group leadership will just develop organically.

Berger. I am absolutely OK with playing a Glory paladin. I am, honest. I’m one of the people that directly caused the last campaign to end like it did, and I’m one of the ones pushing hard for group cohesion, unified direction, etc. I voted to collaborate with GM You. I’m buying what you’re selling.

its a 2 way street, and player agency is important to me AS a GM. Im not saying you wont work as leader, it would just have to be as a party decided effort at session zero or as things play out. its a blank slate virtually at the start, so its not as hard to pull things together without the baggage of existing storyline. The last camapign ended in an epic style, with epic characters and their own agendas. pulling everything in different directions I am hoping that was a valuable lesson to folks, but those lessons learn fade as new stories and opportunities rise. I can create glue at the start without forcing PC concepts because its so open at this point. As always, some player in-group tension works for good story making and i will use the redemption arc. The ultimate goal is still going to be up to you guys as a group – ust fame/wealth, a cause/ideal, a liege/stability… these are the pathways i plan on offering eventually, or one you guys pick as a group. also, theres no resentment on my part… the character concepts i made are just concepts and i have no vested interest in them so theres no offense taken if you are worried. i am excited to test the idea of armor of conviction!

I’m a hell of a lot more concerned about being party leader, lol. It was fun to be a ticking time bomb PKer, but it’s not something I’m ever really going to see myself doing again as a planned character arc. I’d almost say have the character base fully plotted out -Paladin of Water goddess/Elancil, armor of conviction- but have 2 separate character chassis depending on how the group decides on the session 0’s. Pretty much leave it to the party to decide on which paladin I play, based on how the campaign starts. Have the Redemption be CHA-caster with good talky-persuasion, Glory be WIS non-caster, my deeds speak for me.

theres no hard configuration, story explains ANYHTING :-). Mechanically, l just move one specific thing into after the group launches instead of built as part of the back story. No worries. And keep in mind, if you are planning on using Armor of Conviction, you do not necessarily need dex or str.

Glory seems to be built around physical excellence, being a Greek God, an Adonis, etc.

yea, but i can read it multiple way. vengenaace hardly seems a classic paladin thing, but 5e is more dynamic

Vengeance and Conquest are definitely not what I think of when I think a D&D paladin, for sure. What made you decide to move the paladin’s caster stuff to be WIS based?

because that is the source of the divine. there is mechanic to switch it to cha, but it moves from insightful-wise-guidance to convert-or-die feel.
my rewrite of conviction is far from done, but here is what i am working with as a starting point: https://incarna.net/feature/conviction/arm/

ARCHIVED all previous text. male, left hand, human paladin, redemption oath, unfettered/conviction.