So, if you're interested in joining this game, I'll need you to submit a request to join, obviously. Here's what I'm expecting from prospective players:

1) Introduction

Just tell me why you're interested in the game, your personal reasons for wanting to play it and what you aim to get out of the experience. Nothing too personal or long, just a brief intro giving me an idea of what you plan for should work here.

Previous experience with 3.5, Pathfinder, or the Way of the Wicked adventure path is neither required nor a detriment - you don't have to give me any details on the matter, although if you feel like it, knowing where you stand on the matter will certainly help me tailor the game experience to your needs better.

2) Character Concept

Here, I'd like a couple paragraphs that explains what your ideas for the character you wish to play are: what you want to accomplish with, which narrative and strategic role you want them to play in the game, how do you plan to fit them into a larger plot that will require working under a bigger evil boss with a plan to destroy a kingdom, and a general idea of what field of specialization you want for them.

You can and should give me an idea here of the kind of race/class combo you'd like to have and any other mechanical aspect of the character that you would like to play, including any questions if you want to include something particular (more on this on the "Mechanics" point further down), but keep in mind that nothing you say here will be set in stone - if I accept you into the game, we'll discuss the mechanical stuff in detail in order to make sure we can get something that works for both of us.

Incidentally, this means that, if you only have a vague idea for your concept but are unsure how to realize that mechanically, that's not a deal-breaker: assuming you're clear on the rest of the RTJ points, just saying here what you would like your character to be able to do in a more general sense will be enough, as I can help players who have no experience with Sphere of Might & Power and/or Pathfinder itself to build something that fits their idea - in fact, Spheres of Power works better when going from a concept to a mechanical build than the other way around.

3) Physical Description

A couple of paragraphs describing what your character would look like physically to an external observer are all that's needed here - if you get accepted, we'll put this into your "character description" of your character.

Ideally, this should be split 50/50 between physical traits (eye and hair color, height, size, typical style of clothing, etc.) and non-physical descriptions (attitude, way of walking and moving, speech patterns and voice, etc.), with one paragraph for each, but that's not indispensable.

4) Personality

One or two paragraphs here explaining the way your character will normally act, why it would act that way, and any other psychological details that would be relevant to understand the character's motivations. Life goals, plans and any character flaws that somebody could potentially exploit (and since you're playing a villain, you really should have a couple) should also go there. The more well-rounded the character is, the better.

5) Background

Once you have the character's personality, here use a couple paragraphs to explain how their life experience shaped that personality: their family, their past jobs, their previous accomplishments, and so on. You should try, if you can, to include at least one or two references to the stuff you can find in the Common Knowledge Information Thread to bind your character to the setting more tightly, as well as provide at least some ideas of your own for expanding on that with original ideas that could be integrated into the setting itself.

6) Crime

For players who are joining this game halfway through, your starting point will be different from the "imprisoned in Branderscar" one that those who joined the game at the beginning had. This does not, however, means that you can ignore this section - indeed, it is more important than ever. Your character needs to have a grudge with Talingarde serious enough to want to join a group that is voted to the kingdom's destruction; ideally, your character should try to persuade the others in character to let you join them, and be ready and willing to sign the contract the others already have and to sell their soul to Asmodeus for the privilege to join them in their mission. So, having a solid backstory reason why the authorities of Talingarde would want you dead (and some identifying feature to replace the brand the other characters got that makes them easily recognized if they were ever arrested) is of crucial importance. So, read what follows with this framework in mind.

Finally, you should select the crime that landed you in Branderscar (there's a list at the end of this post). I should made it clear here that, in the setting, Branderscar isn't just for any random criminal - this is for people who committed crimes bad enough that they need to be made examples of for the whole kingdom to see, so that future criminals will think twice before following the same path.

Thus, what you should do here is go overboard. Talingarde is a Lawful Good nation, and thus, while they require the laws to be obeyed, they understand mercy and that mistakes aren't to be punished as heavily as malicious intent. You'll be in an E6 environment (more on that in the "Mechanics" point and on the "House Rules" thread), so even if you are a 1st level character, you'd be a professional with some skill at whatever your specialty is in your setting, and a lot of latitude on what you could do, as any opposition would be around your level, more or less.

So, when you pick your crime, don't stop to just it, think about why you were singled out as despicable enough to be made an example out. For example: in Talingarde, people who publicly worship a God other than Mythra can be fined, imprisoned or exiled, so to get a death sentence you don't need to have just proselytized, but to have done so for a truly evil faith and committed (or had other commit on behalf of the faith you were sponsoring) some pretty hideous crimes in the process of your heretic worship.

As I said, go overboard - make your crime memorable, something that the people of wherever you were arrested would remember about for at least some time, and clearly enough to mark you as irredeemable enough in the eyes of whichever judge sent you to Branderscar. Try to seed plot hooks into your crime if you can, as well - they'll enhance the experience later on.

7) Writing Sample

Here, all I want is a short example (about three paragraphs would be fine, but no hard limits on this one) of how your character would read in the story when you made a post with them in it. Ideally, this should be either a scene of your character committing the crime that got them arrested or of them being arrested for it, but anything that you think would work to give me an idea of how the character will act in game posts and what your writing style and skills are like works here.

8) Mechanics

So, first of all, the game will run in an E6 environment, which means you'll progress to lv 6 and, once you've reached it, you'll stop gaining levels and start gaining feats. This means that you should take that into account when planning your build.

For Races and Classes, I'm willing to give a shot to anything I can find online for free; this means, if it's on the PFd20SRD, or the spheresofpower.wikidot page, or on Archives of Nethys, or someplace else where I can consult the material whenever I want or feel like it during the game. I will need you to give me a clear explanation about why you need a specific race and/or class, both from a narrative and mechanical standpoint, and I might still say no or require some conditions if I think something about the race could cause balance or narrative issues, but otherwise, go nuts - psionics, path of war, veilweaving or anything else you might want to try, I might just let you.

The one and only exception to this, that is, which I won't be willing to even consider no matter how good a case you make for why you need me to allow it, will be Vancian Magic. I am not going to allow it and won't hear complaints on the matter. That said, this doesn't mean I won't accept classes who normally use Vancian Castings, such as Clerics and Wizards; the core and base classes all already have archetypes on the spheres of power wiki, but if the class you want doesn't have an archetype already, I will likely be willing to brainstorm one with you that fits what you want out of the class. I'm very open to experimentation - after all, you'll be playing villains, and aren't those always a bit weird and outside the norm of the world they live into?

Finally, if you have a concept that could only be expressed with a particular class, but that class is subpar, I might be willing to edit that class so that it can perform a little bit better. For example, Monks in Core PF get an ability to add Wisdom and a static number that grows with level to their AC when unencumbered; I would not be adverse to also allow a Monk to use Wisdom in place of Strength, as well as add that scaling bonus, for attack rolls as well, provided they are made with unarmed strikes or monk weapon and still keeping to the unencumbered rule. Similarly, it is a common complaint that the Fighter should have had Martial Flexibility - well, I wouldn't have any real problem with letting Fighter gain that class feature at, say, lv 4th.

Basically, whatever your idea, I'm willing to work with it if you're willing to work with me on it. I want people to be invested, and I want this game to be a chance for everybody in it to really flex their creativity to make the campaign memorable. So, bring the best ideas you have, and I'll see what can be done to integrate them into the story.

You'll be starting at level 1, and in terms of what you'll be given, here's a list.

If you are joining after the game is already started, you'll begin at level 3 instead.

You can pick either the high array (18,16,14,12,10,8) or the medium array (17,16,14,12,12,10), assigning the numbers to your ability scores in whichever order you wish.

For Skills, we'll be using the Background Skills optional rule; also, any class which gains 2 + INT skills per level can replace that 2 with a 4, so long as they're not using INT as their primary/casting stat. Also, Perception is a class skill for everyone.

For HP, no need to roll - I'll just let everybody get the max amount every level. You're only going to get 6 total hit dice in the end, so I want every one to count as much as possible.

Alignment should be preferably evil and/or lawful, but any non-good is acceptable, although I'll give preference to evil characters if two RTJ are of otherwise equal quality.

Signing a binding contract with your soul as collateral and working with a team of fellow villains to destroy a good kingdom is something your character must be willing to do for the game to work, so make sure that whichever character you make, they are at least on board with this much.

For Traits, in addition to your Crime trait (which is mandatory), I'm allowing two more, and you can get a third (for a total of four) by selecting an applicable drawback.

For Feats, I might be willing to let you skip prerequisites or let them scale for free if you have a good argument for why your character would need it - although keep in mind that, since we're using E6 rules, you'll eventually have a very large amount of feats.

Furthermore, I'm letting everybody pick two RACE feats for free, one at level 1 and one at level 5. I feel like race feats are among the coolest, and can give a lot of personality to a character, but almost never get picked; so, I'm gonna give you these two for free, and see how much of an impact they have. Not like you'll be lacking feats anyway.

Speaking of which, I don't want to bother with the big 6, so I'm giving you a modified version of the Automatic Bonus Progression, restructured because, since this is E6, you're not really going to need them too much. Fluffwise, we'll say that, through continuous exposure to magic, the characters assimilated a bit of it inside their body, and that's the origin of their superior capabilities.

So, here's how these additions will change the normal level progression:

At lv 2, 4 and 6, you get a free feat. This means you get one free feat every level, instead of only at the odd ones.

At lv 2, you gain a +1 Resistance bonus to all saves.

At lv 3, you gain Attunement. Choose one out of Shield, Armor, Weapon, or Implement; you can spend 1 minute to grant a +1 Enhancement bonus of the chosen type to an item that would benefit from it.

Implements can be any type of item (typically Staves, but rings or amulets are common) and the +1 enhancement bonus they grant is applied to your Caster Level in a specific sphere, chosen whenever the player attunes to the item (which means, they spend 1 minute in-character to select it).

For Armor, you can attune to normal clothes you are wearing to grant them the Armor bonus, and this does not count against abilities that require the user to be "wearing no armor", such as the Monk's AC bonus or the ability of a Wizard with the "Somatic component" drawback to cast spells.

When choosing Weapons, you can select up to three individual weapons to grant this bonus to at once (two light weapons, or a group of 50 ammunitions, count as one individual weapon for he purpose of this ability). These three individual weapons taken together count as "one item" for Attunement purpose.

Attunement can be used an unlimited number of times, but the bonus is only active while you're personally using the item, and only on one selected item at a time - attuning to a new item will deactivate the effect on the previous one.

At lv 5, you must choose one Physical and one Mental score; you gain a permanent +2 enhancement bonus to both chosen scores.

At lv 6, you gain a +2 Deflection bonus to AC; also, you can pick a second Attunement type.

I know, this is far from ideal balance, but I think it's better than having everybody decked out in the exact same item combination. Hopefully you all will agree with me.

9) House Rules

You really, really need to read the house rules, particularly the ones regarding posting speed; they have their own thread, and I expect that anybody who is sending an RTJ has read and understood them - and if you have questions about any of them, feel free to include those in your RTJ as well. I'm always happy to explain my reasoning, but I hate being ignored, so if you send the RTJ and have no questions about the house rules, I'm taking it as confirmation you've read them, understood them, and have no issue with them.

Well, I hope this setup is good enough to draw some attention from you all - I need new players badly, so if you're interested, don't hesitate to post your RTJ! I will accept them until next Monday (April 15), and on April 16 I'll give my answer on who's made the cut.

Well, I hope this setup is good enough to draw some attention from you all; I really need one new player, so if you're interested, don't hesitate to post your RTJ! I will accept them for a week, and thus until Friday the 17th of July, and on the 18th of July I'll give my answer on who's made the cut.

Thanks again for reading this all, and I hope to see you in the game! ^_^

*************

Here are the Crime Traits; be sure to pick one.


Crime Traits

Each character chooses one heinous crime that has earned them a place in Branderscar Prison. Each crime grants a different benefit, similar to a trait. You may have committed many crimes during your lifetime, but this is the crime that finally got you branded and condemned.

Besides simplying choosing a crime, you should also consider how the crime was done. Was his a well planned criminal enterprise or a crime of passion? Did you do it alone or did you have accomplices? Was this the first time you did this crime or are you a repeat offender? Answering these questions will help flesh out your character’s background.

This has been said before, but it bears repeating. Your character actually perpetrated this crime. You may have done it for what seemed like noble reasons. You may have gotten entangled in this criminal enterprise unwillingly. But there is no doubt that you are guilty. You have not been sentenced to the worse prison in Talingarde unjustly. You are here because you deserve to be.

In fact, to have been sent to Branderscar, you're no common criminal - whichever crime you are guilty of, it was worthy of note. Talingarde is a lawful good society which believes in second chances, reabilitative imprisonment, and having leniency for those deserving of it. But whatever you did proved that any hope of your redemption was lost long ago, that you would never stop being a threat to society as a whole, and that making a striking example of you to discourage similar evildoers from following in your path in the future was the only way left to make your contribution to the country a net positive. Keep that in mind when choosing what you are guilty of - within your capabilities, your actions left the most just authorities around with no other choice but to deem you completely irredeemable.

Arson
You have willfully started a fire that destroyed property. To be sent to Branderscar, you didn’t start just a minor little trash fire. Your act of arson threatened a major
town, city, church or castle and likely cost someone their life. You’ll be punished for your crime by facing the fire yourself.
Punishment: Death by burning
Benefit: Whenever you score a critical hit with a fire attack, you receive a +2 fire damage bonus to your damage roll. This bonus is a trait bonus.

Attempted Murder
You tried to kill someone and botched the job. To be sent to Branderscar Prison, you did not try to kill just anyone. You likely assaulted someone of great importance and prominence.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You gain a +2 trait bonus to Intimidate checks, and Intimidate is always a class skill for you.

Blasphemy
Either you have defamed the great god Mitra or you have been found guilty of worshipping one of the forbidden deities (who preeminent among them is Asmodeus).
Punishment: Death by burning
Benefit: +2 trait bonus to Knowledge (religion) and Knowledge (religion) is always a class skill for you.

Consorting with the Dark Powers (Witchcraft)
You have been found guilty of summoning an evil outsider. Likely you were captured by the famed witch hunter Sir Balin of Karfeld. The last thing he said to you was, “May Mitra have mercy upon your wretched, damned soul.” If only you could get a chance at revenge!
Punishment: Death by burning
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Knowledge (planes) and Knowledge (arcana) checks, and one of these skills (your choice) is always a class skill for you.

Desecration
You have violated one of the churchs, cathedrals or holy shrines of the great god Mitra. To be sent to Branderscar this was no minor act of vandalism. Instead you have done something flagrant and spectacular to dishonor the Shining Lord.
Punishment: Death by burning
Benefit: You receive +1 trait bonus on all saving throws against divine spells.

Desertion
You have deserted from the Talirean military and been recaptured. To get sent to Branderscar this was not some minor or routine dereliction of duty. Instead, you abandoned your post during a time of crisis — perhaps battle or while defending the Watch Wall. Regardless of the exact circumstances, your laziness and cowardness must have caused loss of life.
Punishment: Death by hanging
Benefit: You receive one bonus skill point per level that must be spent on the Profession (Soldier) skill. Profession (Soldier) is always a class skill for you.

Dueling unto Death
You have engaged in a duel to the death and mortally wounded an opponent. The opponent was honorable enough to say nothing before he expired. Alas that his family or companions was nowhere near so honorable. Dueling was once common in Talingarde before the House of Darius came to power. The House of Barca all but encouraged duels of honor. Now, dueling of any sort is punished severely. Dueling to the death is a sure way to be sent to Branderscar Prison.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You gain a +1 trait bonus to Fortitude saves

Extortion
You have defrauded money from someone by holding information of their wrongdoing over their heads. To end up in Branderscar, this was no minor act of merely threatening to expose someone. Instead you ave attempted extortion against someone of great prominence and for exorbitant stakes.
Punishment: Life at hard labor in the salt mines
Benefit: You receive a +2 trait bonus to Intimidate checks, and Intimidate is always a class skill for you.

Forgery
You have forged documents issued either by the crown or by the Church of Mitra. Alas, that your forgery while competent was not entirely undetectable. To be sent to Branderscar, this was no minor finagling of paperwork. This forged document could have cost lives, undermined the reputation of the Church or endangered the security of the realm.
Punishment: Life at hard labor in the salt mines
Benefit: You gain a +3 trait bonus to Linguistics skill checks to commit forgery and Linguistics is always a class skill for you.

Fraud
You tried to bilk someone out of their cash. To end up in Brandescar Prison, this was no petty con job or penny ante racket. Instead, you brazenly tried to defraud someone important of a huge sum of money. And it almost worked too!
Punishment: Life at hard labor in the salt mines
Benefit: You receive a +2 trait bonus to Bluff checks and Bluff is always a class kill for you.

Grave Robbery
It is forbidden by sacred law to dishonor a corpse after it is been sealed in its tomb by a clergy of the Mitran faith. Some may not honor this ban: necromancers, golem crafters, self-styled scientists, and alchemists delving into the forbidden secrets of life and death. These ghouls can expect no mercy from the Talirean Magistrates. And by sending you to Branderscar Prison, you have received none.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to confirm critical hits

Heresy
You have denied the supremacy of Mitra and been condemned for it. For this to be a crime, you were not content to keep your heresy to yourself. You tried to sway others. Likely you were captured by the famed witch hunter Sir Balin of Karfeld. The last thing he said to you
was: “Mitra may forgive you yet for your lies. Talingarde will not.” If only you could get a chance at revenge!
Punishment: Death by burning.
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus on all saving throws against divine spells.

High Theft
You had a foolproof plan to steal some great treasure. Alas, the scheme had a fatal flaw and went horribly awry. To be sent to Branderscar prison, this was no ordinary robbery attempt. You tried to steal something of great value or religious significance.
Punishment: Life at hard labor in the salt mines
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Reflex saves.

High Treason
You have willfully worked to bring down the current Monarch of Talingarde — the beloved King Markadian V called the Brave of House Darius. To be successfully tried for High Treason you have done more than merely dislike the king, you did something tangible to undermine his
rule. Alas, that you failed at your plot and are now headed to Branderscar Prison. Treason is the only crime that is still punished by the gruesome ritual of being drawn and quartered. Your stay at Branderscar will be brief.
Punishment: Death by drawing and quartering
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Will saves.

Kidnapping
You have abducted someone perhaps to ransom them or do unspeakable things to them. Unfortunately, you were caught and your victim was rescued (if they weren’t rescued — you would be guilty of murder instead). To be sent to Branderscar Prison, you must have abducted someone of great importance or in a particularly gruesome manner.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to both Disarm and Grapple attempts.

Murder
You have killed without just cause and been condemned for it. To be sent to Branderscar Prison, this was no typical killing but a particularly savage and unforgiveable act. You may also have killed someone with powerful friends.
Note: You are not allowed to have killed someone in the royal family of Talingarde. You may have tried (this would instead be High Treason — see above) but ultimately they are too well protected.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You deal 1 additional point of damage when flanking a foe. This additional damage is a trait bonus.

Piracy
You have been caught in the act of piracy on the high seas. This is a rare crime these days since Markadian I called the Victorious burned the last major pirate fleet to threaten these isles. Still the crime is punished harshly. Likely you are the sole survivor of your ship.
Punishment: Death by hanging
Benefit: You may select either Bluff or Intimidate. The selected skill receives a +2 trait bonus and is always a class skill for you.

Sedition
You have attempted to covertly stir up rebellion against your rightful sovereign. This differs from high treason in that you attempted to convince others to make war against Talingarde instead of taking direct action yourself. A subtle difference to be sure. But it is the difference between receiving the swift justice of the axe instead of the slow suffering upon the rack.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Bluff checks and Bluff is always a class skill for you. Further if you ever take the Leadership feat, you gain a +1 trait bonus to your Leadership score.

Slave-Taking
Slavery is illegal in Talingarde and a very rare crime. Still, once in a great while, slavers from the mainland will foolishly make an incursion into Talirean protected territories. When they are captured alive they are always made an example of.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You receive a +1 trait bonus to both Disarm and Grapple attempts.

Slave Trading
Slavery is legal in other parts of the world and it can be tempting to the most decadent of Talingarde’s nobility to acquire a “souvenir” when traveling abroad or to purchase the object of their desire from a less reputable merchant. However you ended up trading slaves in Talingarde, you were caught red handed and now you will lose more than simply your freedom.
Punishment: Death by beheading
Benefit: You receive one bonus skill point per level that must be spent on the Appraise skill. The Appraise skill is always a class skill for you.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:31, Thu 09 July 2020.