Just need a name to get you started. Afterwards, there's things to consider.

This is a homebrew game using Pathfinder 1e as it's mechanics, but there will be several changes.

Most important rule of all: Ask questions. I am happy to try to explain anything you wish to know. If it's something you shouldn't know, I will tell you.

I'm trying my hand at Roll20 for Combat maps, but, given it's issues, I will post the maps in the game thread and update it according to the PC's posts.
Since I now am running three games, I'm going to try to set a schedule. I will look to update this game on Wednesdays and Saturdays with a reminder post the day before. If I miss a day due to work or something else, the make up day will be Sunday. Please get your posts up before the deadline. I live in the EST zone and usually post between 0400 and 0600.

First change: Feat Taxes. This information can be found here: https://michaeliantorno.com/feat-taxes-in-pathfinder/

Second: Swifts and Reactions are the same thing in my game, and you only get one or the other per turn unless you have an ability or feat that states otherwise. For example Combat Reflexes will give you extra AoOs normally, but instead it will give you extra reactions AND swift actions. Otherwise, if you cast a spell that's a swift action, you can't do any reactions until the start of your next turn. You are able to stand as a swift action? Well you can't do AoO's till your turn comes around again. This is to hopefully make battles more dynamic without removing AoO's entirely. This would make Combat Reflexes the best feat in the game, so it's benefit is cut by half. So someone with a +4 Dex mod only gets 3 Reactions a turn. This ruling breaks the normal dividing rules so a +3 Dex mod will still will give you +2 reactions.

Third: Posting rate. You must post at least once every 48 hours, if you can't keep up with this for some real life reason, just let me know. I can remove them from the main combat for a bit until you are more available. If you don't tell me, I'll assume they are doing nothing and will still be targets for the enemies. If everyone posts within that time, I will advance the story sooner.

Fourth: Be respectful and let's keep the politics and religion down. I don't mind a healthy debate, but understand that this is a text medium and thus emotions are very difficult to express. Don't just assume that someone is attacking you for your beliefs.

Fifth: Everything that is on Archives of Nethysis (https://aonprd.com/Default.aspx) is okay to play with some exceptions. Races that have an otherworldly aspect to them, can be changed to just be another genetically altered human from before the fall. Below will be a new race and race option.

Sixth: There is no difference in Humanoids when it comes to effects. So a ranger's favored enemy is just Humanoid rather than all the various kinds. There are no Outsiders, Fey, or Elementals, so there's no need to worry about focusing on them. When they do come up, Fey will tend to be either humanoids or magical beasts, Outsiders will be Monstrous Humanoids, and elementals will be aberrations. Note, you will almost always only encounter Outsiders or Elementals as summoned beings made out of natural sources or ectoplasm. They are never living beings.

Seventh: If there's something you don't know, I will roll the check and look at your bonuses so as to cut down on metagaming. I'm going to assume that everyone is looking for traps, sensing motives, and listening for threats, so there's no need to tell me unless you feel like your character might have missed something and wish to try a second time. I will then roll again for you, but you will have to take the results of that roll even if it's worse. Don't assume that just because you're not trained, you have no chance of success. A nat 20 will at least give you something, even if it might not be completely useful or cryptic I'll at least give you a clue.

Eighth: There is no alignment as understood in Pathfinder in this game. Instead every being is broken down in to their affiliations to cryptic alliances. Most fall into Unaligned especially animals and other mindless creatures like constructs and undead. These officiations will be in "The world as we know it" thread. Spells or abilities that have alignment in them will also have their own post below discussing the changes.

Ninth: If you stand from prone, you don't necessarily provoke an AoO. You may make an Acrobatics check to avoid it as if you were moving to through a threatened square.

Tenth: I run surprise just a little different. Instead of a surprise round, those that are surprised roll initiative, then everyone not surprised adds their initiative modifier to the highest roll.

Eleventh: Healing outside of combat is always maximized. I justify this as you're taking the time to say the words just right or getting every drop out of that potion.

Twelfth: When it comes to needing to roll a 50 or a 20 percentile, you may chose these options stated as you roll in the Reason For Roll section of the die roller.
  For 50% - Top half (51-100), Bottom half (01-50), Evens, or Odds.
  For 20% - First 20 (1-20), Second 20 (21-40), Third 20 (41-60), Fourth 20 (61-80), Last 20 (81-100), or All 5s (any multiple of 5)

Thirteenth: Psionics are allowed and function as if they are just another form of magic. Information can be found here: https://www.d20pfsrd.com/alter.../psionics-unleashed/

Fourteenth: Combat is run by myself rolling initiative for the creatures as a group, then each PC rolls their initiative. If your roll beats mine, you act before the creatures do and may post your action. If you don't, then you only need to post your initiative and combat will begin. I run the actions as a first post, first action in order. So even though you might have rolled better than everyone else, if you post your actions last, you actions happen last before the creatures act. This just makes life easy for me so that I don't have to keep going back to the start of combat to find your initiative and in making sure I don't miss anyone. Special Note: If you have been knocked unconscious and dying, you still need to roll to stabilize even if someone heals you that same turn. If you fail, you go down this one point as you are healed. If that last drop in hp would have killed you, you are saved just as you reached death's door.

Fifteeth: When taking the aid action, I always take whomever's roll is the best and then the other assists. In the real world, the lead could make a mistake and someone jumps in to stop or correct them. It's always considered a team effort.

Sixteeth: I will roll most knowledge rolls for you as soon as they are relevant. You may always request to roll them yourself, but, if in combat, you will lose your reaction for that round. I tend to roll secret things that you won't see, like creatures stealthing up on the party, noticing traps, and the like to keep things moving and removing the need to tip my hand when something is about to happen. You may declare that you are looking for something specific in your post and then roll, but you must keep the roll secret and PM it to me in your post so that the others don't know if you were successful or not. Rolls that don't follow this rule will be tossed out and you will be requested to roll again.

Seventeeth: While it's not required, I strongly suggest you have a backup character. They will level up as you level up and may have the starting gold of their equivalent level per the rules. You may also "trade" items to your alternate that you find, but only during downtime. I would hand wave this as your current character "sells" it and your alternate picks it up without any real money changing hands.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:58, Tue 20 Feb.

Animen

Animen are a race of humanoid animals that have arisen from either the genetheropy of the ancients or through mutation of irradiated cells from the terrible weapons of old. Animen stand just slightly shorter to half the size of a normal human and have a some features of animals. Some will have deer antlers, fuzzy noses and ears. Some will have large lupine or feline ears and sharp teeth, scales and a forked tongue, or even feathers and a large beak. Every one is different in their own unique way, but will be noticeably one type of animal. Most Animen form small tribes that consist of close knit family groups. Life is harsh and short in the wilds and they will constantly fight amongst themselves for limited resources of the environmental and for mates. Most male animen will be shorter than the females of the species with females being more subdued in color while the males will have something that makes them stand out, usually either colorful fur or feathers. Most animen will mate with others that look at least similar to them, but this is not the rule. Various animen with different traits will mate with another, with the offspring generally looking like the mother in these cases. All animen are born alive even though some will have avian or reptilian features.

Animen Traits:

+2 Constitution, +2 Charism, -2 Wisdom: Living in the irradiated wilds makes Animen more hardy and more likely to form small group bonds, but their violent society leads to less focus on the future.
Size: Choose either small or medium at character creation. This cannot be changed. If small is chosen, the character takes a -2 to Strength, +2 to Dex, +1 size modifier to AC, and a +4 to Stealth.
Speed: 30 feet or medium animen, 20 for small
Type: Animen are considered Human (Animen)
Low-Light Vision: Animen can see twice as far as a race with normal vision in conditions of dim light.
Languages: Common and Animen, they may also select Elven, Gnoll, Orc, Goblin, Dwarven, Giant, or Animal Languages (a language that can be used to "talk" to animals though this is imperfect and rife with misunderstandings)


Healthy: Animen gain a +4 bonus on Fortitude saves against disease and poison, including magical diseases due to their life in the unclean wilds.
Camouflage: Choose a ranger favored terrain type. Members of this race gain a +4 racial bonus on Stealth checks while within that terrain type. Most animen chose either forests or grasslands, but any terrain is a valid choice.
Stalker: Perception and Stealth are always class skills for animen.

Chose one of the following to represent you animalistic heritage. Once the chose is made, it cannot be changed. Though there are mentions of specific types of animen, this doesn't mean that you are barred from selecting them, they are just guidelines for the most common animan selections.
Amphibious: Some more reptilian or fishlike animen are amphibious and can breathe both air and water.
Claws: These animen receive two claw attacks. These are primary natural attacks. The damage is based on the creature’s size (Bestiary 302).
Climb: These usually mammalian animen have a climb speed of 20 feet, and gain the +8 racial bonus on Climb checks that a climb speed normally grants.
Ferocity: Once per day, when an animan is reduced to fewer than 0 hit points but is not killed, it can fight on for 1 more round as if disabled. At the end of its next turn, unless brought to above 0 hit points, it immediately falls unconscious and begins to die.
Jumper: These animen are always considered to have a running start when making Acrobatics checks to jump.
Nimble Faller: (Small Animen only) Animen land on their feet even when they take lethal damage from a fall. Furthermore, they gain a +1 bonus to their CMD against trip attempts. These animen are usually have feline features.
Quick Reactions: Male animen can receive Improved Initiative as a bonus feat.
Scavenger: These animen gain a +2 racial bonus on Appraise and Perception checks to find hidden objects (including traps and secret doors), determine whether food is spoiled, or identify a potion by taste.
Silent Hunter: Usually female animen have is ability to reduce the penalty for using Stealth while moving by 5 and can make Stealth checks while running at a –20 penalty (this number includes the penalty reduction from this trait).
Swim: Animen have a swim speed of 30 feet and gain the +8 racial bonus on Swim checks that a swim speed normally grants.
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:01, Sun 05 Dec 2021.

You are a mutant among your fellows. You lose all racial abilities other than Size, Speed, and Ability Adjustments. This is purely for balance, but explained as you were either shunned by your family, or, instead of focusing on cultural norms and training, you were busy learning or being trained how to control and bring forth your natural abilities. If you wish to keep your racial abilities, look to the feat section below for that option.

As a mutant, you gain 3 Mutation Points (MPs) +1 per level to spend and can take Drawbacks to increase this amount. After character creation, you can continue to spend MPs as you see fit or hold them to "purchase" a costly mutation later on down the road.

For example, Cheep, the Mutant Chickadee, wants wings, but that's a 6 point mutation. She really doesn't want to be weakened or just doesn't see a drawback that speaks to her at this moment. So she holds her points till 3rd level and then gets the wings she'll always wanted.

Drawbacks can be bought off after character creation by spending MPs equal to the drawback's value.

You can find the complete list here: link to a message in this game
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:47, Sat 11 Dec 2021.

Irradiated

 You were exposed to some radioactive source that altered your genes giving you surprising powers.

Benefit: You gain a single MP to spend as you wish and may take and extra 2 MPs so long as the cost is offset by drawbacks.

Special: You may take this feat multiple times, gaining an additional MP

Every intelligent being usually will be part of one or more Cryptic Alliances that are described in "The world as we know it" thread. This is to discuss the changes from alignment to orientation.

Each character must choose to be part of a Cryptic Alliance or choose Unaffiliated. From that point on, you will have other Alliances that you are either affiliated, neutral, or hostile toward as described in each Cryptic Alliance's description. If you are unaffiliated, you can pick at up to 3 cryptic alliances you are opposed to.

When it comes to classes and spells that require a specific alignment to function, these are removed, when it comes to classes, and altered, when it comes to spells or abilities.

For example, a Paladin no longer has to be LG or even act like a LG character. Instead he is a holy warrior affiliated to a specific cryptic alliance or is considered a ronin, or unaffiliated crusader.  Detect alignment spells now detect affiliated or detect hostile. For example, a Paladin's detect evil, now detects hostile affiliated beings. The detect or protection spells now only protect or detect affiliation. So a detect affiliation cast by a Bonapartist Cleric, only detects those of a cryptic alliance that is hostile to the Ranks of the Fit. A know alignment is changed to know affiliation which reveals what, if any, Cryptic Alliances they may or may not be affiliated to. Protections spells now must be tailored to the specific type or affiliation of being in question. You can cast Protection from the Created, or Protection from Demons, or Protection from Humanoids, but this must be determined at the time of casting. Protection from energy spells are not included and are still separate spells.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:58, Fri 03 Dec 2021.

There are elves, dwarves, halflings, half-elves, half-orcs, and gnomes in this game, but they are all considered Altered humans. Thus every "race" above can have children with any of the others. Normally, the offspring will follow the mother's "race" about 80% of the time. Halflings and gnomes aren't small characters, but they are on the shorter side of the human spectrum.

As the PCs get more powerful, and thus gain new Hit Dice, the PC will roll for every level passed 1st, but the minimum hp is half your Hit Die. d6 gets a 3 minimum if they roll a 1 or a 2, 4 for a d8, etc. Then your Con bonus applies. If you're looking to Multiclass or lean new skills, try to make an in game mention before that point that you are researching the topic, aka skill, in your downtime.

When considering skills, you must spend one skill point of the four points for background skills towards a Craft or Profession skill. This does not have to be the initial one you picked at 1st level.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:21, Mon 28 Aug 2023.

I actually hate the idea that monsters are just sitting around in dungeons waiting for adventures to come by and kill them, like they never eat or use the chamber pot. While this might be true of some creatures, most don't just sit around. Hence, things in a dungeon move around and they will discover things unless the party takes steps to cover their tracks. Thus I use a modified version of the Outrage Points found in Giant Slayer. As time goes on, the creatures will start to notice missing friends and patrols will increase. Don't expect to just find a quiet corner to rest and no one will find you. This might work under extreme circumstances, but this is not the norm. Monsters have social lives too.

Clockwork creatures can be summoned just as other creatures can be. To summon a creature with the clockwork creature template (found here: https://www.d20pfsrd.com/besti...kwork-creature-cr-2/) you must cast the spell but pull from the list one level lower.

So to summon a clockwork dire rat, you would have to cast summon monster ii as the dire rat is on the summon monster i list. Summon nature's ally spells cannot summon a clockwork creature.