wotw - character creation

8/10/2019 WotW - Character Creation

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K n o t o f T h o r n s

Paths to Wickedness:How to Make a Villain

Tis section is intended or players. So eel ree tomake a copy or personal use and distribute it.

IntroductionGuilty. You are a lawbreaker the worst of the worst.

oo dangerous to live amongst the good people of alingarde, they dragged you in chains before a magistrate andcondemned you. Tey sent you to the worst prison in theland and there they forever marked you. Tey held youdown and branded you with a runic F. You are forsaken.You wont be at Branderscar Prison for long. Brand-erscar is only a holding pen. In three days justicecomes. In three days everything ends.

What a pity. If only

there was a way out ofthis stinking rat-hole.If only there was a wayto escape. If only

No. No one has everescaped from BranderscarPrison. Tis is where yourstory ends.

What is Talin-garde?

alingarde is the most

virtuous, peace ul, noblenation in the world to-day. Tis land is ruled byKing Markadian V called theBrave o House Darius. He hasonly one heir the beauti ul princessBellinda. Tis benevolent monarchy is heavilyintertwined with the Church o Mitra, the Shining Lord.You are rom alingarde. Tis is your home. You havelived here your entire li e. And i they gave you hal achance, you would have your revenge on all o them.

Who is Mitra?

Mitra, the so-called Shining Lord, is the god o thesun, bravery, honor, justice, charity and other such pusil-lanimous rubbish. Te Church o Mitra is the preemi-nent religion o alingarde these days. Te Knights othe Alerion, the elite warriors o alingarde, are a Mi-tran order. Te monks o St. Macarius, who travel theland healing the sick and the helping the needy, are alsoa Mitran order. Te House o Darius, the royal amily o

alingarde, are devout ollowers o Mitra.

It wasnt always this way. Be ore the Darians tookover, alingarde worshipped an entire pantheon o dei-ties. Preeminent among those deities was Asmodeus,Prince o Hell, Lord o Ambition and Order. Now itis orbidden to worship Asmodeus. o do so is to becondemned. Te Mitrans destroyed all the Asmodean

temples and burned his books and priests. Tere are noollowers o Asmodeus anymore in alingarde at leastnone you know o . Devout Mitrans will not say the nameAsmodeus. He is simply Te Fallen or Te Enemy.

How did they catch me?

You tell us. You must pick a crime (there is a list pro- vided below) that you were condemned or. Tey

are only two requirements you got caughtand you really did it.

Its not surprising that the alireans (thepeople o alingarde) caught you, though.

alingarde is a ercely law ul and goodsociety. Crime (espe-cially heinous crimelike yours) is not tol-

erated.

SystemMaking a character or

the Way o the WickedCampaign is similar tomaking characters or any

campaign using Te Path-nder Roleplaying Game

with just a ew modica-tions.

Step 1 -- Determine Ability Scores

Any method will do, butwe present here an alternate

method appropriate to this adventure path called Focusand Foible. Besides that one, the 25 point buy method isalso recommended. Its challenging being a villain withthe whole world against you.

Focus and Foible

Choose a Focus, an ability score at which you excel.You receive an 18 in that score.

Choose a Foible, an ability score that is your weakness.You receive an 8 in that score.

Te other our, roll 1d10+7 our times in order. Tereare no rerolls or moving o ability scores. Tose are yourother our scores.


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Why this Method?

Tis method makes slightly more power ul characterson average. A Focus and Foible-built character costs25 build points to make on average but more power ulcharacters are not uncommon. It compensates or thepotential increase in power by making characters slightly

random. Randomness never completely hamstrings acharacter though (the lowest total you can roll is 8 a -ter all) and never gives them an ability score higher thantheir ocus.

Tere ore your wizard might have a high dexterity andcharisma as well as having a high intelligence and a lowstrength. Te writer nds this tends to create slightlymore interesting, unusual and diverse characters. I therandomness and potential or character inequity bothersyou, you can always use point buy instead.

Step 2 -- Pick Your Race

Tis is unchanged. All races in Te Pathnder Role-playing Game are permitted.

Tere are certain races that will be more difficult toplay in this campaign. Extremely unusual or monstrousraces are likely to be troublesome. PCs o those racesmay nd themselves uninvolved in certain parts o thiscampaign.

Te PCs afer all are on a secret mission to inltrateand destroy alingarde. It will be more difficult to in-ltrate anything i you are travelling with a minotaur,goblin or serpent man or example. read care ully with

these choices.Step 3 -- Pick Your Class

All classes are permitted except the Paladin. Paladinsdo not walk the Way o the Wicked. A ew classes requiresome special consideration below.

Te Anti-paladin rom the Advanced Players Guide iswell suited themetically or this campaign. Alas, the classrequires a chaotic evil alignment which is not permitted.Tus it is recommended that your GM allow the houserule Te anti-paladin may be o any evil alignment.Further, the anti-paladin may have cohorts, ollowers

and henchmen who are o any evil alignment instead othe usual chaotic evil requirement. Also, a law ul evilanti-paladin may not use their endish boon to add theanarchic property to a weapon. Instead, they may addthe axiomatic property.

Assassins are a great choice or this campaign. Subtlekilling can potentially be use ul again and again. Yes, thisis a prestige class not a core class. But its a great prestigeclass to be working towards at level one.

Barbarians can be a good choice, but since chaoticalignments are not allowed (see below), neutral evil orneutral are the only two possible alignment choices.Barbarians have the challenge o coming up with a goodreason why a class as chaotic and rebellious as this onewould cooperate with a group o law ul evil ollowers o

Asmodeus. Perhaps a cleric o Asmodeus (another PC?)saved your li e and now you owe that priest your service.

Cavaliers are a ne choice or a PC but must be care-ul about their Order selection. Orders that de end the

common olk (Te Order o the Shield) or pledge alle-giance to the king o alingarde (Te Order o the Lion)are probably not appropriate. Sel -serving orders ( or ex-ample the Order o the Cockatrice) are very appropriateindeed.

Clerics and inquisitors are allowed but must worshipa god who approves o the villainous path ahead o you.

Worshipping the law ul evil god Asmodeus isstrongly

encouraged. At the GMs discretion it may be requiredor divine classes.

Druids are permitted though neutral good druids arenot. Evil druids are a per ectly valid choice but you mustdecide why such a character would ever join an organiza-tion that honors a law ul evil god.

Gunslingers are permitted but this adventure path as-sumes by de ault that rearms do not exist. Tere are noguns ound in the treasure or adversaries who use re-arms. I you want to play a gunslinger, you should talk tothe Game Master about this. I they approve this choice,then they will need to modi y the campaign accordinglyto accommodate your character.

Monks may not be law ul good and are recommendedto be law ul evil. A law ul neutral monk is technically al-lowed but would be a difficult choice. Why would such alaw abiding character seek to destroy alingarde?

Ninja and Samurai are permitted but the campaignas written makes no special allowances or them. Tusthere are no eastern weapons or armor in the treasure(katana, wakizashi or naginata, or example). Furtheryou must explain how your villainous ninja or samuraiended up in the western nation o alingarde. Much likethe gunslinger above, talk to the Game Master and workout these special needs.

Rangers will nd that Humanoid (Human) and Out-sider (Good) are solid choices or their avored enemy.

Sorcerers o any bloodline are permitted. In ernalblooded sorcerers are a particularly good choice.


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Step 4 -- Pick Skills and Select Feats

Tis step is unchanged.

However, this campaign lends itsel more than mostto a house rule that gives everyone two more skill pointsper level. Te PCs will be on their own or much o the

campaign and will have difficulty relying on others orskills. Tis house rule will make them more sel -reliant.

Besides, villains should more competent than the av-erage man.

Step 5 -- Buy Equipment

Te characters begin with nothing. Tey have nomoney, no weapons or armor, no gear, no animal com-panions o any sort and no material possessions besidestattered, dirty prison clothes. Equipment will be ac-quired in game.

Alchemists begin without their ormulae book, ex-tracts, bombs or mutagens. Tey must have access to analchemical lab or chemicals to have any o these abilitiesrestored.

Bards begin without their instruments.

Cavaliers have lost their mount. Presumably theirmount was slain or given to another during their cap-ture. It can be presumed that their week o mourning isalready in the past.

Clerics begin having chosen all their spells or the day.Tey do not have their holy symbol or any material com-ponents however.

Druids also begin having chosen all their spells or theday. Tey do not, however, have their animal compan-ion with them. Presumably such a companion was slainduring their capture or escaped and awaits them outside.Regardless, such beasts would never be allowed insidethe prison. Only i they escape rom Branderscar prisonwill they have a chance to reunite with their companionor conduct the ceremony to acquire another.

Inquisitors and Oracles lack their holy symbol i theyneed one.

Summoners begin the game with their Eidolon un-summoned. Tey begin the game shackled so they areunable to per orm the necessary ritual until they are ree.

Witches, Wizards and Magi do not have their spellbooks, material components, amiliars or bonded ob- jects. Tey do however begin with a ull selection omemorized spells rom be ore their incarceration.

Step 6 -- Finishing Details

As normal except that good and chaotic alignmentsare not allowed. Every character must be law ul neutral,law ul evil, neutral or neutral evil. O those our align-ments, lawful evil is denitely the pre erred choice. Atthe Game Masters discretion, law ul evil may be the re-

quired alignment.Further, every character must choose a crime that

landed in them in Branderscar. Tey were not wronglyimprisoned -- they are guilty o their charge. I you areusing the trait system in the Advanced Players Guide,choosing this crime counts as one o your traits.

Tere is a urther requirement and it is something oan intangible quality. At some point in this adventurepath every character is going to have the chance to joinan evil organization and swear allegiance to the mastero that organization and its patron the law ul evil god

Asmodeus. Te adventure path assumes you say yes tothis chance. Tere ore, you should make a character whocan say yes.

The Path of Vengeance

Perhaps right now, you may be experiencing a littlecognitive dissonance.

Tis campaign is about breaking out o prison, joiningan evil organization and then seeking revenge. Above,we recommend that characters be law ul evil. You maybe asking yoursel right now how is breaking out o pris-on and getting revenge law ul?

It isnt.

Law ul evil is the recommended alignment not be-cause your character is obeying the laws o alingardebut because your characters seek to impose a new order.

Tis is not the campaign or chaotic loners or ree-spirited vagabonds. Tose campaigns exist in abundanceand i they are what you are looking or, perhaps you arein the wrong place. Tis is a campaign about joining anevil organization with a wicked agenda. Eventually, youmay even come to control that evil organization.

Way o the Wicked is a chance to play an unusualsort o character. You will play a burgeoning dark lord-- someone who will rise rom imprisonment and desti-tution to become one o the greatest villains o this age.At rst, you will be a minion in service to a sinister plot.But eventually, you will be a minion no longer. You, iyou can survive, will become the master.

And that is almost the denition o law ul evil.


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Crimes of the ForsakenEach character chooses one heinous crime that has

earned them a place in Branderscar Prison. Each crimegrants a different benet, similar to a trait. You may havecommitted many crimes during your li etime, but this isthe crime that nally got you branded and condemned.

Tis list o twenty crimes is not intended to be com-prehensive. Feel ree to invent your own crime, punish-ment and benet (with the GMs approval o course).

Besides simplying choosing a crime, you should alsoconsider how the crime was done. Was this a well-planned criminal enterprise or a crime o passion? Didyou do it alone or did you have accomplices? Was thisthe rst time you did this crime or are you a repeat o -

ender? Answering these questions will help esh outyour characters background.

Tis has been said be ore, but it bears repeating. Yourcharacter actually perpetrated this crime. You may havedone it or what seemed like noble reasons. You may havegotten entangled in this criminal enterprise unwillingly.But there is no doubt that you areguilty. You have not been sentenced tothe worse prison in alingarde unjustly.

You are here because you deserve to be.

Arson

You have will ully started a re that destroyed prop-erty. o be sent to Branderscar, you didnt start just a mi-

nor little trash re. Your act o arson threatened a majortown, city, church or castle and likely cost someone theirli e. Youll be punished or your crime by acing the reyoursel .

Punishment: Death by burning

Benet: Whenever you score a critical hit with a reattack, you receive a +2 re damage bonus to yourdamage roll. Tis bonus is a trait bonus.

Attempted Murder

You tried to kill someone and botched the job. o be

sent to Branderscar Prison, you did not try to kill justanyone. You likely assaulted someone o greatimportance and prominence.

Punishment: Death by beheading

Benet: You gain a +2 trait bonus to Intimi-date checks, and Intimidate is always a classskill or you.

Blasphemy

Either you have de amed the great god Mitra or you havebeen ound guilty o worshipping one o the orbiddendeities (who preeminent among them is Asmodeus).


Benet: +2 trait bonus to Knowledge (religion) andKnowledge (religion) is always a class skill or you.

Consorting with the Dark Powers(Witchcraft)

You have been ound guilty o summoning an evil outsid-er. Likely you were captured by the amed witch hunterSir Balin o Kar eld. Te last thing he said to you was,May Mitra have mercy upon your wretched, damnedsoul. I only you could get a chance at revenge!


Benet: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Knowledge(planes) and Knowledge (arcana) checks, and one othese skills (your choice) is always a class skill or you.


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Desecration

You have violated one o the churchs, cathedrals or holyshrines o the great god Mitra. o be sent to Branderscarthis was no minor act o vandalism. Instead you havedone something agrant and spectacular to dishonor theShining Lord.


Benet: You receive +1 trait bonus on all savingthrows against divine spells.

Desertion

You have deserted rom the alirean military and beenrecaptured. o get sent to Branderscar this was not someminor or routine dereliction o duty. Instead, you aban-doned your post during a time o crisis -- perhaps battleor while de ending the Watch Wall. Regardless o theexact circumstances, your laziness and cowardness must

have caused loss o li e.Punishment: Death by hanging

Benet: You receive one bonus skill point per levelthat must be spent on the Pro ession (Soldier) skill.Pro ession (Soldier) is always a class skill or you.

Dueling unto Death

You have engaged in a duel to the death and mortallywounded an opponent. Te opponent was honorableenough to say nothing be ore he expired. Alas that his

amily or companions was nowhere near so honorable.

Dueling was once common in alingarde be ore theHouse o Darius came to power. Te House o Barca allbut encouraged duels o honor. Now, dueling o any sortis punished severely. Dueling to the death is a sure wayto be sent to Branderscar Prison.


Benet: You gain a +1 trait bonus to Fortitude saves

Extortion

You have de rauded money rom someone by holdingin ormation o their wrongdoing over their heads. oend up in Branderscar, this was no minor act o merelythreatening to expose someone. Instead you ave at-tempted extortion against someone o great prominenceand or exorbitant stakes.

Punishment: Li e at hard labor in the salt mines

Benet : You receive a +2 trait bonus to Intimidatechecks, and Intimidate is always a class skill or you.

Forgery

You have orged documents issued either by the crownor by the Church o Mitra. Alas, that your orgery whilecompetent was not entirely undetectable. o be sent toBranderscar, this was no minor nagling o paperwork.Tis orged document could have cost lives, undermined

the reputation o the Church or endangered the securityo the realm.


Benet: You gain a +3 trait bonus to Linguistics skillchecks to commit orgery and Linguistics is always aclass skill or you.

Fraud

You tried to bilk someone out o their cash. o end upin Brandescar Prison, this was no petty con job or pennyante racket. Instead, you brazenly tried to de raud some-

one important o a huge sum o money. And it almostworked too!


Benet: You receive a +2 trait bonus to Bluff checksand Bluff is always a class kill or you.

Grave Robbery

It is orbidden by sacred law to dishonor a corpse afer itis been sealed in its tomb by a clergy o the Mitran aith.Some may not honor this ban: necromancers, golemcrafers, sel -styled scientists, and alchemists delving into

the orbidden secrets o li e and death. Tese ghouls canexpect no mercy rom the alirean Magistrates. And bysending you to Branderscar Prison, you have receivednone.


Benet: You receive a +1 trait bonus to conrm criti-cal hits

Heresy

You have denied the supremacy o Mitra and been con-demned or it. For this to be a crime, you were not con-tent to keep your heresy to yoursel . You tried to swayothers. Likely you were captured by the amed witchhunter Sir Balin o Kar eld. Te last thing he said to youwas: Mitra may orgive you yet or your lies. alingardewill not. I only you could get a chance at revenge!

Punishment: Death by burning.

Benet: You receive a +1 trait bonus on all savingthrows against divine spells.


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High Theft

You had a oolproo plan to steal some great treasure.Alas, the scheme had a atal aw and went horribly awry.

o be sent to Branderscar prison, this was no ordinaryrobbery attempt. You tried to steal something o great value or religious signicance.


Benet: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Reex saves.

High Treason

You have will ully worked to bring down the currentMonarch o alingarde -- the beloved King Markadian Vcalled the Brave o House Darius. o be success ully tried

or High reason you have done more than merely dislikethe king, you did something tangible to undermine hisrule. Alas, that you ailed at your plot and are now head-ed to Branderscar Prison. reason is the only crime that

is still punished by the gruesome ritual o being drawnand quartered. Your stay at Branderscar will be brie .

Punishment: Death by drawing and quartering

Benet: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Will saves.

Kidnapping

You have abducted someone perhaps to ransom themor do unspeakable things to them. Un ortunately, youwere caught and your victim was rescued (i they werentrescued -- you would be guilty o murder instead). obe sent to Branderscar Prison, you must have abducted

someone o great importance or in a particularly grue-some manner.


Benet: You receive a +1 trait bonus to both Disarmand Grapple attempts.

Murder

You have killed without just cause and been condemnedor it. o be sent to Branderscar Prison, this was no typi-

cal killing but a particularly savage and un orgiveable act.You may also have killed someone with power ul riends.

Note: You are not allowed to have killed someone inthe royal amily o alingarde. You may have tried (hiswould instead be High reason -- see above) but ulti-mately they are too well protected.


Benet: You deal 1 additional point o damage whenanking a oe. Tis additional damage is a trait bonus.

Piracy

You have been caught in the act o piracy on the highseas. Tis is a rare crime these days since Markadian Icalled the Victorious burned the last major pirate eet tothreaten these isles. Still the crime is punished harshly.Likely you are the sole survivor o your ship.

Punishment: Death by hanging

Benet: You may select either Bluff or Intimidate.Te selected skill receives a +2 trait bonus and is al-ways a class skill or you.

Sedition

You have attempted to covertly stir up rebellion againstyour right ul sovereign. Tis differs rom high treasonin that you attempted to convince others to make waragainst alingarde instead o taking direct action your-sel . A subtle difference to be sure. But it is the differ-

ence between receiving the swif justice o the axe insteado the slow suffering upon the rack.


Benet: You receive a +1 trait bonus to Bluff checksand Bluff is always a class skill or you. Further i youever take the Leadership eat, you gain a +1 trait bonusto your Leadership score.

Slave-Taking

Slavery is illegal in alingarde and a very rare crime. Still,once in a great while, slavers rom the mainland will ool-

ishly make an incursion into alirean protected territo-ries. When they are captured alive they are always madean example o .


Benet: You receive a +1 trait bonus to both Disarmand Grapple attempts.

Slave Trading

Slavery is legal in other parts o the world and it can betempting to the most decadent o alingardes nobil-ity to acquire a souvenir when traveling abroad or topurchase the object o their desire rom a less reputablemerchant. However you ended up trading slaves in al-ingarde, you were caught red handed and now you willlose more than simply your reedom.


Benet: You receive one bonus skill point per levelthat must be spent on the Appraise skill. Te Appraiseskill is always a class skill or you.

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