The Indigo Syndicate [Pathfinder 1e]

[IRollTwenties]

Explorer's at the edges of the unknown...

The Indigo Syndicate

The Indigo Syndicate is a secretive confederation of like-minded adventurers that hold a curiosity for the unknown. The loose organization is a helmed by a council of High Investigators, each of which has a cadre of agents who work for them. These often mysterious individuals all strive towards their own aims but participate in a sharing of knowledge about the occult and obscure. One thing holds them together, the Indigo Accords. This contract binds the High Investigators towards ensured cooperation, shared defense, and the equal dissemination of all knowledge gained during cases carried about by The Indigo Syndicate. Members are active in Varisia, Cheliax, and Ustalav mostly, but the aims of the Syndicate are far-reaching and many a mission to more exotic places have been conducted in the past.

You are all members of the Syndicate, and you work directly under your handler, Special Agent Koros Velheart. Velheart is a middle-aged human man, a powerful spell-caster, and a devout worshipper of Nethys. While stern, he is kind-hearted to the core and has guided you through your first few cases working for the Syndicate. Nothing too treacherous yet, with forays into long-forgotten dungeons seeking ancient relics being the norm. As members of the Indigo Syndicate you are granted cases to complete. Once a case is closed compensation is awarded and those who close the most cases, or uncover knowledge particularly obscure or useful to the council, are granted opportunities for promotion. Operating for the Syndicate is a discreet matter and most contracts they take and cases they work are strictly classified. Any and all knowledge of the Syndicate's undertakings is privileged information between Indigo Syndicate agents and those who would purchase their services.

Five days ago, in a secret meeting in Magnimar, Koros gave you your latest case. Case No. 326 has your group traveling North East from Magnimar to a remote, rural village known as Ravenmoor. The client, Jeminda Anikee has lost her brother-in-law Elias Kyle, after a recent trip there. Elias Kyle works as a tax-collector for Magnimar. Jeminda as a book-keeper for the government. She sent her kin to collect back taxes from the villagers there but the man hasn't been seen or heard from since. That was twelve days ago now. While not a typical mission for the Syndicate, Koros seems compelled to help Jeminda and has sent you there in search of him. Gifted heavy horses by your handler, the trip has been long and arduous but you have set off from morning camp toward the village and by all estimations you should arrive there by noon.

Case no. 236: The Feast of Ravenmoor

Hey folks, I'm recruiting for a new PbP game where the characters are members of a secret organization who work as paranormal investigators! I'll be running them through a number of premade modules with a bit of homebrew sprinkled in to make the over-arching story connect. Think X-Files meets a DnD mercenary company in Golarion. I'm looking for four players and will be hosting the game on these forums. All the rules for making your PC are in the big 16 below and I'm looking forward to finding some interested players!

Spoiler: The Big 16

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1. What game system are you running?

Pathfinder 1E.

2. What 'type' or variant of game will it be? What is the setting for the game?

Golarion, paranormal, investigation game

3. How many Players are you looking for? Will you be taking alternates, and if so, how many?

Four players. I'll consider alternates.

4. What's the gaming medium?

Play-by-post, right here in the Playground.

5. What is the characters' starting status (i.e. experience level)?

PCs will start at 3rd level.

6. How much gold or other starting funds will the characters begin with?

You gain max starting wealth for you class. Once I pick the PC's I'll award each with some magical gear through a combination or randomized rolls and things that make sense for your build and bring the total up to the wealth by leve. I find this makes PC's who start after level 1 feel more organic as an adventuring party than letting PC's custom tailor their loot.

7. Are there any particular character classes, professions, orders, etc. that you want... or do not want? What are your rules on 'prestige' and/or homebrewed classes?

All 1st party paizo classes are acceptable. I'd love to see at least one Investigator or psychic spellcasting character but it isn't a requirement by any means.

8. What races, subraces, species, etc. are allowed for your game? Will you allow homebrewed races or species? 'Prestige' races or species?

Core Races and Featured Races.

9. By what method should Players generate their attributes/ability scores and Hit Points?

20 point buy.

10. Does your game use alignment? What are your restrictions, if so?

Alignment is in use. You can pick whatever alignment makes sense for your character. However, being disruptive to the party or the Syndicate as a whole wont be tolerated.

11. Do you allow multi-classing, or have any particular rules in regards to it?

Yes you can use the normal rules for multi-classing and variant multi-classing

12. Will you be doing all of the die rolling during the course of the game? Will die rolls be altered, or left to the honor system? If players can make die rolls, which ones do they make, how should they make the rolls, and how should they report them?

Players will roll for all the usual rolls (attacks, saves, CL checks, etc.) using the Playground dice roller.

13. Are there any homebrewed or optional/variant rules that your Players should know about? If so, list and explain them, or provide relevant links to learn about these new rules.

Players select 2 traits (the setting specific prerequisites of any traits must be met, no campaign traits.) Background skills are in use. The Sanity rules are in effect.

14. Is a character background required? If so, how long? Are you looking for anything in particular (i.e. the backgrounds all ending up with the characters in the same city)?

At least a few paragraphs about your character are required. I'd like to get to know about them to pick an interesting group to DM for.

15. Does your game involve a lot of hack & slash, puzzle solving, roleplaying, or a combination of the above?

A mix.

16. Are your Players restricted to particular rulebooks and supplements, or will you be allowing access to non-standard material? What sources can Players use for their characters?

1st party paizo material within the above restrictions is fair play.

Player	Character	Class
Feathersnow	Reeva	Wizard (Spellslinger)
Starbuck_II	Lycoris Azata	Mesmerist
Qazgir	Aleister Orania	Occultist (Psychodermist)
razorfloss	Orion StarBorn	Hunter (Forester) / VMC Barbarian
Armonia13	William Desmond Syfer the Third	Bard (Chronicler of Worlds / Studious Librarian)
ProgressPaladin	Archer Glenshire	Investigator (Empiricist)

[ProgressPaladin]

I already wanted to play an investigator, and this shows up! My lucky day!

[Feathersnow]

I have an idea- a troubleshooter for the society, a dhampir raised by the heroes who killed her father, who was a vetala vampire. She is childish, seemingly neurodivergent, and deadly with both spells and a gun...

Meet Reeva

I can add more to her story and I still need skills and traits.

[tonberryking]

Unchained, or standard versions of classes?

[Infernally Clay]

I've never played a Psychic before but I'm up for giving it a go. Probably with the Superiority discipline just because it sounds amusing to play someone that seems to be so full of themselves yet their powers are tied directly to how confident they are in their own ability to succeed.

[razorfloss]

Would like to post interest as a Feral or Forester Hunter or a Menhir Gurdian monk. Race wise I'm thinking of going one of the Skinwalkers.

[IRollTwenties]

@tonberryking

Unchained.

@InfernallyClay

Sounds interesting. I like that discipline.

@razorfloss

I wasn't originally going to allow Skinwalkers. I'll say it depends on what it is you're trying to accomplish, and how thematic the character is for the game. Can you tell me more about what you're planning concept wise?

@ProgressPaladin

Great timing! They're both thematic and useful for this style of campaign.

@Feathersnow

Gun wizard. Cool! Can't wait to see the final product.



I'm glad people are vibing with the campaign idea. Feel free to hit me up with any questions you might have.

[razorfloss]

I was going for a person who was born with Entothroppy(wereinsect) but has absolutely no idea what's going on with it as it doesn't match any known lycanthropy strains. they joined the society as a way to find out what's wrong with them Also known as I really want to play a were insect. I was going to flavor the various Skinwalkers as different insect breeds.

[Starbuck_II]

I was thinking a Mesmerist Gnome (he thinks he is a dragon, with Mindwyrm and Umbral archetypes).

As a dragon, he naturally loves helping the syndicate collect rare items and information.

Do we roll for health or take max?

I took Max Heatlth till I know for sure. If I need to roll, let me know

https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheets/?id=2899649

Still figuring out gear

[Qazgir]

Always interested in an opportunity to play an Occultist, thinking either Extraneous Channeler or Psychodermist. Trappings of the Warrior melee fighter/anti-caster, likely a half-elf.

Character concept: I'm thinking a former soldier turned adventurer who is an avid collector of occult artifacts, maybe add in some personal goal/conflict in there, but I'm liking the idea of just being a syndicate purist just in it for the accumulation and dissemination of knowledge.

[In4Dimensions]

Posting interest. Not sure what I'll roll up quite yet, but I'll have something written up in a day or two.

[Greenflame133]

I'm thinking about playing a rogue, with Occultist Skill Unlocks to lean into the vibe of the campaign.

Or perhaps I should play as marefolk magus using a floating disc for mobility? Or is that too wacky for the tone of the camping?

[razorfloss]

I'm also open to playing an eldritch scoundrel rouge. Thinking of making him a drop out from wizard school

[3SecondCultist]

Hi there, I was looking to play as a kind of promethean figure that combines aspects of both Dr. Frankenstein and his Monster. The idea was either a Skinwalker (Ragebred, the boar variant) or Scaleheart (the crocodilian kind) who has been experimenting with strange draughts and tinctures to try and become fully human... only for their extracts to have the opposite effect.

The build would be Skinwalker Alchemist 3, with the Beastmorph and Vivisectionist archetypes for the class. They would fit into the 'formerly a case patient who has become an investigator of the strange and the monstrous', someone who can study oddities but can also protect the rest of the team from enemies should the need arise. The Hulk of the group, so to speak.

[Qazgir]

Two questions as I get to work on the character:

1: Given that you'll be semi-randomly giving us loot, should we avoid specializing in a specific kind of weapon? I'm considering grabbing an exotic weapon proficiency, but don't want to end up messing up your plans for gear.

2: How prominent should we expect Sanity to be? It's not a subsystem I've used so I'm not sure how much I need to be prepared for it.

[IRollTwenties]

Hey guys, sorry for the delay. The forum has been running very slow for me recently (sometimes not at all.) Now that it's cooperating I'll get to your questions.

@razorfloss

So, I wasn't initially allowing Skinwalkers but decided it was thematic enough to make an exception. That said, I feel like re-skinning them as wereinsects might be a little much, and honestly might conflict with the first adventure a little. I'd prefer that you stick to the original flavor of the skinwalker race.

Either class is fine. Play whatever you'll have the most fun with.

@Starbuck_II

We're using high average HP for all levels after 1st. I'll adjust the 16 to reflect that. I'm finding your sheet difficult to read. You have racial traits mixed with class abilities and then more racial traits after some class abilities but before other class abilities. If you could maybe section them all off together, it would make my life a lot easier, heh. I'm assuming your feats are Intimidating Glare and Reflexive Trick but I can't find any feats on the SRD called Intimidating Glare. Intimidating Glare is a rage power and it doesn't do what you have written down

Your background also has the characters name as Gnoman but under name at the top it says Lycoris Azata.

@Qazgir

Cool, Occultist is definitely very thematic for this game. If you take weapon prof or weapon focus etc. in a specific type of weapon I'll do what I can to accommodate that. I'm not gonna give the archer specced fighter a +1 longspear, for example.

You can expect sanity to come into play at least once per adventure.

@Greenflame133

Definitely too whacky. This isn't an aquatic campaign by any stretch and merefolk aren't a core or featured race.

@3SecondCultist

Sounds interesting. I'm eager to see more.



I'm glad to see interest and sheet trickling in. I'll leave recruitment open for a while longer until we get some more completed submissions. Hopefully not too long as I'm eager to start playing.

[Starbuck_II]

https://www.aonprd.com/FeatDisplay.a...ating%20Glance

I meant Glance lol
Good catch

Sorry, about background before I decided my charactres name I went with just gnome. I forgot to fix that.
There now it's part of his backstory that he used to be Gnoman.

Okay, I organized my stuff

Yes, only two feats byt level 3

[Qazgir]

Here is Aleister Orania's WIP sheet. Its still missing a lot of stuff: gear, modifiers, a written down backstory, but this should given an idea of where I'm going with her mechanically.

[Armonia13]

It's been awhile since I've character crafted, I think I'll give this a go. I was initially thinking of going Archivist Bard, but randomly came across the Chronicler of Worlds archetype, which seems perfect for this campaign. I'll get a sheet together soon!

Edit: Having a debate with myself over something I want, figure I should ask to see if it's even allowed. Will you allow the Well-Provisioned Adventurer equipment trait? It a trait the replaces your starting gold to receive a bundle that's worth 1000gp. I specifically want the Lore Seeker package. If it would mess with your WBL plan, I don't want to take it(because I think that's a really fun idea).

Spoiler: Lore Seeker Package

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Lore Seeker Package
The lore seeker has the equipment necessary to delve into ancient ruins searching for lost knowledge. As this equipment package contains little by way of armor or weapons, it is most appropriate for alchemists, bards, monks, sorcerers, and wizards. If the PC can cast spells, add a spell component pouch and a holy symbol (if required).

Weapons: Light crossbow with 10 bolts, quarterstaff, silver dagger.

Combat Gear: Alchemist’s fire (3), antitoxin, oil of erase, potions of cure light wounds (2), potion of protection from evil, tanglefoot bag, thunderstone.

Other Gear: Backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, candles (5), chalk (5 pieces), compass, crowbar, everburning torch, flint and steel, grappling hook, ink, inkpens (2), journals (2), magnifying glass, mapmaker’s kit, mess kit, sack, signal whistle, silk rope (50 ft.), trail rations (5 days), traveler’s any-tool, waterskin, 8 gp.

Total Weight: 44 lbs. (27-3/4 lbs. for a Small character).

[razorfloss]

Heres the WIP of Orion Bearstride he's going to be a Natural attacker possibly going to be vmc barbarin to pull of the raging lycanthrope stick.

Edit: I just realized that I made Sheriff Bravestarr and I'm now going lean into it because that's hilarious

[Farmerbink]

So I've got a fun scheme in mind, if you're amenable.

Personality wise, I'm thinking something of a hyper-staunch realist. Whatever the nuts and bolts end up being, this guy is going to be either brilliant and firmly convinced of the "normalness" of everything, or so blind to the occult that it perhaps inexplicably has less of a grasp on him.

I haven't settled on whether I think the empiricist investigator who is so convinced everything has a "normal" explanation that he feels borderline duty-bound to "explain to these poor back-woods hicks how things really work" or a "heavily-instinctive barbarian/bloodrager with stuff like superstitious and the quasi-genetic ability to punch magical things so hard they stop being magical" would be more fun and/or suitable. Could go either way, really.

At any rate, I'll do a bit of skimming of past submissions and let my thoughts tumble about. Usually a day or two is enough to formulate a cohesive build idea. XD

Speaking of which, do you have a deadline in mind?

[Kaworu]

Are you open for new interests? ;-) And what kinda characters do you need? :-P

Also, is the book about Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder - it was 3rd party, I think? - allowed?

[Triskavanski]

I've got a bit of an idea for this one, if you'd allow for a Kitsune Vigilante.

[ProgressPaladin]

I was wondering, might we be able to use the elephant in the room feat rules?

[Qazgir]

Ok, here is Aleister Orania's finished* sheet. Will get down the backstory tomorrow. Also, in an above comment you said we would use "high average hp" for determining our HP, which I've assumed to mean average rounded up, if thats wrong, just let me know and I'll change it.

*I still need to select 1 spell, but I'm not sure what it should be yet. I also haven't settled on alignment yet, thinking something Lawful, but not sure what yet.

[tonberryking]

The idea I initially had kinda got away from me, but can I submit a gnoll? It's standard race but it's barely 6RP so can't hurt to ask?

[IRollTwenties]

Hey guys. Sorry for the delay. Bad flu going around where I'm at

@Starbuck_II

Ah, ok. That makes more sense now

@Qazgir

Sheet looks good so far. Messed up the base attack bonus though, occultists use 3/4 base attack like a cleric. Yup, average rounding up for HP.

@Armonia13

I'd prefer you not take that trait. It increases your starting wealth with a bunch of things that are mostly consumables and would have been at least partially depleted by level 3. I feel like it does kinda mess with the starting gold plan I have in mind. Besides, there's likely a different trait that would give you more long term benefit

@razorfloss

Sheet says you're ragebred (wereboar) but you have calm animals (bear's only.) Think something's getting lost in translation. Also, not sure how you have so many feats listed. You should only have 1 feat from first level, and you give up your 3rd level feat as a VMC barbarian but you have Aspect of the Beast, Extra Feature, and Outflank all listed as feats.

@Farmerbink

There's no deadline in mind yet. Things have been hectic on my end with the forum not responding and now getting over my illness. Once there's at least a couple completed sheet I'll consider a more firm cut off time.

@Kaworu

We are still open to new interest. The big 16 talks about what characters are available but my best suggestion is to play what you like. There is no 3rd party material allowed.

@Triskavanski

Sorry, no kitsune.

@ProgressPaladin

No, using the standard rules.

@tonberryking

I'm trying to avoid overtly monsterous races. When you're working as secret agents it's important to blend in. Why do you want to play a gnoll?

[tonberryking]

Uhhh...

You wouldn't have liked my original idea much then, but... Honestly my gnoll idea seemed really good at the time; she was a young adult monk who'd been trained by someone with the intent of using her as a pit fighter, but all the discipline and focus she put into it made her far more aware of the world and she broke off from them in disgust since realizing her entire adulthood had been planned around making someone else money.

She would have been a "much smarter than she looks" type who would pose as a dumb goon, and or take attention away from the other agents but I digress... How much time do we have to finish an idea at all? I will try to come up with something better suited.

[Armonia13]

@Armonia13

I'd prefer you not take that trait. It increases your starting wealth with a bunch of things that are mostly consumables and would have been at least partially depleted by level 3. I feel like it does kinda mess with the starting gold plan I have in mind. Besides, there's likely a different trait that would give you more long term benefit

Fine with me. If I could remember the one that helps with sanity damage, I'd be golden. For now, I'll take Mystery Initiate for the free Knowledge reroll.

Here's my sheet for William Desmond Syfer the Third. A Legacy member of the Indigo Syndicate, he reluctantly goes on these missions in the hope of one day being promoted to work in the Grand Archive(or whatever the central hub for all of the knowledge gathered by the Indigo Syndicate is). His specialities lie in languages, deciphering code, and forgery.

He just needs his fluff filled out and a few small decisions regarding his spells and scrolls. Let me know if I missed anything else please!

[razorfloss]

Forester hunter gets a bonus feat at lvl 2 and outflank comes from hunter bouns teamwork feat at lvl 3