Pathfinder Spheres players and GMs unite!

[Mister Doctor]

That's a rather limiting view

[Saberfan]

Here is the list of races I plan on allowing players access to as of right this moment; I may add races at a later time, but this is the current list that we're working with right now. Their full writeups won't be out until the game's launch and the descriptions below will not include all of their racial abilities, but this should give you an idea of what you're working with. In addition to what is listed below, each race has a list of spheres from each of the types (magic, might, and guile) and can choose two of them to gain as a racial starting package for added fun and versatility in game.

• Hommen: The setting's version of humans. Need any more be said? They're a grounding element of every setting and they will be here as well. Their new powers play up both their versatility and that uniquely human ability to persist in even the most dire of circumstances.
• Aelfennar: The setting's elven equivalent, who were the original stewards of the sacred crystals that sustain the world and are the source of the mana used to cast magic. Their new powers include the ability to focus their sight to be able to perceive magic, increased athleticism, and can draw on their race's connection to the crystals to access various mystical powers.
• Halvin: The setting's halfling equivalent whose culture is deeply entrenched in both mercantile and magical institutions. Their new powers include a photographic memory, the ability to open the leyline gates established by their people (think of a fantasy teleporter network at fixed locations), and expanded powers of non-magical persuasion.
• Nogitsune: The setting's equivalent of kitsune that are driven by deep drives- or obsessions- and appear more like anime depictions than Paizo's. Their new powers include the ability to transform into a small multi-tailed fox form at will, being able to summon phantasmal 'foxfire', and minor illusory powers.
• Fehldrakken: The descendants of a warrior people who consumed the blood of dragons and became more like their benefactors over the course of many generations. Their powers include superhuman strength and toughness, the ability to breath gouts of elemental power, a ferocity that allows them to temporarily stave off death, and being able to temporarily assume a more powerful draconic form.
• Ban Sith: An all-female race of former fey who were cursed with a living undeath by a fiend known as the King of Death. Their powers include a haunting beauty and charm, the ability to speak with the dead, healing through the consumption of blood, and a damaging sonic scream infused with necromantic power.
• Seraphim: A race of wingless mortal angels who were created by alchemists in occult laboratories and were eventually freed from their original roles as the peacekeepers of an ancient civilization. Their powers include a runed halo of magical protection whose power can be split between themselves and allies, numerous light-based abilities, and the ability to transfer afflictions from others to themselves.
• Harpui: A race of civilized harpies- with both males and females, unlike most RPGs- who have long since rejected a past of savagery in favor of the finery and pomp of civilization. Their abilities consist of a limited form of flight (limited courtesy of arm-wings atrophied by generations living among ground-dwellers), a charming voice that can also be used to mimic other sounds, and the ability to tap into their ancestral memories to enter a meditative battle dance that makes them difficult to strike or pin down.
• Siren: The setting's take on merfolk, whose race was originally born when the dreams of a slumbering goddess mixed with seafoam. Their powers include being amphibious, having alternate forms suited to land and sea travel, having the ability to access draw forth memories and emotions using magical bubbles, and being able to sing melodies that uplift the spirits of their comrades.
• Nekomata: The setting's equivalent of catfolk- and yes they're more like anime nekos or the mi'qote of Final Fantasy XIV than the more anthropomorphized big cats from Golarion- who were originally a race of desert-wandering nomadic hunters. Their new powers include greatly enhanced senses that are strong enough to partially pierce into the spirit world, being able to move both silently and faster than the other races, a bestial empathy that lets them achieve limited communication with animals both mundane and magical, and a connection to fate itself that grants them supernatural luck and a minor form of prescience.
• Mog'win: A race of moogles small bear people with small feathered wings and large antennae, whose cute appearance and quirky personalities have led to them being widely recognized in the world despite their relative rarity. Their powers include an innocuous aura that makes it difficult to perceive them as threats without evidence to the contrary, minor healing powers using their bonbons magical antenna, and the ability to create small, temporary extradimensional pocket realities in which they and a small amount of other people can comfortably reside in for a small period of time.

Edited November 10, 2023 by Saberfan (see edit history)

[AvzinTW]

Sure, I'll take mog'win.

[Saberfan]

I'm still working on pulling together everything for this game. How many more days it will be before everything's complete enough to put an ad up is still a mystery even to me, but I wanted people to know that your prospective GM is still hard at work.

[Kylia Quilor]

Would this be friendly to people who have never had the chance to play Spheres yet, but would like to? If there's even room for more, of course.

[Saberfan]

Work continues on the setting and it becomes more fleshed out by the day. It will be at least two weeks before everything is complete enough to post and make an official advertisement for, but progress is progress and I wanted people to know where everything stands as of the time of this post.

6 hours ago, Kylia Quilor said:

Would this be friendly to people who have never had the chance to play Spheres yet, but would like to? If there's even room for more, of course.

But of course! I'm fine with those newer to Spheres throwing their hat into the ring as long as they're willing to stick with the game and learn the system. The game is at least a two weeks away since some work yet remains on setting details, so there is still plenty of room for you to apply once the ad goes up.

[Kylia Quilor]

Sounds great! Thanks!

[OzzyKP]

Player or GM? Both. I am slowly preparing for a game I will GM (I'll post some info below), but the preparation is turning into a huge, multi-year effort, so don't expect my game to open up any time soon. I would very much like to play a Spheres game though, I haven't yet, but I am quite interested in it (especially so I can get a feel for actually using Spheres before I try to run my own Spheres game).

Spheres-only or as an additional option? I would prefer Spheres-only. Or Spheres + Paizo-only content. Games that have, as others said, the kitchen-sink are too much for me. Path of War, and Psionics, and Spheres, and other 3rd party stuff. The point of Spheres (imho) was the balance of it, if you throw in all sorts of other options alongside it the balance is all thrown off.

Technology (Guns, vehicles, etc.)? I won't use it in my game (though some rules on vehicles will be used), but I don't mind it as a player if it fits with the setting.

Gestalt? I prefer no. Especially since I'm fairly new to Spheres, I want a chance to get familiar with the mechanics and build up, not be thrown into some crazy 15th level gestalt, mythic 30-point-buy mess. Those games never seem to last long and require a huge amount of work (for someone like me) to build a character.

Mythic? See my previous comment.

Requested houserules? I like Combat Stamina & Skill Unlocks exclusively as class features for the otherwise underwhelming Fighter & Rogue classes. I generally like the Elephant in the Room rules, but I feel Spheres solves the same problem, and does it better. I'd prefer to not use them in a Spheres game.

Spellcrafting? Sounds like a lot of work, but I'm not opposed.

Custom Traditions? I'm fine with them.
 

 

Spheres Invictus: I've actually been working on this for a couple years already (off and on), and I've kept it quiet, but I can give you all a sneak peak. I'm working on a Spheres game set in the real world of Ancient Rome. Magic will be rare and feared. The Empire will seek to stamp out any threats to their authority, and anyone who can conjure up massive fireballs at will is a huge threat. I was planning to leave the game fairly open and sandboxy, but now I'm leaning toward having the players all start as witch hunters, a special unit of the Praetorian Guard who are charged with investigating and hunting down dangerous witches/sorcerers. Players will need to start as non-casters (though as the plot progresses, could pick some up later). I have been working on setting specific martial traditions, skill traditions, equipment and other rules. My intention is for it to be almost perfectly historical, not a fanciful alternate history. Real world characters and events will impact the game. I'm working on a map of Rome right now. My plan is to go fairly light on combat and make it more intrigue and skills-focused; to really embrace Spheres of Guile.

[Saberfan]

After doing some thinking over the last two days, I have realized two very important things: the setup of the game that I was creating was overly restrictive and, moreover, that it may have been asking too much of people to learn a new setting since everyone might not have the same amount of free time each day. The burgeoning world I was creating is one that I have come to love, but shelving it in favor of something simpler and less time-consuming to learn is probably a better choice for everyone involved. I apologize to anyone who was looking forward to the homebrew setting and races.

So what is the replacement idea I have in mind? A planar spheres game in the vein of Magic the Gathering or Remnant: From the Ashes where players assume the role of planewalking heroes. This setup has many upsides over my original idea:

• It allows players to create nearly anything they can imagine with the spheres system rather than just something that conforms to the campaign setting that I was creating. This lets the game showcase what I really love about spheres: the sheer amount of customization it allows.
• The setting we will use is simpler to learn- only a few pages of details on the way the multiverse is set up at most- and has a free version on Drivethrurpg. There are only a few changes and additions that I will make to it, but nothing overly extravagant beyond a few small paragraphs.
• There is a nigh-infinite amount of worlds and themes that we could explore within such a game.
• The game ad can be put up much sooner. It would have taken me weeks to finish a general overview of the homebrew setting and that's not even taking into consideration how long people may need to digest the information, but this wouldn't require nearly as much time for any party involved.

The minutiae of character creation have already been decided and the most important parts are are as follows:

• Players will be ninth-level gestalt, which I believe is a nice middle ground for both those who are new to spheres and those who are long-standing veterans of it. There is plenty of room to customize from the get-go and plenty of room to grow as well.
• Races are not chosen from a predetermined list, but created using Pathfinder's ARG racebuilder system and 25 RP. This is the multiverse and allowing players to create their own race is only logical. It is completely up to you whether you want to recreate an existing race or create something entirely new. My only request is that you create something flavorful and cool, not a block of pure stats and cheese. It doesn't matter whether you are modifying a fantasy staple like the high elf or you are crafting a hyper-intelligent half-construct made of organic crystal, because both are valid to me.
• Essentially everything spheres-related is fair game and there are only three exceptions to that rule. The first is that homebrew is banned wholesale save for one thing: a Kineticist conversion for Spheres of Power. The second is that the Sage class will be completely cut from the list of options unless I can find the suggested fixes for it's broken mechanics. And the third is that deific talents are banned. It should go without saying that non-spheres content is also banned.
• Players will not have access to mythic rules, although select antagonists they face most certainly will.
• Crafting is available both before and during the game. There is one caveat to pre-game crafting: players who can craft may only do so for themselves and only up to 40% of their starting wealth at that.
• Custom traditions are the obvious way to go and what we will be using. If you're not comfortable with creating one, then you are free to use one of the premade traditions.

The important details for this game are complete and all that remains is getting the game and ad up over the weekend when I have more time to format everything and find thematic artwork to spice things up.

[namo]

This sounds good! Though homebrew settings can be a lot of fun, I see wisdom in making something more approachable.
I'm not super familiar with "planewalking heroes" (I have only passing familiarity with MtG), but I'm pretty sure I will like this kind of setting. I notice you didn't mention Planescape...? (= the old school planewalking "setting", it comes with a specific lore attached - to Sigil especially - that may not be welcome here.)

You don't mention the plot - or at least starting point - much, so I'm especially curious to see what will be revealed. 🙂

And... I'm already starting with the questions: (sorry! 😉)

• "It should go without saying that non-spheres content is also banned. "
  You mean 3rd party content? I.e. most Paizo contents is still on the table? I plan to use Spheres, but out of curiosity, will traditional casting be banned?
   
• what will happen to options (feats, archetypes, ...) open to traditional races? All banned, all open to refluffing, some middle ground?
• what will make an application complete: just a sketch of the idea, a fully written-out background+personality (but without mechanics), or the whole package?

I'm thinking I may try the Illusion sphere, which I haven't used up until now. It's really deep, so probably if the idea ends up working I'll do little else than illusioning.

I haven't used the race points / race builder ever, I think, so I'll start perusing those rules.
As you can tell, I'm pretty eager. 😅

[AvzinTW]

Gestalt? I'll pass, sorry.

[OzzyKP]

Yea, me too. :(

Maybe if it was 3rd level or something, but gestalt and 9th? Plus custom, high RP races? Too much.

Edited November 16, 2023 by OzzyKP (see edit history)

[Kylia Quilor]

9th level gestalt is definitely a lot to add on when I don't know spheres. I'd want to start at a lower level to get a feel for the system since I barely know it.

[Inash]

19 hours ago, namo said:

I haven't used the race points / race builder ever, I think, so I'll start perusing those rules.

They are fairly nice rules. I find them much, much better than the Spheres origins stuff.

[Saberfan]

21 hours ago, namo said:

And... I'm already starting with the questions: (sorry! 😉)

• "It should go without saying that non-spheres content is also banned. "
  You mean 3rd party content? I.e. most Paizo contents is still on the table? I plan to use Spheres, but out of curiosity, will traditional casting be banned?
   
• what will happen to options (feats, archetypes, ...) open to traditional races? All banned, all open to refluffing, some middle ground?
• what will make an application complete: just a sketch of the idea, a fully written-out background+personality (but without mechanics), or the whole package?

There's no need to apologize! I would much rather people ask questions than not. As for your specific questions:

• This thread started out as means of gathering together spheres players, so my original plan was for it to be spheres-only. There are official spheres conversions for the majority of Paizo's classes and there's a fan conversion of the Kineticist that I like a lot, all of which are fine. The only normal Paizo content that I was planning on allowing was the more basic things that pretty much everything else relies on: feats, skills, etc. If I did open up options to include things outside of spheres, the big three from Dreamscarred would likely be included in addition to first-party simply because they are my next-largest obsession. As I previously mentioned though, I'm currently operating under the spheres-only premise at the moment.
• Race requirements will be waived for all content so long as a character meets all other requirements. To give an example: let's say there is an archetype that expands and improves on the Halfling Luck racial ability; a character would not need to be a Halfling to take it, but they would need to have that specific racial ability to take it.
• I would say that it's preferable for someone to have the whole package when it comes to applications. A statblock of some kind is necessary so that I can see what kind of role they could serve and so that any potential cheese could be spotted beforehand. Background and personality are likewise necessary to give an idea of who the character is.

Edited November 17, 2023 by Saberfan (see edit history)