story concept - work in progress

I am kicking around some ideas for an open-genre story.  Think of it as a mix of Alice in Wonderland\Matrix\Inception\Sandman\Amber\Mage.  I have a some conventions in mind (like Paradox) that will hopefully limit the potential for aimless wandering.  I think there will be compelling reasons for a group to become a party.  However, given the nature of the idea, I am also open to short periods of solo play, using separate threads, focused on skills and roleplaying, not combat.  

Open-genre = concept ideas are not limited to 1 genre, like fantasy, sci fi, etc.  Just because I am more familiar with it, I will use Pathfinder like we did with SW.  Use PF stats and simply re-skin them into to anything you want, without mechanical changes.  Matt's nano-bot Summoner is a great example - remember, they don't speak droid just because you re-skin them as droids.  

System = PF for character creation, with re-skin ability.  I will also include many of the 5e elements, as long as they don't cause conflict with PF.  The main ones I am looking at:

Combat - movement + standard action can be broken up and in any order (eliminates need for Shot on the Run\Spring attack tree, though you could still take Dodge)

Actions - quick draw, quick sheath, are all free actions when combined with a move or standard, like in 5e (eliminates many feats)

+ Dex damage to ranged weapons (including guns), but otherwise use PF gun damage codes (lower than SW)

Level - probably somewhere in the middle to start, maybe around 8-10th


I hadn't heard anyone else talk about what's next, after Matt's game.  I am in no rush to start, but I want to start putting down ideas.

Feel free to ask questions here

Mounts are fine, but there would have to be some way of making it "go away"

an actual horse that follows you around probably wouldn't work, however the following would be fine:

Matt's small alien inside a normal-sized mount used as a body

a "cavalier" from a world like Tron, where your horse is re-skinned as a Light Bike that can fold up into a stick (you'd have to figure out some magic item to cover this)

a paladin that can summon\unsummon their mount

All very interesting!!! I'm good with continuing the DnD game for a while yet - plot points are just starting to reveal and some neat mechanics are about to be discovered, but I'm totally down with leaning forward into a new game, especially if there is some development at hand!

"StarFinder" is set for August of 2017 - too bad it is so far out yet!

Can you provide more information about the setting? Would be helpful for conceptualizing...

I'm looking at Psychic from the "Occult Adventures" splat.

Might splash it with Rogue or Monk...

MAS wrote:All very interesting!!! I'm good with continuing the DnD game for a while yet - plot points are just starting to reveal and some neat mechanics are about to be discovered, but I'm totally down with leaning forward into a new game, especially if there is some development at hand!

I'm looking at Psychic from the "Occult Adventures" splat.

Might splash it with Rogue or Monk...

I am enjoying D&D too, I just know that it helps to have the next game lined up. I think this one might take a fair bit of development, as you said.

I would have to look at Psychic, but I am sure it's probably fine.

MAS wrote:
Can you provide more information about the setting? Would be helpful for conceptualizing...

Sure!

Chris wrote:Think of it as a mix of Alice in Wonderland\Matrix\Inception\Sandman\Amber\Mage.  

So what I mean by that is each character comes from their own world.  It can be any genre you choose.  We can come up the framework of that world as you develop your character.  Essentially, your character is a representative of that world.  If you play a wizard, you represent a fantasy world.  If you play a Light Bike cavalier, you represent a Tron world.  There could be Horror worlds, cyber-punk worlds, weird west... but I am hopeful that the creative juices will flow and players will create unique home worlds.

However, that is your 'England' before you go down the rabbit hole, so to speak.  Nobody knows there is a rabbit hole or what's on the other side, until you fall through it

Race building?

navyik wrote:Race building?

crunch... crunch... crunch....

yeah, I suppose so. It will likely be the only way people can make up some crazy races.

Tentatively, 15 RP, Advanced (Aasimar equivalent)

But I am always open for negotiations. If people really want some crazy Monstrous stuff, maybe we can look at lowering the starting level in exchange for +RP, but the whole group would have to agree on level + RP

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/advancedRaceGuide/raceBuilder.html

note the # of traits per category

Josh and I were talking about Homeworlds. I hope folks think outside the box of "fantasy" or "sci fi" or "western"

just some examples:

future run by the Cyber Pope

Cobra-La world with all biologically grown wpns + armor

Blade\Underworld modern\future gothic horror

Star Trek alternate timeline stuff

Avatar type world

I'm Down for any variation. Just wanted to create something unusual.

I was going to create a magical creature born out of a cataclysmic debacle caused by a serious error in judgement by an irresponsible scientist. The MISHAP as the character is known, creates paradox unwittingly wherever he goes and can also be annoying in general. He is part Bugs Bunny, part Kender, part zaphod bebblebrox and made out of iridescent proto-matter. He is innately magical and resourcefully impractical wit sudden flashes of utility. Will he be too zany for the other players to tolerate?

navyik wrote:I was going to create a magical creature born out of a cataclysmic debacle caused by a serious error in judgement by an irresponsible scientist.  The MISHAP as the character is known, creates paradox unwittingly wherever he goes and can also be annoying in general. He is part Bugs Bunny, part Kender, part zaphod bebblebrox and made out of iridescent proto-matter.  He is innately magical and resourcefully impractical wit sudden flashes of utility. Will he be too zany for the other players to tolerate?

ROFL!
only Josh, er, I mean "the other players" can answer that question


Assuming a custom race, what class are you going to use to represent the MISHAP?

If people are not looking at the classes in the "Occult adventures" splat book for this, they should be.

I'm leaning heavy towards either "Psychic" or "Kineticist".

From an Anime universe. Regardless of the nature of the rest of the reality around him, he (and all of his effects) will appear illustrated...maybe a "liberated/escaped" character from a longstanding entertainment MMORPG in a super high tech culture. You know those episodes on Star Trek TNG when the Holodeck malfunctions...?

MAS wrote:If people are not looking at the classes in the "Occult adventures" splat book for this, they should be.

I'm leaning heavy towards either "Psychic" or "Kineticist".

From an Anime universe. Regardless of the nature of the rest of the reality around him, he (and all of his effects) will appear illustrated...maybe a "liberated/escaped" character from a longstanding entertainment MMORPG in a super high tech culture. You know those episodes on Star Trek TNG when the Holodeck malfunctions...?

Very nice...

Chris wrote:

ROFL!
only Josh, er, I mean "the other players" can answer that question


Assuming a custom race, what class are you going to use to represent the MISHAP?

He will be multi-classed with some kind of illusory and conjuration magic and possibly bard. Since this is low combat, I can overcome the temptation to completely exhaust magical aptitude on the obligatory defensive buffs and evocations. He won't be easy to kill, though. He will be a very talented idiot.

As for how he is received, I see him as a challenge to the party in and of himself. He will make bad decisions and force plan-b thinking fairly often. I will reign him in as best as I can, but he has already been alive in my warped imagination for years. I am so excited I finally get to make this character!

navyik wrote:

Chris wrote:

ROFL!
only Josh, er, I mean "the other players" can answer that question


Assuming a custom race, what class are you going to use to represent the MISHAP?

He will be multi-classed with some kind of illusory and conjuration magic and possibly bard.  Since this is low combat, I can overcome the temptation to completely exhaust magical aptitude on the obligatory defensive buffs and evocations.  He won't be easy to kill, though.  He will be a very talented idiot.  

As for how he is received, I see him as a challenge to the party in and of himself.  He will make bad decisions and force plan-b thinking fairly often. I will reign him in as best as I can, but he has already been alive in my warped imagination for years.  I am so excited I finally get to make this character!

I think that's a great concept...for a lot of solo play.

If you all really hate this, then I will figure something else out. To be fair, I have tried to make "normal" characters the last few games. One was even serious...

Lol! I wouldn't say I "hate" it - but it's a bit presumptuous. If your character concept is a highly disruptive personality that deliberately makes poor decisions against the best interest of the group, you are asking for a lot of forbearance from the rest of the players. You are stating from the get-go that you intend to screw over every attempt we make to do something in a reasonable way, and then we just have to accept it because that is just your character. Play what you want, but keep in mind we all want to have fun.

How bout this: After his morning jog, Steve Jacobson rides his crotch rocket to the office every day.  He wears a necktie and a sport coat with dressy steel toed sketchers under his protective gear.  He sells custom built machines to manufacturers and is technically savvy.  He has a bachelor's degree in business with a minor in manufacturing engineering.
 Steve is divorced and has a teenage ex stepson that mostly hates him but occasionally spends a weekend with him.  On vacations, he camps, skis, hunts, or fishes with moderate aptitude.  Poor guy is a Cleveland Browns fan and played linebacker in highschool.  He was a scout team walk-on tackling dummy at Ohio State and knows how to get up from a beating.
 Steve speaks English, Japanese and German, (secretly speaks Klingon due to nerd contacts from the Engineering department).  He has never climbed a mountain, but he knows the high ropes course from team building exercises well.  He has been skydiving and bungee jumping and has ridden horses on occasion.
 Steve is serious about civic responsibility, goes to church, votes for the Republican nominee no matter what, and has his concealed carry permit.  He also has a drawer full of condoms and memberships to 2 dating sites and 3 porn sites.
 One day, Steve is called into the CEO's office...

navyik wrote:
As for how he is received, I see him as a challenge to the party in and of himself.  He will make bad decisions and force plan-b thinking fairly often. I will reign him in as best as I can, but he has already been alive in my warped imagination for years.  I am so excited I finally get to make this character!

This is exactly what I am hoping to see!  Please play something that you have always wanted to play, but never found a game they would fit into.  YES YES YES

Not to be morbid, but think of it like this: what you would make if it was the last character you ever got to play.

MAS wrote:Lol! I wouldn't say I "hate" it - but it's a bit presumptuous. If your character concept is a highly disruptive personality that deliberately makes poor decisions against the best interest of the group, you are asking for a lot of forbearance from the rest of the players. You are stating from the get-go that you intend to screw over every attempt we make to do something in a reasonable way, and then we just have to accept it because that is just your character. Play what you want, but keep in mind we all want to have fun.

Matt also makes a very valid point here.  This is a group game.  Part of the fun is coming up with plans and executing them.  Part of the fun is when the plan goes south, figuring something else out (plan B thinking).   Intentionally screwing up every time gets old, for both player and GM.

I trust that Alan will come up with a convention to allow the character to be reeled into the group's plans:  

Think of BA Barackus in the A-team.  They could give him a shot to make him go to sleep when they needed him to fly.  

The Super-friends could say Myxlplx's name backwards 3 times to make him go away

my crazy wizard had his Dr. Monkey give him his "meds" when he went overboard on his delusions of grandeur



Alan - would something like that fit into the concept?

navyik wrote:How bout this: After his morning jog, Steve Jacobson rides his crotch rocket to the office every day.  He wears a necktie and a sport coat with dressy steel toed sketchers under his protective gear.  He sells custom built machines to manufacturers and is technically savvy.  He has a bachelor's degree in business with a minor in manufacturing engineering.
 Steve is divorced and has a teenage ex stepson that mostly hates him but occasionally spends a weekend with him.  On vacations, he camps, skis, hunts, or fishes with moderate aptitude.  Poor guy is a Cleveland Browns fan and played linebacker in highschool.  He was a scout team walk-on tackling dummy at Ohio State and knows how to get up from a beating.
 Steve speaks English, Japanese and German, (secretly speaks Klingon due to nerd contacts from the Engineering department).  He has never climbed a mountain, but he knows the high ropes course from team building exercises well.  He has been skydiving and bungee jumping and has ridden horses on occasion.
 Steve is serious about civic responsibility, goes to church, votes for the Republican nominee no matter what, and has his concealed carry permit.  He also has a drawer full of condoms and memberships to 2 dating sites and 3 porn sites.
 One day, Steve is called into the CEO's office...

and is quickly eaten by the terrifying undead liberal fiend

Chris wrote:

navyik wrote:
As for how he is received, I see him as a challenge to the party in and of himself.  He will make bad decisions and force plan-b thinking fairly often. I will reign him in as best as I can, but he has already been alive in my warped imagination for years.  I am so excited I finally get to make this character!

This is exactly what I am hoping to see!  Please play something that you have always wanted to play, but never found a game they would fit into.  YES YES YES

Not to be morbid, but think of it like this: what you would make if it was the last character you ever got to play.

MAS wrote:Lol! I wouldn't say I "hate" it - but it's a bit presumptuous. If your character concept is a highly disruptive personality that deliberately makes poor decisions against the best interest of the group, you are asking for a lot of forbearance from the rest of the players. You are stating from the get-go that you intend to screw over every attempt we make to do something in a reasonable way, and then we just have to accept it because that is just your character. Play what you want, but keep in mind we all want to have fun.

Matt also makes a very valid point here.  This is a group game.  Part of the fun is coming up with plans and executing them.  Part of the fun is when the plan goes south, figuring something else out (plan B thinking).   Intentionally screwing up every time gets old, for both player and GM.

I trust that Alan will come up with a convention to allow the character to be reeled into the group's plans:  

Think of BA Barackus in the A-team.  They could give him a shot to make him go to sleep when they needed him to fly.  

The Super-friends could say Myxlplx's name backwards 3 times to make him go away

my crazy wizard had his Dr. Monkey give him his "meds" when he went overboard on his delusions of grandeur



Alan - would something like that fit into the concept?

Exactly. The group will be able to reel him in with good role playing. He is a benevolent creature.

navyik wrote:How bout this: After his morning jog, Steve Jacobson rides his crotch rocket to the office every day.  He wears a necktie and a sport coat with dressy steel toed sketchers under his protective gear.  He sells custom built machines to manufacturers and is technically savvy.  He has a bachelor's degree in business with a minor in manufacturing engineering.
 Steve is divorced and has a teenage ex stepson that mostly hates him but occasionally spends a weekend with him.  On vacations, he camps, skis, hunts, or fishes with moderate aptitude.  Poor guy is a Cleveland Browns fan and played linebacker in highschool.  He was a scout team walk-on tackling dummy at Ohio State and knows how to get up from a beating.
 Steve speaks English, Japanese and German, (secretly speaks Klingon due to nerd contacts from the Engineering department).  He has never climbed a mountain, but he knows the high ropes course from team building exercises well.  He has been skydiving and bungee jumping and has ridden horses on occasion.
 Steve is serious about civic responsibility, goes to church, votes for the Republican nominee no matter what, and has his concealed carry permit.  He also has a drawer full of condoms and memberships to 2 dating sites and 3 porn sites.
 One day, Steve is called into the CEO's office...

Smart ass But since you posted this - it'd make a fine "Dr Jeckll and Mr Hyde" approach to MISHAP! One side doesn't even know the other exists? Just riffin with it...

I trust you understand that I am not trying to shut you down Alan, just stating the obvious as to what you are asking of the other players.

20 pts for Attributes

Advanced Racial Package > 25 attributes pts

not looking at Josh or anything

I only did 15 for race. Guess I gotta add more...

navyik wrote:I only did 15 for race.  Guess I gotta add more...  

15 RP is correct
20 Attributes

I meant that Josh always lobbies for 25 attributes

Hmm, several broadsides directed at me and I haven't even said a word.

I didn't realize this was going to be a cartoon world...

Pleeeeeeeeeeeease don't shooooooooot me!!!  Ya gotta give me another chance! Please please please!  Tink of my poor mudder.  Oh jeeeeez, pleeeeeeeease!!!!!

whit10 wrote:Hmm, several broadsides directed at me and I haven't even said a word.

I didn't realize this was going to be a cartoon world...

Welcome back! I haven't been able to give you shit on the forums for 6 months. I got a lot of catching up to do

it's not a cartoon world, but there might be a cartoon character

I'd considered an AI, but that is kind of close in concept to something(s) I've played before.

Wanting to get away from tech...wandering towards incarnations....

MAS wrote:I'd considered an AI, but that is kind of close in concept to something(s) I've played before.

Wanting to get away from tech...wandering towards incarnations....

sounds good, lots of possibilities there and it doesn't have to be from a normal fantasy world

well, we can let the cat out of the bag....

I'm playing a Klingon scientist.  Hmm, I wonder how cartoons taste?  

let the insults commence

whit10 wrote:

I'm playing a Klingon scientist.  

Awesome! Another character I have always wanted to see in the flesh - Josh as a Klingon. How have we missed this treat for 30 years??

of course, even Klingon scientists like to fight

oh... he's a fighter alright. War first, science second. lol

I'm playing a "Secret". As in this creature is the manifest incarnation of a specific and particular secret. He is a denizen of the Collective Mind/Dreamscape.


Race: yet to be built
Class: Psychic, "Lore" discipline.
Archetype "Formless Adept"

Chris wrote:Mounts are fine, but there would have to be some way of making it "go away"

an actual horse that follows you around probably wouldn't work, however the following would be fine:

Matt's small alien inside a normal-sized mount used as a body

a "cavalier" from a world like Tron, where your horse is re-skinned as a Light Bike that can fold up into a stick (you'd have to figure out some magic item to cover this)

a paladin that can summon\unsummon their mount

I just discovered this thread! Cool idea! If I was gonna play, I'd be interested in playing some kind of construct like the car K.I.T.T.

I don't recall if PF has a Warforged race, but I think there are Race Builder rules for constructs...

Using some of these suggestions, I could see reskinning a Cavalier as a Transformer.

Robyo wrote:
I just discovered this thread! Cool idea! If I was gonna play, I'd be interested in playing some kind of construct like the car K.I.T.T.

I don't recall if PF has a Warforged race, but I think there are Race Builder rules for constructs...

Using some of these suggestions, I could see reskinning a Cavalier as a Transformer.

Sorry you missed it! You are welcome, of course. Yes, PF does have construct option in Race Builder. If you are going to be a transformer\KITT though, you have to be from the '80s

for the record, the party currently consists of:

a transforming living-machine construct

a Klingon warrior\scientist trapped in Asgard

an animaniac cartoon, appropriately named the MISHAP

a ghost of a dream of a secret, wrapped in an enigma

This is insane... lol

I think Chris posted this in the wrong place, so I am copy/pasting it here for him =

"Skills: I want to avoid increasing the tax on skills

I think you can add any knowledges or craft ones that you want and substitute them for class KNO\Craft that don't make sense.
ie - if you come from a high-tech world, you can sub out KNO Arcana or dungeoneering or craft leatherworking for KNO computers, astrogation or craft technology

I don't think we need 'computer use'. everyone knows how to use a computer. use the appropriate skill(s) while on a computer - disable device, diplomacy, perception (search), bluff, etc

Repair is covered by DD (mechanical) or UMD (future tech)

remember, magic items are re-skinned as technology. so a feat like craft magic armor = craft high-tech armor

a wand of Detect Magic is kind of a like a star trek Tricorder that would detect different types of energy (gamma rays = evocation energy etc etc)"

MAS wrote:I think Chris posted this in the wrong place, so I am copy/pasting it here for him =

ooops, where did I post that??

Rob,

What about a re-skinned Druid?

He could literally transform into all sorts of different machines. He would be an upgrade over a regular transformer that is limited to 2 shapes. I think there are some druid variants that are more combat-oriented, since you mentioned Cavalier

Chris wrote:Rob,

What about a re-skinned Druid?  

He could literally transform into all sorts of different machines.  He would be an upgrade over a regular transformer that is limited to 2 shapes.  I think there are some druid variants that are more combat-oriented, since you mentioned Cavalier

Chris, that is a good idea and one I'd considered. I was trying to come up with a way for one of his "shapes" to be a mount, reskinned as a car or vehicle..  Are you allowing Large-sized PC's? We could handle it similar to how 5e does with Goliath and Firbolg player races, where the character is technically medium, and can fit in narrow passages along with medium and small creatures, but also has the Powerful Build ability. 

Powerful Build: You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Then he could potentially "carry" another PC or two as a mount. Do you want to set a RP cost for Powerful Build?

Robyo wrote:

Chris, that is a good idea and one I'd considered. I was trying to come up with a way for one of his "shapes" to be a mount, reskinned as a car or vehicle..  Are you allowing Large-sized PC's? We could handle it similar to how 5e does with Goliath and Firbolg player races, where the character is technically medium, and can fit in narrow passages along with medium and small creatures, but also has the Powerful Build ability. 

Powerful Build: You count as one size larger when determining your carrying capacity and the weight you can push, drag, or lift.

Then he could potentially "carry" another PC or two as a mount. Do you want to set a RP cost for Powerful Build?

check the Race Builder, it has tons of stuff, including size options

Large (7 RP): Prerequisite: Humanoids taking this quality must have the giant subtype; Benefit: Large creatures gain a +2 size bonus to Strength and a –2 size penalty to Dexterity. Large races take a –1 size penalty to their AC, a –1 size penalty on attack rolls, a +1 bonus on combat maneuver checks and to their CMD, and a –4 size penalty on Stealth checks. A Large creature takes up a space that is 10 feet by 10 feet and has a reach of 5 feet.

However, Quadruped or Multi-limbed is a "monstrous" trait.  I am allowing Standard and Advanced, not monstrous.

So, just racially, you could be Large, but not a quadruped.  However, by 6ht-8th level, the Druid can shapeshift into something bigger

At 6th level, a druid can also use wild shape to change into a Large or Tiny animal or a Small elemental. When taking the form of an animal, a druid's wild shape now functions as beast shape II. When taking the form of an elemental, the druid's wild shape functions as elemental body I.

At 8th level, a druid can also use wild shape to change into a Huge or Diminutive animal, a Medium elemental, or a Small or Medium plant creature. When taking the form of animals, a druid's wild shape now functions as beast shape III. When taking the form of an elemental, the druid's wild shape now functions as elemental body II. When taking the form of a plant creature, the druid's wild shape functions as plant shape I.

so that could cover a horse re-skinned as a motorcycle or an elephant (?) re-skinned as a truck, for examples

just Powerful Build... it seems fairly minor, I would say 2 RP

Chris wrote:

MAS wrote:I think Chris posted this in the wrong place, so I am copy/pasting it here for him =

ooops, where did I post that??

In the DnD game, lol!

No worries though I figured out where you meant it.

Chris wrote:"check the Race Builder, it has tons of stuff, including size options

Large (7 RP): Prerequisite: Humanoids taking this quality must have the giant subtype; Benefit: Large creatures gain a +2 size bonus to Strength and a –2 size penalty to Dexterity. Large races take a –1 size penalty to their AC, a –1 size penalty on attack rolls, a +1 bonus on combat maneuver checks and to their CMD, and a –4 size penalty on Stealth checks. A Large creature takes up a space that is 10 feet by 10 feet and has a reach of 5 feet.

However, Quadruped or Multi-limbed is a "monstrous" trait.  I am allowing Standard and Advanced, not monstrous.

So, just racially, you could be Large, but not a quadruped.  However, by 6ht-8th level, the Druid can shapeshift into something bigger

At 6th level, a druid can also use wild shape to change into a Large or Tiny animal or a Small elemental. When taking the form of an animal, a druid's wild shape now functions as beast shape II. When taking the form of an elemental, the druid's wild shape functions as elemental body I.

At 8th level, a druid can also use wild shape to change into a Huge or Diminutive animal, a Medium elemental, or a Small or Medium plant creature. When taking the form of animals, a druid's wild shape now functions as beast shape III. When taking the form of an elemental, the druid's wild shape now functions as elemental body II. When taking the form of a plant creature, the druid's wild shape functions as plant shape I.

so that could cover a horse re-skinned as a motorcycle or an elephant (?) re-skinned as a truck, for examples

just Powerful Build... it seems fairly minor, I would say 2 RP"

Thanks for the info! A druid re-skinned as a shapeshifting robot sounds cool to me. If he can't be big enough to be a car or semi, that's okay. I'm leaning more towards dino-bot anyways 

"15 RP is correct" (Standard and Advanced abilities only)
"20 Attributes"

Robyo wrote:
Thanks for the info! A druid re-skinned as a shapeshifting robot sounds cool to me. If he can't be big enough to be a car or semi, that's okay. I'm leaning more towards dino-bot anyways 

"15 RP is correct" (Standard and Advanced abilities only)
"20 Attributes"

I am happy you are playing!  

you can definitely be Large with RPs or change into something Large at 6th, Huge at 8th.  That is definitely enough  for a car or a small dino (elephant\truck sized)

lvl 8

Large size is kind of expensive. Plus the book says you must also be giant sub-type, but doesn't give stats for such... I took Half-construct (7 RP), Human Heritage (0 RP), Standard Languages (0 RP), Greater Spell Resistance (3 RP), Negative Energy Affinity (-1 RP), Flight (4 RP), and Darkvision (2 RP). There wasn't enough Racial Points to buy Large size, which is fine. He can wild shape into bigger if needed.

Being a half-construct, his other half is human. I see him as a sort of severe cyborg creation. Maybe he has some organic matter inside of him. An alien who was deposited long ago during the Jurassic age, he learned to pattern his form off of the local fauna: dinosaurs.

He is a Saurian Shaman with a Velociraptor animal companion named "Skree."

EDIT: Addendum. I take it we're starting at 8th level?

What is the deal with tech levels? I am willing to spend a Feat for Martial Weapon Proficiency. So, what are you doing about rifles and rayguns? Where can I find technology info for the game? Computer Use? Starship piloting?

Starfinder may be more of what you need for this setting. It's not out until GenCon (fall time).

to spare you re-reading the whole thread....

You are creating a character, but also their "home world" and whatever rules\tech\magic\plane apply to that world. Your character is, in essence, a representative of that world.

Everything from PF can and should be re-skinned into whatever you need it to be. Technology = magic re-skinned for example. Craft Magic Item = Craft high tech devices. A laser gun might be a crossbow +1 + 1d6 fire that has been re-skinned or use the stats for guns and add magical effects. No stats change, just the visual appearance.

No extra skills should be needed. If you come from a world with computers, you know how to use them. Skill checks are for what you are trying to do with a computer. ie - Perception (search), Disable Device (hacking), Knowledge XYZ, etc.

See the original post, but most of the feat taxes have been removed. I love the bared down 5e rules about moving\fighting, drawing weapons, using items. That should free up your feats to round out the characters more.

Alternately, instead of re-skinning a wand of fireballs into a gun, you can look at higher tech equipment here:

http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/technologyGuide/weapons.html

use your starting gold for 8th level to buy (very expensive)

Okay, thanks! That answers my questions! And I didn't know about all the background creation stuff, which is cool.

...He hails from a planet much like Cybertron. Peopled by living, self-transforming, robot/human hybrids. Perhaps the organic beings that they originally were had to adapt to cosmic radiation from a depleted atmosphere, or something...While as a young construct, he headed out on a space faring mission to find new lifeforms in the galaxy.... Accidentaly crash-landed on a planet during it's Jurassic period. Adapting to his new surroundings, he became a Saurian Shaman...There is also a sentient species of lizardfolk he has befriended, hoping to get his space craft repaired... but he is no engineer!