Eberron ala Fabian (Inactive)

Game Master Fabian Benavente

Being a 'dainty' wizard would also prompt the warforged to protect you even more.

Somehow I don't think your PC is happy with the warforged bodyguards following her around. Did your father or another protective figure order the warforged to follow you as you make your way in Sharn? :)

But I get ahead of myself thinking of the RP opportunities but it's your PC so make sure you love what you come up with.

Game on!

I've played too many wizards over the years...
Straight damage evocation tends to be more a combination of spells and traits abd feats.
Caster level, normally quite weak, becomes critical.
It is a truism that damage quickly becomes inferior to debuff, but this is not necessarily critical.
It is possible to have, as a 2nd level wizard, a 5d4 burning hands spell.
Does tend to get a little repetitive though.

One of the options for the least mark of sentinel (Deneith) is mage armor...

Geez, Shari, stop playing yourself. ;)

Bronwyn is going to be hilarious to play with. I don't think that Vi's going to know what to make of her.

Definitely have to find a better avatar for Vi, this one is not working for me. I've never struggled so much with this!

Bronwyn; looking good. Some questions/things to consider

Is her last name Deneith? Not all those associated have the last name of course and not even all those that have a dragonmark have that last name.

I view dragonmarks as blood related. Is her dragonmark unexpected (i.e., the first in the family)?

Is she from Karrnath (seat of House Deneith)? If so, what's her view of undead? If not, where's from?

What guild was she being groomed for? Blademarks (mercenaries) or Sentinel Marshals (sort of international police)? The Defenders is formed from veterans from the Blademarks.

What about the Last war? Where was she? What was she doing?

You know I suck at last names so I was just going to go with Deneith unless that causes you problems.

Her dragonmark wasn't unexpected but what was unexpected was her eventual role as wizard instead of fighter.

Still thinking about the other stuff...

Ok, so I have:

2 warforged that are tasked with protecting a Deneith heir hire a half-elf city guide to go around Sharn. presumably the group is in Sharn because Bronwyn...

- Squeak (alchemist 2);
- other warforged (fighter 1/cleric 1)
- half-elf guide (changeling rogue 2)
- Bronwyn d'Deneith (human wizard/fire elementalist 2)

So we are officially in the last stage of preparations. We need PC sheets and fluffs but at least we have the initial setup.

I'd like to start this week; what's your schedule look like for finishing the PCs up?

Did you all get a chance to freshen up/learn about Eberron?

Any questions?

Game on!

Advice needed: For Vi's weapons... She gets Weapon finesse as a class feature. Is it better to...
1) Take weapon finesse for Rapier, have the off hand a dagger.
When TWF:
Rapier to hit +3, damage 1d6 -1,
Dagger to hit -2, damage 1d4-1

2)
Weapon finesse dagger, have a dagger in each hand.
Dagger to hit +3, damage 1d4-1 in both hands.

(When I get to 3rd level, I can add Dex bonus instead of Str to damage for my finessed weapon)

Thoughts? Seems crazy to only have 2 daggers, but might be worth it long run?

Vi's alias that you'll be meeting as guide is Arleth Fadi, half-elf city guide

@Fabian - any rules about walking around armed in Sharn?

Advice needed: For Vi's weapons... She gets Weapon finesse as a class feature. Is it better to...

1) Take weapon finesse for Rapier, have the off hand a dagger.
When TWF:
Rapier to hit +3, damage 1d6 -1,
Dagger to hit -2, damage 1d4-1

2)
Weapon finesse dagger, have a dagger in each hand.
Dagger to hit +3, damage 1d4-1 in both hands.

(When I get to 3rd level, I can add Dex bonus instead of Str to damage for my finessed weapon)

Thoughts? Seems crazy to only have 2 daggers, but might be worth it long run?

Vi's alias that you'll be meeting as guide is Arleth Fadi, half-elf city guide

@Fabian - any rules about walking around armed in Sharn?

I have a TWF rogue that uses two shortswords.

I also have another PC that uses rapier only.

It's more a matter of taste and look. Remember that if I find the encounters are too easy because you guys are too optimized then I increase the challenge so go for story over mechanics all the time in my games.

It's post-war so no rules going around armed and armored in Sharn.

Questions?

Game on!

Would you consider letting her take the trait 'Rich Parents'? If not, that's ok. I can pick something else. Just thought I'd ask.

I'm hoping to have a more fleshed-out background sometime tomorrow night but I make no promises :)

She's from Karrnath and she studied at The Twelve.

Remind me again about how long ago the Last War was? Is it 2 years ago?

Would you consider letting her take the trait 'Rich Parents'? If not, that's ok. I can pick something else. Just thought I'd ask.

I'm hoping to have a more fleshed-out background sometime tomorrow night but I make no promises :)

She's from Karrnath and she studied at The Twelve.

Remind me again about how long ago the Last War was? Is it 2 years ago?

Rich parents is fitting so you start with 1,300 gp.

The Treaty of Thronehold ended the Last war 2 years ago (996 YK); campaign starts in 998 YK.

Studying at the The Twelve is very fitting since it ties well with your region of origin.

Questions?

Game on!

In one of the books it says that even spellcasters have martial training while in the house. Should I be taking 1 level of fighter and then start levels of wizard? Or is it ok that she's just a spellcaster?

In one of the books it says that even spellcasters have martial training while in the house. Should I be taking 1 level of fighter and then start levels of wizard? Or is it ok that she's just a spellcaster?

"Members of House Deneith serve in one of its guilds at some point in their lives, almost without exception."

Yeah I read that to but you're special. :)

I figured someone recognized your magical ability and decided that you should focus on that for now. You are still being groomed for one of the guilds...

Angie asked me if I was looking for a 5th player and I am NOT except if the player comes highly recommended so if you know of 'someone that would just be a great fit' then send him/her my way.

I firmly believe that five players is best but I don't want to bring just anyone.

I'm sure we'll have a great game with just you four if it comes to that. :)

I choose to believe she's special (to be revered) and not special (to be patted on the head)...

I choose to believe she's special (to be revered) and not special (to be patted on the head)...

I just had the image of one of the warforged patting you on the head. "It's Ok little girl; we won't let the mean men hurt you..."

:)

Bronwyn d'Deneith wrote:

I choose to believe she's special (to be revered) and not special (to be patted on the head)...

I just had the image of one of the warforged patting you on the head. "It's Ok little girl; we won't let the mean men hurt you..."

:)

If he wants to keep that hand, he'd better not. :)

Crunch and fluff done, open to revision, on Vi's profile page.

I spent all but 50gp, but I have quite an extensive list of alias's mundane stuff - hopefully this will cover it. I'm certainly not planning on taking it all with me, just wanted to start with it all on the sheet for completeness.

Crunch and fluff done, open to revision, on Vi's profile page.

I would reconsider the assault leader rogue talent because it reads Ok but may be a pain to implement in PBP.

See if there's something else that you like.

Good news for Shari!

Since warforged and changeling are a little bit more powerful than human, I want to even things out a little so feel free to take a second extra feat at first level so you'll have a total of three feats (one for PC level 1 and two for being a human).

Questions?

Game on!

WHAT?!?! She gets the extra feat AND extra skill points AND now ANOTHER feat?

UNACCEPTABLE! Cool!. :)

Ugh, I hate going through that rogue talent list - I thought I'd sorted it. But I can see how it would be tough to do with your turn-recap style. I'll take another look. Otherwise looks okay?

Starting to build math and fluff behind this alias...

Hmh... Fabian, would the Iron Priest archetype work instead of the Forgemaster? At a closer reading, that dwarven class isn't all that hot after all.

If only Oracle wasn't charisma-based, I would have taken that route in a heartbeast, but good luck getting a 'forged's charisma high enough to matter. The "granted power without asking for it" would have been a neat way of explaining Palisade's divine powers. Unless I simply accept being a mediocre divine caster...

Oh, the choises...

Hmh... Fabian, would the Iron Priest archetype work instead of the Forgemaster? At a closer reading, that dwarven class isn't all that hot after all.

If only Oracle wasn't charisma-based, I would have taken that route in a heartbeast, but good luck getting a 'forged's charisma high enough to matter. The "granted power without asking for it" would have been a neat way of explaining Palisade's divine powers. Unless I simply accept being a mediocre divine caster...

Oh, the choises...

Iron priests specifically says that it does affect UNLIVING constructs. Is that what you want?

I thought there was an oracle that used WIS instead of CHA for spell casting and other abilities.

Constructs without those subtypes are also affected, but gain only half the normal amount of healing or take only half the normal amount of damage, as appropriate.

Will check the Oracle archetypes, if there's such a Wis-using thing hiding somewhere...

Alright.
Choices all made here
Working on background, personality etc here

Is the name okay? I'm running out of time to change it. Note he doesn't actually squeak.

Edit: If Bronwyn or Vi need repairing, Squeak has the tools to do it. I also grabbed a poor house at average cost. Should just hold the four of us, and give us a base of operations for crafting. Not sure if that needs to be a shop. I noted Fabian's description had the whole first book in Sharn.

Edit: I modified just a dash to have the same weapons (Crossbow, Greatsword) as Palisade, under the theory they were equipped identically.

Edit: I picked up Craft: Food. I have this image of him going out of his way to make good food for humans (soldiers love decent food), and now looking after Bronwyn. Don't actually want to make money at it, but have the ability to whip up an 8 deck cake if needed.

Oh! A cook without a sense of taste. Bound to be entertaining ;-)

"I know you like garlic, and sugar. I have made you a garlic cake." ;P
Sadly I am in another game where someone plays that for amusement, so I was actually going to make him decent - basically as alchemy.
"I used 3.24 eggs in the cake this time in an attempt to increase the sponginess factor you desired."
Yes, I would recipes in his formula book.
No, he has never accidentally thrown a cream pie instead of a bomb ;P

Edit: I modified just a dash to have the same weapons (Crossbow, Greatsword) as Palisade, under the theory they were equipped identically.

No need to shoot for 100% similarity, even if we were in the same unit, we could have come from different production lines. Particularly as an Alchemist you would have been a bit of a special case, considering the Creation Forges installed the basic skills in the fresh 'forgeds' brains. Palisade was pretty much your average heavy assault type with an off-duty interest in philosophy (picked up from gods know where, certainly not built in at design phase intentionally - perhaps due to some bug in the process) before the war ended, his maker died and he found religion (well, founded would be more like it).

Is the name okay? I'm running out of time to change it. Note he doesn't actually squeak.

Edit: If Bronwyn or Vi need repairing, Squeak has the tools to do it. I also grabbed a poor house at average cost. Should just hold the four of us, and give us a base of operations for crafting. Not sure if that needs to be a shop. I noted Fabian's description had the whole first book in Sharn.

Edit: I picked up Craft: Food. I have this image of him going out of his way to make good food for humans (soldiers love decent food), and now looking after Bronwyn. Don't actually want to make money at it, but have the ability to whip up an 8 deck cake if needed.

I love the name Squeak! And Vi loves good food - I predict many interesting conversations about cooking and food in our future.

@Fabian - Are we starting the game already together, or getting together? Do we have a reason why these three are in Sharn? (Maybe depends on Shari's background).

For the beginning, Vi probably won't be sleeping in the house with you guys - she'll be trying to fit in some of her other alias's activities. If/when it makes sense to do so, she'll start bunking with you.

Squeak Warforged wrote:

Edit: I modified just a dash to have the same weapons (Crossbow, Greatsword) as Palisade, under the theory they were equipped identically.

No need to shoot for 100% similarity, even if we were in the same unit, we could have come from different production lines. Particularly as an Alchemist you would have been a bit of a special case, considering the Creation Forges installed the basic skills in the fresh 'forgeds' brains. Palisade was pretty much your average heavy assault type with an off-duty interest in philosophy (picked up from gods know where, certainly not built in at design phase intentionally - perhaps due to some bug in the process) before the war ended, his maker died and he found religion (well, founded would be more like it).

I agree; there's no need to match things exactly. One could have been a scout and another a heavy fighter and still be part of the same unit.

Game on!

Did a bit of reading, didn't find any Wis based Oracles. Did run into the Archivist, which sounded very interesting (was a big fan of the 3.5ed original) but it sounds like too much effort with the whole rune magic system to get to the bottom of.

Wonder if I should just go vanilla Cleric after all, and at least get another domain for my troubles.

Did a bit of reading, didn't find any Wis based Oracles. Did run into the Archivist, which sounded very interesting (was a big fan of the 3.5ed original) but it sounds like too much effort with the whole rune magic system to get to the bottom of.

Wonder if I should just go vanilla Cleric after all, and at least get another domain for my troubles.

Yeah, I didn't find any either.

What is your reason for being an oracle?

Can't you mechanically be a cleric but use the fluff of the oracle?

Is that you want to say that your don't know where your divine powers come from?

I don't think it would be a huge advantage to have you be a wisdom-based oracle if the other options above are not good. People love oracles but with the curse thing, they don't really appeal to me.

Thoughts?

What is your reason for being an oracle?

Well, I just think they are too bland... like really begging for an Unchained version. You can make a Cleric very powerful, sure, but pretty much all you ever get for taking more levels of Cleric are higher level spells. There are no nifty class abilities you can choose from that keep you going for one level longer, like Oracle's Revelations. That's the main reason the Forgemaster caught my fancy, but at closer look, the Runes are pretty much useless and not even very fluffy in my opinion.

I like having options available, even though I'd never get to use much of them due to level constraints. I'm just built that way ;^)

But I think I will swallow my pride and give vanilla Cleric a go.

Fabian Benavente wrote:

What is your reason for being an oracle?

Well, I just think they are too bland... like really begging for an Unchained version. You can make a Cleric very powerful, sure, but pretty much all you ever get for taking more levels of Cleric are higher level spells. There are no nifty class abilities you can choose from that keep you going for one level longer, like Oracle's Revelations. That's the main reason the Forgemaster caught my fancy, but at closer look, the Runes are pretty much useless and not even very fluffy in my opinion.

I like having options available, even though I'd never get to use much of them due to level constraints. I'm just built that way ;^)

What about a warpriest? They get some nice abilities as they go up in levels.

Dipping one level in fighter and then going warpriest is not far fetched.

What about a warpriest? They get some nice abilities as they go up in levels.

Dipping one level in fighter and then going warpriest is not far fetched.

Oh yeah, there was such a thing... that doesn't sound half bad. Will think of this overnight and decide in the morning.

@Fabian - Are we starting the game already together, or getting together? Do we have a reason why these three are in Sharn? (Maybe depends on Shari's background).

@Fabian - looks like you crossposted with this - did you see it? Will we be starting out already together?

Vi Olaro wrote:

@Fabian - Are we starting the game already together, or getting together? Do we have a reason why these three are in Sharn? (Maybe depends on Shari's background).

@Fabian - looks like you crossposted with this - did you see it? Will we be starting out already together?

I had not seen this.

here's what I am thinking:

I'm assuming that Shari will have a reason to be in Sharn.
Her protective warforged of course come along and hire a local guide (Vi).
Vi is 'guiding' the group somewhere in Upper Sharn (details forthcoming).
I take over and present a situation and campaign starts.

Unless you guys wanted to roleplay your initial meeting/hiring, etc.

Just let me know.

For Bronwyn's extra feat, can she take a feat that requires one of her other feats as a prereq? She's taking Spell Focus (fire school) but would also like to take Spell Specialization which requires Spell Focus as a prereq.

No one told me that Bronwyn had to know why she's in Sharn :)

I put her crunch in profile along with her full 10min fluff. Haven't written a full-on background yet. Fabian, are you still wanting that?

I can answer some of your questions though:
How does she feel about undead? Karrnath used them and she was taught that they were necessary so she has no problem with them but honestly hasn't given it much thought. She's pretty naive after all.

She doesn't really know what guild she's being groomed for. Too bad there's not a princess guild :)

During the Last War she was primarily at school

For Bronwyn's extra feat, can she take a feat that requires one of her other feats as a prereq? She's taking Spell Focus (fire school) but would also like to take Spell Specialization which requires Spell Focus as a prereq.

No one told me that Bronwyn had to know why she's in Sharn :)

I put her crunch in profile along with her full 10min fluff. Haven't written a full-on background yet. Fabian, are you still wanting that?

I can answer some of your questions though:
How does she feel about undead? Karrnath used them and she was taught that they were necessary so she has no problem with them but honestly hasn't given it much thought. She's pretty naive after all.

She doesn't really know what guild she's being groomed for. Too bad there's not a princess guild :)

During the Last War she was primarily at school

10 minute fluff is Ok if you don't feel inspired. However, continue to add the answers to questions like the one above so your PC becomes more and more fleshed out as the game progresses.

You may take the feats as you requested.

Why is she in Sharn?
Well Sharn is the most cosmopolitan city in the entire world. Entertainment centers, study centers, libraries, elevators, sky coaches, etc. There's lots of interesting things for a spoiled princess so take your pick. :)

Maybe to celebrate graduating from The Twelve, she goes there as part of the 'year of Bronwyn' to see the world and maybe find that dragonshard...

Maybe to celebrate graduating from The Twelve, she goes there as part of the 'year of Bronwyn' to see the world and maybe find that dragonshard...

That works.

Regarding the warforged. You obviously did not serve in their unit so how about if the warforged served under the command of a protective father/mother figure. Now that the war is over, the warforged continue to obey orders and the orders given to them were to protect you.

So, who is this protective father/mother figure that both served in the war in some form of commander/leader and also cares a lot about Bronwyn?

Alright.

Choices all made here
Working on background, personality etc here

Is the name okay? I'm running out of time to change it. Note he doesn't actually squeak.

So he doesn't squeak? Not even a little? :)

Seriously, please place your information on your alias profile in a similar format as the other three players. It makes it easy for me to check when needed.

-------------
I think we're close to finishing up those PC or at least finishing them enough to start the campaign.

Unless I hear otherwise, I plan on sending out the first turn this Wednesday.

I'm assuming I'll start you right in the action with all four of you. If you want to remember getting to Sharn, meeting each other for the first time, etc., we can do that as 'flashbacks'.

Questions?

Game on!

I'm ready to start en media res. Oh, there will be flashbacks....

I think I'll take "charmer" for my rogue talent. I was going to ask if Bronwyn was going to be leading any talk, but with no Diplomacy skill at all, I think I'll go ahead and buff Vi's.

I actually bought stealth, because I figure he is sensitive about it.
House and stuff is at least partially because he is one of those who pretend to be 'alive'.

I promise to put it in the standard format.
I usually do a long form like this at the start of building a character because it helps me 'show my workings'.
As regards same weapon; all good. I like the idea of some conformity, but Squeak has much lighter armour than Palisade (I took Adamantine plating, and didn't want to burden you all with a 15' move character).
Little bit worried that I pretty much have to state his weight in tonnes though.

About Adamantine plating... that certainly got hammered hard. I think in the original, it gave a proper plate's armor bonus in addition to the DR. Now, it doesn't even boost the armor from standard plating, and the 8 times weight? Squeak weights a ton, literally. Was thinking of taking it myself, but that just seemed silly to me. I don't even recall adamantine being a super-heavy metal, and the Pathfinder rules don't mention any changes to weight when a piece of armor or a weapon is made of the stuff. .

Oh yeah, there was such a thing... that doesn't sound half bad. Will think of this overnight and decide in the morning.

Ok... analysis done.

Pros:

- Bonus feats are always good
- No Cha-dependency anywhere
- Blessings powers better than domain powers
- A militant concept fits the character well
- Stuff at every level, which is nice

Cons:

- Less spells available to cast
- Sacred Weapon is useless when using a 2-hander
- Blessings don't give new spells to the Cleric list

Think I'll switch to that and damn second guessing ;^)

Everyone is looking good.

BTW, I'll be out all day so don't expect anything from me until later this evening.

Ok, I intend to send out the first turn tomorrow.

I'll look at your crunch int he next couple of days so let me know once you are done.

Something else I thought of is that the two warforged need not have identical experiences. Maybe they were serving in the same unit at the end of the war. Maybe they are different age. Perhaps one of them has been on an airship while the other one got to fight underwater.

And maybe the different experiences is why they now have a different outlook on life.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that they don't need to be exactly the same (same age, same unit, etc.).

We'll flesh out everyone's background as the game progresses through flashbacks, story time, etc.

Final thoughts before we start?

Game on!

Oh sure, just as long as the unit is the same at the end, I guess.
Squeak is 3.
Will put in a properly formatted profile and post here.