Fall of nations Chapter 1 - Refuge

Game Master Wrath

The crew of Vixen has some well travelled folk who know more tricks than just sailing. Most of them have been so busy running the vessel to date that they havn't been able to assist in other tasks, but now their time has freed up somewhat they may just decide to use their other skills.

There are a group of refugees fleeing from the Sun Empire on board. Many were injured and may only just now be recovering enough to start doing more active rolls.

Not all the passengers on Vixen were refugees. Some where returning to the Chelaxian cities from other business. A few of them were active in helping the first mate in raiding Haven's honey store. Another group travelled with the ships cook to Haven in the hopes of securing help from that town.

You can use those as a stimulus for how you see your character fitting in if you'd like.

Alternatively, if you come up with a particular concept you're after, I can easily work with you to fit you into the game.

Make your characters level 2 btw, to keep everyone balanced. I'll allocate special gear on a case by case basis. I'll also try to develop a special campaign trait for you characters based on your backgrounds and concpepts (or you could have a go at this yourself if you'd like).

Go wild folks :)

Otherwise...
Concepts I am toying with currently:
Sorcerer; Any Race, it would be tied to what Bloodline and I am always looking for an excuse to make another Sorcerer... I love the Bloodlines and currently half of my PbP Characters utilise Levels of Sorcerer in some form or another.
Rogue; Human and similar to Sorcerer, Rogue is one of my favourite Classes and I love what Pathfinder has done with them, so an excuse to play another one is always welcome.
Ranger; Human focusing on Bows and using a Crow or Raven as an Animal Companion.
Paladin; this one is a bit iffy... I do very much like the new Paladin a lot, but I am one of those who believe that a Paladin shouldn't necessarily be restricted to a Lawful Good alignment, their Alignment should be tied to their Deity and so I am somewhat loathe to play one, however much I like the Class. :/

Either Swashbuckler or Warlock works for me as a character. We'll need to work a little harder on background and tying the warlock to the island, but I reckon the two of us could manage that.

Starting gold - give yourself about 600 to spend, but make sure one item is worth around masterowrk item cost. That's about all the others have so far. It could be a wand with used charges or similar items btw. The group are a little below wealth per level, for good reason. It will balance up though.

Also, you can select a trait from the Paizo web traits. Then we get the fun of developing a second one for that's specific to this campaign and your character :)

Good call on teh race btw. I don't really want monstrous races, and would prefer people stick to the ones I outlined in the creation bits.

Cheers

My first choice is always a caster, just out of habit. But I also enjoy playing any character that can be played 'over the top' for fun.

Does the group have any specific NEEDS right now? More hitting power? More healing power? They seem to have been running fine from the beginning with who they had, I am trying to balance both what might help the party more, and my usual magical preferences.

Other than that, your creation setup seems most straightforward, thank you! I look forward to creating a new Character Trait with you! :)

In that vein of thought, feel free to pick what you want to play. Party and class balance won't prevent success, but there will be times when certain classes make it easier obviously. If you want to go the caster option, we don't have an intelligence based caster as of yet. That might make it less lilely you're competing for gear at any stage, but once again I tend to make sure that never becomes an issue.

Flash asked about starting gold so I'll give you the heads up as well. Start with standard for a first level character. If you want you can also purchase an item for around the cost of a masterwork weapon (300gp + cost). Could be a wand without full charges or some such thing. Alternatively, when you have your concept mapped out and I have an idea of where I'm going to introduce you, I can drop in a unique item that provides similar benefits. That's what I did for Bo-Dan, Algret and Milhar. It seems to be working well so far and has added a depth to the campaign for those players I believe.

Enjoy the creation. It's always the part that gets me excited about a campaign I'm starting .

Cheers

1A. Elven ranger/fighter . An archer. How well would he get on with your orcs? He could be hanging out in the area, seeking some quiet time in a wilderness he likes for some reason. Maybe he was highre level before, but a run-in with undead has left him weakened and his former companions dead?

1B. Human fighter. Mercenery melee guy with a strong sense of personal honor. Someone who could turn into Jon Anthoni some day. He could be one of the shipboard folk.

2.A peasant paladin. I've had this idea running in my head for a long time. Just got to be careful because quarterstaff and leather armour might not be the best combo for a pally.

3. A bard, just because I've never played one. Probably an elf. He would probably have come with the ship or been a crew-member. Trouble is he probably would have stood out on the voyage so far. Unless he's got a reason to keep quiet. Maybe a clandestine courier for someone ...

Have you any preferences or thoughts?

I'm still debating whether to go skill based (standard or w/ lvl of rogue, for all those loverly skill points!) or melee capable (Eldritch knight always sounded like a playable version of one of my 1st ever Advanced D&D characters!)

I'll try to narrow my hyperactive mind down to 2,... or 3 types and personalities, and get back to you!

Have you read any of my old 'SLidell Stormraven' posts? I was REALLY enjoying him, and while I do not want to duplicate him exactly, I was thinking of trying to play something similar.

I was playing him pretty much straight-out like Dr. Who. (The latest versions, like Tom Baker on crack!) Over the top, too smart for his own good, annoyed everyone till they wanted to kill him, but he was (usually) right.
-My (first)question is this, would such a personality be too over the top for this group, or would he fit in? (As much as that personality COULD fit in, anyway!)

The ORIGINAL background was: he was a mage from CHeliax (It was RotRL, we didn't have much info yet) and I made him a generalist who had taken a few conjuration feats. (That fit with what we knew at the time)

As he developed, And I got involved with the RotRL storyline, i developed his background; WHICH is probably too elaborate to transfer over wholesale anyway. But in short, he had been sent out by his master to learn more about magic from the world, and either prepare him for, or protect him from some diabolical scheme back home. He was checked up on regularly in his dreams by an unidentifiable figure, and he never remembered the dreams when he awoke. He had been geased to return home when ordered to, for what purpose I was going to allow the DM to take over there, HIs familiar (a crow) had ALSO been geased, and reported to the mysterious mage as a backup way to keep tabs on the unpredictable Slidell.

Yes, that's the short version. As you can see, when I get started I don't stop for a bit. ;P

OK, finally, the (second) question is, would ANY of this be an ok starting point? Or shall I start from scratch?

IF so, I was thinking that perhaps he could have been one of the persons returning to or towards Cheliax, and was already on the boat and 'settled' when the attack happened. FOr some reason he went catatonic, (perhaps when his 'patron' was attacked or killed in the assault?) and he has been either sleeping the sleep of the dead, or at best sleepwalking, eating when given food, performing his ablutions, then returning to staring into space when done. WHich would explain why he hasn't been active until now. Now something has now changed, and he 'awakes', ready to get on with his life. SO who holds the reigns now?

OR, he could just be on the island,... but that doesn't sound NEARLY as much fun!;P (Sorry, I DO get carried away!)

1A. Elven ranger/fighter . - Elves in this campaign are geneally xenophobic. There are certain groups that travel the world and intermix, but most are treated with suspicion. The orcs on this island don't trust anyone who comes from across the sea (for reasons that will become apparent).

This elf could have been from Haven, as a one time member of a pirate crew now retired.

We could try and work him into the hermit on the island, but generally its a dangerous place to hang around if you're on your own.

He/she would make an interesting addition to the party, but be prepared to be treated with mistrust from most folk you meet in the mainland.

1B. Human fighter. -This would be the easiest to write in, but don't let that sway you. There are any number of groups for a guy like this to have come from. Mercenarys are a dime a dozen since the war started in the Sun Empire, so he/she could have ample reason to be on the ship.

2.A peasant paladin. I like this idea, kind of a little john from robbin hood. I agree that keeping him/her alive would be tough in leather armour though, but maybe we could work something out (there's things like spellweave, dragonhide, darkwood, ironwood that could be used to enhance armour but still look peasentish.)

3. A bard, just because I've never played one. As for elves above, I'm pretty confident this one would have a reason to stay quiet hehe. A number of the guests remained in their paid for cabins on the trip and only raised their heads when the ship bearthed for reprovidioning on the island. Depending on what persoanlity you choose, they could be arrogent and aloof enough to just ignore the threat intiitally, perhaps they were engrossed in learning something they took from teh emoire ( a rare tome of knowledge they've been tasked to return or somesuch), they might have seasick this entire time which could be quite humorous when you finally stagger out of your cabin, maybe you're an ambassador that's just now decided to defect and are using teh mayhem of teh natiosn collapse to hide your decision from teh Elven nations. Any number of reasons why you may not have shown up yet. However, remember the mistrust that elves are generally treated with where you're going. It may make your job as a bard more difficult.

There you go, I had plenty of thoughts, but the preference is entirely up to you. I'd be happy to run with whatever you want to choose, just had to make sure you knew what you're signing up for.

Cheers

Investigator- You are either incredibly nosey, or have been well trained to pay attention to small details. Either way your attention to detail allows you to notice things that may be overlooked by others who do not realize their importance. You receive a +1 to Search and Per rolls, and one of these skills is always a class skill for you. (Once chosen it cannot be changed)

Presuming this doesn't already exist in some form, I think it matches the other traits I've read. If it's too good, you could change the bonus to "+1 to EITHER Search OR Per, and one is always a class skill for you"

1) Rogue/Wiz-COn man- Started out as a small time hustler and thief. One of the things he stole, recently, included a wizard's spell book! He flipped through it and realized that he actually understood it, or parts at least. He would already be on the ship, the reason he hasn't been noticed yet, well, it's BAD for a con man to be noticed until he has an escape route! Would probably go with straight Wiz from here on out, to not fall any further behind in spell power than the foes we're facing!

2) Straight Wizzie, Thinks he's Sherlock Holmes, has an annoying tendency to point out everyone;s flaws but his own! He's irritating, but generally correct in his observations.

3) FIghter/Wiz going for Eldritch Knight- HAven't decided on an odd personality yet. Lets him keep most of his spell power, but makes for a more durable caster.

Your character was in the Empire on fact findding missions for the Chelaxians, or at least one faction of them. The bond you had with your "masters" was forced upon you, a melding of anothers psyche into your own against your will, performed through a blood ritual with an abberant creature (possibly a mind flayer). The nature of the bonding was more psionic in nature and so your natural defenses against it were frayed and in some part your mind fractured.

You were once more powerful in your magic than you currently are, but the process so badly damaged your mind that you lost power and the capacity to understand many of the things you knew before. Your handlers weren't concerned about this at all, finding you much more pliable in this way.

During the assault on the last city, where you fled onto this Chelaxian vessel under the "urgings" of your soul melded handler, there was a massive psychic backlash. The whole assault was conducted very quickly and the mass executions of many of the citizenry to the hobgoblin god washed outwards and engulfed Vixen on that first day. You were lucky it was only the trailing edge of the wave. Of greater import is the fact that this psychic energy severed the link with your previous master and has returned a semblence of your old awareness to you. The shock was huge, and your memeories are fractured, coming back in pieces.

You now find yourself heading back to the Chelaxian empire with no idea what to expect. You don'tknow what will happen if your old handlers find you. You don't remember if you were a willing participant or not. You have a spell book, its pages filled with spells you can't comprehend, though the first few are finally making sense again. You also have a journal whose pages are filled in a coded language you no longer understand. The last page contains a diagram of the cities sewers and a machine complex found within. There are notes all around it that you can't read, but a date stands out. It is the day the city fell to the horde and it fills you with dread.

That was just me playing around with your concept. You don't have to run with this if you don't like, but it provides me with a fantastic way to introduce story elements as we go, plus some shock value moments. Feel free to play with it as you will, or completely ignore it in favour of another idea, especially if it no longer fits what you have envisioned for your character.

Cheers

The grittier aspect gives me a reason for the 'dark moods' I was thinking of him having. For now lets call it a 'Dark secret' he has. SOmething he has done in the past that he remembers, (Or, THINKS he does!) that fills him with shame, dread and self-loathing, sometimes. And the 'fractured Personality' part is PERFECT for how I want to play him! Thanks! :)

May I take 'Collegiate Wizard' as a feat? It basically doubles the spells a wiz gains at each lvl. (6 at 1st, [+Int] and 4 at each lvl up instead of 2) This could be his memories coming back slowly, and you DID say that he had a book of spells that he couldn't read,... yet. :)

Now, the original concept was for a generalist, a true 'swiss army knife' of a spellcaster, aiming for Ultimate Magus. BUt with PF, there isn't as MUCH reason to go Ultimate magus, as you get some cool/decent special abilities as a wiz now. Especially as a specialist.
Which is my conundrum, I am not convinced that the 'freedom' of a generalist, equals losing a spell slot every lvl in PF like it did in 3.X. So I'll have to fiddle around with it and decide. If I do go specialist, I will probably go Conjurer, as that would make sense with the Cheliax background.

Oh! I almost forgot! What about the original concept of a familiar? (A Raven) Again, hate to give up the potential power of a bound item, but the familiar was almost as much fun as the wiz! (And a second set of eyes during those important Per checks is NOT to be underestimated!) Would the familiar have survived? Been killed? Or,... something else? (I do luv a good mystery!) ;)

Send me a concept and what you had in mind and I'll see what we could do. Include any possible PrCs you amy wish to take as well. I have a spreadsheet I use to track the advancement of my characters by level, so I know exactly what I have to take at each level to reach my goals. (I'll also include a copy of the original template as well so you can use it for later characters if you like. :)
I like using templates... I also have a pre-BBCoded sheet made for typing up a character to post into their profile
flash_cxxi@hotmail.com

You'll find my plan for that was to be throw you bonus spells occasionally as well, particularly from spell compendium.

Genaelesh, ranger 2 -- Formerly an active adventurer-seeker. His old party tackled some undead which left most of them dead and Genaelesh seriously negative-levelled. Dis-illusioned, he decided to return home. On the voyage back his ship was attacked by pirates. Gen tried his best but one bow could only do so much. The best he was able to do was to negotiate to join the pirate crew along with what was left of his transport's crew. He jumped ship at the first port -- pirate town. Since then he's been in and out of town exploring the island. And he's ready to leave, but since he's plagued by guilt over his pirate past, he doesn't want to do it as a pirate. The current party and their ship offer him the perfect opportunity.

Pietr Blanco -- paladin 2 -- Pietr is a refugee aboard ship, along with his family, peasnat share-croppers. PIertr was a dreamy,"useless" third son. They traded him to the local Abadaran priest for a cure for his mortally sick sister . ( his family are loyal Abadarans) It wasn't slavery, but just barely. HE did get something of an education out of it though, and a got look at a book of legends of the gods. The stories of Iomedae fired his imagination.

Lately, he's helped to shepherd his family fleeing the Horde, to the city, onto the boat. He's been tied up caring for various ailing passengers, but the cadre of peasants on board have elected him spokesman to lobby for better treatment and more transparency or a role in the decision-making process.

Wrath, long-term, Peter would be thrilled to make the transition to more traditional paladin equipment, but he'll start with leathers and a 1/4 staff.

Rags, Pietr would be glad to start as acquaintances on board.

What do you guys think?

Both of them are well thought out!
I like them both for different reasons.

I see you having a lot of fun with the peasant paladin. Even NICE guys rarely give a second glance to a peasant, until said peasant is knocking them on their hienies with his quarterstaff! :)

If you choose Peter, (Pietr?) I would be happy to have at least met him prior to the evacuation. We could say that they met (briefly!) while peter was on the docks, and My mage boarded the ship. Later, after all the excitement, peter discovered the 1/2 comatose, 1/2 auto-pilot wizard and kind of took care of/kept an eye on him?

Either way, looks like you'll have fun!

1. She may have been at teh pirate village of Haven and has returned with the group that were sent there. This is a good spot for a CN alignment, since the people of that village were all pirtes at one stage or another.

2. She might actually be the girl who accompanied Mjobo on his trip to raid the honey stores on the island. She was from Cheliax and has a very mercenary bent to her, plus two associates who travelled with her.

I'll let you decide which you prefer and give you some more details bout her recent past. Her long term past is entirely up to you of course.

Cheers

You've already worked out some good backgrounds for both characters, so s now it's up to you what style you'd prefer to try.

The Elf would definitely have hailed from the Village of Haven, though he most likely left to go solo some time ago based on what you've said above.

The Paladin will have come from the ship, and will have a small core of folk who look to him for guidance.

I like both concepts and now have some very good ideas for both of them in game terms. The choice is really yours.

When you choose, I'll give some more details about their recent past. Cheers

Memories
The wizard stood looking back at the burning city he had fled. Now that the trouble aboard the ship had been settled he had deemed it safe enough to return here to the gunwhale and see for himself what had happened. His eyes widened in sudden shock as a great wall of broiling energy seemed to rush across the sea towards him. Great images of tortured faces screaming and being torn apart by Jackals and manticores formed and reformed in the cloud, yet none around him seemed to notice it. It was as if another part of him was recoiling in horror and sharing this vision with him, trying to convince his completely socked body to flee.

As he turned to run, the wave of energy broke over the ship. His mind shattered

He was boy, running through a field on a cold day, snow crunching underfoot as the wolf grew closer. He turned and threw something at the wolf, its form blistering to acid as he attempted for the frst time the chants his fathers friend had shown him over and over again. The acid blob hit the wolf and it fled, yelping back into the tree line.

He was a man, looking down into the face of a beautiful women, her eyes spilling tears down her cheeks as he bent to kiss her lips. They were both naked and the stars above them shone brightly on a spring night.

Another time, the same woman. Her face held nothing but fear and loathing as he approached her. He stretched out a hand lazily, almost contemptuously and he felt a force flow through him, though not of his own doing. The woman broke, just coming apart in front of him like a piece of shaterred porcelein.

The images in his head came faster and faster, blurring together, and spinning his conciousness like a feather tossed in a wind storm.

He was a great mage, fighting devils on the glass plateau's of the great north, he was an errand boy, running jobs mindlessly for a man he only knew as master, he was fighting in a tunnel, dead bodies around him as he cried for friends now lost, he was tied to a bench, a hoodoed figure above him carving symbols of raw pain and power into his chest with a heated knife, he was in a sewer again, a dreadful purpose in his mind as he approached a great machine.

He was a boy, running through the snow with a wolf biting at his heels.

Blackness engulfed him like a great blanket of night.

Fleeing
The morning had started like any other. She had tossed back teh sheets of the bed she shared with Kyle. The big man had already left the house, she had vaguely heard him walking out a few minutes before but hadn't heard him return. As she moved naked around the building, enjoying the feel of the cool mornign air on her flesh, she had heard a strange noise outside the small window they had built into the wooden shack.

She opened the shutter a crack, trying to see outside without being seen herself. It was most likely that young scoundrel Phillipe, the boy was always trying to catch glimpses of her when she was undressed. He was only 14 though, and it didn't worry her too much, but if Kyle found him he would beat teh boy within an inch of his life again. She didn't want that.

As the outer light crept through the crack in the shutter, she caught a glimpse of movemnt. A shadow flitting across the light, and a strange scatching coming across the timber and shigles of the roof. As goosebumps raised across her now chilled body, she carefully pressed her eye to the narrow gap. The sight that greeted her terrified the young Warlock.

It was Kyle, lying on the ground convulsiing in a spaasm of death as green froth bubbled from his lips. A great spider was perched on his chest, the thing was about the size of a rottweiler, and it was turning the dying man around and around in its hairy legs like he was a rag doll. Great strands of sticky webbing were entangling her lover, as the spider wrapped him in its cocoon.

A shadow fell across the window again and a shiny chitinous leg suddely burst hrough the gap, causing Cynthia to scream and slam the window shutter completely closed. There was a crunch and a spary of green ichor as the leg was severed from the beast. The staccatto sound of drumming spider legs beat a tattoo on the shingles as a strange keening noise echoed through the shack. She fell back from the walls and window, rushing to the door and securing it with the latch Kyle had put in only days before. Something big hit the door just as she finished and it rattled on its hinges. She could hear a number of them now, all scrabbling outside the room, hardened legs scratching at the timber and that keening noise cotinually piercing the air.

It had gone on like that for an age, Cynthia lying on the floor too terrified to move. After a while the noises had stoppped but she still hadn't moved. She thought she had heard a scream at one stage, but she hadn't moved.

Another shadow moved across teh doorway, and small voice called out. "Cynthia? Cynthia are you in there" It was Phillipe, his voice cracking in fear and terror. "Cynthia, please let me in. They're all on teh side of teh viillage at the moment and they're attacking the tavern. If they see me I'm dead. Please"

Ok, this is an intro for you into the game. You can post your response to this in a spoiler in the game thread if you like. I'm going to run your character separate from the others for a short while, to play out this little story arc first. Assuming you're ok with that. Cheers