Hello all! I've chosen you to play with my RL friends because you're quality role-players, and I'd like to ask a few things of you guys.
My RL friends have no experience with the forum conventions, so bear with em and teach em how to do things correctly.
Before we actually start play, I think we need to make a few decisions.
The first decision, what we ought to play.
I own five APs at the moment, but I can purchase another if you guys would like.
The only PbP that I own and am not currently running on the forums is Kingmaker, and I'm open to playing that. I'm also open to running another game of Council of Thieves. If you want more details on those campaigns, you can feel free to ask.
I'm also open to purchasing Carrion Crown, Reign of Winter, Shattered Star, or Wrath of the Righteous.
Another thing that we could do if you guys are tired of playing heroes is to play some Way of the Wicked, which I could buy as well.
So, get acquainted with each other, and let me know what you think about the campaigns to run.
Hi everybody. I'm Yorick, I'm playing here in two of Leinathan's other games (and several others beyond that). I'm super looking forward to playing with you guys. And no worries about the forum conventions, they're easy to pick up.
As for the AP, I'm not particularly picky. The only one of those that I've played is a Reign of Winter that I'm in now, and I'd definitely be willing to do another run of it if that's what everyone was interested in. This page gives a brief rundown of each of them for any that you aren't familiar with.
Hello all, I play in Leinathan's Legacy of Fire, and I GM for him in Shattered Star (where I built the player roster by personal invite like this one). I run and play in quite a few others as well.
I would warn against Kingmaker, not because it isn't fun (playing in one tabletop), but because there is a WHOLE LOT of bookkeeping during the kingdom building portions. This also means a lot of discussion not in character as much as deciding the next course of action for the kingdom. This much discussion can really slow down the already slow PbP speed.
I have only ever played/am playing:
Rise of the Runelords
Curse of the Crimson Throne
Legacy of Fire
Kingmaker
Carrion Crown
Skull & Shackles
Shattered Star
I would prefer any one outside of these, but will play any of these as well. I will defer to the preference of Leinathan and his RL friends.
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Good evening! I play Goffred Giulianoff in Leinathan's Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign, and look forward to a similarly engaging experience here. I'll second Comrade Aardvark's point against a Kingmaker PbP; I'm playing in one right now and it's exceptionally slow even before we've gotten to kingdom-building, though that is due in no small part to seven players being involved. Speaking of which, how many people can we expect to play in this game? As of right now I count three of us PbP vets, plus at least two of Leinathan's RL friends. Should we expect more?
I've read, played and/or run Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, part of Second Darkness, Council of Thieves, Kingmaker, Jade Regent, Skull and Shackles, part of Shattered Star, and Reign of Winter. S&S appeals to me as a nautical person, and CoT and JR appeal to me as a political person. But my politics-in-gaming needs are more than met by the campaigns I'm already in, and I have no problem whatsoever with a more "adventure-y" adventure like S*, WotR or WotW. I absolutely adore RoW, but I'm kind of reluctant to play in it; part of that adoration is that I have an ideal party I'd like to run through it, not as a game, but as a written story. I'm wary of getting that confused with an actual game, and even more wary of the possibility that I might try to hijack any RoW game I might play in to fit my vision. If we end up deciding on something Leinathan doesn't own, I'd be happy to put my .pdfs at his disposal.
Looking forward to hearing from Leinathan's friends and reaching a consensus.
EDIT: please forgive any spelling or grammar mistakes in this post. I composed it on a phone, and the small screen and smaller keyboard make spotting and correcting such errors a chore and a half. Rest assured that I'll be posting from a proper computer as much as possible.
I'm not a big fan of playing evil characters, and even more leery of evil campaigns. At a table it may be smoother, as you tend to know everyone personally, but online could be caustic. I much prefer being the disguised evil amongst a group of regulars than a whole group of evil. Especially with new players to PbP, it could cause a bad experience that could turn a player away from the medium.
I'm waiting on my two RL friends to get done with whatever they happen to be doing. I'm leery of having more than five people in a campaign, but I'm trying to get a third friend on. If he doesn't, you three are all the current PbP players that I want.
From you guys, it looks like we're doing Council of Thieves from among the ones that I own, or, if I can get ahold of it, the ones I'm considering outside of that are Jade Regent, Serpent's Skull, and Skull&Shackles.
Would you guys care to vote?
Also, about evil characters, I always allow them, but only if they're going to contribute to the adventure.
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I'm not a big fan of playing evil characters, and even more leery of evil campaigns. At a table it may be smoother, as you tend to know everyone personally, but online could be caustic. I much prefer being the disguised evil amongst a group of regulars than a whole group of evil. Especially with new players to PbP, it could cause a bad experience that could turn a player away from the medium.
Eh, I'm not particularly invested in WotW, and your concerns about catering to the needs of those new to PbP are certainly valid. I only gave my (uninformed, because I haven't read it) opinion WotW because Leinathan mentioned it in the OP. If you really feel strongly against evil campaigns, then great! Let's take evil campaigns off the table. It'll help narrow down our options a bit.
I'm waiting on my two RL friends to get done with whatever they happen to be doing. I'm leery of having more than five people in a campaign, but I'm trying to get a third friend on.
Either five or six people sounds lovely. When you say "get done with whatever they happen to be doing", do you mean you're waiting for them to get on this evening, or that you're waiting for them to finish a busy stage in their lives so they'll have more time to game? It's probably the former, but I felt I had to ask :)
From you guys, it looks like we're doing Council of Thieves from among the ones that I own, or, if I can get ahold of it, the ones I'm considering outside of that are Jade Regent, Serpent's Skull, and Skull&Shackles.
Would you guys care to vote?
I actually saw Wrath of the Righteous crop up on all our lists, as I said in the spoilered paragraph, though with it being a new AP and requiring a hardcover companion book, it might be problematic to run. Of those four APs, I'd cast my vote for either JR or S&S. Again, if you need the books for either of those two APs and don't want to shell out cash for them, I'd be happy to get you my .pdfs over dropbox or something like that (I don't own WotR either).
Wrath of the Righteous would not be problematic for me, if I can get ahold of it (I don't own it at the moment).
Excellent to see you here, Zimmerwald. I've been having a TON of fun with you in the Crimson Throne game.
Aardvark, I haven't had the opportunity to play with you before, but I'm seeing that you play in one of lexibean's games and with Leinathan. I'm also seeing now that you both play with Duboris / Dmitiri Mavis in the Legacy of Fire game. I played with him in Kingmaker and we're actually ramping up a solo game now. At any rate, I'm excited to play with you, as knowing that we run in the same circles gives me a degree of faith in your abilities.
As an aside, sometimes it's really weird how many connections and familiar faces there are around here.
I'm inclined to agree with you both about Kingmaker, and with Aardvark about the evil campaign. I'm playing an evil character for the first time in Leinathan's "Rise of the Runelords" game, and I'm not sure I could do another one right off. I'm sure I'm bound to find all manner of complications with it, and as you said, with people you don't know, it can definitely be caustic, which might be why I put off trying it for so long.
I think Wrath of the Righteous might be a good bet on the grounds that, you know, it's only just completely released, so it's unlikely that any of us will have played it before, which definitely makes it interesting. I'm not familiar with much about it.
That said, the others that Leinathan mentioned (Council of Thieves, Jade Regent, Serpent's Skull, and Skulls & Shackles) are all good with me, too.
I had meant that I'm waiting for them to get on. I know both of them made a profile earlier, I'm just waiting for them to post.
I recently applied for two WotR games on the forums here, but that doesn't stop me. I run a S*, and play in two of them. I run a S&S and play in one. I run a CotCT and play in one. I run a CC tabletop and play in one here, and I run a RotRL tabletop, and play in one here.
So, overlap of games and separation of player/character knowledge are not an issue for me. If nothing else it ensures that even if I don't get into one with the other applications, I can still play it.
That said, I have applied to 4 different RoW without ever being accepted. I almost feel determined to get into one of those, but not really for any great interest in the adventure, but just from having been rejected so many times.
I would avoid Serpent's Skull, as I've heard so many bad reviews (specifically with the 3rd book) that the AP can only be rescued by a lot of GM changes or as extras added to other games.
I don't think I would be a big fan of CoT, since I'm don't tend to really be a big fan of political games, but I don't know just how much it involves. 2D would be interesting, but I think that's about as much interest as I have in it, not truly enjoying underdark style adventures and HATING drow for so long.
Not chomping at the bit for JR, because I really dislike Asian themes (there will never be Ninjas and Samurai in any game I run), but I have faith in Paizo to still produce a good story.
In summary, I think RotW may just be the best choice. Whatever we play though, I'm eager to see how the random background generator of Ultimate Campaign does and would think it fun to build my character with.
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I recently applied for two WotR games on the forums here, but that doesn't stop me. I run a S*, and play in two of them. I run a S&S and play in one. I run a CotCT and play in one. I run a CC tabletop and play in one here, and I run a RotRL tabletop, and play in one here.
The heck? Does time run slower for you or something? My limit's three active PbPs at once as a player (one active PbP as a GM, and only if nothing else is going on), and I'm only able to do this because a game I was in on the giantitp boards fizzled out. Mazel tov, comrade.
I don't think I would be a big fan of CoT, since I'm don't tend to really be a big fan of political games, but I don't know just how much it involves. 2D would be interesting, but I think that's about as much interest as I have in it, not truly enjoying underdark style adventures and HATING drow for so long.
Intrigue and both high and popular politics are big themes in CoT. I've heard...mixed reviews about 2D, and having read parts of it the review I've come to agree with most is that it almost demands a plurality-Elf party (the review was stronger and called for an all-Elf party) in order to avoid some big thematic whiplash.
Not chomping at the bit for JR, because I really dislike Asian themes (there will never be Ninjas and Samurai in any game I run), but I have faith in Paizo to still produce a good story.
Without spoiling anything, the PCs in JR aren't meant to start out as ninja or samurai, though by the time the fourth book rolls around they might start having enough familiarity with Tien themes to take levels in those classes. Especially for the early part of the game, the Tien motifs are for the GM to play with and for the players to absorb. I'd encourage you to give JR a try, but if it's really not your cup of tea (heh) then that's just another welcome narrowing of the list of options.
In summary, I think RotW may just be the best choice.
Do you mean Reign of Winter or Wrath of the Righteous?
Whatever we play though, I'm eager to see how the random background generator of Ultimate Campaign does and would think it fun to build my character with.
Good luck! I tend to mine the background generator for ideas on appropriate traits and drawbacks to represent the backgrounds I generate in my head. Does it take a lot of faith in the dice to generate a random background?
Hey, I GM four campaigns and play in one at the moment...although my life is very non-busy. My activity will drop off significantly come September 25th and the start of school.
Do any of you happen to own either Reign of Winter or Wrath of the Righteous? (That is to say, in PDF format) If not, I'm inclined to pursue Council of Thieves. I don't want to go for Jade Regent if Aardvark has an objection.
Yes, sorry, I meant Wrath of the Righteous.
It's not a lot of faith in the dice, as much as loving the chaos that dice can produce. I'm very OCD (not technically, but close to it). The dice to me represent organized chaos. A way for me to be random.... under strict guidelines.
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I own Reign of Winter, though again I'm really wary of playing in it, and was planning to purchase the .pdfs of Wrath of the Righteous (and Mythic Adventures) as they became available cause that's become my SOP by now (I ought to subscribe, but I don't have anyplace to put the physical books). The WotR Player's Guide is available now, but it looks like neither The Worldwound Incursion nor Mythic Adventures will be available as .pdfs to non-subscribers until August 15. This is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, we can create WotR characters under very little time pressure. On the other, none of us will be sure precisely what we'll be getting into.
I have an AP subscription, so I will have the PDF's when they become available.
I too will be a little less active when school starts (on top of all the PbP's I'm in I also work full time, and go to school part time). I'm an addict.
So it's looking like we're wanting to play Wrath of the Righteous? I'm gonna need the PDFs, and I'll give you my email and all, but I'm certainly not opposed to that. It sounds like a very interesting campaign.
As for not knowing what we're getting into, it's two days, and you just have to make generally crusader-type characters. There's plenty of information on the Worldwound out there already, is there not?
Yeah, I'm going to college for the first time come late September, so that's gonna be thrilling, but this doesn't take a ton of effort unless I'm just starting up games.
Hi there! I'm one of Leinathan's RL friends. Feel free to call me vLasHix, Lash, or anything of the sort.
I look forward to playing in PbP, especially with all of you. Despite the intimidating amount of acronyms, I'll try to catch on as quickly as possible. Also, feel free to correct anything that you think I might not have a grasp of, it is very welcome.
I will be fairly busy soon, as I have school, sports, and may still have a job, so please bear with with me. But I will try to be online at least once daily.
From what I can tell, WotR sounds like a great option. Though I would be willing to play any of listed campaigns, as I haven't technically completed any of them.
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Good to meet you Lash! Having had my own handle mistaken for an Invader Zim reference on multiple occasions (it's actually a reference to the Zimmerwald Conference, organized to bring together those opposed to World War I), I feel I have to ask: does your handle reference the mad inventor character from the Advance Wars series?
Sorry for contributing to the acronym storm. Now that we've all but decided on an adventure path (AP), I hope they'll become much less prevalent.
Nice to meet you too! I appreciate the clever alias. While I am a fan of the the advance wars series, and I have been asked about the association before, my alias is just an anagram of my Xbox-live gamertag.
No problem, thank you for the encouragement! Rest assured, the acronyms are making more sense.
I assure you, no offense has been taken, though I appreciate your courtesy.
In other topic, I know we are still waiting on another player, but should we get started on character creation? I have been known to take a while in doing this, and might need some assistance.
Okay!
So here goes. I'm pretty sure that at this point, I want us to be playing Wrath of the Righteous. As long as either zimmerwald or Aardvark can email me the PDFs as they come in, I'll be able to, and I have confidence of your abilities to keep player and character knowledge separate.
So, here goes. We'll start with getting you guys to read through the Player's Guide and think about some character ideas. We'll talk about character creation specifics later on, but I normally allow some or all Featured races on a case-by-case basis. (that is to say, the races listed as "Featured" on This Site. I also usually allow most content from this site as well, as long as it isn't listed as Third-Party material.
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"Silence, cretin! You own me not. The lady of the night shall never be possessed by another ever again!"
"We shall introduce ourselves however we please. We are over a hundred and fifty years old and demand to be treated with the respect due to our age and station."
"Since this room is clearly infested with some type of interrupting imp, we shall retire to our profile, where you may come to hear our story. It is a good tale. We would hate for you to miss it."
I have to say, I'm a bit envious of those of you who are going to college for the first time. It's a super exciting time. What are y'all studying?
The WotR Player's Guide is available now, but it looks like neither The Worldwound Incursion nor Mythic Adventures will be available as .pdfs to non-subscribers until August 15. This is a bit of a double-edged sword. On the one hand, we can create WotR characters under very little time pressure. On the other, none of us will be sure precisely what we'll be getting into.
...But isn't that... tomorrow?
Speaking as a web designer / developer, there are about a billion things about this site's setup / design that are annoying. :P I'm actually surprised at how poorly put together these boards are.
Anyway, welcome Lash!
And Wrath of the Righteous sounds great. I have absolutely no idea what Class to play, so I think I might defer to letting a couple of other people choose first. Paladins / Clerics / Inquisitors seem pretty much built for this.
*This number is not set in stone. I have ideas about using the rules for young characters in Ultimate Campaign for Isilma.
*Ears perk up* A child out fighting demons? Intriguing.
I have a challenge for Yoricks - try not to dump Charisma this time. You have both times in campaigns that I'm in with no particular backstory addition. You're an excellent writer, but it seems like min-maxing, which I don't like.
Anyway, let me know when you guys want more specific build requirements.
Love challenges, it's a deal. :)
Wow, Zim, that's quite an exposition on the profiles. Just a little something I want to add, for in game play. PbP's are an excellent opportunity to embellish all the flavor of your actions. It is a narrative device, so every action can be dressed up to read like a story, instead of a mechanic. Then you can account for those mechanics as a subtext.
You could simply say:
I cautiously walk through the door and look around.
or you could flavor it up:
Aardvark pushes the door softly as he peers nervously into the room. He leads with his sword, before stepping in, making sure that anything inside is aware that he is ready to fight back if need be. Looking over his shoulder, he tells the others, "Hey guys, looks clear so far, but try to keep it down. There's no need alerting everything in here where we are." With that he hugs the left wall as he moves in.
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When it comes to formatting, there are a few common standards (replace all '}' brackets with ']' brackets):
Narrative, no change just keep the text as it is. I roll my eyes at the other members of the party.
In character speech [b}"You are fart heads"[/b}
In character thoughts [I}These guys really are Fart heads, what were they thinking?[/I}
Out of character (mechanics, rolls, or explanations)
[ooc}Move action, thumb my nose at them.
Intimidate [dice}1d20-4[/dice}
I'm using my special ability of a free intimidate when I use a childish insult.[/ooc}
Hidden information, used mainly to pass ninja notes to the GM
[spoiler=GM only, not you other Fart heads}[ooc}When I use that ability against Fart heads I get a +10 bonus.[/ooc}[/spoiler}
So, now if I take all that and fix the formatting, it will look like:
I roll my eyes at the other members of the party. "You are fart heads" These guys really are Fart heads, what were they thinking?
I hope this helps, I would hate to have caused any confusion.
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As for build requirements, I was wondering if we are rolling or point buy? If we are rolling what are the standards, or what is the points if we are point buying?
As for build requirements, I was wondering if we are rolling or point buy? If we are rolling what are the standards, or what is the points if we are point buying?
Curious about this, too.
We're still waiting for one (maybe two?) of Leinathan's friends I think? But I'm curious if anyone has a class that they strongly want to play. I certainly don't mind, I just want to start crossing a few off my list to help narrow it down.
Since I'm a relatively martial / front-line fighter in the other two games I'm in with Leinathan, I'm leaning towards something more caster / social based. But I'm not sure about any specifics yet.
Hey everybody, I'm leinathan's other RL friend that will be joining you guys. Sorry for the delay, I was helping someone with some hardware issues and it took a lot longer than expected, but I'm free now.
I'm new to PbP as well, so if I make any mistakes please bear with me. I've heard some goods things about this so I'm excited to join you guys.
As I usually don't leave my house much, I won't be busy most of the time.
I have no class preference, and am more than willing to wait until Lash and Neutrino (and everyone else) make their decisions.
We've got everybody, sweet! :D
Now that that's that, I'll put up some character-building standards:
Character Creation Guidelines
Race All Core races will be allowed, and in addition, because of the wide-reaching implications of the Mendevian Crusades, Aasimar, Catfolk, Dhampir, Drow, and Tieflings can be chosen from.
Class All Core and Base classes are allowed, except for Gunslinger and Summoner.
Alignment All alignments except for CE, but I strongly suggest a Good-aligned character, simply because of the themes of this adventure.
Ability Scores Ability scores will be determined using the unusual way I've been using for the past few recruitments.
It will be 20 point buy, with an additional 1 point given for being either Chaotic or Lawful, and an additional 2 points given for being either Good or Evil. These stack with each other.
Traits Any two traits can be chosen, but they must reflect some sort of reason for why your character is joining with the Mendevian Crusades. That is to say, you don't necessarily have to use the campaign traits (although you may).
This may be a lot to process, you don't have to do it all at once, we can meander our way through character creation. Class-race combos should, of course, be first.
Also, please use this format for your crunch. It's just a lot easier for me to look at, especially if you embolden the individual segments and italicize the magic things.
NAME- CR
Gender Race Class (Archetype) #
AL Size Type (Subtype)
Init +; Senses Perception +
EXP:
PP:
FAME:
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DEFENSE
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AC , touch , flat-footed (+ armor, +2)
hp (1d10+1)Current: /
Fort +, Ref +, Will +
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OFFENSE
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Spd ft.
Melee
Ranged
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STATISTICS
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Str , Dex , Con , Int , Wis , Cha
Base Atk +; CMB +; CMD
Feats
Traits
Skills
Languages
SQ
Combat Gear ; Other Gear
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SPELLCASTING
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COIN:
PP:
GP:
SP:
CP:
Appearance:
Background:
Personality:
There are a couple of points to make about Isilma - first of all, she gets two spells/day of 1st level (a bonus spell). Second of all, you get two more points to spend, for a total of 21 points for being Chaotic in alignment.
May I ask why you're making a "child" character?
I'm super curious about how Isilma's background is going to work. Having the world falling apart with demons running wild, and a child growing up in that environment and trying to fix it all, has a certain tragedy to it that I just find delicious.
Neutrino and Lash: Do you guys have any ideas on what you might like to play? Aardvark and I are both planning on delaying until you guys decide.
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There are a couple of points to make about Isilma - first of all, she gets two spells/day of 1st level (a bonus spell). Second of all, you get two more points to spend, for a total of 21 points for being Chaotic in alignment.
May I ask why you're making a "child" character?
I get no bonus spells; Adepts cast off Wisdom, not Intelligence, and my Wisdom modifier is +0. I spent twenty-one points. Discounting my racial and age modifiers, my array is Str 8 (-2), Dex 12 (2), Con 12 (2), Int 17 (13), Wis 13 (3), Cha 13 (3). -2 + 2 + 2 + 13 + 3 + 3 = 21
The reason I am as young as I am should become clear once I write out my background. I am connected to a number of established "canon" NPCs as well as characters zimmerwald has invented that are also related to those NPCs, and thus the timeline of my life needs to coincide with theirs.
Sorry, by bad.
Neutrino Facebook-messaged me to tell me that he'd like to play a ranger, if that helps with other selections.
Any particular type (shapeshifter, wild stalker, ranged/melee focused), or garden variety, ranger?
So far we have:
an adept, until she becomes a wizard?
and a ranger.
Sadly, it takes me a while to decide. I've been playing for about 25 yrs, so I'm always a little torn coming up with a new concept I haven't tried. If everyone decides first, I'm aided by needing to fill a role, which helps me with an idea of what to play.
He said switch hitter, human, probably isn't looking at an archetype, but he's looking through them.
I haven't heard from vLasHix.
Hey there! Sorry I haven't made it onto the forums for the past couple of days, I have been very busy.
I will be creating a Magus, no special archetype, I'll try to have it finished tonight.
Once again, sorry for the wait.
A magus, a wizard, a ranger...something seems familiar to me.
A magus, a wizard, a ranger...something seems familiar to me.
hahaha, that's brilliant. The parallel ends here, though: I think... that I'll be making an Oracle. No special archetype.
Okay, so we have
Melee/ranged (switch-hitter Ranger)
Melee/Arcane (Magus)
Arcane (Adept-Wizard)
Divine (Oracle)
What do we think, something Tanky, or skilled? Maybe a combo?
Looking at Cavalier or Inquisitor possibly. Avoiding a Paladin, because looking at it I have way too many LG PC's at the moment.
Neutrino the Ranger will likely have a decent assortment of skills, since Rangers get 6+Int, plus being Human, and it's pretty rare (for obvious reasons) that someone takes a negative modifier in Intelligence.
I'd say go with whichever you'd like! I'd think the Inquisitor would be pretty well suited for this campaign, but either should work.
Am I getting that we'll be doing the Worldwound campaign with no paladins?
Cavalier is one of my favorite classes, conceptually, actually.
If I don't get into the March Hare game we applied to, would you mind if I played the Demon-blooded Tiefling Paladin I applied with there?
I wouldn't mind at all. Play whatever you like, as long as it ends up being a balanced party.
What will Isilma's wizard specialization be? I'm wondering because I'm wondering how other wizards will deal with her and how to deal with her becoming an adult.