North of the Wind (Inactive)

Game Master dien

Heh, well, I'm glad they're entertaining. :)

I should probably have done this sooner, but here's a very simplistic breakdown of the attitude towards magic among the Ulfen: arcane = 'seidr' and is women's work; divine = probably okay.

This is of course not a part of actual Golarion canon; it's something that basically rose out of the original Eysteinn's backstory combined with the real-world Viking distrust of magic/perception of magic as something dishonest and illicit and unmanly (but okay for women to practice).

Our earth-Vikings, of course, did not have access to things like CLW: seidr for them meant things 'breaking the will through charms', poison, peering into the future, and directly damaging spells-- our traditional western conceptions of witchcraft, more or less. I imagine that if the warrior Viking culture HAD had access to cure light wounds, it would have been something they would quickly have managed to justify as okay, no matter who did it, because it's just too darn useful to stigmatize, heh.

The godi of Hofn practices magic-- divine magic, as a priest of Tor. Yngvi practices magic as well, which, even though he's a skald and it's therefore arcane magic by PF rules, is viewed as part of an acceptable-for-a-man skaldic tradition.

I'm not saying Knute's post is WRONG, it's just that I never really formally broke down what the distinction is, since it sort of arose organically out of the original Eysteinn's play, and I probably should have so people weren't floundering in a state of "wait, what IS our attitude towards this."

Basically, a lot of magic that would make a warrior more badass in battle-- self-buffs for melee builds, that sort of thing-- are things that Hrolf has done plenty of, as well as some healing, and therefore would be more accepted (from male casters), then things like magic missile, lightning bolt, fireball, etc. Hopefully that distinction makes sense.

Again, I don't want to tell anyone "you're doing it wrong" since I never really clarified the communal attitude in the first place. Sorry if there was confusion over it.

Ah, okay. I didn't know of the distinction between divine and arcane, and was just hoping to acclimate Knute to the idea before he gets spells at level 4. All good to know, thanks!

Consider Knute's statement amended to just: "You're from Hofn? Who taught you to heal yourself like that?", with him emphasizing the curiosity over the confusion.

No worries, and sorry I didn't say something about it sooner. This was not at all something I envisioned incorporating when I started the campaign-- but the original Eysteinn's backstory brought it up a little bit, at which point I started poking into the actual Viking traditions on the subject, which are fascinating and interesting, and it kind of took on a life of its own from there.

Odin, for instance, was frequently insulted by Loki (!) for practicing the 'womanly' sort of magic (not that Loki was above such tricks himself), so you have a a weird dichotomy where the chief of the pantheon is on one hand a god of battle and bloodlust and war, and on the other hand a trickster who behaves dishonorably.

A link on the subject

(This is by no means required reading, heh. More like "I find mythology fascinating! If other people want to geek about it, here you go!")

But yeah, at this point, even though Eysteinn's character is no longer a present part of the story, there'd been so much groundwork laid about seidr-is-for-women and Ulfen-men-don't-like-it that I couldn't just wipe all that from the story so far, which means it's worth clarifying for y'all's sake.

Hey everyone,

I have been talking with Dien and thinking on my own and thought it was time to reach out to everyone.

First off I love this campaign and I feel privileged to be a part of it. I am not a natural born writer, but I am trying to develop myself into a tolerable one.

I am learning to love PbP for the depth and round robin story telling style, but I think I have made more than a few mistakes in trying to bring cinematic story telling and table top pacing into such a long term experience. I understand that Tassidar may not be coming across to everyone as I intended, soI am hope to correct that.

Tassidar is an Elven prince. His exact reason and motivation for traveling to the North may be revealed as this game progresses, but he is also attempting t escape his fate as a prince and achieve some freedom in the process. His natural talents lie in magic so he was steered towards becoming a wizard. Tassidar is trying to find himself and prove himself now that he has chosen to leave the library.

Im afraid my attempts to show his transition from sheltered prince to adventurer have made him sound bossy, just a dick, or perhaps even worse, actually offended some of the characters players. This was never my intention. Tassidar is actually quite kind and seeks friendship, but it is hard to express this when a year of real life is a day or two in the game world.

Also my attempts at good story telling vs game mechanics (I.e, Tassidar leading from the front in the Orc cave attempting to show his worth and trustworthy nature, only to get dropped) have probably left some going---"wtf is this guy doing."

I was hoping that you could give me some feedback on how he has come across to you all or how I could improve my game play. Feel free to do this either in discussion or by PM. I have rather thick skin so please be honest and open---I know I'm a novice ;).

Thank you guys for letting me play with you. I look forward to the adventures ahead.

I can say that I've found Tassidar to be condescending, but I assumed that, as an "elf prince," that was a deliberate choice you were making.

Halla, as literal property of Hofn, wouldn't have the slightest comprehension of his 'poor little rich boy' goals if she were aware of them. She's literally saving up her gold to buy her freedom; she'd never understand being wealthy and highborn as a fate to be escaped. That's a First World Problem to her. Then again, I don't think the party has to approve a PC's personal character arc.

I do feel that purposefully putting oneself on the front lines as a wizard is a poor use of party resources, however. It's putting the onus on everyone else to rescue/heal you or look like not-team-players.

...sorry I just realized the pun (well perhaps it was an unintended pun) of First World Problem in the context of this game, and I can't stop snickering. >___>

Ahem. Anyway, hopefully any concerns can be worked out satisfactorily; we're all here to try and have fun, and I hope we can.

To be clear, I've played the same general trope: the daughter of a wealthy family determined to struggle to make it on her own rather than live a comfortable life doing what her family expects of her. Halla wouldn't get her, either.

Oof. This discussion thread got serious. (And I haven’t been ignoring your post so much as trying to come up with helpful feedback.)

I will first say I appreciate and respect your post, Darren. Regardless of your own background or skill set, and regardless of what all has played out in the game, it’s a standup thing to honestly put your concerns and yourself out here and ask for our honest feedback.

Good on ya.

How does Tassidar come across to me? Well, I guess I agree that he seems like a bit of a duck out of water in this group. Which makes sense given that he’s the only elf (especially given that we’re playing in a specific setting which has a specific view of elves, which your character really doesn’t reflect because he’s from a completely different group of elves). He’s long-winded (which I assumed was a character choice for him), and there have been a few moments where he’s been kind of a jerk (the most recent of which was his “see, i told you, Halla” moment during the fight at the garden) which I also assumed was a character choice related to his background, as opposed to being an inherent trait from you as a player.

If either of those assumptions are incorrect, then I guess we could talk about what you want the character to be like, and maybe I can help you figure out how to express that narratively (I know playing in PbP is its own animal and takes some getting used to, especially for people who don’t consider themselves writers).

As for the tactical choices. Yah, live and learn. I don’t think that was a good choice in the caves. As Joana pointed out, it forces other players into equally reckless choices or be seen as a punk who won’t help their co-players out. But as long as we learn from it (and try not to willy-nilly get into bad posts like that), it makes sense to have happened (as long as we can manage to survive our group mistakes). I think there are ways to be proactive without being reckless, but at low levels, that can be tricky for a caster with few spell slots/options.

It’s a tricky line to walk, because I don’t want to be in a group where folks feel like they have to wait for others to take the lead. The game’s a creative exercise where we’re supposed to have fun.

(Sorry, just turned on map access for that market map)

Yeah the decision in the caves was a roll play for story decision, but I don't see Tassidar trying that again.

. . . So I am ready to make our next move, but before we go I have a favor to ask. I know not all of you are not entirely comfortable with my magic, but you have seen I use it to advance our cause. Some of my magic I can hold on these scrolls of parchment in glyphs, like runes carved on a northman's weapon. If we can afford some, I need more parchments and special inks to prepare more like these."

Except for consumables we've picked up, all the original three of us have is the 1st-level gear we started with. If your character sheet is correct, you've got 8 unused scrolls and 80-some gold, which puts you in better shape than Halla, Rikka, or Knute.

Yeah, the sheet is correct. Tassidar would like to replace the offensive scrolls he has used. Character wise this is the first place Tassidar has been in a long time that might have scroll making materials. He isn't sure Hofn would have such things.

He is also saying that to give Klo and Stirgen a heads up as to his powers, because they haven't seen him cast anything big yet.

Also intended to give Knute a chance to share his shopping list.

If the discussion continues, he may bring up some other thoughts.

Then I'll just point out that there's a difference between "Hey, guys, we might want to do some shopping while we have the chance" and "Who wants to buy me presents?"

Tassidar has shared a healing potion, his gear, and his food In previous posts and his arrows just now. In several of his posts he has demonstrated he has been offering and using his resources to better the group's effort. He does have coins, granted the other characters probably don't know that, so I can see how my post might cause Halla or others to think he was asking them for coins.

Tassidar wasn't meaning to ask for presents, but rather ask if the group (the "we") could afford it he would like to purchase some materials to make scrolls with his coins. He has no idea what wealth the other party members might have, but he assumes they probably don't have much in the way of coin being from a small town that was just attacked and mounted a posse to pursue the kidnappers.

He was also asking if the group could afford it in case others said they needed things, like arrows, or if the new party members needed something he wasn't aware of. By using we, he hoped to convey a sense of pooled resources.

The elf didn't want to offend the Ulfen by asking them what he could buy for them knowing some may be slaves, but more on that may yet come ;).

Gonna PM Rikka, since she's been absent so long.

A note on how I handle gear selling: You can always sell at the 50% sell-back cost for mundane gear, no rolls or anything else needed, and the fey do in fact use coinage (albeit wildly varying in size and shapes). However, Diplomacy, Appraise, or other relevant skills can be used to get a price closer to full cost, if the roll is high enough.

Additionally, the fey in particular love trades more so than straight transactions; you may be able to get interesting deals by offering trades rather than straight sales.

Some items are valuable enough that they can used essentially as full value coinage. Stirgen's gemstones would be an example of this.

I will probably find a narrative way to phase Stirgen out in the course of time spent at the market, so, while I of course encourage IC reactions to things, just be aware that I'm not setting up an OOC "you gotta save him, guys" thing. Probably our initial trade-out of Eysteinn might have gone a little smoother if I'd made an OOC declaration of that during that scene, so... just putting that out here now.

(She does, no roll needed: it would be Helga Leifsdottir, two years old. (See this post))

Wow, I'd completely forgotten we got that list. In my defense, it was over a year ago. ;)

Not Leif Hrolffson's daughter, I presume?

Nope, he has no kids yet. It's another Leif.

And yeah, hah, this game has gone waaay longer than I originally anticipated, I'm a crap judge of time. No worries about it.

I am here, just leaving room for Knute to comment if he is going to.

Busy day, post will come after some sleep is had.

If she's speaking in Druidic, and only Kló can communicate with her–assume he just translated her questions to the woman.

I doubt she'd be speaking to random passersby in a secret language only druids can understand. But most people (beings?) here speak Sylvan. If she's speaking Skald, like the hag, that's worthy of note.

Well, that is an excellent point. I was mostly trying to cover my bases. :)

Post coming after some sleep, sorry. Been having a work deadline.

Life would be so much better without deadlines.

Otoh, without deadlines, I'd never actually get anything done.

A(nother) sorry-- I actually was getting ready to post last night/early a.m. when the boards went down for a few hours, sigh.

I WILL try and get up a post tonight, hell or high water, but my deadline for the work thing is tomorrow, sigh, and as is pretty usual my client hasn't provided me with half the information I need so I'm going to wind up BSing a lot of information. T____T

Anyway, aside from that: From Friday to Monday I'll be at DundraCon for a few days of intensive PFS. I will have Internet, and I'll try and check in after games to answer questions, etc, but likely won't move ahead in any significant fashion until Tuesday. Thanks for bearing with me.

Thanks for checking in Dien. I'm not going to lie, I am going through withdrawals from your writing :). I am jealous about DundraCon, it sounds amazing. Hopefully you will have some Con stories for us.

Sorry all, this week is crazy busy. Had an out-of-town job interview that took up all of Monday and Tuesday, and I've got two big CS projects due early next week. >.< Got a post up a bit ago, but my posting is going to be more spotty than usual for a week or so.

Thanks for the kind words, Tassidar.

I got home a few hours ago. It was really fun but thoroughly exhausting, especially the 3 hour drive home after all the gaming, heh. Got to play my level 14 PFS fighter for the first time in 2 years.... took three Horrid Wiltings in one encounter and died, oops. Got better, though.

That said, I am exhaaaausted, so I'll post tomorrow. Thanks guys. <3

Hey guys, sorry for the lack of responses. I picked up some con crud and Ive been hacking up my lungs. Nyquil makes it hard to write posts of any substance. Will try and update later today.

I will post in the morning. A jump roping accident required 12 stitches in my 4 yearold's chin. In the excitement I left for the hospital without my phone.

Oh no! Hope your little one is okay, beyond the excitement.

Yes, she is doing better than her daddy. She is a little trooper. It turns out the neighborhood kids were playing "olden days" the girls were putting clothes on a clothesline. The boys were using the jump rope to run through like a finish line and thought it would be funny to not let go of it when my little one ran through and trip her with it on the concrete. The offenders were 6 and 7 and fessed up to it. The parents felt horrible, but it is something kids do. I am hoping she doesn't scar too badly on her face and she had a collar bone break.

Thank you guys for your concern and well wishes.

Wow, that's pretty bad! Collar bone breaks are no joke, glad to hear she's being a trooper about it. Hope she's all healed up soon!

Sorry for the slow-down, guys, post coming later today.

Make that one more day. Wound up doing a cold-run at PFS today when I thought I could post, and I'm falling asleep as I type right now. Will post after some sleep, sorry.

Sorry for the several-days delay there; between the Humble Bundle and various RL things going on, it's just been a time.

So, after a bit of Searching the thread, it looks like Mav has been in the game before, back in Jol. I can’t find a description of her, so I’m not sure how old she is (but one description mentions her having “several hundred years of experience”, so i’m guessing old … unless that is somehow tied to her selling of memories). Would Kló know of her? If so, what would he know?

Same questions or Rys and (I guess) Lydd herself. Should I assume Klo has some passing familiarity with them from their time coming to Jolday?

Halla asked Kló about Rys back here, and the GM confirmed he was the leader of the elves when Kló lived in Hofn as well. Don't know about Mav or Lydd. (I'm presuming that Mav might be the memory-monger, but I don't believe Halla ever got her name so she can be surprised when she sees her.)

Gotcha. Thanks for the reminder. That'll be helpful.

I'm essentially giving you guys a chance to shop here, or trying to, heh. Here is the Loot Tracker.

I'd like everyone to check in and make a note if you think a given item is something that should be kept for party use-- put your name under the keep list for it if so (that doesn't mean you're the one keeping it, just that you are saying it shouldn't be sold). After everyone's had a chance to weigh in on that, I will assume a trade-off of un-kept items at 50% cost (unless someone wants to do some roleplayed-out bartering for items), and that gold will be split four ways among the active PCs.

(side note: I'm going to keep NPCing Rikka for a while since it's somewhat useful in various ways, but Stormraven is officially out of the game since he hasn't communicated with me at all regarding his going silent for a second time. This leaves with Klo, Halla, Tassidar, and Knute as the active PCs. Four is a small group but I have no real interest in re-recruiting, again, right now-- it seems like the scenes to bring in new players really sap any momentum and bog things down a bit. Maybe later I might look for a fifth, but not right now.)

There are a lot of things available for purchase in the market... like wands of CLW, for instance, and various scrolls, weapons, armor, etc. Obviously, you do not HAVE to buy anything if you do not want to, but this is the GM-included "here be the chance to do some upgrades or make a big group purchase" pit stop. If anybody has something on their shopping list, now is a good time to bring it up.

Even if there's nothing you want kept by the group, on the sheet, then at least comment letting me know you checked out the loot tracker, as I'll proceed on that front once all four players weigh in.

I can't edit the tracker. Is that intentional?

And I'm good with your call on Rikka.

It is not, sorry. My bad. I'll go make it editable.

I would vote to keep the healing potion. Apart from that, I don't really care about any of the found items.

Halla will look to buy some more crossbow bolts, but apart from that, she's too much of a miser with her money to consider any major purchases; and in-character, she doesn't consider that she has a claim on any share of the party loot. (Also, she's already encumbered, so buying more stuff seems like a Bad Idea from that standpoint anyway.)

I like your NPCing of Rikka.

I made some comments on the document.

I'm really sorry for the long absence, everyone. It's been a very busy semester so far, and I can't honestly say I think it's going to get easier in the next few weeks. Once midterms are over (about 2 weeks) I'll be posting at least on a semi-regular schedule. For now, just consider Knute quietly observing most of the time, I guess (or GM as needed).

I agree with the votes that have been cast on the spreadsheet, with one clarification: I think we should sell the Plume of Panache unless the captain's feeling friendly (which I doubt he will, sincerely, given his previous bravado). Knute will roll Sense Motive (at +7) for any promises of aid we get out of him, to check if he's sincere/will keep his word. As for pooling resources for trading for supplies, he'll contribute enough to cover his rations for the trip (however many days we're buying), and can chip in if anyone else needs some. I'll keep an eye on discussion, and make posts (probably OOC) if needed to chip in more/clarify.

Again, I'm sorry for the absence.

Sorry you're so busy; I hope it's at least rewarding/worthwhile stuff that's consuming your time. :)

As for the Plume, here's my thought. I was basically going to wake the rat and say "We saved your life because we need friends." Hold up the hat, "We don't steal from our friends. So is this the beginning of a good friendship? Or did we just earn a fancy new hat?"

Seems like a win-win to me (ya know, assuming he doesn't stab us in the back).

Halla, you okay with using a spell slot to bring the rat-prince around?

Yeah, I guess. Hopefully if we're with the elves, we won't be in need of spell slots before the next morning. Did he get his Con check an hour after becoming stable to regain consciousness on his own?

No worries, Knute. Life comes first, though communicating when you can is always helpful.

And no, I forgot to to give Cap'n that check, thanks for the catch.

Con: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (6) + 0 = 6

Alas, no wakey. He was down 6 NL and 33 lethal, and got 3 NL back over the hour, so a spell will indeed be needed to get him up. Okay, sounds like you're offering the hat and plume back to him; incoming in-game post coming.

Sorry for the delay ... out of pocket today. won't be able to post until tomorrow.