Roland Aristocrat Campaign

Game Master Goldstool Shroomshine

Current Setting(s): Southern Docks Warehouse | Second Warehouse Map
Date: Wealday Afternoon, 18th of Abadius, 484
Objective: Investigate Mirror | Ensure the Spymaster's Wellbeing
Roland City Map | Design Document | Campaign Site | NPC List.


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Campaign Discussion. More info TBA.


Female Human Oracle 4/Occultist 1
SA:
Harrowed Bonus:1/1 Int; Focused Trance: 4/4; Inspiration Pool: 2/6; Mental Focus 2/3, Hard to Fool: 1/1; Oracle:1st lvl spells 7/7; 2nd 4/4; Occultist 1st lvl spells 1/2
HP:27/27; AC 12; CMD 1; Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +8; Perception +12 (Darkvision 30' blind beyond that); Sense Motive: +14 (+1d6); Init: +0

Dot.


Thank you for the invite. I am in the process of selecting gear. I am looking to be done tomorrow night. Today was busy at work and I am exhausted. I will have it done by then (around 9pm CST).


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No worries, plan is to have it start in early to mid January (want to take into account the Holidays and New Years), so we have the time. To match up with the timing, the first session will be at a small New Year's Eve Party, and will serve as the introduction to the world and a brand new year. Glory to Durendal, the game is in sight!


Goldstool, I sent you a PM regarding a magic item.


DM Goldstool wrote:
No worries, plan is to have it start in early to mid January (want to take into account the Holidays and New Years), so we have the time. To match up with the timing, the first session will be at a small New Year's Eve Party, and will serve as the introduction to the world and a brand new year. Glory to Durendal, the game is in sight!

Well, in light of that I will pour over my gear selections to ensure that I have what I want. I will post again once I have everything finalized.


Male Human Theme Song Gendarme Cavalier 5 | HP: 21/35 | AC: 19 (11 Touch, 18 Flatfooted) | CMD: 18 |
Defenses:
Fort: +5, Reflex: +1, Will: +0
| Init: +1 | Perception: +1, Sense Motive: +12

That seems good to me, I have done a good portion of my inventory but I have some money left over so who knows what I might do with it. Also just going to quickly do horse health rolls in here.
Health Part 1: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (4) + 2 = 6
Health Part 2: 1d8 + 2 ⇒ (8) + 2 = 10


Party Warehouse Map | Second Warehouse Map

So it is confirmed that with 24(?) Health, the horse officially has the most?


Male Human Theme Song Gendarme Cavalier 5 | HP: 21/35 | AC: 19 (11 Touch, 18 Flatfooted) | CMD: 18 |
Defenses:
Fort: +5, Reflex: +1, Will: +0
| Init: +1 | Perception: +1, Sense Motive: +12
DM Goldstool wrote:
So it is confirmed that with 24(?) Health, the horse officially has the most?

The horse has 26 because the first HD is max plus its +2 Con mod


female human rogue 2 | hp 18/18, AC 16, touch 13 FF 13 | CMD 14 | Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +0 | Perception +5, Init +3

Dot.

That horse is twice as tough as Valentina.

Not surprising. d8 hit die and 8 Con isn't a great recipe.

Hi all, by the way!


Male Inquisitor (Infiltrator, Sanctified Slayer) 5
Stats:
(AC 19/12Tch/17FF, HP 26/26, Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +7, Init +5, Per +11)
Social:
Diplomacy + 17, Bluff +17, Intimidate +5, Sense Motive +19, Know(Local) +13, Know(Nobles) +11

Hi folks! Thanks to you, DM Goldstool, for inviting me to play in this game. I'm very much looking forward to it. I think I'm more or less ready to go, but I need to finish a couple things.

First up is my monthly income. I had a look at Ultimate Equipment and lawyers in the setting earn somewhere between 5 sp (novice) - 10 GP (experienced). I'm guessing I fall somewhere in the middle, but probably above the halfway mark to experienced (lots of sense motive/diplomacy/know(local) etc.). Assuming 6 GP per day per person, over 22 days (30 days - 8 weekends) I'd earn roughly 132 gp. If I have 2 novice lawyers helping me out so I can handle an average 6 people (or so) per day, I earn around 660 gp. Let's round that down to 600 gp to account for miscellaneous expenses. If I need to spend about an hour a day on each person on average, I have about 2 hours leftover to devote to my merchant business plus any overtime (probably some at least on social stuff e.g. meeting people to do deals with).

Based on all this, I think that something like 600 + some random modifier is good. I see Raphael as primarily an importer of foreign specialty/luxury goods as that's information he'd know. That seems like it'd be fairly stable with some chances for random fluctuation. 2d4 * 100 would average 500 gp month with a range of 200 to 800. My total income range would be 800 gp to 1400 gp with an average of 1100 gp. That sound reasonable to you DM Goldstool?

The only other thing is my contact, Estelle. I expanded her story a bit a lot below.

Contact: Estelle:

Estelle Stingborn was born roughly twenty four years ago to a Calistrian priest and a minor noble lady. Left after her birth to the Calistrian temple to raise, Estelle's life has been less then ideal to date. Raised in sect that is tolerated (and disdained) by mainstream Durendalans and born with the hated blond hair, Estelle was forced to learn to fend for herself and to shrug off the insults thrown her way. When she came of age, she left her life at the temple at enrolled in the Durendalan military where she would eventually meet Raphael Montefiore. The two met when Raphael overheard Estelle speaking to a companion about her past. Raphael, naively, made a joke about her Stingborn name and was wrestled to the ground for his trouble. His arm twisted agonizingly behind his back and his face stuck in the less then sanitary ground of a military fort, Raphael begged the young woman's forgiveness and, with some time, managed to win his freedom.

Over the following week, Raphael continued to apologize every time he saw the young lady. Over the course of few more scuffles (and corresponding time spent on latrine duty), the pair built a rapport that would eventually blossom into friendship. They often served together on missions into Greater Galantine and their friendship has exposed both to the radically different lives lived by Durendal's citizens.

After Raphael left military service, Estelle continued to serve for a couple of years before being discharged with honors. Returning to her native Roland, Estelle found herself out of work. By chance, she happened to meet with Raphael in the street and the lawyer was shocked to hear of her situation. By pulling a few strings, Raphael was able to introduce her to the Captain of the Guard who'd he'd met during his work as an attorney. Seeing the merit of a woman with her experience, the Captain was quick to hire as into the Guard where she has since put her skills as a soldier and daughter of Roland's streets to use. Raphael and Estelle have kept a close relationship since as both friends and professionals.

As a contact, I see Estelle as a means for Raphael to get a feel for certain underworld dealings. As a Guard, she's also an interesting point of contact for anything related to that faction and it's day to day happenings. For skills, Know(Local), Stealth and/or Bluff/Disguise seem reasonable to me, but you're free to come up with our own interpretations. :)


Female Human Oracle 4/Occultist 1
SA:
Harrowed Bonus:1/1 Int; Focused Trance: 4/4; Inspiration Pool: 2/6; Mental Focus 2/3, Hard to Fool: 1/1; Oracle:1st lvl spells 7/7; 2nd 4/4; Occultist 1st lvl spells 1/2
HP:27/27; AC 12; CMD 1; Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +8; Perception +12 (Darkvision 30' blind beyond that); Sense Motive: +14 (+1d6); Init: +0

I am playing in a handful of PBP games and one of the things that it's usually good to do up front is decide any preferences for posts in the gameplay thread.

One issue to decide is the general verb tense to use in gameplay. Most games use present tense, as in Halcyon moves to the door and listens for sounds of activity on the other side. One game I'm in requires using past tense, as in Halcyon moved to the door and listened for sounds of activity on the other side. It's a small difference, but the latter provides a more literary feel to the posts. I've heard of games where this latter approach was used and someone went through later and copied and pasted all the entries together (sans rolls and OOC comments) into a kind of fiction narrative.

Another style choice is whether posts include things like what the character is thinking or intending. At one extreme is to only describe what other characters observing the scene would observe, keeping inner thoughts for others to infer from the actions. At the other extreme is to make the narrative include the kinds of things one might read in a fiction story, where the player narrates what the character is thinking and feeling. Other players have to be sure to filter this information out when choosing what their characters do, but it can make for more interesting and readable posts.

Related to this is the amount of OOC (out of character) comments made in the gameplay thread. Some games read a lot like an around-the-table game, with people making side comments about dice rolls, exclamations of woe and weal, etc. Other games discourage such table talk in the gameplay thread, preferring it the discussion board. Usually questions that involve interpreting rules, game world background questions, etc. are best placed on the discussion board where they don't interrupt the flow of events.

In the interests of keeping things moving, most experienced PBP players include rolls in their posts when it seems likely the GM may require one, such as for perception, stealth, knowledge, etc. It slows thing down if the GM has to post to specifically request such a roll, while including one that is not needed doesn't hurt.

It's a good idea to use the spoiler tags to hide information that is intended only for the eyes of a certain player or for the GM. Some GM's make a spoiler post with a title like "Perception DC 15". This means each player can make a perception check in their post and if they get a result of 15 or greater, they can look at the information in the spoiler. Otherwise players should not look at the information if their character did not make the required DC.

Finally, it's a good idea to preview posts and re-read them to proofread and correct errors in grammar and such. Preview will also allow a player or GM to see the results of a roll before submitting, so that he/she can take the result into account in the rest of the post, if appropriate.

Even after submitting the post, you can still go in and edit or delete the post for about an hour, after which the post cannot be altered. If much time has gone by since the original post, some players prefer their edit with the word "edit:" so someone who may have already read the post can see what was changed.


Party Warehouse Map | Second Warehouse Map

Thank you Halcyon, I am very glad you wrote this up for me.

Addressing things at random (and we can determine things as we play if need be):

  • Prefer use of Discussion Thread, but I am fine with spoilers in Gameplay posts to comment on things, make a quip, et cetera.
  • Let us use present tense. While putting it all in narrative form would be stellar, I don't think we need to think about that quite yet.
  • People can roll whenever, for major things such as Knowledge DCs to know someone, I often roll that as things are introduced.
  • I will keep the player things in spoilers, and only the players who pass should view. I ask that people follow this, especially if the party splits up, unless someone can sync minds up, and people want to share things.
  • If you want, you can share knowledge rolls, information, or things you find. I will assume only you know of it if you do not share.

Knowing that you can preview the dice roll is game changing, I did not know that.

Raphael, you will never have to look up that much rules for downtime. The intersession system is basically designed so you don't need to worry about that / promote quick growth. I will make an intersession sheet for you (made 2 already), and we can talk more about intersession here. Everyone should start with an average of 1000gp per intersession,


Female Human Oracle 4/Occultist 1
SA:
Harrowed Bonus:1/1 Int; Focused Trance: 4/4; Inspiration Pool: 2/6; Mental Focus 2/3, Hard to Fool: 1/1; Oracle:1st lvl spells 7/7; 2nd 4/4; Occultist 1st lvl spells 1/2
HP:27/27; AC 12; CMD 1; Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +8; Perception +12 (Darkvision 30' blind beyond that); Sense Motive: +14 (+1d6); Init: +0

For people who have not done PBP on Paizo before, it's worth noting that the dice-bot has a function to try to prevent cheating with the preview function. For example, if you preview a dice roll for a 1d20 roll and the result is a 1, you can't delete the roll and try again. The dice-bot somehow remembers the roll and if you try to edit your post and re-roll the 1d20 to get a better result, it will usually prevent the change, rolling a 1 every time until you post the roll.

This also means you can preview a post with a dice roll in it and the result won't change each time you edit the text and preview it again.

So a useful way to go about combat attacks is to do the 1d20 attack roll and add all your bonuses and subtract penalties. You can look at the result and if the attack would be a critical threat, then you can add another 1d20 roll to see if you made a critical.
Then roll normal damage (in case the result did not critical) with another extra roll for the extra critical damage. The GM can then judge whether it was a critical hit or not and how much damage to apply.


Male Inquisitor (Infiltrator, Sanctified Slayer) 5
Stats:
(AC 19/12Tch/17FF, HP 26/26, Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +7, Init +5, Per +11)
Social:
Diplomacy + 17, Bluff +17, Intimidate +5, Sense Motive +19, Know(Local) +13, Know(Nobles) +11
DM Goldstool wrote:
Raphael, you will never have to look up that much rules for downtime. The intersession system is basically designed so you don't need to worry about that / promote quick growth. I will make an intersession sheet for you (made 2 already), and we can talk more about intersession here. Everyone should start with an average of 1000gp per intersession.

Sounds good. I wasn't planning on doing anything more with the (overly complex and full of bookkeeping) downtime rules. I was kind of curious where the math would take me and you had previously mentioned that how the '1000gp' ends up working for each person will be different based on their profession. I was curious how it might work out for me. :)

Halcyon d'Orsay wrote:
For people who have not done PBP on Paizo before, it's worth noting that the dice-bot has a function to try to prevent cheating with the preview function.

This is correct. It looks like Paizo saves the next seed used to randomly generate each dice type's (d6, d8, d20, etc) result. So if you roll 5d20, it will always roll the same no matter how many times you preview it. Similarly for 6d8 or something. Swapping the order of the d20 and d8 rolls (e.g. d20 first and then trying again with d8 first) also doesn't change the results. If it wasn't already clear, I'm a computer engineer. :)

For everyone new to PBP, it might be helpful to take a look at these threads:

Painlords Guide to PbP GMing
and
DHs Guide to Play by Post gaming


Hey there leinathan, how have you been?


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Female Human Oracle 4/Occultist 1
SA:
Harrowed Bonus:1/1 Int; Focused Trance: 4/4; Inspiration Pool: 2/6; Mental Focus 2/3, Hard to Fool: 1/1; Oracle:1st lvl spells 7/7; 2nd 4/4; Occultist 1st lvl spells 1/2
HP:27/27; AC 12; CMD 1; Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +8; Perception +12 (Darkvision 30' blind beyond that); Sense Motive: +14 (+1d6); Init: +0

If anyone wants to discuss previous connections with Halcyon, here are some things that you might want to know up front. These are the things most people would know (or think they know) about her, her past, and her business.

Halcyon is an oracle (in PF class terms) but in public she is generally vague about her means of support. She goes by Halcyon d'Orsay and claims to be of a minor noble family from the Murgleis region. She is either blind or mostly blind, wearing tinted glasses and tapping a quarterstaff in front of her as she walks. She is slight of build, not very tall, but quite attractive and personable. Her disability does not stop her from attending the theater, parties, etc. She's something of a social butterfly with no known boyfriend or fiancé.

She sometimes dresses down, however, and mingles with more common people, usually wearing a scarf over her hair and a veil over the top part of her face, drinking at Marcus' tavern, doing harrow readings for 5 silver pieces (or cheaper if someone doesn't have that kind of change).

In either social setting, the rarefied heights of high society or the local tavern, she is keen to hear gossip and tell amusing stories. She occasionally does a dramatic reading of a well known poem or legend.

Anyone with underworld connections might know that she sometimes deals in information, either obtaining it if someone needs to find out something, or selling information she already has. This leads her to sometimes contract with people with specialized skills to obtain information for her or to accompany her when she looks for information to act as an escort and/or bodyguard.

Another way a PC might know her would be through her business, although she does her consulting in dim lighting that does not allow the person to get a good look at her, which makes it less likely that knowing her through her business would lead one to recognize her when she's in public. She starts most consultations with a harrow reading and follows up with more meetings if it turns out she can provide some helpful information or offer services that amount to counseling. She advises on love, business, politics, and even supernatural connections.

She has a secret that someone in the party may know, but she also likely knows a secret about the other person as well, so both parties have motive to keep the secret.

However your PC may have met her, he/she would probably be most impressed with how much she knows about a wide range of topics for one so young. She is smart with a good education behind her, but she seems to draw a great deal of information from informal sources, such as stories and tall tales. It's also possible she has spiritual sources of information that she naturally taps into; she sometimes slips into a mild trance for up to a half minute, after which she sometimes knows things it seems unlikely she could have learned by mundane means.

She can be very persuasive and diplomatic, and can put up a very good cover identity or bluff her way out of trouble. Finally, she seems remarkably perceptive, particularly for one with a visual disability. This especially applies to reading people. She has an uncanny knack for telling when people are lying or pretending to be something they are not or hiding emotions. She has some spells but they are mostly divination school spells or spells that help her in her work, such as Comprehend Languages, Detect Evil, and Tap Inner Beauty.

Post questions, suggestions for possible connections, or PM me as you choose. I look forward to getting to know the other PCs and getting started.


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Male Inquisitor (Infiltrator, Sanctified Slayer) 5
Stats:
(AC 19/12Tch/17FF, HP 26/26, Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +7, Init +5, Per +11)
Social:
Diplomacy + 17, Bluff +17, Intimidate +5, Sense Motive +19, Know(Local) +13, Know(Nobles) +11

For my own purposes I've put together a list of the PCs in the game and Raphael's connection to them. Feel free to comment if anything seems amiss or if anything could be expanded upon.

  • Halcyon d'Orsay: Raphael and Halcyon met when Raphael had his harrow reading done on a lark at Marcus Tamarin's bar (does it have a name yet?). Impressed, but not fooled, by the elaborate tale she spun from her cards, Raphael made a point of continuing to speak with the insightful young woman. The pair still meet occasionally (generally at the same bar) to trade gossip and to chat.
  • Marcus Tamarin: I'm currently thinking that we may have met when I came into your bar for Halcyon's reading with some other noble friends. Since then Raphael would have been back a number of times, we may have struck up a conversation. Perhaps either you revealed your secret trading business or I heard about it from some other contacts. Either way, we've since done some business.
  • Valentina Silverstone: Raphael served as a laywer for Valentina and saw her successfully acquitted of the charges levied against her. Valentina invited Raphael out to a coffeehouse in thanks and proceeded to try to charm Raphael (for some ulterior motive that Valentina hasn't disclosed). Raphael picked up on the fact she was using her looks and charm to manipulate him and called her on it. Impressed by his astuteness, Valentina dropped the act and the two have been business acquaintances since. Valentina procures certain difficult to obtain (but legal) goods for the MTC and occasionally helps with information from the criminal elements of Roland's society. Raphael, in turn, makes his legal advice and contacts available and helps lend a more legitimate facade to some of Valentina's dealings. Their quid-quo-pro relationship is built on mutual respect.
  • Nishara Tamarin: I'm guessing that Nishara and Raphael met in the same way as Marcus. Perhaps Raphael made use of her clandestine services to acquire information for a lawsuit? I'm not sure what Raphael would provide to Nishara in turn other than coin. Any ideas?
  • Seth Varianna: Seth and Raphael met when Seth's work as a mercenary led him to the fort guarding the border with Greater Galatine. They were merely casual acquaintances at that point. Later, when Raphael's ventures in the Montefiore Trading Company required guards, Raphael approached Seth and the two have done steady business since. They don't have much in the way of a personal relationship as yet, but that may yet change. One possible future development that seems interesting would be an expansion of MTC into a political entity like the East India Trade Company with it's standing army (led by Seth Varianna).

It sounds like, from what I've seen of each character's motivations, that our common thread is gaining power politically. I don't know that we really have another common thread. Raphael's big motivations would be to see Greater Galatine crushed like the pigs they are, increased political standing for himself and his family and restoration of the WTC to it's former glory. Any other thoughts on common interests? Feel free to respond here or via IM.


female human rogue 2 | hp 18/18, AC 16, touch 13 FF 13 | CMD 14 | Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +0 | Perception +5, Init +3

It seems to me that Seth, Valentina and Raphael could have a very profitable mutual business arrangement creating a business empire.

Raphael's mention of the East India Trading Company made me think - Valentina could contribute too. She's innovative and has a lot of production capabilities that the other PCs don't have.

By the by, I think I want to start calling her company "Silverstone Industries".


Party Warehouse Map | Second Warehouse Map

Everyone is making me giddy with excitement! I am preparing intersession sheets with the players' contact stats + businesses, and will soon populate them with side missions/job missions for everyone to do. Gonna now try a dice test:

Literally just a dice test, DC 25:
SenseMotive: 1d20 + 18 ⇒ (18) + 18 = 36


female human rogue 2 | hp 18/18, AC 16, touch 13 FF 13 | CMD 14 | Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +0 | Perception +5, Init +3

Oh, about income!

Valentina's business sells big-ticket items. I'm thinking that a good way to represent this would be to have a d% roll to see if anybody bought anything, and then roll something like 2d800 to see how much she made that month - that is to say, to see whether one or two people bought something, and I kind of cherry-picked 800gp as a good number for a high-price item. What do you think?

EDIT: 2d800 isn't a good thing - it allows for any number between 2 and 1600. Maybe just 1d2 or 1d3x800?


Goldstool, sent another PM.


Party Warehouse Map | Second Warehouse Map
Valentina Silverstone wrote:
Oh, about income!

Want to clarify:

For the d% roll... Like a X% chance if someone buys something, and from there it makes 1000/X average (example, 50% chance 6d6*100gold and 50% chance 0gold)?


female human rogue 2 | hp 18/18, AC 16, touch 13 FF 13 | CMD 14 | Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +0 | Perception +5, Init +3

Yeah, that's what I mean.

I want to make more than your average player on the months where I make money because of the high-end nature of my items, but have the possibility of not making money.


Party Warehouse Map | Second Warehouse Map

You can do that. In that case, its about how extreme you want it to be. You can have it so you make money in 1 of 20 sessions, but make a 2d6 *1,000 + 10,000 when you do. Its just a matter of balancing risk and reward.

In general, so long as %chance * average payoff is close to 1000, it is good.

The Exchange

Male Kitsune Bard (thunderstriker) 1

Hmm tavern names, I kinda want something classy, and a subtle reference to is being a kitsune hidden in plain sight like "The Sly Fox"
This also gives me the option of 'refuge in audacity' which is always funny
"let me get this straight, you think I'm a kitsune, what, like the fox people? If I were trying to hide why in the nine hells would I name my bar after them, I named the bar after a pet we had as kids, Wiley little bugger, she kept getting into my sister's secret stash of sweets, and when I went to set up shop selling food and drink I felt it to be just right to honor the creature's memory by naming the establishment after her"
Or the option of a 'sarcastic confession' wherein I say something like "oh sure I'm a kitsune and we all know of the fiendish race's skill at disguise, that's exactly why I branded the place where I live and work with their likeness..... What do you think I'm an idiot? Why don't you ask the owner of The Winking Skeaver if he's secretly a rat person, they're Wiley ones,"
What do you think sis?
Anyone else with an opinion can weigh in if they want to, but I'm specifically asking for her's as she's the one who, in character, I would have consulted about said name.


female human rogue 2 | hp 18/18, AC 16, touch 13 FF 13 | CMD 14 | Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +0 | Perception +5, Init +3

Let me put it this way and see if you have any insight:

On average, an item that I sell is likely to price about 1,000gp.


Party Warehouse Map | Second Warehouse Map

Ok, Roll a 1d6. This shows how many people were interested in the magic items that week. From there, roll a Xd3, where X = how many interested individuals. From there, if any of those dice rolls are a 3, you get 2d8 * 100 for each one. Example

Sample Valentina Rolls:

Interested People: 1d6 ⇒ 6
Sells on 3s: 1d3 ⇒ 31d3 ⇒ 31d3 ⇒ 21d3 ⇒ 31d3 ⇒ 11d3 ⇒ 3
Money Earned: 8d8 ⇒ (6, 3, 3, 6, 1, 4, 4, 2) = 29 *100
This was a particularly good roll.
3.5 / 3 * 9 *100 gold or
avg of d6 / 33%chance * avg of 2d8 = 1050avg gold

Welcome to Math with Goldstool, where everything is more complex than it should be.


Male Inquisitor (Infiltrator, Sanctified Slayer) 5
Stats:
(AC 19/12Tch/17FF, HP 26/26, Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +7, Init +5, Per +11)
Social:
Diplomacy + 17, Bluff +17, Intimidate +5, Sense Motive +19, Know(Local) +13, Know(Nobles) +11
Marcus Tamarin wrote:
Hmm tavern names, I kinda want something classy, and a subtle reference to is being a kitsune hidden in plain sight like "The Sly Fox"

How about "Fox in the Rye" which could catch your kitsune reference but also add in rye as a reference to the grain used in various alcoholic drinks? Seems somehow appropriate for a bar.

Shadow Lodge

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Male. Vaguely humanoid Ninja 3/Bard 1/Ranger 2/Scholar 1

But why would a fox be in rye?


Male Inquisitor (Infiltrator, Sanctified Slayer) 5
Stats:
(AC 19/12Tch/17FF, HP 26/26, Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +7, Init +5, Per +11)
Social:
Diplomacy + 17, Bluff +17, Intimidate +5, Sense Motive +19, Know(Local) +13, Know(Nobles) +11

Evading a hunter? Hunting something else in the rye? Hiding generally? That's all I've got so far.


Party Warehouse Map | Second Warehouse Map
Raphael Montefiore wrote:
Evading a hunter? Hunting something else in the rye? Hiding generally? That's all I've got so far.

The Catcher in the Rye is indeed a dangerous thing to avoid. The Fox and Hound Tavern, while we are still adding to the idea cauldron.


Male Human Theme Song Gendarme Cavalier 5 | HP: 21/35 | AC: 19 (11 Touch, 18 Flatfooted) | CMD: 18 |
Defenses:
Fort: +5, Reflex: +1, Will: +0
| Init: +1 | Perception: +1, Sense Motive: +12

I don't think I have given a large enough character background here as some of the other players so here is some more info on Seth Varianna.

Seth Varianna trained from a young age to become a soldier. He was taught by a Commandant in the Guard, Lucius Ferot. Lucius was quite proficient with a glaive and passed his skills onto Seth. As Seth got older, the harshness of his father made him resent him more and more. It was a tradition in the Varianna family for the men to join the Guard. When Seth came of age he decided to go against his father and not join the Guard. To support himself, he became a mercenary with a friend he trained with under Lucius and together they started their own group of mercenaries. (I should probably give them a name at some point) Seth Varianna's group of mercenaries now has roughly 20 members and have been protecting trade caravans for close to 10 years now. The group works out of a small tavern, with an office in the back where Seth can work out deals with potential clients or former employers.


Goldstool, that document I spoke of is ready. You have been added to it. I've sent you another PM with more thoughts on my idea.


Female Human Oracle 4/Occultist 1
SA:
Harrowed Bonus:1/1 Int; Focused Trance: 4/4; Inspiration Pool: 2/6; Mental Focus 2/3, Hard to Fool: 1/1; Oracle:1st lvl spells 7/7; 2nd 4/4; Occultist 1st lvl spells 1/2
HP:27/27; AC 12; CMD 1; Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +8; Perception +12 (Darkvision 30' blind beyond that); Sense Motive: +14 (+1d6); Init: +0

Halcyon probably would not have crossed paths with Seth under normal circumstances and it's not essential that we've all met each other. But if Halcyon were to have met Seth, it might be she visited the tavern with his HQ and did some harrow readings for him or some of his group, perhaps she was hired to accompany a caravan to provide readings. Or perhaps she occasionally needs someone as a body guard when she is looking for information in a rough part of town.

Ultimately, it's probably enough if we each have some connection to someone but we don't all need a connection to everyone else. I assume our first adventure will give us some reason to work together. As Raphael pointed out, we all seem to be motivated to improve our situations, build a better power base. It sounds like we've got a good combination of talents: fighters, rogues, spell casters, both divine and arcane, and all seem fairly astute in the social arena.


Party Warehouse Map | Second Warehouse Map

The friend of your friends could be yours as well, no need for everyone to be best chums,. You guys are in a pretty good region class and connections wise, besides knowing a Druid in the Botanical Gardens, friends with a Galatian or a direct Ratfolk connection, you have almost all the bases covered.


Female Human Oracle 4/Occultist 1
SA:
Harrowed Bonus:1/1 Int; Focused Trance: 4/4; Inspiration Pool: 2/6; Mental Focus 2/3, Hard to Fool: 1/1; Oracle:1st lvl spells 7/7; 2nd 4/4; Occultist 1st lvl spells 1/2
HP:27/27; AC 12; CMD 1; Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +8; Perception +12 (Darkvision 30' blind beyond that); Sense Motive: +14 (+1d6); Init: +0

There are some random tavern name generators out there.

Seventh Sanctum

Mithril and Mages

Fantasy Name Generators

... to name a few that seemed creative.

When I create a name for a tavern as a GM, I think partly of the type of clientele desired. If it is an upscale place that wants the wealthy and famous, I choose a name that smacks of high society, such as the "Cream and Crescent" or the "Crimson Sunset." If the customers are likely to come from the lower class, the place will probably have some kind of image that can identify it for those who can't read, with a name that goes with the image, such as the "Red Dragon" or the "Blushing Wench."

If the owners don't mind giving a hint as to their race, then maybe something like the "Seven Tales" (pun on the multiple tails of the Kitsune) or "Fox's Alibi."

The Exchange

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Male Kitsune Bard (thunderstriker) 1

Hmm how about The Tall Tail Inn?
Advertised as a place where many a weary traveler or dashing nobleman can rest by the fireplace with their bellies full and their thirst quenched as they listen to the tales of their fellows and tell a few of their own in return.
For an image it'd have an image of a fox underneath the letter filled part of the sign with it's tail being disproportionately longer as it wraps around the sign.


Female Human Oracle 4/Occultist 1
SA:
Harrowed Bonus:1/1 Int; Focused Trance: 4/4; Inspiration Pool: 2/6; Mental Focus 2/3, Hard to Fool: 1/1; Oracle:1st lvl spells 7/7; 2nd 4/4; Occultist 1st lvl spells 1/2
HP:27/27; AC 12; CMD 1; Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +8; Perception +12 (Darkvision 30' blind beyond that); Sense Motive: +14 (+1d6); Init: +0

Sounds good to me. Several days ago I added Perform (Oratory) to Halcy's skills, so she can do some story-telling. Stories are actually a kind of specialty of hers, as much of her knowledge of history, nobility, arcana, planes, and religion comes from her voracious appetite for folklore, myths, fables, and other such tales.

Part of her reason for doing something like this would be to increase her chances of being invited to parties, which puts her where she usually wants to be without her having to weasel and invite from the host.


Party Warehouse Map | Second Warehouse Map

As far as knowledge skills go, this group is pretty great. If there was a Roland Trivia contest, I would put money on your guys.


Raphael Montefiore wrote:

For my own purposes I've put together a list of the PCs in the game and Raphael's connection to them. Feel free to comment if anything seems amiss or if anything could be expanded upon.


  • Nishara Tamarin: I'm guessing that Nishara and Raphael met in the same way as Marcus. Perhaps Raphael made use of her clandestine services to acquire information for a
...

Now that I have some essentials worked out I am ready to forge more connections. In your motivation section you mention that you are looking for more family heirlooms. Nishara might have been pointed out by an NPC that Nishara had worked for in the past. The NPC probably would have given Nishara's name as one who is able to obtain information that proved impossible for anyone else to get.

Does this seem acceptable to you?

As for everyone else, if you had your ear to the ground you would have heard that Nishara is extremely good at getting information, be it regarding people or things. How do you feel I could have come to know you? Anyone is free to look over my background to see what could be used to make a connection.

Looking forward to the ideas.

PS: What information, if any, would Nishara know about any of the PCs?


Party Warehouse Map | Second Warehouse Map

Probably won't be able to post much in the next day, making a long trip, but I will be working on readying the first session and finishing the Intercession Sheets (Just the Tamarin family I believe now?). I'll check PMs throughout the day and am usually good on responding, just don't think I am going dark.

Good news, we are actually progressing faster than I thought we were going to, everyones been pretty good on getting prepared and getting connected. We might be able to run the first round of intersession before December's end, but largely as this is also New Years/Holidays/family time, I won't be expecting swift responses.


Female Human Oracle 4/Occultist 1
SA:
Harrowed Bonus:1/1 Int; Focused Trance: 4/4; Inspiration Pool: 2/6; Mental Focus 2/3, Hard to Fool: 1/1; Oracle:1st lvl spells 7/7; 2nd 4/4; Occultist 1st lvl spells 1/2
HP:27/27; AC 12; CMD 1; Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +8; Perception +12 (Darkvision 30' blind beyond that); Sense Motive: +14 (+1d6); Init: +0

I won't be working after the 23rd and I won't be traveling for the holidays, so I should be able to start any time. Looking forward to it.


Male Human Theme Song Gendarme Cavalier 5 | HP: 21/35 | AC: 19 (11 Touch, 18 Flatfooted) | CMD: 18 |
Defenses:
Fort: +5, Reflex: +1, Will: +0
| Init: +1 | Perception: +1, Sense Motive: +12

I will be on a cruise from the 27th to the 3rd of january so i will be posting very infrequently. Whenever I have wifi I will try to check out the thread


female human rogue 2 | hp 18/18, AC 16, touch 13 FF 13 | CMD 14 | Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +0 | Perception +5, Init +3

The 24th, 25th and the 27th are no-no days for me - I won't be around. Same with the 6th of January. Other than specific no-no days I'm around on the boards most days.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Female Human Oracle 4/Occultist 1
SA:
Harrowed Bonus:1/1 Int; Focused Trance: 4/4; Inspiration Pool: 2/6; Mental Focus 2/3, Hard to Fool: 1/1; Oracle:1st lvl spells 7/7; 2nd 4/4; Occultist 1st lvl spells 1/2
HP:27/27; AC 12; CMD 1; Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +8; Perception +12 (Darkvision 30' blind beyond that); Sense Motive: +14 (+1d6); Init: +0
Nishara wrote:

As for everyone else, if you had your ear to the ground you would have heard that Nishara is extremely good at getting information, be it regarding people or things. How do you feel I could have come to know you? Anyone is free to look over my background to see what could be used to make a connection.

Looking forward to the ideas.

PS: What information, if any, would Nishara know about any of the PCs?

Nishara & Marcus:

For your consideration as to connections to Halcyon (Halcy):

Halcyon sat in her usual spot toward the back of the Tall Tail. She sipped apple mead and nibbled on the delicious cinnamon bread as she laid out harrow cards slowly. As usual, her eyes were covered with a violet tinted set of glasses that mostly hid the clouded sheen that covered her dark eyes. She never looked directly at the card, but rather put her hand over each card, and set it in place. As she did, faint images sprang into existence on the elaborate fabric mat she used as a carrying case for her well-used cards. These images played out little silent scenes until she swept the cards into a pile and shuffled them before starting again. As usual, it wasn’t long before she had a couple of young aristocratic woman asking giggly questions about some young nobleman.

After a while, the raven haired oracle put her deck away, indicating the time for readings was over. A handsome bard had begun reciting verses for the amusement of the audience. Nishara approached with a bottle of mead to see if Halcyon needed a refill. Before she got to the table, before she had said a word, Halcyon had moved her mug over to where Nishara could pour the mead.

“Seems like a good crowd tonight, Nishara,” Halcyon commented as the golden brew sparkled into her cup. “Is the bard as handsome as he sounds?”

Nishara could not recall telling Halcyon her name, but it did not surprise her that the oracle knew it. Lots of regulars knew her name and it was surely bandied about in her earshot. “He’s passing fair,” the server said.

They chatted for a bit before other customers required her services.

A couple more bards took turns entertaining the crowd, collected their rewards in their hats, and then a slight woman with a large black cloak made her way to the small stage near one wall, tapping a staff in front of her as she went.

It was Halcyon and she waited until she was on stage to take off her cloak, revealing a violet dress trimmed in black velvet, showing a lot of cleavage and drawing the attention of the men of the crowd. She introduced herself as Halcy d’Orsay and then began to tell a story she called “The Lion and the Fox.” The story involved a couple of foxes whose peaceful life was disturbed when a pride of lions took up residence in the same forest. Not only did the lions frighten away much of the prey the foxes relied on, they attracted hunters trying to capture one of the fine beasts. The foxes made a truce with the mice they normally ate and there followed an amusing tale of deception that resulted in both the hunters and the lions leaving the forest in peace.

The audience readily identified the lions with the country Galatine and the hunters, who drove them away, with Roland. Nishara, however, couldn’t help but pick up on little details of the story that linked Nishara with the character of one of the mice, who used magic to imitate various creatures of the forest. It could all be just coincidence, but she also noted that when telling those parts of the stories, Halcy was facing the general direction of Nishara, even though Nishara was constantly moving around waiting on customers.

After the performance, Nishara congratulated Halcy on her clever tale and asked about the character of the shape-changing mouse. To anyone else listening to the two, they were talking about the story, but to Nishara it soon became clear that there was a subtext to the discussion that was about Nishara and Halcyon. Through that exchange, she came to recognize that Halcyon was a player in the same game of information brokering and both were sympathetic to the same ideals.

Thereafter, they occasionally collaborated on leads and commissions. While Nishara had a patron, Halcyon worked for no one interest; but she never worked at cross purposes with Nishara, which led them to become friends. Nishara learned that the mysterious oracle could actually see quite well at short distances, even in total darkness.

Halcy did not speak much of her past, but Nishara strongly suspected that the story about her moving to Roland from Murgleis was as fictional as her story about the lions and foxes. Halcyon also knew that Nishara and her brother were Kitsune. Both had arrived at a tacit understanding that either could learn more about the secret past of the other but that they would not pursue that information actively.

Halcy continues to be a regular at the Tall Tail, but she also spent many nights at other locations. Some were parties of the well-to-do but she also know the oracle sometimes mingled with the lower classes at less reputable pubs, doing readings for free or cheap, sometimes providing healing when she learned of a worker who was injured on the job. Nishara also knew Halcyon had a consulting business that brought her regular income as wealthy customers sought insights into their futures and advice on how to navigate the intricate worlds of business and high society.

Sometimes, Halcy would contact Nishara and ask her to find out some information on a particular nobleman or woman. This usually meant that said noble was scheduled to meet for the first time at Halcy's consulting firm and Halcy liked to have some tidbits of information to slip into her readings that helped convince the noble that she had supernatural insights. Nishara always got a cut of the fee when she helped in this way.


Halcyon d'Orsay wrote:
Nishara wrote:

As for everyone else, if you had your ear to the ground you would have heard that Nishara is extremely good at getting information, be it regarding people or things. How do you feel I could have come to know you? Anyone is free to look over my background to see what could be used to make a connection.

Looking forward to the ideas.

PS: What information, if any, would Nishara know about any of the PCs?

Spoiler:
For your consideration as to connections to Halcyon (Halcy):

Halcyon sat in her usual spot toward the back of the Tall Tail. She sipped apple mead and nibbled on the delicious cinnamon bread as she laid out harrow cards slowly. As usual, her eyes were covered with a violet tinted set of glasses that mostly hid the clouded sheen that covered her dark eyes. She never looked directly at the card, but rather put her hand over each card, and set it in place. As she did, faint images sprang into existence on the elaborate fabric mat she used as a carrying case for her well-used cards. These images played out little silent scenes until she swept the cards into a pile and shuffled them before starting again. As usual, it wasn’t long before she had a couple of young aristocratic woman asking giggly questions about some young nobleman.

After a while, the raven haired oracle put her deck away, indicating the time for readings was over. A handsome bard had begun reciting verses for the amusement of the audience. Nishara approached with a bottle of mead to see if Halcyon needed a refill. Before she got to the table, before she had said a word, Halcyon had moved her mug over to where Nishara could pour the mead.

“Seems like a good crowd tonight, Nishara,” Halcyon commented as the golden brew sparkled into her cup. “Is the bard as handsome as he sounds?”

Nishara could not recall telling Halcyon her name, but it did not surprise her that the oracle knew it. Lots of regulars knew her name and it was surely bandied about in her earshot. “He’s passing fair,” the server said.

They chatted for a bit before other customers required her services.

A couple more bards took turns entertaining the crowd, collected their rewards in their hats, and then a slight woman with a large black cloak made her way to the small stage near one wall, tapping a staff in front of her as she went.

It was Halcyon and she waited until she was on stage to take off her cloak, revealing a violet dress trimmed in black velvet, showing a lot of cleavage and drawing the attention of the men of the crowd. She introduced herself as Halcy d’Orsay and then began to tell a story she called “The Lion and the Fox.” The story involved a couple of foxes whose peaceful life was disturbed when a pride of lions took up residence in the same forest. Not only did the lions frighten away much of the prey the foxes relied on, they attracted hunters trying to capture one of the fine beasts. The foxes made a truce with the mice they normally ate and there followed an amusing tale of deception that resulted in both the hunters and the lions leaving the forest in peace.

The audience readily identified the lions with the country Galatine and the hunters, who drove them away, with Roland. Nishara, however, couldn’t help but pick up on little details of the story that linked Nishara with the character of one of the mice, who used magic to imitate various creatures of the forest. It could all be just coincidence, but she also noted that when telling those parts of the stories, Halcy was facing the general direction of Nishara, even though Nishara was constantly moving around waiting on customers.

After the performance, Nishara congratulated Halcy on her clever tale and asked about the character of the shape-changing mouse. To anyone else listening to the two, they were talking about the story, but to Nishara it soon became clear that there was a subtext to the discussion that was about Nishara and Halcyon. Through that exchange, she came to recognize that Halcyon was a player in the same game of information brokering and both were sympathetic to the same ideals.

Thereafter, they occasionally collaborated on leads and commissions. While Nishara had a patron, Halcyon worked for no one interest; but she never worked at cross purposes with Nishara, which led them to become friends. Nishara learned that the mysterious oracle could actually see quite well at short distances, even in total darkness.

Halcy did not speak much of her past, but Nishara strongly suspected that the story about her moving to Roland from Murgleis was as fictional as her story about the lions and foxes. Halcyon also knew that Nishara and her brother were Kitsune. Both had arrived at a tacit understanding that either could learn more about the secret past of the other but that they would not pursue that information actively.

Halcy continues to be a regular at the Tall Tail, but she also spent many nights at other locations. Some were parties of the well-to-do but she also know the oracle sometimes mingled with the lower classes at less reputable pubs, doing readings for free or cheap, sometimes providing healing when she learned of a worker who was injured on the job. Nishara also knew Halcyon had a consulting business that brought her regular income as wealthy customers sought insights into their futures and advice on how to navigate the intricate worlds of business and high society.

Sometimes, Halcy would contact Nishara and ask her to find out some information on a particular nobleman or woman. This usually meant that said noble was scheduled to meet for the first time at Halcy's consulting firm and Halcy liked to have some tidbits of information to slip into her readings that helped convince the noble that she had supernatural insights. Nishara always got a cut of the fee when she helped in this way.

Looks great, though I have but one point that I would like to discuss. I completely forgot to mention that the only PC who knows that Nishara is a Kitsune is Marcus. I realize that this info is in the alias, but that is just for the crunch. Being a shapeshifter such as her tends to draw attention and she is more than paranoid about it. She also doesn't take new forms randomly, and would keep this knowledge from others unless she was completely sure about them. Is there something that would cause Nishara to trust you with this secret?

Or, how would you have found out about it otherwise?

I'm not trying to dissuade you from knowing if it makes sense. I like the connection, very nice indeed!


Female Human Oracle 4/Occultist 1
SA:
Harrowed Bonus:1/1 Int; Focused Trance: 4/4; Inspiration Pool: 2/6; Mental Focus 2/3, Hard to Fool: 1/1; Oracle:1st lvl spells 7/7; 2nd 4/4; Occultist 1st lvl spells 1/2
HP:27/27; AC 12; CMD 1; Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +8; Perception +12 (Darkvision 30' blind beyond that); Sense Motive: +14 (+1d6); Init: +0

I'll send you a PM about possible answers.

The Exchange

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Male Kitsune Bard (thunderstriker) 1

I also want to know how she knew us to be kitsune, that's supposed to be a rather big secret, espically early in the game.
If anyone finds out, Marcus wouldn't hesitate to have such a person discreetly killed if nesairy (and possible).


Marcus Tamarin wrote:

I also want to know how she knew us to be kitsune, that's supposed to be a rather big secret, espically early in the game.

If anyone finds out, Marcus wouldn't hesitate to have such a person discreetly killed if nesairy (and possible).

I sent you a PM about some character details regarding Nishara.

Goldstool, I sent you another PM.

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