The Ballad of Bloodmarch Hill

Game Master Joana

Map of Trunau; Tyari's map


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Welcome, invited players! My thought is that we can see what everyone wants to play and then possibly open recruitment or invite someone else to fill in any glaring holes in party composition.

If you haven't, please have a look at the Giantslayer Player's Guide, as it has campaign traits and a gazetteer of Trunau. I have made some minor changes to Trunau as written, the most visible of which is that Jagrin Grath is now half-orc rather than human ... because Reasons. My first read-through of this module gave me a very Western vibe, so think along those tropes.

Trunau is overwhelmingly a human town, with smaller communities of halflings and half-orcs, and a handful of dwarves, half-elves, and gnomes; I would prefer that you restrict yourselves to those races. I have a prejudice for core classes, plus oracles and witches, as I'm not as familiar with the newer classes and it's one less thing I have to research and pay attention to while DMing. If your heart is absolutely set on something else, pitch your concept and try to sway me.

I was wondering about trying something different for attribute generation: having everyone roll 2d6+6 six times, and then letting everyone pick one set of rolls to build their character with. It's something I've been considering for my real-life group and would like to see what sort of arrays we end up with. Would you guys be okay with giving it a try? If anyone feels like they don't end up with a viable set of stats to work with, we can always give up the experiment and go with a 20 point buy.

The most important part of building your character is this: Tell me your PC's relationship with one (or more) of the following NPCs and why you would be willing to go out of your way to do a favor for them:

Brinya Kelver
Kerst Grath
Rodrick Grath
Ruby Wilder


Stat Rolls:
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (1, 4) + 6 = 11
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (5, 4) + 6 = 15
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (5, 3) + 6 = 14
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (4, 5) + 6 = 15
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 4) + 6 = 13
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (4, 1) + 6 = 11

Array: 15, 15, 14, 13, 11, 11

*Waves an enthusiastic hello*

I'm reasonably sure I'll know at least a few of whoever else has been invited to join Joana's new adventure here, and am looking forward to facing up to the orc and giant threat.

I'll be playing a Gnomish Illusionist... or more specifically a Wizard (Illusion specialist with Shadow subschool) with Familiar Adept archetype; and cat familiar with Sage familiar archetype.

I'll take a good look at the NPCs and figure out how to slot Vhailor in, though he'll be a relative newcomer to Truneau (having arrived as an apprentice to a master that is now gone).

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Huzzah and hi!

My gut concept right now is a dwarf drunken monk (wouldn't feel eastern in flavor, more like a cheerful dwarf wrestler who really likes a good drink and possibly owns a bar), but I'm not wedded to that, so once I look through the guide, I'll see how I still feel about it.

Stats:

2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 3) + 6 = 15
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 2) + 6 = 14
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (2, 1) + 6 = 9
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 2) + 6 = 11
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 6) + 6 = 18
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 2) + 6 = 14

18, 15, 14, 14, 11, 9- I can live with those!


I'm thinking a human rogue. Probably connected to Ruby Wilder. Perhaps my rogue is equally an outcast and has found a kindred spirit in Ruby.

Stat Rolls:
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 3) + 6 = 12
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 4) + 6 = 16
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (1, 3) + 6 = 10
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 6) + 6 = 15
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (4, 5) + 6 = 15
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (4, 6) + 6 = 16

Array: 16, 16, 15, 15, 12, 10

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Just to clarify, so we all have access to all the stat arrays, and pick, etc? Well, the set I rolled is a nice one (came out to a 34-point buy), but if anyone needs a really high stat in a single score they are welcome to it for that 18. And if not, I will of course be happy to use it for my monk. ;)

Dark Archive

Male Human Wizard 1

Greetings all. Monk, rogue, wizard... I'm thinking I'll go cleric. There haven't been enough of them lately. Thinking maybe dwarf, but no idea really. I'll go over the players guide and build further over the weekend.
For now, Hi, looking forward to gaming with you all and

Stat Rolls:

2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 6) + 6 = 15
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (5, 6) + 6 = 17
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (6, 1) + 6 = 13
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (4, 4) + 6 = 14
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (3, 3) + 6 = 12
2d6 + 6 ⇒ (2, 5) + 6 = 13

Hip hip array: 17, 15, 14, 13, 13, 12


Awesome :) - Ansha's Rogue should pair pretty well with Vhailor as one of the lynchpins of his combat effectiveness is going to be Threatening Illusions (from Gnomes of Golarion), which basically uses illusions to provide flank partners.

Also, as I was researching into cats to fine tune Vhailor's familiar choice I was pleasantly surprised. The khao manee is a thing - and is a spitting image for the otherwordliness that I was actually looking for! I'm always chuffed when the natural world trumps imagination.

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So after reading the guide it seems like the position of 'town bartender' is already taken by Rabus. Which is fine! Lets me play with a slightly different concept as regards my dwarf's role in town.

Concept stuff/backstory/whatever:
In my head, Banny's sort of the town drunk, though she's (usually) (reluctantly) sober for her watches and guard duties. (She's argued many times to Jagrin that she fights better drunk, and while he doesn't quite deny it, he still insists she be sober for watch duty. She mostly obeys.)

In Trunau, she walks a line between being liked and respected, and simultaneously sort of pitied (or, in the case of the Iomedans, disapproved of).

The dwarf called 'Banny' was freed on a raid by Trunau warriors on an orc encampment; she was a slave with several others who were liberated by the Trunauans and brought back to town, with evidence of much harsh treatment. Physically, she wasn't noticeably hurt, but she seemed to have suffered mental injuries, unable or unwilling to talk about life before the orcs held her captive. One of the other freed slaves mentioned that she had been the personal slave to a shaman among the orcs, and that at night strange lights and dwarven screaming could be seen/heard from the shaman's quarters, but nobody knew exactly what sort of things the shaman was subjecting her to-- only that they appeared to have resulted in a woman who was still withdrawn, barely vocal, and barely responsive to anything at all for a full month after she had been freed from captivity. The only word that could be gotten out of her was bani, a Dwarven word meaning 'death' or 'slayer', which the Trunauns misunderstood to be her name, and have rendered in the common tongue as 'Banny'. (By the time Agrit got involved and suggested they not call her that, it was too late; the nickname had stuck.)

The Iomedans did what they could for her, as did Gorkis Meeson and Agrit Staginsdar, but prayers, potions, and spells seemed to have little effect. Trunau has little use for those who cannot pull their own weight in defense of the town, but everyone was sympathetic to whatever horror she had experienced, and tried to give her time. She was not deemed to be a threat to others or herself, so Banny was left to wander, mostly, with the Iomedans corralling her at dusk.

One day, she showed up at the Killin' Grounds' doorway. Rabus had just gotten in a keg of expensive dwarven ale from Janderhoff, and, feeling pity for Banny, offered her a 'taste of home.'

The transformation was remarkable. A few swallows in, and Banny seemed more responsive, more alert, and said her first full sentence since arriving in Trunau: "Janderoff 4690, isn't this? That was a damned good year."

It's been a year since that first drink Rabus gave her. Since then, Banny has improved a good deal, and she has won her place in the town fair and square by fighting well against the orcs when they attack. Anyone who has seen Banny lock an orc two feet taller than her into a brutal chokehold and drive him down to the ground doesn't deny her contributions to the town defense... but when there's no immediate threat from orcs, Banny is somewhat less useful, preferring to sit on the cliff edge with a bottle of strong ale and watch the birds flying by, or arm-wrestling people for coin in Rabus's tavern.

Jagrin grumpily tries to get her to join the cadre of dedicated troops, that he might put her to good use, and Banny always easily agrees, then stops showing up to drills, to Jagrin's great irritation. Disciplinary methods tried so far don't seem to really get through to her-- if she's assigned extra, unpleasant work such as helping to muck latrines, Banny does it without complaint, but an hour later is back on the cliff-edge, nursing another bottle. It is possible that the memory of how mentally broken she seemed at her arrival in Trunau has kept the town council from harsher punishments.

Banny is able to function now without alcohol, but if she hasn't had a drink in her, Banny is grumpy and sharp-tongued. The application of any sort of booze mellows her considerably; she becomes affable, relaxed, and curious about others (though still not talkative about her own past).

What little she has shared seems to indicate that her parents were brewers, and that she was trained in the trade, as well as in the militia training most young dwarves receive. She has never said how she came to be in the possession of the orcs, or what clan or cave she belonged to, or if she has living family. She's been given the semi-humorous moniker of 'kneebreaker,' describing how she often destroys a grappled orc.

In town, she is closest to Rabus and the Graths-- the former as she will eagerly discuss the minutiae of brewing with him, and offer suggestions on what he could do differently (she also half-lives in the tavern); the latter as Jagrin and both the sons were in the raid that rescued her. Quiet Kerst was the one who argued most, in the beginning, that she be given time to heal and time to contribute. She seeks him out as a drinking partner above anyone else in the town.

The Iomedans, on the other hand, find Banny to be a bit of a disappointment-- or perhaps a strange rebuke of sorts, in that a vice like alcohol seemed to do what their prayers could not. They don't approve of her constant state of inebriation, and Tyari has been known to try and lecture her into clean living, or at least drinking in moderation. She has not been successful.

Basically, the town widely regards Banny as a good dwarf with a regrettable reliance on the bottle. For Banny, her drinking is more complex than simple alcoholism; while it's true the alcohol helps her function, for Banny it is less about getting drunk, than trying to silence the parts of her mind scarred by her time as a slave. Drinking for her doesn't feel like an escape so much as a return to home-- to the security she remembers as a child, the smell of aging hops and sour malt... the safety of family and clan, the cameraderie of drinking together. For Banny, alcohol has come to resemble, in some ways, all that is right with the world: it requires a stable enough civilization to practice agriculture and produce the base materials for alcohol, and then also the stability of time required to brew and ferment and age liquor... A good keg of ale is more than a way to get hammered: in her mind, it represents community, safety, tradition, and fellowship.

As usual, a TL;DR for any character I play, ever. >__> Let me know if anything here doesn't work, Joana, or if you need more elaboration on something. I left the orc shaman's fate up in the air for all the classic potential plot hook reasons. ;)

To answer the question: Kerst Grath. I imagine they have long, rambling discussions over booze, though that may not fit him at all. Anyway, she certainly considers him (and all the Graths, but I liked the idea of him as 'the quiet one') as a friend, and would do as he asked.


Wow, you guys roll good. Anyone can use any of the arrays; you could all use the same one if you wanted to. No one has to get stuck with Mark's pathetic little 24-point-buy. :)

Dien, I'll have a look at your backstory tomorrow; no time tonight.

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Ohhhh, I gotcha. Okay then. That'll be interesting!

And no rush, it's not going anywhere. I had it mostly done so I just figured I'd throw it out there. ;)

I might take Pryllin's myself. I prefer not having to dump any of my mental stats over having an 18, really. /babble


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3

Sniff... no-one wants to use my array... not even me! I'm going with Pryllin's as per following:

Bare Bones:
Str: 10 +0
Dex: 13 +1
Con: 15 +2
Int: 17 +3
Wis: 15 +2
Cha: 16 +3

Gnomish Wizard (Familiar Adept)

Racial Traits:
+2 Con, +2 Cha, -2 Str
Small: +1 size to AC, +1 size to attack rolls, -1 to CMB and CMD, +4 size on Stealth
Slow Speed: 20ft
Low-Light Vision: can see twice as far as humans in dim light
Gift of Tongues: +1 on Bluff and Diplomacy, learn one additional language each rank in Linguistics
Gnome Magic: +1 to DC of illusion spells. 1/day – dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, speak with animals.
Illusion Resistance: +2 on saves vs illusion spells / effects
Keen Senses: +2 on Perception
Obsessive: +2 racial bonus on Craft (X)
Weapon Familiarity: treat any weapon with gnome in name as martial weapon.
Languages: Common, Gnome and Sylvan.

Traits:
Trickster: +1 trait bonus to caster level when determining duration, range and area of all spells from the illusion school.
Student of Giantkind: +1 trait bonus on Diplomacy against giant subtype and treat as class skill, +1 Knowledge (Local) regarding creatures with giant subtype. Start with knowledge of Giant language.

Skills: (2 +Int)
Craft (Toymaking – Int): ( +3 Class +2 Racial
Diplomacy (Cha): ( +3 Class
Linguistics (Int): ( +3 Class
Perform (Act - Cha):
Spellcraft (Int): ( +3 Class

Feats:

Class Abilities:
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, quarterstaff.
Spells: Int based
Bonus Languages: may substitute Draconic for one of race’s available bonus languages
Diminished Expertise: does not gain scribe scroll at 1st level, or wizard’s bonus feats at 5th/10th level. Also must choose one additional opposition school.
School Familiar (Ex): must select a familiar as arcane bond. Familiar gains the school familiar archetype, but cannot use lesser power until 4th level or greater until 8th level.
Familiar Spells (Ex): stores spells in familiar rather than spellbook, exactly as a witch does.
Focused School (Ex): at 1st/5th/10th/15th/20th level familiar gains the ability to use the wizard’s 1st level school ability 1/day without counting against wizard’s daily uses.

Illusion (Shadow) School:
Opposition Schools: Evocation, Conjuration, Necromancy
Extended Illusions (Su): Any illusion spell you cast with a duration of “concentration” lasts a number of additional rounds equal to 1/2 your wizard level after you stop maintaining concentration (minimum +1 round).
Binding Darkness (Sp): standard action, you cast a weave of shadows at any foe within 30 feet as a ranged touch attack. The shadows entangle your foe for 1 round plus 1 additional round for every five wizard levels you possess. In conditions of bright light, this duration is halved (minimum 1 round). A creature entangled by your shadows has concealment from those without darkvision or the ability to see in darkness, and other creatures likewise have concealment relative to it. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier.

Spells Known:
0th:
1st: 6

Familiar:
Cat N Tiny animal; Low-light Vision, scent
Str 3, Dex 15, Con 8, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 7
Hit Dice: as master; Hit Points ½ master

Melee: 2 claws +4 (1d2-4), bite +4 (1d3-4)
Skills: Knowledge (Arcana) 1, Knowledge (Nature) 1
Racial modifiers: +4 Climb, +4 Stealth
Master gains +3 on Stealth checks

Attacks: Use the master's base attack bonus, as calculated from all his classes. Use the familiar's Dexterity or Strength modifier, whichever is greater, to calculate the familiar's melee attack bonus with natural weapons.
Saving Throws: For each saving throw, use either the familiar's base save bonus (Fortitude +2, Reflex +2, Will +0) or the master's (as calculated from all his classes), whichever is better. The familiar uses its own ability modifiers to saves, and it doesn't share any of the other bonuses that the master might have on saves.

Skills: Regardless of a familiar's total skill modifiers, some skills may remain beyond the familiar's ability to use. Familiars treat Acrobatics, Climb, Fly, Perception, Stealth, and Swim as class skills.

Improved Evasion (Ex): When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, a familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage even if the saving throw fails.
Share Spells: The wizard may cast a spell with a target of “You” on his familiar (as a touch spell) instead of on himself. A wizard may cast spells on his familiar even if the spells do not normally affect creatures of the familiar's type (magical beast). Illusion school only.

School Familiar: Illusion
School Link (Su): can use share spells and deliver touch spells only with spells of associated school.
School Cantrip (Sp): can cast at will one cantrip from associated school, using master’s caster level. haunted fey aspect
Specialty Stowaway: can use granted abilities of master’s school, expending twice the number of uses as usual.
Sage archetype:
Class Skills: treats all Knowledge skills as class skills.
Dazzling Intellect (Ex): Int score is equal to 5 + level, but gains natural amour bonus of familiar half it’s level.
Sage’s Knowledge (Ex): can attempt all Knowledge checks untrained and gains bonus on Knowledge checks of ½ level. Gains 2 skill ranks per level.

Joana - before I go selecting spells, do you want to limit the sources that I can pull from?


All right, you four are the core group. Once we get your PCs built, we can look at the party we have and discuss whether we want to recruit one or two more players to fill specific roles.

Mark, I don't have a blanket ban on any Paizo source, but I do prefer, in most cases, to keep flavor-restrictions on spells specific to race, origin, religion, etc. If you want a spell that's supposed to be ifrit-only, for example, you're going to have to convince me why your gnome should know it. Apart from that, just pick what you'd like, and I'll let you know if I have any concerns.

Roll for starting gold. If your PC is a permanent resident of Trunau, you get a free masterwork dagger (your hopeknife) in addition to the gear you buy. (I'm assuming that Vhailor, at this point, does not consider himself a citizen and Banny does.)

I have a houserule going back to AD&D to reroll any 1s rolled for hit points or healing. Does anyone object?


Joana wrote:
If your PC is a permanent resident of Trunau, you get a free masterwork dagger (your hopeknife) in addition to the gear you buy.

I'm aware, btw, that this steals half the thunder of the Trunau Native campaign trait. If you want to take that trait anyway, we'll work up a little extra bonus to make up for it.

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Monk Gold!: 1d6 ⇒ 4 x 10 = 40 GP

Will get the full sheet up in a bit.

And yeah, Banny considers herself a citizen of Trunau now, as her old life is sort of spotty for her anyway.


Female Human Rogue 4

Slowly working on the character sheet.

4d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 5, 5) = 17 x10 = 170 gp starting gold


Town Drunkard 1 | HP 13/13 | AC 17 (2 Dex, 1 Dodge, 4 Armor) - FF 14 - T 13 | F+5 R+5 W+2 (modifiers apply) | Per +6, Init +2

Mechanics are up for Banny, I'll stick story and similar on the profile in a bit.

Oh, one question for you, Joana: monks are one of those pesky alignment-restricted classes. Banny definitely falls on the good side of things, so I've made her LG, but I do not see her as a Shining Knight type example. She keeps her word, she expects others to keep theirs, and she believes in things like an ordered, stable society-- but as mentioned in the backstory, she's prone to do things like wander off and not attend practice drills as she's supposed to (in other words, she does not always obey even legitimate authorities). Does this sort of behavior conflict with LG in your estimation/what sort of GM approach do you take towards LG?


Mark:
Have you given any further thought to AYUGM? Perhaps he was already experiencing the beginnings of the Bleaching when he took Vhailor on, which explains why Vhailor accomplished so little during his apprenticeship, and he selected Vhailor specifically for his expertise in giants because he already knew he'd be heading into the Mindspin Mountains?

Ansha:
The campaign actually opens on Ruby's twelfth birthday at her Hopeknife ceremony, if that helps with your background composition. I realize I didn't actually put her age in her profile.


hp 36 / 36; AC 19; Init +1 Male Human Cleric 4

First version complete. All input from other players welcome. Banny, since Marikel is an acolyte with the clerics of Iomedae, I figure I'm one of those who've been trying to "help" with your drinking, if that's okay.

Cash: 4d6 ⇒ (4, 6, 3, 3) = 16x10 = 160 gp starting gold

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Totally cool with me. :) And yay for classic clerics. Ha, it's unusual for me to be playing the most 'unconventional' class in a group!


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3

Gold: 2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8

NPC Relation: Rodrick Grath
Will work into the backstory - but my thoughts are that Rodrick 'saved' Vhailor from orcs or enthusiastic wildlife at some point, and Vhailor has been gnomishly attempting to make it up to him for some time.

Roger on the spells angle, and can confirm that Vhailor is not a local.


dien wrote:
And yay for classic clerics.

You can build a heck of a cleric with all-around numbers like that; you don't have to choose whether to focus on combat or casting. The -9 to jump amuses me, though. First challenge: Jumping contest! ;)


dien:
I like Banny's backstory! I was actually about to inquire for more about her alignment when you edited your post last night.

On the one hand, it seems odd that an archetype like drunken master doesn't come with any sort of alignment restriction; on the other hand, if you're just going to play "Woo, let's smash up some stuff!" you should really be playing a brawler or barbarian. (Not at all saying that that's what you're intending to play, btw.)

My philosophy is that low-level PCs in general are works in progress. You can't be the consummate fighter or wizard or monk at level one; no more can you be consummately lawful or good (or chaotic or evil) at level one. You just have too many mechanical limitations.

As such, I'd say that Banny aspires to Lawful Goodness. After her experiences among the orcs, discipline is a refuge to her, a world of order to which she can withdraw when the lingering brokenness of her past threatens to overwhelm her. Violence could undo her, but when she channels her violent impulses into protecting the community, it grounds her instead; drunkenness could undo her, but when she allows the experience of alcohol to root her in the traditions of her lost past, that also prevents her from losing control.

As long as she is struggling toward order rather than drifting away from it, I think her alignment will be fine. You have to work with what the rules give you, after all. I'd expect that, in an emergency, she default toward obeying legitimate orders rather than going rogue.

Are there any religious underpinnings to her Lawful Goodness: a memory of Torag, some gratitude to Iomedae, or a respect for Erastilian community, for example? Or is it purely a personal code for her?


hp 36 / 36; AC 19; Init +1 Male Human Cleric 4

Marikel has 3 more points of intelligence than Braddon so he'd probably dump all his gear before trying that whole jumping thing. :-)

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Joana:
Ah good. I know the whole 'amnesia/mysterious background' thing gets abused, but it's not so much that Banny's background pre-slavery is mysterious as that it's just fairly boring. I mean, I know what her life was like before the enslavement, but it reads like Dwarf Lifestyle 101. ;) Still, she does have a family out there somewhere (that she's sort of mentally blocked off), and I can always provide more details on who she used to be, if needed.

(Yeah, I wish that Drunken Master had ditched alignment like Martial Artist did, because when you look at the sort of stories that the drunken monk thing comes from, those monks tend to be sneaky shysters and carousers, not really classic LG, but.... it is what it is.)

I think the way that I think of it is that Banny is a damaged lawful good. She used to be a very archetypal dwarfy-dwarf, staunchly loyal, fond of good drink and a good meal, big family, hearty back-slapping, my-word-is-my-bond and honorable-fighting, prays at Torag's forge weekly, so-forth-and-so-forth.

The remnants of her old self are still there, just scarred over and half-buried. She's still mending. So yes, she aspires to being "a good person" again (and a lawful one), but it's one day at a time, and only if the nightmares weren't too bad last night, and maybe with just one more tankard today...

And yeah, she doesn't disobey authority just for the sake of disobeying. Sometimes she just needs to get away and have quiet time in her head, but she can't express that well to Jagrin, so instead it comes off as her just blowing off orders.

Regarding religion/gods: CAYDEN CAILEAN coff I mean

(Actually, I was trying to find a dwarven god of wrestling that I was sure I remembered reading about, but apparently I was hallucinating him, IDK. I think the god I am thinking of is Trudd, but I can't find any references to him being a god who enjoys wrestling. Maybe I hallucinated it.)

Basically, I'm sure she has reasonably fond memories of worshiping Torag like any good dwarf, but I think even back in her Good Old Days, she was a bit too jovial a dwarf to find a great deal of personal connection to Ol' Mr. Srs Forge. Bolka, Grundinnar, and Trudd were more her speed. So she'd solemnly attend rituals at Torag's temple, then go drink heartily to Trudd's health, or the like.

As for now... IDK, honestly. Of course the patron god of booze would have some appeal to her now, but with Cayden being chaotic and her base nature being damaged-LG, not sure if that really works. Plus he's human, I mean come on, you've got to have standards.

I guess the result of my TL;DR is: her moral code is more the product of her upbringing than a specific god's formative influence. The whole dwarven pantheon, but not necessarily Torag in particular. Just the idea of a strong family, a strong clan, and everyone having each other's back and never leaving anyone behind.


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3

Brain fried from weekend... creativity and answers should come to me on the morrow.


Dave:
I hoped we might get an Iomedaean cleric, for that little bit of extra awkward tension between the townies and the missionaries, and you brought in an unrequited love triangle, too. Excellent! :D


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3

Ok, bullet point background as I find it easier to write than a proper prose depiction:

TLDR:
  • Born to a librarian mother and woodcarving father (flute carver) in Whistledown.
  • His childhood was one of happy negligence from his parents who were loving, but after he was out of diapers and mostly self-sufficient - left Vhailor more to his own devices than otherwise.
  • He developed a skill at carving making his own toys while left idle in his father's workshop - a skill he has continued to hone to the present day.
  • His mother's bookshop was gnomish in tastes... consisting solely of books in languages other than Taldan... or Gnomish. It was here that Vhailor honed his skill and talent at linguistics. Fables and legends of the other races were what he devoured... especially the fairy tales told by the fae; and legends of the more brutish and cruel races such as giants.
  • Apprenticed to a wizard named Carbonel Tobermory (with a cat familiar) who was passing through for the Convocation. Carbonel needed a gnome who knew Giantish, and Vhailor was now of age enough to choose for himself - and jumped at the opportunity to go a wandering.
  • While he didn't have any real skill at illusion craft yet, Vhailor was put to translating a pair of tomes in both Giant-ish and Sylvan... that seemed to deal with peacocks and cities floating on chains. His other duties involved a rapport with Carbonel's neglected cat - and general dogsbodying.
  • Carbonel was an aged gnome, already whitening with age and the onset of the bleaching. A disgraced member of the Wonderseekers who had split from the group and was seeking his own means of forestalling the bleaching.
  • After a short meandering, their path led to Truneau - where unbeknowst to Vhailor, Carbonel sought the secrets kept within Sech Nevali. Carbonel's research had pointed to a means to rebirth kept secret within the Peacock Spirit's teachings.
  • Vhailor was left in Truneau to look to Carbonel's possessions as his gnomish master forged into the wilderness alone.
  • Days later Vhailor was unconsciously drawn to the city outskirts, where he spied a mangy and emaciated cat approaching the town. Drawn by impetus of spirit - he rushed headlong out towards the cat. Unbeknowst to Vhailor... there were also orcs nearby - and it was only the fortuitous intervention of Rodrick Grath that meant Vhailor retained his life. Rodrick could be heard half jesting that he wished he had not intervened that day... considering the half-minded and bizzare ways that Vhailor had attempted to make up the balance to the half-orc.
  • Nursing the cat back to health Vhailor observed it had an uncanny similarity to Carbonel's familiar... but was changed somehow. An emotive connection grew between them... and the gnome also felt a spiritual awakening in his heart and mind.
  • Gazing into the cat's mismatched irises, Vhailor felt understanding grow... and elements of Carbonel's teachings that had to that point been beyond him began to make sense. A skill at the art arcane was growing.
  • It was thus that the day of the present approached - where Vhailor was coming to grips with his bond to the cat, and his own burgeoning skill... while also coming to the realization that his master was now dead and gone.

Questions, comments, criticism and derision are all welcome :)


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3

Supplemental Notes:
The Student of Giantkind is meant to be played out through his interest in their legends and tales.

The Peacock Spirit is really only to tie Sech Nevali in as the mystery location. I've used the real world mythology of the peacock as a sign of rebirth and immortality to suggest that perhaps that was gained via the synthesis between Carbonel and his cat familiar - making the product both lesser and more than the separate parts.


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3

Spell Selections:
For cantrips - the only non-core that I'd like access to is haunted fey aspect from Ultimate Combat. That's going to be the cantrip that Carb (the cat) will know... ultimately useless yes... but it's the only cantrip that provides for visual illusory content.

1st Level:
color spray - boring but efficient
ventriloquism
crafter's fortune
silent image
lock gaze
adjuring step


hp 36 / 36; AC 19; Init +1 Male Human Cleric 4

Joana:
Joana wrote:
I hoped we might get an Iomedaean cleric, for that little bit of extra awkward tension between the townies and the missionaries, and you brought in an unrequited love triangle, too. Excellent! :D

I do aim to please.

I think Marikel wanted to be a paladin too but didn't have the right attitude. He was convinced that all he had to do was follow the instructions and got somewhat bitter and cynical when this didn't work. I had wanted to play a smart character to counter Braddon's less than sterling knowledge but realised we'd need a second front liner.
And really... Giantslayer. This is not a non-combat adventure. So, beefed the battle stats and I think we'll be turning Marikel into a combat medic.
It'll be fun to see how he turns out.


Mark:
Carbonel Tobermory ... I see what you did there. ;P

Can we say that Carbonel (the gnome) met up with a small group of wilderness guides/bodyguards at Trunau for the final leg of the trek? I'm allergic to characters who make long and dangerous journeys solo that a party of PCs would have several encounters during.

EDIT: Oh, and haunted fey aspect is fine. No core race is more fitting than gnome for fey connections.


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3

Joana:
I have no issues with Carbonel meeting up with some meat shields to head off into the unknown... as long as said meat shields either return without any real kenning of what went on (maybe they stayed on the 'safe' side of the chains at Sech Nevali) or went missing during the trek.

I'll polish off gear and the last bits and bobs soonish.


Mark:
The last Vhailor would have known of the meat shields would have been seeing Carbonel depart with them. Their fate is as much of a mystery as his master's (perhaps more so, as Carbonel the cat at least returned to Trunau).


Dave:
Is Ruby Wilder Marikel's NPC connection?

Taking a second look through the Player's Guide, I ought to specify that the Grath twins' mother did not die at the hands of an orc raiding party in my version of Trunau. I believe everything else in the gazetteer should be accurate for the purposes of this campaign.


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3

Joana:
Aye aye - and I've got no issues with any grumblings in the background from the locals about the fact Carbonel ended up getting some people killed and not trusting Vhailor because of it.

Now to figure out how to get utility out of 80gp worth of gear...

Joana - would it be ok to assume that Vhailor has a small stock of whittled toys (of no real monetary value)? - stuff like articulated wooden dolls, rattles and what not.


hp 36 / 36; AC 19; Init +1 Male Human Cleric 4

Joana:
I stole Ansha's stats, I'll steal her NPC connection as well. :-)

Marikel was born in Lastwall to devout crusaders who would leave him in the care of the church of Iomedae when they had important missions to perform. When he was 9, they didn't return and he was raised to adulthood by the church. A somewhat lonely and introspective child, Marikel nevertheless excelled at his studies. As a result, he was stunned when he wasn't accepted as a paladin.
When Tyari Varvatos, his secret crush, announced she was leaving for some tiny village he'd never heard of Marikel decided things couldn't be much worse and volunteered to join her small group. Naturally, things got worse.

Is there anything else you want for the character? I was going to let him grow mostly organically from here, but I have some ideas for his future.


Female Human Rogue 4

Equipment and stats set up, will get to the background shortly.

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Random confession: PFS has totally ruined playing monks for me. I'm all 'eh, I'll buy a wand of mage armor with my first two PP-- oh. yeah. right. No, self, better get used to having a base 14 AC for a while!'

It'll be fun. :P


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3

Gear:
Walking Staff
Wizard's Kit - 21 gp
Common Toymaker's Tools - 5 gp
Traveler's Outfit - free
5 x Candlerod - 5 gp

Bell - 1 gp
Gear Maintenance Kit - 5 gp
Grooming Kit - 1 gp
Pyrography Kit - 1 gp
Scrivener's Kit - 2 gp
Waterproof Bag - 0.5 gp

Remainder: 38.5 gp


Vhailor Falk wrote:
Joana - would it be ok to assume that Vhailor has a small stock of whittled toys (of no real monetary value)? - stuff like articulated wooden dolls, rattles and what not.

Assuming that a simple toy sells for a copper or two at most and that he's Crafted them at 1/3 cost, that amounts to a rounding error in your starting gold. Knock yourself out.

dien wrote:
Random confession: PFS has totally ruined playing monks for me. I'm all 'eh, I'll buy a wand of mage armor with my first two PP-- oh. yeah. right. No, self, better get used to having a base 14 AC for a while!'

Back in my day, mage armor was only for the mage, and that's how we liked it! And we walked uphill in the snow to get to the dungeon ... both ways! ;D

Alicia Dawnblade wrote:
Equipment and stats set up, will get to the background shortly.

Looking forward to it! Btw, it's Elrisiel's turn in Mummy's Mask.


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3
Yorkshire Accent wrote:
You were lucky. We lived for three months in a paper bag in a septic tank. We used to have to get up at six in the morning, clean the paper bag, eat a crust of stale bread, go to work down t' mill, fourteen hours a day, week-in week-out, for sixpence a week, and when we got home our Dad would thrash us to sleep wi' his belt

Aye - just tuppence gifts, hand carved animals and articulated dolls. Gnomish in affectation with slightly strange proportions and decorations as whimsy allows. Nothing anyone would pay any of their own money for.

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GIT OFF THE LAWN, YOU KIDS WITH YOUR WANDS AND SCROLLS AND THINGS


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The first time my RL group saw a wand of clw printed in an official book, we were like, "Can ... can you do that? Surely that's a mistake." And then we looked up the rules on making wands and found out, by golly, you can do that in 3rd edition. Still feels wrong to me, though.

Not to mention that the only time I've played a male PC in PbP, he was a cleric, and the limit on the number of times you can type, "He prods her with his wand," before it starts sounding dirty is really low.

So, what do we think of the party we have? Only four PCs, and illusionist-cleric-monk-rogue isn't going to be burning up the optimization boards for party composition. On the plus side, the stat array makes them a lot more well-rounded than standard point-buy. Do we want to look for a fifth or sixth player, or are we willing to give it a try with what we have? This first book isn't overwhelmingly combat-heavy, but some of the encounters are raising eyebrows for difficulty in the GM thread.


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3

I'm inches away from being finalized (just wrestling a toddler with a mild fever this morning).

I'm happy bumbling with four - but would also be happy with picking up another one or two... which is to say I abstain from the decision? :P


Female Human Rogue 4

Personally I'm a fan of smaller-is-better, and I'm always a fan of non-optimal party compositions (I love playing without party healing, for example). But I won't be offended if we get a fifth. (Six, on the other hand. . . .)

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I wouldn't mind a fifth but that's partly because in my experience of PBP, we WILL LOSE SOMEBODY. At some point. Inevitably. No matter how good the group is and how awesome the players. When that happens, it drops the group down from five to four, and you can still play with four for a bit while you think about bringing in someone else-- as opposed to when you drop down to three and things grind to a halt for a while while you look for a new player. /my random two cents

Also, I believe Marikel is effectively our tank. 18 AC is perfectly respectable for level 1, but on the whole, we're a really AC-light party.

IDK, I don't mind playing 'unoptimized' as we say, but I can just see us getting super bruised up in early encounters.


hp 36 / 36; AC 19; Init +1 Male Human Cleric 4

I vote for four.
Joana chose us all for good reasons and I trust her judgement so I doubt any of us will drop out soon.
I like party optimisation so everyone has a chance to shine.
I think our overpowered stats will help with tough combats, but most importantly I think our common sense will help stop us dying. I gave Marikel a lot of channels and I was actually hoping for a bit more combat to counterpoint other games. But I didn't think I would tank and saw myself more as helping the monk. We'll see how it goes, but I think we've got a smart group and I'm ready to go. :-)


Female Human Rogue 4

Background:
Alicia Dawnblade is the daughter of a pair of merchants from a small village in Lastwall. Her parents, Kent and Tara Dawnblade, spent much of their lives traveling. They would often make the trek from their own village toward that of Trunau on lucrative trade runs. The family would spend several weeks in Trunau before returning back through the hostile lands surrounding the town.

Unfortunately, as one might expect with the inhospitable nature of the land between Lastwall’s borders and Trunau, tragedy struck Alicia fairly early in life. An orcish raiding party ambushed the merchant family and their hired guards a couple of days outside of Trunau. Caught by surprise, the battle was short and decisive—at age 12, Alicia was the only survivor, and she survived her family’s death only to be kidnapped and taken back to serve as a slave to the tribe of orcs who had captured her.

Fortunately, a patrol from Trunau happened upon the wreckage of the caravan to discover that one of the hired guards had survived. Mortally wounded, he was only able to say that Alicia had been kidnapped before expiring; yet that was enough for the patrol, and they set off in hot pursuit of the orcish raiding party—truth be told, the Dawnblade caravan was not the first casualty of the raid; scouts and foragers from Trunau had met their end at the raiders’ hands as well. Riding hard, the patrol was able to catch up to the raiding party within a couple of days. A pitched battle followed, and Alicia had the sense to slip her bonds and hide in the confusion. Yet when a Trunau patroller fell near her hiding spot, she took the patroller’s rapier and backstabbed the orc who felled the woman.

After the battle, she returned with the patrol to Trunau, where she was placed in the care of Iomedaean clergy. A foreigner and connected with Lastwall on two levels (her parents and the Iomedaeans), Alicia has lived the past several years as an outcast; a trait she found that she shared with Ruby Wilder, another orphaned girl in the Iomedaeans’ care. Yet while the two have bonded over their shared origins and social status, Alicia rebels against the social order of Trunau. She has taken to sneaking out at night, skulking around the small town in the dark. But she is a small-time thief at best, and so far she hasn’t had the courage to steal anything that anyone would miss.

Feels bare-bones, but it works. Also, I lowered Alicia's age to 16 (minimum for a human rogue) so that she and Ruby are closer in age.


Gnome Wizard (Familiar Adept) 3

Vhailor now has an 80% done character sheet. All primary choices made, just need to fill in the combat stats at the top.

Few points of note:
1. He has zero damaging spells... has only daze and a single color spray for 1st level combat utility.
2. Conjuration, Evocation and Necromancy are his opposition schools - which means no light spell.
3. He is a decent diplomancer (+8 at 1st level) - just in case others potentially wanted to shuffle skill points.
4. He knows nine languages... but doesn't speak orc.

Had a quick look over peoples stats... and I think we'll do fine vs the standard AP set... so long as there isn't as much DR as there is in Mummy's Mask ;)

RPG Superstar 2015 Top 16

Yeah, I mean, I can't argue we have great stats. :D

Don't knock daze, it's such a great low-level cantrip!

My vote is probably for a fifth player, but I won't cry if we go with four. I'm excited to play, and going with four would probably get us started quicker, anyway!

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