Hello, and welcome to the game!
If you haven't yet finished creating your character, please do so using the criteria listed below.
CHARACTER CREATION
The following is posted for information only - you don't need to have a completed stat block to apply. In the interest of expediency (and my sanity) no exceptions will be made to the rules posted. Sorry.
Please insert the following in the Class/Levels field of your profile (updated with your information, of course):
F Halfling NG Bard L1|AC16 T14 FF13|HP9/9|F+1 R+5 W+2(+4)|Init+3|Perc+5
I'm not sure how I'm going to handle maps and other files yet. I'm thinking either Google Drive or Dropbox - any other good solutions you've seen on the boards here?
Please let me know if you have any questions.
I can't wait to get started!
Checking in. I will update the information in the profile as described above whenI amnot posting from my phone. Thanks for the selection!
Gyllan checking in for the game, thanks for the selection. Based on the flavor you were able to put into the recruitment thread, I'm really looking forward to this.
I'll get Gyllan's equipment updated soon, likely tonight, and he should be good to go, though I've a question or two:
1) Are you good with the campaign trait alteration I asked about in recruitment? The question was this:
I’d like to use the Missing Child (Sibling) trait, but have the missing child be a niece. Believe it or not, I want to have Diplomacy and Sense Motive as class skills more than I want the +1 to Will saves I could get with the Son/Daughter version of this trait, which includes the niece option.
2) In the other game I started with Gyllan, the GM let me swap out the Wild Empathy ranger ability for a feat, since having a connection with animals makes no sense for such an urban character? Would you consider something like that? I guess I could use the +1 Will version of the Missing Child trait, and pick up Cosmopolitan as a feat in exchange for Wild Empathy. Seems appropriate and not especially overpowered.
Gyllan - glad to have you, mate. Thanks for the compliments. In response to your questions:
1. Yes, I am.
2. I'm good with the Cosmopolitan switch - that seems balanced and flavorful.
Checking in, thanks for the selection. I should have everything revised back down to 1st level stats and equipment.
As far as mapping, I just use inkscape for my TOEE game and upload to a photobucket account, though I've seen some games set up here where players can move their own pawns around. Haven't delved too much into how that works.
Thanks for choosing my application! I'll be able to work on my sheet tomorrow.
In the games I run, I too use Inkscape and Photobucket. You can check them out and the way I run combat in my profile.
Looking forward to this!
checking in.
I have found MapTools and Google share works for maps. I am in a PFS game where they are using roll20 for maps only (game is still pbp here) and that interface is very sharp looking. If you have pdf's I can set up the google share links lickety split and import the icons of the players as well. Doing that for 3 different ROTRL games now.
I think my sheet is current and up to date. Will get the stat-line added to profile in a sec.
When do you plan to start?
Gyllan's profile is updated.
One remaining question: he has two more languages to learn. Which ones make sense in the campaign? What other people would you expect to come to Korvosa to trade? Shoanti? One of the non-human languages? Thoughts welcome from one and all!
On the question of maps - I prefer Google Docs or Dropbox over Roll20, as I can't get at Roll20 on my phone or at work, so it limits when I can see what's going on if we're in combat.
Glad to see everyone's checked in.
I'll be reviewing your sheets, so just let me know when you're ready for my eyeballs.
Looking forward to getting started!
Mine should be ready. I hope I got everything - in some ways revising a sheet can be harder than making a new one.
I think Fingers is ready for your final review. Hero Lab tells me there are no errors, but I'll let you judge.
Working on my sheet. I have one question: I would like to mix some levels of Master of many style to my inquisitor, to make a rapier duelist using his free hand for styles like Crane and/or Fang, but the monk requires a lawful alignment and I would like to stay with Cayden. The Martial artist archetype waves off the alignment requirement, but overlaps with MoMS at level 20, so no mixing of those.
Would you be ok with me taking monk levels even though I am NG?
I'm not dead set on this at all, as I'm exploring different options.
Hmm...that's a tough one. I personally don't care for the alignments in Pathfinder (or any RPG for that matter), but I don't want to be unfair to the other players who face similar class/alignment restrictions.
That said, I'm fine with your doing it in this case. If any other players have any issues with this (or would like a similar exception), feel free to PM me or post here.
I'm not going to pour over your profiles, so please be relatively honest and hold one another accountable. Mutual respect, and all that good stuff.
Thanks. Still thinking about all that. Hopefully, I'll have something by the end of the day. My bard was pretty much ready, but the inquisitor is a different beast.
Also, I'm oscillating about deity. I want to keep the concept, but find a deity that fits it well.
Choice paralysis... I'll get over it.
Cello - my sheet is ready for review, if you haven't already done it.
D. Warforged - I have a 5th level lore warden/MoMS who uses Crane Style and is very hard to hit, and hits back pretty hard as well. If you're interested, here's the build: Ajkanir
I certainly don't have any issue with the alignment waiver - it doesn't seem unbalanced and if it adds fun and flavor to the character, I'm all for it. We're writing a grand tale together, not competing for baddest bad-ass.
And I often find the deity decision for the inquisitor to be a tough one - somehow the weapon I want always goes with a god whose story or domains I don't find that compelling. But if you want a rapier, Cayden's a good fun choice, and the Travel domain is awesome, if it seems a good fit with your background.
Anyway, my 2 cp.
Thanks Khelreddin!
I want to keep with the concept, and a divine caster as well, to stay aligned with my application.
Still thinking!!
Sorry for all the questions...
I had started with an arcane duellist, and offered inquisitor as an option that could work as well if needed.
That way, I was put in divine and chosen. But there is no bard in our group, and bards have access to cure light/moderate/serious and critical wounds.
GM Cello, how important is it that I am a divine caster? Could I instead be an arcane duellist who chooses cure spells as a priority? Furthermore, the buff from bardic performance would be nice to the whole group.
Let me know what you think.
I'm good with it. I like having divine, but it's more from an obsession with balance than actual need. Plus, the healing role of the divine is dampened significantly with an inquisitor.
Bard it up!
Hmmm...looking at the low amount of healing available in the party as constructed, I may have to switch out one of my Hexes for the Healing Hex and pick up the one that I drop at 2nd level.
Ok, I have a couple of wrinkles to add to the game.
1. Each of you need to add a craft, profession or performance skill. This will be your "day job." You may add this as a free skill, and if you've already taken one, feel free to "redistribute" that point elsewhere.
2. You'll also need to determine where you live and the associated cost of living. I'm not going to be meticulously keep up with this, but you need to have a "home" in Korvosa.
3. For those of you with 8's in your stats, you'll be receiving some "flaws" to reflect your low scores, in addition to the negative modifier. They are listed below.
4. I have some questions for some of you. I've spoilered them both to reduce space, but also to maintain some privacy - there may something you don't want other characters to know. As such, please don't click a spoiler that doesn't have your name on it.
How long have you been in Korvosa?
How long ago was your brother killed?
What have you been doing since arriving here?
I understand you're a "fixer" - is that your profession? How do people find you to fix their problems? Do you have a normal "day job" that serves as a front for your real profession?
Flaw - Rude: You’re unable to bite your tongue. You cannot succeed on any diplomacy check with a DC higher than 10.
How long ago did Lamm try to kill you? Does he still know you're alive?
What have you been doing since then?
Flaw - Tempted: Select a temptation from the list below. Whenever presented with your temptation, you must make a will save (DC: 10 + Your Character Level) or indulge in that temptation. List of temptations: Alcohol, Food, Sex, Drugs
How long ago were you arrested? Did you serve any serious time?
What have you been doing since being a lamb?
Wow, nice flaw. Definitely fits his personality.
Lamm tried to kill him 4 years ago.
Durriken believes Lamm thinks him dead. He left Durriken still bleeding out on the warehouse floor. Durriken hasn't hidden his survival in any meaningful way, but has been fairly quiet in searching for Lamm's current whereabouts over the past year or so.
Durriken has been apprenticing for a bowyer over the past two years, and sleeps in the back room of the shop. His master doesn't know Durriken's story, but is aware that there is something driving Durriken, and has an idea of the kind of person he is - and has been trying to change his path, to no avail. I can flesh his master out a bit more if you want, or I can leave him open to your interpretation.
How long have you been in Korvosa?
The caravan arrived in Korvosa nearly six months ago. Arianna has been there ever since then.
How long ago was your brother killed?
Mikhal was executed four months ago.
What have you been doing since arriving here?
Arianna has been trying to acquire any information she can about Lamm, his associates, and the corrupt constables responsible for Mikhal's wrongful death, in hopes of avenging her fallen brother.
She has been residing mostly within Old Korvosa, as that is where her brother's supposed crime was committed. Typically she could be found traveling between inns, never staying in one place for more than a fortnight, eeking out a meager living providing Harrow readings and selling small paintings.
Arianna has Craft(painting) and Profession (fortune-teller) as skills from character creation. As such, the bonus skill point has been re-assigned to Knowledge (planes)
I don't really see Gyllan's work as illegal, such that he'd need a front. He just moves around a lot, talks to lots of people, finds out what they need and what they're selling at what prices, and makes connections for them. He might occasionally help people find something unorthodox, possibly even illegal, but it's not the bulk of his business (but he'd know where to find it...) But he might carry some of the goods from one customer to another - so perhaps a rank in Profession (courier) or something like that? That would give him a basis for moving all around the city, sometimes just doing plain courier work, carrying messages for nobles and merchants, but also connecting people with what they need, and getting paid for that service.
So he doesn't have a fixed office, but makes his rounds all the time, and people find him or he finds them in the course of his travels around the city. And he's got a favorite pub or two he winds up in each evening, where business would be conducted as well.
And I was thinking that his ability to locate things in the city is similar to the way the Survival skill is used to find food in the wild, and thus a Survival check would be a reasonable way to determine if he can secure something he or someone else needs. Sound okay?
Having grown up in The Shingles, Gyllan still has many friends and contacts there, including his father. He spends many of his nights at his father's tenement apartment, but Gyllan also keeps a small room in Midland, because so much of his business is conducted there. I'm not sure what this would cost, as the numbers on this table all seem a bit high. He's got his own room, but not in an inn, just a little apartment - how about something like 2-3 GP per week? That seems cheap as I write it, but let me know what you think.
That's not that far off. I use the cost of living rules found at this link (scroll down a bit). we can also include some shades in between those levels, but that's a nice guide.
Cool - the average level there sounds like it would fit his situation well, and he'd be excited to have such a nice place of his own. Might step up his game a little over time, but he's definitely not accustomed to luxury.
There are housing costs for each of the areas of Korvosa (both to own and rent) in the Guide to Korvosa.
If you do not have it, I can supply the information for you if you are interested.
Thanks, Arianna. I don't have that book.
What does a small apartment in Midland cost? How about in The Shingles?
Midland:
Rent per Month
House (Slope) 100 gp
Apartment Suite (Slope) 15–60 gp
Apartment Suite (High Bridge) 7–26 gp
Apartment Suite (Pillar Hill) 15–35 gp
Apartment Suite (West Dock) 6–18 gp
Tenement Flat (High Bridge) 4–13
Tenement Flat (West Dock) 3–9
Studio (Slope) 5–20 gp
Studio (High Bridge) 3–8 gp
Studio (Pillar Hill) 5–12 gp
Studio (West Dock) 2–6 gp
Old Korvosa/The Shingles:
Rent per Month
Apartment Suite (Bridgefront) 1–3 gp
Apartment Suite (Garrison Hill) 8–16 gp
Apartment Suite (Old Dock) 2–9 gp
Tenement Flat (Bridgefront) 5 sp–1 gp, 5 sp
Tenement Flat (Garrison Hill) 4–8 gp
Tenement Flat (Old Dock) 1–4 gp
Studio (Bridgefront) 4 sp–1 gp
Studio (Garrison Hill) 2–4 gp
Studio (Old Dock) 1 gp, 5 sp–3 gp
Fingers is only 17, so he could've left the Lambs not long ago. I was thinking of two years on the pokey but we can adjust that per your instruction. Mostly, in my mind, he was sent there as a lesson by the Cerulean Society (legal thieves guild). He needed to be punished for free-lancing and not kick upstairs to either Lamm or the guild.
So before the two years, he freelanced for a while, leaving the Lambs when he was 13-14. He may not have much experience in a trade, but maybe did a job in the jail system and is trying to find a job outside as cover.
Make sense? If you want more or change, just LMK
Fingers lives in the Shingles in a studio in the Bridgefront district, poor slum neighborhood. His rent is quite low, but he doesn't really have a job to offset the cost, so he's always on the prowl for a score to provide some financial security...
His profession is locksmith apprentice (if you'll allow it). He has enough experience and natural ability with locks, he wowed the smith to taking him in, even though he had a criminal past.
Thanks, Arianna, that's very helpful. I may have to pick up the Guide to Korvosa, just to give some depth to Gyllan's supposed knowledge of the city.
Based on that info, I'd say Gyllan lives in a tenement flat in West Dock. Nice and centrally located for his work all over the city, and in Midland, the commercial hub of Korvosa. So he's moved up in the world some, but it's still the poorest section of Midland.
Two questions still out there from me:
1. Any recommendations on two languages Gyllan should pick up?
2. Thoughts on my question above: "And I was thinking that his ability to locate things, services and people in the city is similar to the way the Survival skill is used to find food in the wild, and thus a Survival check would be a reasonable way to determine if he can secure something he or someone else needs. Sound okay?" His bonus at survival in an urban setting is good enough that he could justifiably make a living at it, is the other reason it seemed to make sense.
@Fingers - I'm good with the locksmith apprentice profession.
Whoops - thought I responded.
1. I'd recommend halfling and...well...elven maybe? You've got Varisian, so you're already in pretty good shape, I'd wager.
2. I'm good with it. Make sure you also take Knowledge:Local - those two will work in conjunction.
@Dreaming Warforged - you still with us?
And yes, I've taken Knowledge (local), but my bonus is much better on Survival in an urban setting, due to my Heart of the Slums racial trait, so that seems a better basis for his making a living on it.
Well, in spite of not having a heal-bot, we've got 4 out of 5 PCs who can use a wand of CLW, and 2 who can cast it now. Let's start saving for that wand and we'll be fine.
I should probably pick that up too. I've always been a fan of city guides. I think it would make sense for Durriken to have recently moved into a tenement in West Dock, now that he's built up a little cash.
Day job: Since he's back, his father has him translate different documents and letters from Varisian to Chelaxian.
Just as a side note, according to the ISWG, there is no such language as Chelaxian. Chelish humans begin the game with only common (Taldane).
Ouch! What would be a good suggestion for translation then? Given that Corso is a minor noble, he will get in trouble with Dad if he gets a low job, hence looking for work inside the noble family.
Well, if you are wanting to stay with the Chelish route, perhaps Infernal?
I'm good with it, Corso.
All right, characters can still be tweaked, but the first gameplay thread is up. Let me know if any of you have any questions!
Whew. That was a long post. Geez.
Just an FYI, I will be unavailable to post most all day tomorrow, possibly into the next day, as I am driving from Houston TX to new home in Nashville TN with my dog. Will catch up when I can, feel free to DMPC as needed.
Good luck with the move, Mitchell. Your post could pretty easily be made into a country song!
Too funny. I guess it does kinda write itself, especially if my ex-wife is along...
Gyllan is happy to go first in the marching order.
Durriken would try to be close to the front.
You guys can catch all the bullets, just wave me up when you need locks picked, traps found, or sneaking about. Otherwise, Fingers will stand back and watch the heroes work.
Fingers can stand in or near the back of any group, and will attempt to melt into shadows or cover if trouble starts.