The False DM's page

Well seeing how we updated Jaden's backstory, could just add that Jaden, haveing training as a guard and as a woodworker, would have been sought after by Pay Day. He could train the guards and run a shop floor if need be. He also could help keep the camp crews from getting in to alot of trouble in town with the town guards.

How does that look for you DM? If you want to change anything, give me the changes, and i will write them in.

Whatever you want in there is good, I just misread or misunderstood some of his history when I posted and am trying to cover my mistake. Sorry for the confusion.

Guess my post-it notes on each PC need to get a lil' bigger! ;P

The big Jack looks at his 'soiled' companions and lets out a great belly laugh "HEEEAAAAWWWW-HAAA-haaaarrr! You two best be gittin' yer gear changed, We be leavin' fer da next camp up in a minute an' de boss will be REAL mad if'n ye aren't on the shuttle. Hee-Hawww!"
The two men slink off toward the bunkhouse, throwing angry looks back at the gnome, you get the feeling that they are making sure to remember the little gnome's face....
The big Jack wipes some mirth from his eye and says "I'll be headin' in ta tell the boss that you and yer crew will be aboot in the wood, Jaden. Good luck wit' yer herbs and be mindful o' the wood. Heee-haaaa, them two ain't fer knowin' when to shut their....*his voice trails off as he moves toward the office, followed by the remaining 3 jacks in the group*"

Perception: 18 + 5 = 23

Damn, gonna take some time to get used to the wrapped up skills...

The larger of the Lumberjacks says "Heh, sure thing Hozs. I'ma headin' over dere right now, matter-o-fact..I'll be lettin' him know ye got a group with ya too."
One of the men toward the back of the lumberjack group turns and mumbles something the guy next to him, drawing a sharp laugh out of the man.
DC15 Listen--

The large Jack looks back and shakes his head at the duo then turns back to Jaden "Good luck and remember dere be danger in dem wood".

Morring meeting Jaden joins the group just before getting on the wagons. He gives a half smile when he sees Raphael and Keegan. So how did you two get talked into joining this trip? To give us a helping hand i would take it. No, never mind i do not want to know, i am glad to have you with us.

Boys at the lumber camp I am still on leave for the week, we are on a bit of a job for the herbalist. I might have to speak to the boss if need be.

I am guessing Jaden works at the camp as a camp guard, and helps at the mill when he is off

Ah, the backstory is off a bit, sorry. Maybe Jaden works the slower milling seasons at the lumber camp to suppliment his income and help keep the Lumber Consortium off the miller's back. Season is just starting to pick up but the miller hasn't needed you yet so you were still pulling duty at the Lumber Camp until dear Vicki became ill. Does that work for you?

A group of 6 burly lumberjacks come out of the bunkhouose, axes and saws hoisted upon their shoulders, and upon seeing the group, decide to saunter on over.
The larger one clears his nostrils into the layer of sawdust on the ground as he gets closer then speaks up, "Hey Jaden! Thought ya 'ad da week off. Takin' care o' yer sick girlie or sumfin? What are doin' wit a bunch o' sapling of de like I be seein' here?! HA-HAR-HAR, an' wee folk here too! Har! Ya be headin' to see da Boss, right? Ya know how he be liken to know who be in his wood... Ya know I tink me sis' has da same thing yer woman got...terrible flu or sumfin, but I be guessin' yer girlie is better now what wit ye being out here in da sticks agin."

Looking at the map Effan pipes up, " Is there a ford or ferry across the river below the lake?"

No, you are gonna have to skirt the lake. Most of the wood beyond the logging operations is unexplored except for the occasional Woodsman or hunter plying their trade.

EDIT- Thanks Keegan, good way to implement info.

It was a bit of a long lead-in but it's gonna start getting real good, real quick now. Glad we made it out of town!
Oh and I gave a link to Keegan's map on the game page, let me know if there are any questions.

Keegan's Map
The numbers on the map are as follows:
1. is the Main Logging camp
2. is the suspected location of the Eldest Tree
3. is the Ulizmila's Hut (the witch)
4. is the old dwarven ruins

The next morning the group meets and heads to the Lumber camp shuttle, preparing to get moving. Any further shopping for rations or whatnot can be retconned to the previous night's shopping.
The day is overcast and hazy but warm for the season, despite the sun's hidden manner. A fine mist is in the air, hinting at possibly more wetness to come.
As you approach the next wagon preparing to depart you see the driver, holding the reigns to the 4 hugely muscled steeds, looking back at you. He pushes up his wide-brimmed leather hat and says as you begin to load up on the cart "That'll be 3 silver eac...Oh, hello Hozs! Lookit her! Ol' Sammi is feelin' great" he gestures to one of the horses" Thought I'da been havin' ta put her to pasture but the extry salt ye told me ta be addin' to her feed is doin' da trick. If'n ye be needin' ta ride ya be ridin' free by me! I kin be givin' yer friends a bit o' a discount too. 2 silver each ta ride to the firs' camp. That be the main camp if'n ye ain't too familiar."

After loading up and getting ready to go the driver gives a flick of the reigns and a sharp "HIYA" and the horses take off like an arrow from a longbow. The slightly damp earth seems to be helping the horses instead of hindering them, and after several minutes of fast riding the party starts to relax, confident in the driver's ability to guide the horses and wagon down the straight path.
Off in the rapidly closing distance is the green canopy of Darkmoon Vale. In the fields you see farmers working the land as you whiz by. Soon enough the farmers' fields are left behind and rolling plains take over, an occasional herd of the stout, small-antlered deer known as Dunlied or Brush Colts can be seen cavorting in the tall grasses.
Knowledge Nature or Local DC 5

After a little more than two hours the trail finally closes with the Wood and you can see the ugly scar of stumps and debris that is common in logging locales. Five sturdy looking log buildings stand in a large clearing along with numerous wide carts and sleds, A coating of sawdust lies over everything. The buildings look to be a bunkhouse, meal hall, office, barn and a smithy. Three sleds, loaded with darkwood logs, look prepared to make the reverse trip to the one you just made.
"Alright fellers, yer here! I be guessin' ye ain't to be cuttin' so ye may want ta head inta the office over there" he points to a building you assumed(or knew, Jaden, Keegan, and Raph) was an office "and let ol' Pay Day know ye be in da wood. 'E likes knowin' who be out and about."

What is the plan for getting to the logging camp? Buy a mule and hoof it or taking the shuttle to save 6 hours of travel time?

Keegan is fixed. Decided not to give him the +2 (any ability score) to keep me from looking like a min/maxer.

Converting skills is a b*!!!.

Or you could toss the +2 into something else...hell, toss it into con for the extra HP and save, or push strength to a 14, makes your melee and ranged attacks even.

Ok Hozs is updated, could not resist having a 20 in wis though I maybe should have. (still need to add the critter-why do I only get online at midnight? :) Fakey did you say how you would handle the 'free' skills of craft or profession that you originally awarded?

Just take a craft or profession skill, looks like the skills are a bit addled for Pathfinder RPG until they decide to fix them.

Also, I hate the way they did Combat Feats. I am sure it is gonna get changed but for now lets stick with regular 3.5 way of doing Combat Feats, except that Dodge is a flat +1 AC, no declaring who you are dodging. So the non-combat feats are good but the Combat feats revert to 3.5 style.
OK?
And yes this thread is more for strategizing, and long ooc discussions. Good way to iron out things like how to approach a certain encounters, or working out a nighttime routine for camping.

I'm a little lost. What is the time frame we are at here; Morning or Night? Faldor only plays the evenings and I am unsure about the status of the tavern and sleeping spots.

This is happening during Faldor's evening performance.

"I believe you all have a good plan going so far. Let us meet again tomorrow and I will ask during songs at the tavern to see if I can find us a woodsmen or tracker that could help us find our path once we leave the lumber camps."

Fluffy fluff** spoiler omitted **

During your performance, you notice 2 men that seem to be looking at you discreetly and not in a menacing manner, while not showing much interest in your story. One of them you believe is a cartographer of some reknown that works with the Lumber Consortium....

Keegan and Raphael, you're up.

Hors, would you be joining me, i am going home to be with Vicky. I might see about finding a mule for supplies, i can't see draging a horse into some pit. It might also be good for a small freinds.

** spoiler omitted **

I drop my extra kit off at the mill, and take all my equipment for the trip. If i can i borrow one of the mules from the mill, i am guessing the mill would have alest one for pulling and drag logs into the shop floor. I grab a some rope and eought food for 12 days for Jaden, the mule, and Hors.I get 2 more cases of bolts(10 bolts)I pack on the mule. I hope that will be eought for my part for now. anything i am forgetting?

The only mules at the mill are the 2 needed to turn the giant millstone. With you being gone for over a week, the miller would be hard put to pay the lumber consortium's rent and taxes if the mill weren't running for that long. You could buy one at the shuttle station if you'd like but it wouldn't be able to keep up with the shuttle, so you would have to walk it to the Main Lumber Camp, which is an extended day's walk.

Raph and Keegan-

Jaden, Hozs, Effan, and Keegan- What are you doing tonight? If you want to buy supplies there is an outfitter, Hookbill Outfitters, that sits right next door to the Wing and Talon Bar. You can buy most adventuring gear and some weaponry/armor there if you need any. They may even have a few cure potions and such. And the owner, Hookbill Marley, is usually there late.
Are you gonna gather somewhere to formulate a plan before heading home? Where?

"Some take days, some weeks. Hard to tell exactly. I guess it depends on the strength of the person afflicted. Mary the cobbler's wife? That Mary? Hmm. I've know her in the past, she's tough as the leather her husband used to work. I'd venture she's got a couple weeks anyhow, dependin' on how long she been sick already. Those just hittin' adulthood usually last a while also. Like mos' diseases this one hits the too old and too young first and hardest."

The Lumber Trail Road runs out of town to the north for 12-14 miles before hitting the main lumber camp. Then you would need to hit the woods. Probably another 20 or so miles through thick woods to get to the Oldest Tree, then 6-8 to the witch, followed by 7-9 miles to the dwarven ruins. So 48ish miles each way roughly.
There is a 'shuttle service' for the lumberjacks that runs every 15 minutes from 5 am to 8 am going to the Main Camp. The cost is 3 sp per person, each way. They are faster than the standard wagon method and the tough draft horses practically run the whole distance with darkwood wagons making the run in about 2 1/2 hours. Walking to the camp would take most of the day for the smaller fellows, so this is a good way to save time. The other option would be to buy horses but the wood, once past the logging camps are pretty overgrown and the horses would move no faster than a person could.

Jaden, Hozs, Effan, and Faldor....-It is getting into the late afternoon now, you would barely get out of town before darkness fell if you left now.

Hey did Faldor figure anything out about the old tree with his bardic knowledge?

No, except that many are the stories of 'oldest trees in the forest'. Stories and song of many different 'oldest trees' in just as many different forests, but none about this one in particular.

For DM and Keegan:

** spoiler omitted **

Raph and Keegan, give me some Gather Info and Knowledge:Local rolls as you go.....

BTW, Keegan has a kick-as$ map of the area that I will post when him and Raph catch up to the party.

"I has arrived, me droogies!"

Sorry about the delay, but I think the method worked out pretty good, story-wise.

DM and Raphael only:** spoiler omitted **

Raph and Keeg

It is getting into the late afternoon now, you would barely get out of town before darkness fell if you left now.

If you head up to the Lumber Consortium's first camp north, then take to the woods heading slightly NW from the camp you should hit a branch of the River Foam that turns to a lake near the middle of Darkmoon Vale. Skirting the lake and then heading mostly W-SW you should hit, the Oldest Tree first if Effan's info is correct. Another six or so miles from that is the where the Witch's Hut is supposed to be located. Eight to nine miles beyond that, lying in the thin strip of land between the Darkmoon Vale and the Crags of Droskar's Crag (the big mountain) is where the Dwarven Ruins are supposed to lie. All in all, assuming no extraneous rests beyond the normal nightly ones, the trip should run 8-10 days round trip.

Raphael grins and stands up. Dusting himself off, he begins briskly (and unobtrusively) walking away from the shop towards the Darkmoon Lumber headquarters to the southwest. The Boss will want to know of this...

Raphael and Keegan only.

Spoiler for Fakey: ** spoiler omitted **

Laurel speaks up, "You are volunteering to go?! Great and not a moment too soon, folks are dieing every day! All we can hope for is to treat who we can to save the gravedigger some labor."

"I remember there being a dwarven ruin of some sort to the north, near the mountains. That'd be your best bet for Ironblooms. I will mark a rough map with the approximate location of the ruins and also mark where Ulizmila's hut is located for the Rat's Tail root. The Tree I have no knowledge of...but every forest has an oldest tree..."
SPOILER FOR EFFAN-

Alright, we are gonna convert to Pathfinder RPG rules then. Anyone who doesn't want to can continue playing their PC per the regular rules (doesn't seem too different, mechanics-wise), but make sure you check out the Pathfinder RPG rules before making that decision. I still haven't read most of them myself so don't feel rushed to complete a conversion.

Blackscour? It's a fungus that gets into water some times, if you drink it down you get sick. Then the Taint starts to growing in you, eatin' away at your belly and chest. The body near turns itself insideout trying to hack out the stuff, but all that does is cut up your guts real bad like.
I got no cure but my grandmother's book list a brew that says it works for this type of stuff. It's a weird concoction....Rare roots and concentrates, which I mostly got excepting for three---Elderwood moss, which granny lists as only growing on the oldest tree in a forest. A naturally pickled root called Rat's Tail, of which I have no knowledge, but maybe Ulizmila the woodwitch would know of it or even have some. She's a mean old cuss. Lastly then there are the seven Ironbloom Mushrooms that are needed, they only grow in dark places where metal is close.....a favorite with dwarves or so I hear.

More then 30 in town here have Blackscour Taint, though many more are thinking they got it. Just in the last day or so I lost a few..... Nothing I did could help... This may be the only hope for those afflicted with the rot.

I am gonna throw it out there.....
Anyone wanna convert to Pathfinder RPG, same game, before we hit combat?

I...I can't seem to cure it.....
It is just like any other sickness, but you get the mold growin' in you.
Eats away at the belly and tears up the chest from the inside...
Body damn near goes inside out tryin' to hack it out...thats how it gets you.....
I have no cure.....'ceptin my gramma's book....
She has a brew in here for this kind o' thing, but it has wierd and rare items in it. I have most of the item but I am missin' a few or I would've tried it.

Raphael is finally getting brought in....Sorry for the delay, same with Keegan(who will be in soon)....I did it this way to try to draw the party together in a more believable fashion. Hope you guys don't mind the wait.

Raphael only-

She seems to be getting a deep cough that brings up alot of phlemmy and does not seem to be getting better.

Seems like she probably has...Oh, Hozs. Good to see you again....Oh gods, not your father too. Please tell me he hasn't gotten the Blackscour Taint also. Seems like all I do these last few days is try to alleviate the symptoms of Blackscour slightly before the victims die.

BTW Faldor and Effan are also admitted at the same time as Hozs and Jaden.

The time seems to pass more quickly as you focus on the fox's antics in response to the Bard's music and soon enough you find yourselves positioned next to the doorway (which could use a fresh coat of paint) awaiting entry.
After a couple moments the group that was ahead of yours steps out of the shop, desperately clutching small rough-spun wool packages, tied closed with course twine, that are eminating a particularly pungent aroma which reminds you of the smell of old dirt from beneath a campfire mixed with harsh spices.
"NEXT!" you hear from beyond the doorway, a call that you realize is meant for you.
As you step into the shop you hold back a strong desire to sneeze.
The smells of herbs, spices and incense clings to the air of the cluttered and mud-tracked shop. Herbs hang in bunches from a twine network that runs along the entire ceiling, along with pots, presses, glassware and alchemical apparatuses. Pouches of rare plants, jars of colored glass, and all manner of preserved, powdered and jellied animal parts fill shelves and other surfaces around the cramped room.
Toward the rear of the shop a thin woman with severe-looking glasses and hair pulled away from her face in a ponytail busies herself by scurrying from an over packed rack of herbs, a table covered in various powders and measuring equipment, and a pot that is bubbling over with a thick gray froth. Over the din of clinking jars, hissing froth in the fire and her loud steps, she shouts without looking up, “What do you need!?”
She seems to be looking frantically for something to stir the bubbling pot with.
A large wooden ladle sits on a bookshelf not 3 feet from her.

The line moves slowly, but steadily toward the doorway of the shop, people are entering in small groups of four to six at a time. Each group takes several minutes inside before exiting, usually with some cloth wrapped bundle in thier arms, and going their separate ways.
Jaden plays a lite, airy tune that seems to help, even if only a bit, to lift the spirits and brighten the hopes of the afflicted.
If Effan hops in line he will be positioned behind Hozs and Jaden in line, holding a place for the Wandering Minstrel. Your total wait time before entering is looking like somewhere between 40 minutes and an hour.

If he is bitter, i think him and Jaden, will get along.

I do have a good question for the dm, do you have any prolems with say a change in alinment in game, This does have all the things needed to make a good person change, possable love one dieing and not a inportant person around that will help, possable upriseing in town with the big bussness, and some of us work for them, so we could see a bit of role playing, and even some hot tempers.

I am so want get into combat with this group too, i am right out of practice, and would love to see what will happen.

I can go with the changes BUT!

If the PC turns evil and decides to start trying to kill party members that PC will become an NPC and the party will need to probably put him/her down. Basically I am fine with shades of grey, but I treat Evil the same whether it is from the party's perspective or the game world's perspective......evil is gonna lose. The righteous will be summoned forth to slay the evil ones. PC starts offing random townsfolk, he can expect to be caught, tried and executed.
But a PC being an a$$hole or self-centered is cool. I just think evil isn't some guy being an a$$. It's some guy planning to poison a town water supply to teach them a lesson for exiling him.

Effan Effluvium wrote:

...

Still got to add physical description.

Short.... Big Nosed.... Gnomish? Just trying to give a helping hand.

Hehe. Pointy hat, beard, airplane in the background.

Fakey,

Added familiar, a Calico kitty anmed Catharine.

Swapped out appraise for knwoledge (local or geography) to reflect Effan's journy to the hollow and hikes around town. Which of local or geography is more appropriate?

Switched feat to improved initiative.

Still got to add physical description.

Both are helpful in different ways. One way will give you better local knowledge which will help in town and with a couple wilderness checks, while Geography will help a little in town and be more useful in the wilderness.

"Hollow's last hope is a wilderness and dungeon adventure for four 1st level characters." is what the first line of the adventure description says. I ain't gonna spoil it anymore than that.
Get Yer Arse over ta da Game Thread!
;P

The False DM wrote:

Effan Effluvium, also for your background.

Mary, the cobbler's wife with whom you currently reside, has come down with a sickly hacking cough that has start to contain small flecks of blood in it as of this morning. All attempts to comfort or cure her seem to be for naught.

I suspected a malicious DM would strike at my friends, no matter how old feeble and unable to defend themselves. I warn you now if the old lady dies I'll come looking for you.

On the other hand, maybe she'll die and I'll be free to hit the road again!!!!

Muawwwaaa-haaa-haaaa

She will live or die by your actions!!
;P

Ha! Yep, that's pretty much Raphael.

Don't forget to add that one dose of sleep poison to your sheet also. I figure that you could at least have taken some precautions and whatnot while distilling/mixing it that would allow some bonuses and blah, blah, blah....

I felt generous.

;)

Yeah, you guys probably do know each other also...your intros will follow soon.

The Game thread is up!!
GAME ON!

Creeping ivy and full, aromatic window boxes grace this rugged-looking two-story shop which bears a fading sign. Roots and Remedies. This must be the place. Looking under the sign, a line of approximately two dozen somber-faced townfolk---some with pale, wheezing children in tow, others seeming on the verge of tears---forms from the open front door. A hand pulls away a cloth from one woman’s mouth and the bright red of blood can be seen mixed in with the thick phlem on the cloth before she covers it up.

Hozs and Jaden, Effan and Faldor, what do you do next.
Don't worry Keegan and Raphael, your intro will occur soon enough...

Hozs and Jaden, desperate for a cure for poor Vicki, head over to Laurel the Herbalist’s shop. Surely she can help clear up this cough before its too late.

Effan enlisted the aid of his friend Faldor and headed to the Shrine of Imodea, searching for a means to help alleviate the hacking, blood-speckled cough of Mary, the cobbler‘s wife. After speaking with Lady Cirthana at the shrine, the two of you are directed to seek aid from Laurel the Herbalist at her shop ‘Roots and Remedies’.

I am gonna assume that Hozs and Jaden are on friendly terms. Hozs has always had a good relationship with the Miller, his daughter(who finds his child-like looks and quiet manner to be refreshing), and with Jaden, who finds the druid to be quite knowledgable in the local flora and fauna. Hozs is also on good terms with Laurel, the local Herbalist, and frequently brings her herbs and roots from the environs that surround the town, usually by her request unless he stumbles across something rare.
She pays for his efforts by providing teas and the occasional poultice to the druid.

The tiny village of Falcon’s Hollow is a small hamlet surround by wild frontier. The village sits quietly in the shadow Droskar’s Crag, and the people there are as hard -edged as that mountain. Tough of body and mind. They toil endlessly to eek out an existence in the face of constant adversity from the wilds and from within town itself. A few seasonal festivals and a rare merchant caravan arriving are the only breaks in their daily grind.
Uncaring Lumber Barons own the whole of the town and form The Lumber Consortium, charging rent to all the businesses they allow to be run in the town. The rent always seems to be just enough that the business ‘owners’ just manage to make enough to live on and, if very careful save a small amount for the future or some sort of luxury. No one gets wealthy here except the Lumber Barons.
The Barons employ most of the town and are constantly looking for more loggers to work the forests. The loggers pay is small and all the businesses in town seem to be designed to milk that pay from them to re-line the Barons’ pockets while also milking the general populace also.
When problems arise the townfolk always need to rely on themselves to solve them, while the Lumber Barons turn a deaf ear to their pleas.

Now the harsh and hacking cough of disease is spreading through the town, echoing in the streets. The plague is nigh in Falcon’s Hollow and the town’s leaders can’t be bothered to stop it.
A local herbalist named Laurel has been attempting to help the sick and even the local clerics are recommending that the victims’ families go to her to seek a remedy.

Effan Effluvium, also for your background.
Mary, the cobbler's wife with whom you currently reside, has come down with a sickly hacking cough that has start to contain small flecks of blood in it as of this morning. All attempts to comfort or cure her seem to be for naught.

well i changed my wooden sheild for a large darkwood, so it made me a little lighter and adds to def by one and it being larger then the small wooden, i can bash if i need now. I am so glad that me likeing to blab made a little inpack.

Cool.

BTW, I added something to your background- You live with the miller, Denick Miller, by name and his daughter Vickellia. Vicki has recently come down with a hacking phlemmy cough that resists all efforts to be treated.