It's a bastardization of a Welsh hero written about in the Mabinogion, ancient British prose. This is where the original King Arthur comes from, IIRC. He was a warrior wizard...and being as Asher will eventually go Magus, this is him hinting at his dreams and his childhood, with a little wink at real-world mythology and the Kings of Gwynnod I would expect zero people to know about, lol.
He is a fun mythical figure. One of the stories was "Blodeuwedd tricks Lleu into revealing how he may be killed since he cannot be killed during the day or night, nor indoors or outdoors, neither riding nor walking, not clothed and not naked nor by any weapon lawfully made. He reveals to her that he can only be killed at dusk, wrapped in a net with one foot on a cauldron and one on a goat, and with a spear forged for a year during the hours when everyone is at mass. With this information, she arranges his death."
I bloody love that, lol.
These are some of the legends and stories I dip into from ancient Scandanavian, Gaelic, Lothian, Celtic and Gaulish mythologies when I'm looking for themes for characters in scripts I'm working on in some show or movie. Asher is no different, lol.
Ragnar av Gundrun, I didn't realize when I was writing my in-character post, but yours is not too far off mine. Both deal with shady stuff going on in the back alleys. I'm now picturing you and Rosabel getting me out of that, lol.
A human ninja heading to gunslinger (mysterious stranger) dissident, a virtuous human dual-talent cleric of Sarenrae and an amoral cynical mercenary human bloodrager? This is starting to sound fun, lol. Good dynamics there.
Stormcrow27, how would you like monstrous characters built? For my Bugbear character is his 1st level bugbear? Or is there a class level in addition to his race?
Male Human Film producer 3 Film director 2 Real estate investor 1
The Green knight was excellent, btw. A solid adaptation of the poem, where the director made some choices in direction for meaning and leaned into them subtly. It is absolutely beautiful, but I would say this is a piece of art, a film, not a "movie", if that makes sense. This does not follow modern Hollywood storytelling tropes that audiences are accustomed to. But if that is your bag (it is mine) then this will be an instant success for you.
Thuurvi good question. It is a Woundrous Item that is use-activated. "Although this activation sometimes requires a command word (see above), usually it means mentally willing the activation." "These boots allow the wearer to use [the ability] when the wearer stomps her feet." So the item itself does not trigger an AoO when using it.
Jacynta did get an AoO for the movement, and unfortunately missed. As for the movement squares, she should be in the correct one. My understanding (someone please correct me if I am wrong), is the terrain cost is paid when you move into a square, not when you leave it. So the first square she leaves doesn't cost anything. 10 points for V13, 10 for V14, 5 for V15, and 5 for V16. Does that seem correct to everyone?
Thuurvi & Engineer #3 Mk. II:
That healing healed Engineer #3 Mk. II 1 Wound point, bringing him back up to his max Wound Points. He is still at 34/34 non-letal damage taken, so he is considered Disabled.
Male Human Film producer 3 Film director 2 Real estate investor 1
Okay, I have gathered together everything the party did in their first scene, up to just before the combat. I wrote it up as a narrative and was able to keep everyone's dialogue about 95% the way they wrote it. The only changes I made were to help the flow of reading (like if a word was said then repeated again the next sentence, or if two characters said very similar things), to change around the flow of the story (making it so all the disparate lines that were out of place fall in place, creating a flow), and any grammar or punctuation. I changed the tense of the story to be past tense, rather than active, as that fits a story better. Sometimes this necessitated minor changes. I did cut out a dream, and the scene above deck for now (they are separate scenes), and trimmed the opening to be a little smoother. Usually, if I removed something, I tried to find another spot to insert it.
Hopefully, none of the changes upset anyone. :)
It came in at 11 pages, and reads pretty well, I think. I wanted to let you guys know before I posted it anywhere. I am considering posting on the campaign journals page, on the giantslayer page, and perhaps on the Eberron Reddit, if no one objects.
Here it is:
Scene 1:
The room lay in darkness. The cramped quarters were full of bunk beds, their occupants having arrived late last night. A small ever-burning lantern hung by the door, its hood allowing just a crack of light to pierce the darkness of the room.
Thalmor had not slept well. With every bump and sound reminding him - and his insides - that he had boarded the House Lyrandar airship ‘The Colossus of Stormhome’.
Departing Sharn late last night, he had pulled some strings to get him aboard and was now bound for the town of Sylbaran in the Eldeen Reaches. A bit of luck, it seemed, to be able to go straight to his destination rather than forcing him to take the lightning rail up to Passage in Aundair, and then charter a House Orien Coach down to Sylbaran. The whole journey would have cost upwards of 250 galifars and taken two more weeks of travel. This was strikingly easier. It also involved a very uneasy dwarf flying. That was strikingly more difficult.
A bell sounded for cooks to begin preparing breakfast in the main kitchen.
The halfling Tuk jerked up in his bunk, his eyes wide, his breath hard in his chest as if he'd actually been pressed into the ground and crushed. As the warforged Engineer #3 Mk. II rose from a nearby bunk and exited the cabin in the dark, Tuk was glad the dim light kept his shameful reaction hidden.
Taking a deep steadying breath, he shook his head, his damp locks splatting against his neck and cheeks.
Thalmor groaned quietly, kicking his legs out of the bed, while he rubbed the back of his neck. He pinched the tip of his beard, twisting it. With a heavy thump, his broad feet ‘plomped’ onto the ground, swaying uncomfortably as the airship hit a pocket of rough air. Blinking blearily, he rubbed the sleep from his eyes as his tummy growled. He frowned as he grabbed his stuff, eyeing the rest of the sleeping room in the flying airship they were on.
Thalmor grumbled audibly and exited the room to find whatever vittles these airship masters might have scrounged. His eyes adjusted to the darkness as he made his way with heavy footfalls through the storage compartment in the next room over, before climbing the steep stair out of the passenger section of the hold. The ship creaked sleepily around him. Ahead, he could make out quiet voices talking...likely the warforged that left the room a bit before him speaking in low tones with someone else.
The common area ran the width of the ship, almost forty feet wide at this point. A table and chairs lay just in front of Engineer #3 Mk. II with cabinets full of loaves of bread and other sandwich fixings against the left wall. Another steep stair directly to the left of the door led up to the main deck, chockablock with boxes and barrels strapped in behind the stair and hanging from the rafters over the cabinets.
Beyond the table, a counter jutted out from the left wall, full of other cooking utensils and some foodstuffs.
To the right of the door, a couple of bodies lay wrapped up in bedrolls on the floor in front of a padded wrap-around bench built into the walls. They snored softly, while above them a hammock lay empty.
Another counter jutted out from the right wall; it was kitty-corner, and offset just enough from the one on the left to allow passage between them. The deep blue of early morning from the portholes along the walls glinted off bottles and other drinking utensils.
In the dim area beyond the two counters, light from the lit stove of the kitchen could just be made out; a recognizable silhouette stood in front of it.
Roderik d'Deneith turned and smiled. "Good morning, Engineer. Sleep well?"Roderik chuckled at his own joke.
A groan emanated from one of the bedrolls on the floor, and the groggy voice of Kurst Grath, Roderik's younger brother, croaked out. "It is way too early for your Khyber-spawn puns brother." He rolled over towards the wall. "Three, please throttle him and his happiness so I can sleep."
"Good morning Roderick. Kurst.”Three said entering the room. “I am unable to strangle happiness, and it would serve no purpose to slay someone so obviously in distress. Perhaps a caffeinated beverage and some warm foodstuffs would improve your disposition Kurst? May I be of assistance in the galley?"
Scratching himself and muttering crossly, Thalmor stumbled into the room and maneuvered around the detritus towards the table and chairs. He pulled one out and settled into it, withdrew a ledger of sorts, and began to examine it, making notes at the margins. It seemed that he was waiting for something, and the furtive glances towards the kitchen, along with gurgling dwarven belly, made said thing apparent after a short while.
Roderik laughed jovially at his brother and Engineer #3 Mk. II"Absolutely. Get over here, you can help fry up some tomatoes. We're on our own this morning, the lords and important folk are having breakfast up in the main galley."
Roderik pulled out a mug and a craft of beer from a storage locker. "Let me get you an ale, Master Thalmor," he said, greeting the dwarf. "I was told you would be joining us on our trip home.” Condensation dripped down the sides of the craft, wettening the table as Roderik plonked it down, a dark brew slopping over the sides. “Welcome."
Thalmor looked up and nodded, a nearly imperceptible movement at the corner of his mouth betraying his pleasure at morning ale, "Aye, lad, much obliged." He gripped the handle of the mug, taking a draught of the dark liquid. The foam caught here and there on his bushy beard, and he wiped it off with the back of his sleeve. He nodded, satisfied, "not bad for a morning brew, at least," he said in a gravelly voice. He rubbed his brow a moment and then returned back to his ledger.
Thuurvi wandered in, chewing on a bit of dried ginger. She yawned hugely, displaying distinct canines on top and larger tusklike ones on the lower jaw of a half-orc.
"Thuurvi, good morning,”Roderik smiled at Thuurvi as he headed back to help Three.
Tuk emerged after Thuurvi and nodding politely made his way to the stairs leading up to the deck of the ship. He carried a bandolier and a weapon belt and was rubbing his neck. His wild shock of red hair caught Thuurvi’s notice, her own hair in a long orange braided plait down the center of her head trailing down her back.
Watching the halfling exit above decks, Roderik flipped an egg. "Thuurvi, would you like some fried tomatoes and eggs with a couple of rashers of bacon?"
"That would be wonderful, Roderik.”Thuurvi nodded at Roderik's gaze following Tuk, ”...ah, I guess he's not going for breakfast just yet?” She chuckled, “I'll be the honorary halfling and eat his breakfast as well if he doesn't come back. My stomach is regular as a clock,” she yawned, “even if I didn't sleep well." She hovered for a moment near the cooking area, wanting to help out before taking a seat. "I would help, but spoons and knives tend to fly around me at times."
“Kurst!"Roderik exhorted, kicking at the lumps on the ground. "Rise and shine!"
A young female halfling entered the room. She glanced around as if looking for something as Kurst rolled over with a groan, “Sovereigns be damned. I'm getting up."
"Are they discussing the artifact up there in the lofty halls of the blessed gentry?"Thuurvi asked, running her black fingers through her bright flame-colored hair.
A man belched, "unlikely," he said entering the room. He smiled at the young halfling woman fondly, hugging her. "Jacynta! Good morning, my dear. So glad you could join me again."
He crossed to the table with Thuurvi and Thalmor seated at it, and tossed a leather journal on it, followed by a quill, a jar of ink, a handkerchief, several coins, a loose bit of paper, and a mouse - which promptly scurried off the table into the detritus around the edges of the room. "Oh dear, how'd that get in there?" he chuckled, walking over to pull out a mug from a shelf behind Kurst, who was still lying on the ground, his elbow over his eyes.
Thuurvi narrowed her eyes at the mouse as the man gestured to Jacynta to join him at the table.
"My name is Aemon Grahame if you please," he sighed, sitting down and pulling the craft of beer over to him. "I am the scholar who found the Xen’drik artifact in question.” He scoffed, “‘artifact’..." shaking his head he poured the beer from the larger pitcher into his cup, to find it had only a few drops left. "Odd that," he looked inside the craft as if there might be some alcohol still hidden in its depths, frowning. "It's a pillar. A stone..."Roderik handed him another craft of beer, "- thank you. A pillar of stone. A stone pillar. Apparently, it comes from the town of Sylbaran," he brandished his now full cup in salute to the room in general. His eyebrows raised as he spotted Thuurvi's twisted shadow on the wall behind her before dismissing it with a shrug. "So...reason to celebrate!”
Jacynta eyed the bacon and the offered seat but remained standing. Distracted, she peered back over her shoulder into the ship where she had just come from after not seeming to see what she was looking for in the common area.
Aemon took a long pull from the mug. His skin was a soft red-chocolaty hew, very warm, and had clearly seen the sun. His hair was a lovely dark shade with bits of grey, a large swoop of his forehead bald. He had a neatly trimmed goatee that had gone mostly gray. He had to be almost sixty and had a likability about him despite his gruffness, and a playfulness that belied his age.
"Aemon,”Thuurvi nodded at the dark-skinned man. “Thuurvi Muth-la-Zash, a Jhor'guuntaal of the Reaches, although my family was originally from the Marches,” she said sipping her water.
"Kurst."Roderik snapped. When nothing happened he barked, "Custennin Grath!"
Kurst lurched up, entangled in his bedroll, his white legs on display under his nightshirt. "I'm up, I'm up!" he groused.
"A jogun - I'm sorry...”Aemon leaned forward, stroking his goatee, "a jo...jogunt -"
"Jhorgun'taal,"Kurst grunted, pulling on his pants, his tongue trilling on the 'r' in Jhorgun'taal. He looked remarkably like his brother if his brother needed a haircut, hadn't slept all night and was two drinks in. "It means 'born of...” he stopped pulling his pants up and closed his eyes for a second, thinking, "...both bloods', or something like that."
Next to Kurst in the other bedroll on the floor, another man stretched and yawned, his mustache curling up at his cheeks. "'Two bloods'."
"Help yourselves."Roderik set down a couple of plates of bacon, fried tomatoes, toasted muffins, and bright butter. "Omast is right. It is 'two bloods'. Actually, correct me if I am wrong, my lady, it means 'child of two bloods', correct'?" He gestured welcomingly to Jacynta again to sit and join them.
Thalmor stopped writing for a moment, and took a swig of ale, watching the warforged cook.
Thuurvi turned back to Aemon, amused. "Yes, Roderik has it. 'Child of two bloods'. The Shadow Marcher orcs took in many humans long ago when none else would have them, and the admixture is a mark of pride in many parts of the Marches."Thuurvi spoke while availing herself of a plate. "Tak, Roderik. I get so hungry when I'm off my beauty sleep schedule," she mumbled, tucking into her food relentlessly.
Thuurvi leaned against the table, her curiosity piqued. “So how is it that a Xen'drik pillar winds up in the Reaches of all places?” Crumbs on the tabletop skittered away from her, wafted by unseen forces. “Were there Giant colonies established there in the past?"
"Um...colonies might be a strong word, but there's certainly evidence of Giantish construction, just up Blademark Hill.”Jacynta finally stepped a little farther into the room. “Well, Bloodmarch Hill, most people call it. Sorry, but did anyone see another halfling come through a minute ago? With red hair?"
"Yeah, he hopped on up to the deck," drawled Thuurvi. "Apologies for the term - I should be mindful that 'colonies' has all sorts of implications. Bloodmarch Hill, a colorful name. I'm sure I've walked it but don't recall that particular moniker."
Kurst and Omast rose and put away their bedrolls and the hammock. "On Bloodmarch hill the only real evidence of anything is the remains of the...foundation I guess...of a citadel that once stood there,”Roderik said, a bit subdued. “I don't think it was giant-made, however. I'm pretty sure it was made by man. Before it was destroyed."
After a time hanging back, Jacynta approached the table and climbed onto a chair next to Aemon, helping herself to a slice of his bacon. She otherwise seemed content to just listen to the morning conversation.
Thalmor’s face was stoic as he nursed his ale, listening to the half-orc woman chat with the others. His gaze seemed to be resting on a particularly interesting piece of wall detritus, lost in thought.
“Destroyed?”Aemon questioned, "what happ-"
The hatch burst open and the red-haired halfling returned, looking much more convivial than when he'd passed through earlier.
"Greetings all!"Tuk declared from the ladder. "My apologies if I was abrupt earlier, I seem to be averse to sleeping on an airship! Tuk Nimbleguts, 273rd of that name...at your service!" He delivered a sweeping bow with one hand, holding onto the ladder with the other.
Thalmor’s trance broke with a snort and a little bit of ale coming out his nose when the energetic halfling entered again. Wiping it away roughly, he shook his head and returned to his ledger.
Thuurvi chuckled at Tuk and Thalmor, but she was all about the bacon and tomatoes. "Mmph. Shpilled-yer-gutsh?"
"A stone pillar of giant-ish construction, originally from Sylbaran?”Three queried, efficiently cooking food for everyone in the galley, deftly using their large fingers in place of more traditional utensils. “Most curious.”
Tuk hopped down from the ladder, not at all discomfited that most ignored his greeting. He managed a wide smile when he spotted Jacynta. Taking a seat at the table, he grabbed whatever foodstuffs were within reach, stuffing a prodigious amount of food into his small frame.
"I do not recall any areas within the town where such a pillar might have resided,”Thuurvi mused, taking another couple pieces of bacon.
"Is it magical or psionic in nature?”Three asked, cracking some eggs to fry. “Or does the stone hold only archeological significance?"
Aemon’s ears perked up and he grabbed a muffin and slathered on a thick helping of butter. "I don't think the pillar is psionic in nature. Or arcane, for that matter. Mind you, I'm no expert. I will say it holds power. Of what kind...I cannot say." He looked around the table, picked up the plate of bacon, and peered under it before setting it down again. He called out to Engineer #3 Mk. II in the kitchen, "I say, what are you called dear fellow? And do you have any preserves hidden back there? Fig perhaps?"
"My designation is Engineer #3, Mark II. For ease of reference and brevity, most I converse with end up addressing me simply as Three.”Three piped in from the kitchen, “And yes, Master Aemon, there is a basket holding assorted preserves and jams. Would you prefer a single selection or a variety?"
"Well let's have the whole basket then,”Aemon laughed.
Omast disappeared back into the ship through the door everyone came out of, and Kurst stepped into the kitchen with Roderik where they conversed quietly with one another, laughing occasionally as the energy in the room picked up with everyone enjoying their breakfast.
Tuk listened to the discussion of the nature of the pillar being delivered to Sylbaran. He spoke up around a mouthful of food, "Giantsh like the ol' shtuff made by th' ol' giantsh." He chewed a bit and swallowed, clearing his throat, "sorry...I've heard that the giants of Droaam revere the old Xen'drik giant sites. Might be a mistake putting something like that up with a town so close..." he finished, letting the statement hang in the air.
"Mmm, I suppose that's a fair estimation Tuk,"Thuurvi nodded at him, for both his statement and his ability to eat. "But giants are not monolithic, no pun intended. The giants I knew in Droaam tended to be reverent, but there's a spectrum. Not all are - some resent their past. Some are back-to-Xen'drik nationalist or speciesist types, and those are scary indeed."
Thuurvi tapped her plate with her knife, thinking. "I suppose you'd put me on the 'cautiously reverent' part of the scale. I'm not one for enslaving elves, for instance." She made a face, shuddering, "even if they do odd things with their dead. And as for humans putting a town close to somewhere? That's what humans do. Expansionist empires or scurrying refugees, that's how my dear pinkish ancestors like to get into lands they probably shouldn't be occupying."
As the group ate, a middle-aged half-elf with a shaved head and crow's feet on his eyes stepped through the doorway from the bow of the ship that Omast just went through, followed by a younger female half-elf, her dark brown hair offset by pale green eyes. "We should arrive about an hour before the midnight bell," he instructed, speaking to her and paying everyone no mind as they headed up the ladder onto the deck. "I want us ready to turnaround by midnight so we can arrive early in Fairhaven."
"So tell me,"Aemon asked, wiping his mouth with a cloth and looking over everyone gathered, "I know dear Jacynta here, I've worked with her before. Are you all from Sylbaran?"
"Yes. From Sylbaran as much as from anywhere.”Engineer #3 Mk. II replied. “I work with the smith and magewright, and assist with the town's defense as needed."
"My apologies,”Thuurvi stated, “I think I've seen you around Three, but I'm usually running off to the woods."
"No apologies are necessary. My work typically keeps me close to Clamor, unless called on for patrol or defense work,”Three responded. “I am very rarely to be found outside the walls or in the forests."
"And a good help he is at that,"Roderik beamed at the warforged.
"Oh, of course. I've met Sara Morninghawk. Three, a pleasure.”Thuurvi smiled placidly at the 'forged. "I'm sure you do fine work,”
Everyone sat quietly for a moment, the sounds of clinking silverware and shifting chairs filling the space, as they waited for the others to respond.
Thalmor seemed to wait until the others bored holes into his skull before sighing. He leaned back, putting down the half-empty mug, raising his eyebrows at the question. "Eh? Nay. I’m a banker. Only been to Sylbaran a few times.” He watched the others’ expressions carefully. “An oath was made and broken,” he explained as if that were extensive enough.
"All right, Thalmor, I'll chew. What sort of oaths are we talking about?”Thuurvi soaked up some egg yolks with her muffin.
Thalmor shrugged, "It’s my business, that’s all. Don’t know why I thought anyone in this lot would be in league with my quarry.”
"Fair," chuckled Thuurvi. "I like to shout at ducks when I'm hunting them as well.”
"A banker! Ha. And a magewright, always a good thing to have. What brings, or -"Aemon nodded at Engineer #3 Mk. II,"- brought you to Sylbaran?"
"Only been in Sylbaran for a bit. I mainly grew up in Droaam and the Byeshk Mountains."Thuurvi wiped her plate clean with some bread, giving Thalmor a little 'cheers' with her table knife and a closed-mouth smile.
Aemon turned, looking at Tuk. "And where are you from, Master 273rd? What brings you to Sylbaran?"
Tuk took a drink, eying Aemon before answering.
"Well, I be from HalfHome, where all us Tuk's were born and bred,"Tuk said proudly, biting off a piece of buttered bread. "But, that's all gone now.”Tuk grabbed a slice of cheese and folded it with a piece of bacon into his bread. “Seems someone's got it out for us Tuks. Going ta ground, as they say, in Sylbaran. Hopin' to make meself useful..." Taking a bite, he leaned back and looked at Aemon and the rest, gauging everyone there.
"HalfHome?"Thuurvi knitted her brows. "Can't say I recall it...something happened to it?"
Kurst sighed and sat back in his chair. "Not good things, that's for sure."
Roderik nodded. "The village was hit by a landslide. Freak accident. There were a lot of good people there. Decimated it, unfortunately. My condolences, Tuk."
Thuurvi smacked her brow. "Ah, 'Steeth. I recall the name now. Only heard rumors about it and nothing about its destruction. I'm truly sorry, Tuk. The Byeshk Mountains are beautiful, but damned if they don't eat up a number of lives each year."Thuurvi sighed, pondering. "Who's really from where they were from originally, though?"
"Eberron is a fascinating place. The world is alive...it lives, it breathes, we move about and migrate, things are connected in ways that we would never guess, and may never understand."Aemon burped quietly, "excuse me," he murmured, reaching across the table. He took Thalmor's mug of beer and placed it a few inches from where he picked it up. "What connects things?" He grabbed Thuurvi's cup, and then Tuk's cup as well, moving them on the table to different spots. "Are the Eldeen Reaches forested with deep ancient woods because the Wardens and that ancient talking tree are there? Or did the tree start telling stories because the woods are so thick and old, and that brought the Wardens of the Wood to that place?" He leaned back in his chair, interlinking his fingers over his belly.
"Dragonmarks, Manifest zones, the prophecy, even the Day of Mourning...if you find an ancient pillar in a far-off land and return it to its home, what else might happen? How will Eberron change, and respond, and...adapt to such actions?" He chuckled whimsically, and gestured along the line of the beer mugs...on one end was Jacynta, on the other Engineer #3 Mk. II stood in the kitchen area, with everyone's mug in the middle in a line. "How will Siberys respond? Or Khyber? What connects disparate people together in our world?"
Thalmor gaped as his ale was moved, opening his mouth then closing it after a short moment. He grabbed the ale and held it close, as another pocket of air moved the ship in an unnerving way. “Lad, some things ain’t for moving. Better to have left them be.” He took a swig and gestured to the airship and surroundings, "damn thing shouldn’t exist for one...”
Thuurvi frowned at the mention of the Wardens. "What connects people and things? Strife and confusion, or so it seems. The whole thing is gone pear-shaped. A creation myth involving two males and one female is surely suspect to be either horribly wrong or horribly correct and absurd besides. As if menfolk of any species could create anything except spurts of..." she tipped her cup over to spill a bit of drink on the table, "...blood."
Reaching across the table to fetch his cup, Tuk observed Thuurvi drily, "The womenfolk ain't been shy of spilling the blood either, I reckon’."
"Only fair to deliver what's been given, Tuk.” replied Thuurvi. “Chivalry is dead and buried."
"Sylbaran has definitely had its share of blood spilled during the war."Roderik sighed.
“Roderik, I heard a bit about that,”Thuurvi commiserated, “but I was safe in Droaam during the War."
Thalmor leaned forward, frowning as the ship creaked loudly. “As for Eberron -” he paused looking at Aemon, “I know her well. She doesn’t like people poking where their noses don’t belong, does she?” He leaned back again and took another swig from his mug, this time holding onto the thing with an almost iron-like grip.
"Connections exist without our awareness many times.”Three leaned on the shelf in between the kitchen and the table. “A seemingly random occurrence in one city may result in a tragedy across the continent. Most people are blind to these happenings, and will never know what transpires around them. Some are more 'lucky' and will come to understand those connections. I do not yet know which is the greater mercy; awareness or ignorance."
A somber pause hung over the room.
Aemon chuckled, a huge smile on his face. "Well said," he lifted his mug of beer towards Engineer #3 Mk. II and toasted. "To awareness..." he downed the mug in one long gulp, smacking his lips, “...and to ignorance.”
“We have the afternoon to ourselves.”Aemon plunked his mug down, “I think we arrive later tonight -"
Roderik interjected. “The quartermaster said something about arriving at the eleventh bell tonight.”
"Did he?"Kurst muttered, looking at his brother while chewing on his breakfast. "I must have missed that."
"...yes, we arrive at the eleventh bell."Aemon nodded at Roderik, standing. "Right. I will be doing a presentation on the pillar around sunset. I imagine some politicians aboard will likely try to take credit. Until then -" he clapped his hands together and rubbed them. "- the day is yours to do what you will. Does anyone have anything they need to do? I know I could start with a...ah..."Aemon pointed at his empty mug and the empty craft of beer meaningfully, "...a bit of a starter. Anyone else have any plans?"
Thalmor exhaled, sighing and relaxing. "It’s as good as any meal, Aemon,” he raised his mug in salute.
"I have no pressing tasks. Most likely, I will assist with maintenance and cleaning on the vessel.”Three said, washing the dishes up.
Tuk pondered Aemon's query, "I'll likely snag a bit o' a nap, as I says, sleep wasn't comin' last night. Or I'll haunt the deck. Interesting view...more interesting conversations..." he said, trailing off mysteriously.
"Usually barley-water and tea for me, thank you. And I must go meditate to the gods in order to receive my sacred blessings of divine mercy for the day."Thuurvi said with an almost-pious expression on her face. Her lips pursed to hide her tusks, and she made her eyes puppy dog-wide for a split second, then burst out laughing. "Sorry. I can't lie to save my life. Nap, a round of song and cloud-watching on deck, and anything I can do to help without bothering the crew, that's what I have on the docket. Say, do warforged sing?"
Jacynta took a deep breath and let it out slowly, muttering, "I suppose now is as good a time as any." She continued in a more conversational tone, looking at Tuk. "Before you go, Master Nimbleguts, there's a matter we should discuss. With some privacy, if we can get any."
Thuurvi raised an eyebrow at the halflings.
Tuk sipped his drink, nodding at Jacynta, "Sure, if ya like. But, I'm no Master…”Tuk smiled, “not yet at least."
Jacynta led Tuk into a corner of the room to speak with him in hushed tones.
"I'm not much good at this kind of thing, and I don't really know how to couch the news, so I'm sorry, and maybe you've heard already, I don't know, but -"
She paused to take a breath and break her rambling. "I knew one of your - I don't know, a cousin, maybe - in Xen'drik, and...he's dead."
Tuk rubbed his face with one hand at the news, shaking his head, "Ah, 'tis sad news Jacynta, but thank you. Xen'drik you say? Hmm, could have been Tuk The Seeker...or perhaps Tuk The Lost. Hard to say, we went all over."
Tuk considered Jacynta for a moment, "I'll let you in on a secret,” he whispered, leaning closer. “Seems one of my cousins pissed off someone or something, and Tuks have been dying ever since. That landslide that took out my home? Deliberate." He spoke the last word really slowly to let its meaning sink in.
Three looked out over the group. “Do any of you require metalwork or maintenance on your equipment?"
Thalmor shook his head, grumbling, “nay, this contraption is not to my liking. I’d stay below lest anyone have use of me.” He stretched, looking a little unsettled, "an unlikely event, I expect, given that there wouldn’t be much use for a banker on an erm, airboat. But -" he raised a manicured finger, seemingly considering for a moment. “Should anyone wish to lose money in a game of cards or summat, I am certainly available to win it.” He grinned for the first time, though it was hard exactly to tell, given the length and thickness of his black, wiry facial hair. His eyes glittered mischievously.
"If it's a game of chance yer after, I'm up for it!"Tuk beamed from the corner with Jacynta.
“No, I'd just as soon toss galifars right down the latrine. I can't fool people to save my life,"Thuurvi exhaled.
"If the cards or dice are fair and balanced, I would be amenable to a game.”Three approached the table. “I admit, most humanoids are unlikely to ascertain my mental States. Perhaps dice might be the most equitable chance for each to win,”Three mused.
Aemon got a refill on his mug from Roderik and took another large swig.
Thuurvi wiped her eyes as a torrent of laughter escaped her. She picked up a leftover fork, eyes on the 'forged. "Three. Say this is a die," she dropped it casually on the table, still watching them as it whisked off to hit the wall behind Aemon, and clatter on the planks. "No dice games for me. But do enjoy."
Looking at the fork, then into his cup, Aemon glowed, “Roderik my boy, you brought me the good batch!”
Engineer #3 Mk. II watched the fork bounce away, then turned his eye-lenses back to the half-orc. "That seems like it would make things difficult, Thuurvi. Is there something that can be done to alleviate this problem? Will that pose concerns for adventuring or working with you in the future?"
"Nothing need be done Three; thank you for your concern. I just try not to drop things. Fortunately, I don't live in Sharn."Thuurvi grinned at the 'forged. "One learns to find value in one's flaws."
Male Human Film producer 3 Film director 2 Real estate investor 1
The Campaign page has new features.
Maps of Khorvaire, The Eldeen Reaches, and Sylbaran
A Dragonmarked houses summary
A Dragonmarked Houses cheat sheet
Arcane Institutions of Eberron
The Nine the Six and the One
Character links for the whole party (almost)
Sylbaran at a glance
House rules summary
Words and phrases of Eberron
The laws of the Five Nations
Male Human Film producer 3 Film director 2 Real estate investor 1
Jacynta thank you for the spoiler taglines as well! That Talenta tangat is cool looking, I dig it. Thanks for finding links to those since they wouldn't be on AoN or d20pfsrd.
Thank you for having the Feats, Traits, Flaws, and Drawbacks each separated, that makes things easier for me. And smart adding in the Elephant in the room Feats that you get for free. I WOULD ADVISE EVERYONE TO DO THAT.
Male Human Film producer 3 Film director 2 Real estate investor 1
A little, yes.
The secret trick I’ve done is create a spoiler at the bottom of your profile with all the links, then whenever you update your character in HeroLab and port it over, you already have the necessary links, and just plug them in, rather than having to look them all up.
It is a little more work for you guys on occasion that saves me a daily repeated amount of work and frustration. I appreciate it immensely, as it allows me to be able to move quickly while looking stuff up to tell a story. :)
Male Human Film producer 3 Film director 2 Real estate investor 1
Alright, goals for today:
• Finish writing out the House Rules section on the Campaign page
• Continue working on the script for the opening scenes
• Continue designing the map for the opening scenes
• Link Tuk's character page to the Campaign tab
• Recreate your characters in my HeroLab at home, if needed
Goals to hit from you folks:
• A character sheet from Catalyzer
• A character page and sheet from Tuk
• Changes to hp, AC and CMD on Thuurvi's page
• Changes to hp, AC and CMD on Engineer #3 Mk. II's page
• Changes to CMD on Thalmor's page
• Get everyone to add a quote, a portrait (except Jacynta) and a line for Hero Points just below their Init line on their character sheets
• Everyone should get max gold at 1st level. If you'd like to break down your purchases, that'll help me having to go through and do it myself
• Link any Traits, Flaws, Drawbacks, Classes, and Feats. Don't link spells, but when you cast spells DO link them then, in combat, so I have a simple reference at all times
• Continue working on where the characters are, how they might know each other, and how they could end up getting invited on this ship. (It's a bit like flying on a government transport - one does not nearly get on).
• If you can email me your HeroLab files, that makes that part super easy for me. mittean@hotmail.com
Male Human Film producer 3 Film director 2 Real estate investor 1
ShadowChemosh wanted to differentiate between a Pathfinder boomerang and a Talenta boomerang and a Xen'drik boomerang. At medium size (you'd be small as a halfling) Pathfinder is 1d6 30 ft., Talenta is 1d6 40 ft., and Xen'drik is 1d8 15 ft.
Male Human Film producer 3 Film director 2 Real estate investor 1
Actually, it does! Lol. There was a community made conversion by a guy named ShadowChemosh that made it. (I believe he's the one who made it). We have Eberron classes, races, deities, languages, ethnicities, the ECG, Faiths of Eberron, Sharn City of Towers, Races of Eberron...might not be completely perfect, but it's like 99% of what we need.
I actually didn't know that when I purchased it. When I found that out and got it working, I had to pour myself a glass of scotch in celebration. :)
Male Human Film producer 3 Film director 2 Real estate investor 1
Nice!
I am amazed...this may be my first group with zero humans in it. I tend to be a DM who likes humans...it’s a testament to the well-conceived characters you all wrote.
Okay, for the airship...the connections should be a little bit more of why you might have been included on this flight. This is a flight of delegates and such from a disparate group...there could be (you all don’t know yet) representatives from Houses Cannith, Lyrandar, Tharashk, Vadalis, or others. From Xen’drik, Breland, the Eldeen Reaches, Aundair, Sylbaran or others. Representatives from Morgrave, perhaps a couple of Zil reporters...but I want your characters to have the first connection with Sylbaran, if possible.
Your characters will need a reason to put down their lives to help this backwater town, something more than having a target to point at. I want to avoid the idea that if I was on a flight to Chile, and terrorists attacked it who are trying to make a statement and overthrow the Chilean government, and all the sudden o was caught up in a civil war, with rebel forces from Argentina trying to depose the president of Chile, but all the while my family and home and history and jobs and friends are all back in the Rocky Mountainsin the U.S...
I have a connection to starting and fighting, (I was there), but even if I agree with what’s happening, eventually, I’m gonna leave and go home, and their struggle will continue without me. It's like John McTiernan...he'll help sort out a flight that has gone wrong coming in to D.C. because he's there...but he's heading home right after, and is not going to stay in a long-term struggle against bad guys in the city. Let's not be like Die Hard, lol.
So let’s find a reason that this is a place of importance, and connection, then figure out why you’ve been selected to be a part of this flight. :)
Male Human Film producer 3 Film director 2 Real estate investor 1
Welcome to the discussion thread.
I prefer all out of game conversations posted here, if at all possible. I’ll set up the gameplay thread in a few days.
Congratulations, and thank you. I’m nervous and excited about this story.
Let’s go about creating the characters.
Goals:
- Create everyone’s characters.
- Figure out why everyone is here, and forge any pre-existing connections with the party.
- We’ll open the story on an airship heading from Sharn to Sylbaran. This is not a normal flight, but a specifically chartered flight, carrying an artifact from Xen’drik. The College of Morgrave found the item, and it is being presented to the Eldeen Reaches, and Sylbaran in particular, as it was originally from Sylbaran (it’s being returned).
- I’d like to find some connections between most of the party, I’d like to find motivations for “going on this journey”, reasons for being on this ship, etc.
- Once we sort character design, I’ll be posting a “format” to put on your pages so I can navigate them easily.
Fighting chicken are you planning on submitting any memories or background? Or did I miss that post in the shuffle?
I have at least two people who’ve privately messaged saying they’re about done with concepts and will post today.
I’ve written about 60 odd pages since I announced this, so I’m quite excited. Anyone who’s familiar at all with my storytelling style knows I take the idea of a story and completely Re-invent it. I’m pretty pleased with how this one is coming out as I’ve mapped out the plot changes and adaptations to Eberron.
Now I just need the best parts: you girls and guys. :)
I’m currently leaning towards choosing six players.
Yes, we are nearing the closing. The thread has slowed down a little, which is fine. I expect one or two more. Interest in Eberron, house rules and giantslayer is always a bit less for each of those than other potential pbp's...all three together? Lol.
Saturday night at midnight MST I will close the recruitment.
I have spent the last couple of days researching the best way to do maps. I sorted out google slides. Not my favorite (can't seem to lock certain things, no "real" line of site or darkness, no individualized views), but it seems fairly straightforward.
Looking at Fantasy Grounds, I can upgrade. This would give everyone free access to it. It would limit visuals (darkness difference for elves and humans, line of sight, etc.), but wouldn't limit movements (neither does google slides) so it would be an honor system to not go peeking. But I would need to leave my computer on all the time to provide "access". I don't mind that, I just hate it, lol. My computer is one of those bloody circus lights rigs. Big, bright, spinning lights, color-changing...yeah.
So I have a couple of options, and may actually try both. I'll likely start with Google Slides, and do some more testing of Fantasy Grounds to get the process sorted out, and figure out what kinks are in the way. (Not to kink shame).
Diamondust, I would look up House Ghallandra and House Kundarak and read through them both. You just accidentally brushed up against some of the deeper lore in the game that isn't as well known...treaties and intergovernmental mega-corp charters and such from hundreds of years ago, lol.
Yeah, Kundarak is often about security...think FDIC insured, iirc. If they DO lose your money through a robbery, or sommit like that, you don't lose your money. But a "halfling" controlled bank is interesting. The issue of course is Ghallanda...they would not in any sense ever do anything with banking as part of the original Korth edicts (I believe) and re-affirmed in the Treaty of Thronehold.
So this fits well with the Rajah, I think, and might fit okay with halflings as a small sort of "we're opening our third location! We have ten employees!" type of bank, but wouldn't work with House Ghallanda. As a matter of fact, I believe House Ghallanda would try to SHUT IT DOWN, as they do not want to potentially lose their monopolies of hotels and restaurants.
I did enjoy the idea of recalling a memory through a job interview. Clever. I like that. An uncomfortable as *clown horn* interview, for sure, lol.
That's all correct Today is a good day to...halp. :)
Captain Generica I'm fine with that idea of a changeling. No need to differentiate, unless I'm not seeing something. Use the HeroLab stats for them, which I do believe is 3.5.
Captain Generica are you leaning towards one or the other still? I dug the changeling witch turning into a hag haunted by her murdered hag mother, lol.
Also, as a note, changelings and hags are a Golarion thing, IIRC. Changelings in Eberron do not come from hags, they are their own unique race. However, I have zero issues with this being your individual story. :)
Interesting, Diamondust. I've never played with a Rajah. Seems to be a bit of Bo9S, combined with veils...intriguing. Alright! And our first Dragonmarked!
They're wonderful. He and I have been friends for quite a few years, and we've worked on developing some stuff together in the past (and present).
Yeah, having him be "Kundarak" as his last name is fine, but also, choose a smaller family name, so you'd be Thalmor Bubbleface (of House) Kundarak, or whatever.
Okay, so I just talked to Keith Baker, and he confirmed that the canon is a little inconsistent on this currently. He runs it as you were...Kundarak is the House, and he would not have the d' in front of it as he has no mark. There are lesser families inside the clans, and you would use the family name for people who know you, and the Clan name for the "general public". The example he gave was Elaydrin Vown d'Cannith...she goes by Eladrin d'Cannith, but that is not her full name.
Alignments are much more gray in Eberron. Evil creatures are not automatically "evil". So good red dragons and evil angels can totally happen. It is high magic low power, which means lots of "magic technology" like ever-burning lamps are available, but high-level characters are rare. No Fistandantilus, no Bigby or Elminster, no Mordenkainen.
The themes are much more modern as well. Whereas J.R.R. Tolkien deals with existential evil, evil as an entity, Eberron deals with the evil of people. It deals with apathy, and cold war scenarios, with WMDs and terrorism. It deals with compromise and prophecy, but the prophecy can be interpreted and influenced, rather than it influencing the world. It deals in nuance and spies and can be much more of a Sherlock Holmes/Indiana Jones/James Bond campaign setting, rather than a taking the Hobbits to Isengard/#drownDrizztwiththebathwater/Shannara story.
Crafting time will be there if needed. I'll work with the characters who craft. Mostly I am looking for the role-playing of it. But yeah, it's an option. I have never run Giantslayer, so we'll have to see as we go, lol.
I will consider characters from Path of War or Book of 9 swords.
Blues, psionic Duergar are acceptable. I haven't looked at forgeborn before...this is essentially their version of a psi-forged, yes?
I will be starting a PBP campaign hosted here on the Paizo boards.
I've been feeling it for a while and I think the time has come. So here we go:
I do NOT need you to stat your characters out, or create profiles.
I consider it rude to require you to do a lot of work and create a profile here on Paizo for a “chance”. If you are selected, then we will go through the process. If you HAVE a character already, that is great. What I want is a description of your character, and a memory or two that they have that defines them or motivates them. I don't need more than a paragraph on their background, especially if the memory is good.
If you guys want to role-play with each other, that is fine, I've seen it happen in some threads before. I would find a scene that gets you to Sylbaran in the Eldeen Reaches, to the west of Silver Lake, where we will be beginning the story. Several of you could roleplay out scenes of that nature where your stories overlap. However, you are in no way required to do that.
About the game
• Starting at 1st level
• Setting Eberron 998 YK
• System Pathfinder 1e w/ house rules
• Campaign Giantslayer
• Starting location The town of Sylbaran in the Eldeen Reaches. It lies just north of the border to Droaam, and just west of Silver Lake. This replaces 'Trunau' in my story.
• Submission deadline Today is January 20th. I will close submissions on January 30th, unless there is an abundance of need.
• I tend to run games that are more railroad than sandbox but have no problem with characters looking in the dark corners to see what is there.
• You will need to flee sometimes. I will usually hint at it pretty bluntly.
• I like political intrigue, which works well in Eberron but will likely feature much less in Giantslayer.
• I run an adult-themed game. There will be dark motifs, murder, racism, rape, torture, etc. I try to do it tastefully, and only when necessary for the story. If selected, I will ask every player what their lines in the sand are that they would prefer me not to cross.
About your character
• Acceptable Races Any core PF, as well as a warforged, shifter, Kalashtar, changeling, catfolk (I will likely khajit at you, sorry), orc, hobgoblin, goblin, tiefling, or aasimar. I would consider something else, but be aware I would have to really be sold. I am less of a fan of crazy races...like catfolk, ratfolk, tengu, etc. they don’t spark me as PCs as much, but I will still consider a submission from those races on the merits.:)
• Acceptable classes Anything Pathfinder including Occult and Unchained. The Artificer found here. I will also accept Dream-scarred Psionics and might consider Path of War, although I actually prefer Book of Nine Swords still.
• Acceptable books Any core PF 1e including Unchained and Occult, any Eberron 3.5e, as well as Dream-scarred. There is stuff in the Complete series from 3.5 I still like a lot, as well as the MIC and I'll consider anything 3.5, but reserve the right to reject it.
• I will also consider 3.5 prestige classes when we get there if I feel I can reasonably adapt the one you want to Pathfinder and Eberron.
• Eberron extras from Dragon magazine sources are totally fine.
• 25-point buy
• Dragonmarks are totally fine, as are aberrant marks.
• I’d prefer everyone to format their characters with a template I have. This makes it way easier for me to find what I need when looking something up, rather than having to find WHERE you put something.
• Zero problems with your character being LGTBQ+ in any capacity. I also have zero problems with your character being completely not okay with those things. All players are expected to be respectful of everyone else, however.
• I like a couple of character memories more than I like a backstory. In other words, don’t tell me your parents were killed...write a one or two-paragraph memory of them before they died. I can use that SO much more in-game.
As an example:
Renny was born over 100 years ago in the southern regions of the blade deserts, in what is today Valenar. Their oasis was along a trade route and as a child, she found it fascinating to learn about the different peoples and cultures that passed through. For many years she stayed at her oasis and helped out with mundane everyday tasks such as sewing, construction and repair, and welcoming visitors. However, she grew increasingly restless and one day she joined with one of the caravans passing through the area, eager to see more of the world around her.
This is well written and fun.
However, an example of one of Renny's memory might be:
“As a child, I loved the deserts of Cyre. My home. It was warm and beautiful, my parents were loving, we had everything we needed. I just...I was fascinated when caravans came through, carrying so much exotic stuff...and even more exotic people."
"There was this woman...she was old. Probably only 55 in human years, so only a few years younger than me at the time, which fascinated me to no end...but I just remember her skin. It was so bronze, so sun-kissed. She shared a pomegranate with me. The first one I’d ever had. She must have been...Thranish? Brelish? Probably Thranish, she had this tone while speaking, like she knew what good was out there, and wanted to share her certainty with everyone who hadn’t asked. Ha. As a child, I thought that was so magical, like a fairy tale. She was so nice. Now it comes off as arrogant. Well-meaning, but...but I still think about her, and that pomegranate. And home."
"I jumped on a caravan the next summer. I was way too young to leave but I had to go find more hidden treasures like that woman and her magical fruit for myself. I had to go discover something. The deserts will always be my home, but this...apparently chasing down a rabid cult of the dragon below bent on making undead were-creatures...this is my old woman with her magical fruit. This is an adventure. I don’t think I could go back. Valenar may be a kingdom of my people, but Cyre was my home. Is my home.”
The memory gives me emotion. Opinions, inferences. It connects you to a moment of your characters' past that gives them personality. You see motivations in it, and when well-written, they can be quite deep. As a DM, I can look to write characters like the woman, or add pomegranates, or other treasures like that that are NOT a longsword +1 that your character might respond to much stronger now than had they written the first backstory. And they become moments you can role-play out with your party.
The way the game will play
• I will do grouped Initiatives: Enemies, then players, so everyone can go once I post.
• I will roll your Initiatives, and most Knowledge and Perception checks. When you could know something about something, you will. When you could see something, I’ll tell you. If your character is being vigilant and checking “if they’re being followed” that is fine. That is your intention: to be vigilant and look. I’ll roll to tell you. This limits roll-fishing, and also speeds up some things; i.e. you won’t have to ASK what you know about the creature in front of you, I’ll tell anyone who made the rolls what they know as soon as you see it. I do this because PBP's are SLOW, and if we can just “step” into combat, rather than announce it, and a week later hit the surprise round, I think it will speed things up. I don’t want to take away control, but rather improve your experience.
• I will actually be building your characters in Herolab, and tracking everything at home as we play. Helps me to keep all of the conditions, etc. in line.
• All of this is intended to speed up the PBP, as slow posting can bog down a game.
• I also am not fond of huge multi-paragraph posts. I prefer smaller posts, more often, rather than a post responding to the last 15 posts. When I see a post addressing a character, and then addressing a separate character that already posted, it drags me out of the story and feels false. I recognize this won’t stop people, but I’d prefer you to come in with an understanding of my preferences.
• I use a slightly different Eberron map.
• Eberron is a civilized setting (in most places). There are laws, and you can get on the wrong side of those laws. This does NOT mean you cannot be evil or a thief. It does mean that assaulting a citizen or casting a spell in public that is prohibited can get you in trouble.
• Being evil does not mean mustache-twirling or killing innocents, robbing the party, and not being a "hero". Jaime Lannister was evil because he was willing to sacrifice others before he'd sacrifice himself. He was willing to break the law if he benefited. Once he started acting on behalf of others, even if it wouldn't benefit him was when he started an alignment shift. Selfishness runs on the evil spectrum...but a selfish hero is still a hero, for different motivations. (fame, fortune, power, etc. Or maybe they just like to kill, and "bad guys" is a target they don't go to prison for.)
• Laws of Sharn (Nothing on this website is mine. I just utilize the laws, but ignore everything else.)
• I will level you at certain story points.
• I have in the past asked questions regularly to help continually define your character. I will likely do so again, although less frequently. In the past, I gave bonus XP for this, as well as for posting, but since I am leveling at story points, that doesn't work as well. I have considered giving bonus XP that allows you to unlock your bonus Feats and Traits from Flaws and Drawbacks...sort of a lateral growth from leveling up. I'll let the group decide.
House rules:
House rules
• Active Defense. I combine this with a custom set of rules I’ve made called Reactions. When you attack a goblin, that goblin rolls Active Defense rather than AC...so an attack of 14 isn’t against an AC of 16, it's against a 1d20+6. If you succeed, you hit. If you do not succeed, the goblin gets a reaction, which creates tactical problems and advantages.
• Conversely, if I attack you, you get a Defense roll. Unless everyone objects, I’ll actually roll these. Normally, I’d roll a goblins attack, compare it to your AC and tell you if I hit or not. In this case, I will roll the attack and your Defense, and tell you if I hit or not. If I did not, I will let you know what tactical advantage you’ve gained, and then you can describe it if you'd like.
• Hit points are a little different. You’ll have more. I use wound points as well.
• Hero points. These work like advantage.
• I do use Minions, Elites, and Bosses. Be aware, a boss can solo a party if you're not careful. Bigger creatures have more hp (note: we will be fighting giants.)
• You will sometimes need to retreat. I will usually give you an idea of the expectation. (Guys, this is a fight you will lose. You should get the gem, and run. Now.)
• I may use Active Spell-casting, Overclocked spells, Wild magic, Limited spell-casting if you lack your implement, Spell critical strikes and Spell fumbles. I will only worry about those when they come up if we have classes that utilize them.
• I use some Unchained rules, for poisons, background skills, and also I use Stamina rules for Fighters and Fighters alone.
• Max gold starting for your class. Dragons (PP), Sovereigns (GP), Shillings (SP), Coppers (CP).
• Elephant in the room feat taxes.
• Flaws, Traits, and Drawbacks will be used if wanted, but not required. One Trait must be a Campaign Trait. I have listed in the Player's Guide Campaign Traits that work well, but I will consider any. Up to two Flaws and two Drawbacks, approved by me.
• I might know a guy (You create a few NPCs to introduce to the campaign).
• Wizard-types are good at Meta-magic and item creation. Sorcerer-types are good at Counter-spelling and changing magical energy to suit their needs. Clerics cause miracles to happen, they don’t “cast spells” (mechanically it is the same, however). I do not think of them as casting magic. Psionics, magic, and miracles are all different and are less effective against the other types.
• Combat maneuvers, teamwork feats, and Metamagic are different and will be explained when they come up.
I mention these mostly without details because I do not want to debate the rules in the recruitment. That is not what this forum is for. There will be House Rules, I’ll make sure you know when and where as much as I can.:)
-What I’m looking for in your submissions-
1. Did you make me smile?
I love a truly visceral response. I want to see how reading your description makes me respond.
2. Did you compel me?
At the end of the description do I immediately want to know more?
3. Was I reading about Luke the farm-boy or was I reading about Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master in hiding?
Am I reading about someone who is a hero already, or a person ready to have their life interrupted, and get caught up in extraordinary circumstances?
I want the characters in this story to feel like Peter Parker before the spider, like Frodo before Bilbo's birthday, like Tony Stark before captivity. They are high school students, and hobbits, and yes billionaires...but not heroes. Vulnerable. But once destiny grabs them by the scruffs of their necks and shakes them like a chew toy, they become something more.
4. The quality of the writing
I want someone who can use their words in a compelling fashion, who knows how to use a comma, and is not afraid of doing it. Someone who can craft a beautiful description, but can also allow brevity to carry a moment. Someone who compliments their companions.
5. Did you give me a monster to slay?
This will take a little explaining. I am looking for stories that are compelling, but that also gave me...hints. Moments that I can play with, tug, and scratch at. Something that I could draw a vivid, colorful tattoo on their lives, and have it fit both their character concept and my story. Something I could use to push their character into places they fear, or scenarios they might be uncomfortable confronting. Driving emotions of guilt, greed, desire, anger. Secrets, misunderstandings, and prejudices. I want the greatest monster that you fight in the game to be yourself and your past.
6. Was your character breathing?
Does your character feel alive? Real. Vulnerable? Could I sense memories hanging untold on the page from your character, ready to fill out the corners of their life? This is a hard one to explain, but if you've ever read a story with a lead character you just can't identify with, who is forgettable, it's likely because they weren't breathing, living. They were archetypes, with names and looks and explosions...but not great characters.
7. Did I feel you would work well, and fight well, with others? And will you fit in the campaign?
I want to know that you can work well with others, both as a player and as a character, and that your character is the right fit for Giantslayer and for Eberron both.
8. What did your character need?
I need a need. Something that your character must have, will go out of their way to get, or achieve, or stop, and that has a clock on it. It does not have to be huge...and preferably it can run tangentially to the main story. (A Thasillonian scholar hell-bent on getting inside the plume in Sandpoint to prove that his father wasn’t insane. Or a thief who needs to earn 500 Sovereigns to pay off a certain corrupt judge in Magnimar before they arrest his little sister and impound their house.)
If you would like to see an example of my DMing style, I have a Rise of the Runelords AE campaign in Eberron I ran for a bit before I had to stop because of films I was working on that year. It got super busy, unfortunately (fortunately, really, but...). It can be found here.
EltonJ a few questions.
Are psionic prestige classes from 3.5 available since we have 3.5 material in Eberron, and psionics through Ultimate psionics?
Are Eberron options from Dragon magazine acceptable?
Hobgoblins and goblins are acceptable in a lot of current Eberron stuff as player races. Are either of them acceptable here?
I handed out more note cards with quick summaries of their homelands of Tian, Mwangi, Qadira and Galt. My copy of the Rusty Dragon Inn flip mat had arrived the day before, and I was ready to go.
The princesses crested the hill, seeing Sandpoint in the distance, the small figures of citizens and possibly goblins moving through the streets. Already two or three trails of smoke were rising into the sky, and faint screams could be heard.
They hurried to the bridge across the Turandarok to the south of town, where Beauty heard the sounds of crunching and "mloming" from the side of the bridge...peering over, she spotter a goblin happily sitting in the sun eating a fish and a rock. She decided he was not threatening anyone and left him there without informing the other princesses, and they continued on into town.
Passing the Two knights brewery, they arrived at the intersection of Market Street and River street. Ahead, in front of the Rusty Dragon Inn, Mulan saw her friend Ameiko wielding a lute, trying to fight off a goblin commando wielding a horse-chopper. Several citizens fled into the safety of the Inn, while the commando decimated the lute, smashing it into dozens of pieces in Ameiko's hands. At the same time, Rapunzel spotted what looked like their wagon heading around the corner up River street, with half a dozen or so goblins.
Jasmine took a long shot (150 ft.) at the commando, rolling a natural 1, missing by a building length. Great way to start. This was the first of nine natural 1's.
Telling everyone else about the wagon, Beauty looked at Mulan. "You two help your friend, we'll get the wagon." Nodding, Jasmine joined Beauty, and they headed up the hill towards Wheen's wagons, while Rapunzel and Mulan headed to the Rusty Dragon.
Splitting the party! Haha. I was gleeful. And also smoking at the ears, as now I had to run two separate encounters at the same time, not what I had planned.
Rounding the corner, Jasmine and Beauty found that it was NOT in fact their wagon (When I rolled Perception checks to see if anyone spotted it, they all missed, but Rapunzel rolled a Natural 1, so I gave her incorrect information, that the others acted on.) Smoke was pouring out of the second floor of the building, and the cries of a child could be heard inside.
Entering the Inn, Rapunzel and Mulan found Ameiko backing away from the commando. Charging up, they both attacked, and both missed. The commando yelled at them (they don't speak goblin), and then moved away from them. Ameiko wasn't armed, so didn't threaten, and both Rapunzel and Mulan missed on their Attacks of Opportunity. The commando jumped up on a stool, and lept over the bar, disappearing behind it. My daughter (Rapunzel) said, "he just wants food!" This earned her a bottle cap (GCP; I use old coins and doubloons and such for my bottlecaps) because that was the motivations I had specifically written for this commando.
She ran up to vault the bar, and rather ungracefully was able to do so. She was joined by Mulan running around the bar and kneeing the commando in the chest, while Ameiko helped the other people in the Inn, along with Vin Vendor and Allishanda, who had followed Rapunzel and Mulan.
The commando proceeded to try to drink the alcohol behind the bar but was mostly angry it wasn't food until a crossbow bolt from Rapunzel changed his focus. He mounted the bar, fighting Rapunzel Pirates of the Caribbean style astride the bar, while Mulan attempted to attack him from below. They moved down the bar, sparring and parrying and missing and dodging for five rounds before Mulan finally landed a punch, knocking him out and sending him tumbling.
Meanwhile, in Wheen's wagons, Beauty and Jasmine found a goblin dog behind the counter eating something. Beaty ran up to stab it, while Jasmine attempted to vault the bar, and failed, ungracefully making it over to where she heard a child crying from behind it. We pictured ourselves as a band of Melissa McCarthy adventurers, just ungracefully failing 90% of the time, to great success. Rajah stayed on the other side of the counter, closer to the exit, while Jasmine interposed herself between the goblin dog and the child. Two slashes of Beauties dagger brought the goblin dog low. Hearing crying from upstairs, Jasmine started to move upstairs, as Beauty helped lift the terrified 7-year-old boy over the dying body of the goblin dog. "Get outside, out of the smoke!"
The child ran to the door, then let out a scream. Three goblins stood in the doorway. "Boy, drop prone!" yelled Beauty. Natural 20 on the boys' Wisdom check to hear and follow instructions, and he dropped to the ground. Beauty unloaded with her blunderbuss, missing everyone (thankfully also missing the boy). Jasmine had an arrow fly high, and then the second bury itself in the chest of the goblin in the doorway. Beauty yelled at them in goblin "The first goblin through that door gets blown away!" One of the goblins stepped forward, excited about being first, and Beauty missed again. Rolling a crazy response (all my goblins have a 50/50 chance of acting reasonably for insanely...he rolled insanely) he decided to dogpile the child on the ground. The third goblin clambered over the top of his dead friend and atop the boy and the second goblin, right in front of Rajah.
Jasmine put an arrow through this goblin, and then called Rajah to her, but failed her handle animal check. (for context, Jasmine is a Warhound Slayer from RogueGenius games, so she has an animal companion, i.e. Rajah) Rajah decided to move forward and attack the goblin that was dogpiling the poor (traumatized) child, hitting it twice and killing it.
Getting the child outside, Jasmine and Rajah and Beauty ran upstairs, braving smoke (forgot my stupid 20% miss chances! Bah!) to find two goblins beating down a door with another child inside, and one peeing out the second-story window onto the street below.
Beauty dazzled everyone with a flare cartridge, and Jasmine ordered Rajah to defend Beauty while she continued to fire off her last few arrows.
Beauty fired her Blunderbuss, and rolled a natural 20, confirming it, and then misfired! (Although we learned after that with a scattershot she needed to misfire against ALL THREE in her cone to actually get a misfire.) The goblins moved forward as Jasmine put arrows into each of them, and knocked the goblin peeing in the window out of it.
Finally, Beauty finished off the last goblin by launching a flair into its mouth, with another critical, while her Blunderbuss was still Broken!
Note from my girlfriend:
"I really liked this session!
Although I don't fully understand all of the complicated rules...
...and sometimes I don't roll that great (I rolled four natural 1s just in this session)...
...and I'm still pissed that I rolled a natural 20 at the end of the session, and wasn't allowed to use it for a perception check to find our missing wagon...
I also think that this session was the first time where I really enjoyed myself. Many times during gaming sessions, I feel stressed because I don't know the rules as well as I'd like, and it's difficult for me to understand what's going on (kind of like learning another language or something). But today, for the first time, I felt like I was engaging in PLAY rather than doing work.
Much of the credit for this must obviously go to Mittean as the GM for doing some really extensive and thoughtful prep work. He's putting in a lot of effort to make this an enjoyable and engaging story for us, and I really appreciate his work. The princess campaign is off to a fun start and I'm excited to see what's around the corner (hopefully it's the wagon). :P"
The session was great and rolled in at about three hours, al little over, I think. Now the party is split, Beauty and Jasmine are almost out of ammo, and there is a child still suck inside the room upstairs in Wheen's Wagons, while the building burns. Next session is 2 weeks to a month away.
The Princesses were all travelling north from Magnimar to Sandpoint. We'd met and become friends in Cheliax, along with another woman, Snow White. We decided to come to visit her (she lives in Sandpoint) as well as Mulan's friend Ameiko.
We were heading along the Lost Coast Road with a wagon full of supplies, and Vin Vendor driving his two horses when we passed an abandoned shack. When I pulled out the excellent wagon mini, there were gasps of wonder. Allishanda was with us as well, prattling on about Magnimar society folks, when we spotted some movement in the trees.
Slowing, we watched as dozens and dozens of goblins along with goblin-dogs emerged through the underbrush, crossing the road all around us, clearly heading in the direction of Sandpoint. The goblins didn't specifically seem to care that the wagon was there, or that we were. They were chanting and singing off-key in a guttural language that only Beauty understood, singing the classic goblin chants.
Seeing the look on my players' faces as I placed down close to two dozen goblins was classic. Sort of an "Oh crumb, that's not supposed to be a level one encounter!"
Beauty stepped in front of a goblin moving past us, and Intimidated it to stop, causing it to turn around and flee back the way it came.
An arrow shot out of the woods behind it, piercing the goblin, and immediately a goblin-dog started to feed on it, goring a bush red that obscured a clear view of the dead goblin.
A large bugbear with a bow appeared and sneered at the wagon party. "Stop them!" he yelled in goblin. A slightly more "senior" looking goblin grabbed the two next to him and charged us!
Rapunzel (my daughter) stepped out and smacked the first one in the face. She proceeded to try hitting with her hair and her frying pan depending on the Round and who she was attacking and rolled three total natural ones. She was quite frustrated.
Mulan moved and engaged another in hand to hand, kneeing and punching her way through several.
Beauty pulled out her blunderbuss and used some alchemical nonsense to shoot like five goblins in front of her with a dragons' breath, killing one. She struggled with not threatening a goblin every time they just ran RIGHT past her, ignoring her.
Jasmine climbed on top of the wagon, keeping Rajah to the back of it, and fired two arrows off at two goblins who were not attacking, hitting both.
I added ANOTHER two dozen goblin miniatures to the map. At this point, there were close to fifty-odd goblins and a bugbear with us.
A mutated three-armed goblin clambered over the top of the building, jumping off onto the "senior" looking goblin, killing him, as another goblin skittered under the wagon, and decided to stay there.
Beauty shot this new threat, hitting two other goblins at the same time, felling one, as Jasmine continued to fire arrows at the goblins engaged in melee with Mulan and the ones engaged with Rapunzel.
The mutated goblin charged Beauty, and failed to Bull Rush, while Allishanda passed out and fell off the cart. Vin was having a hard time controlling the horses by then, and they started to prance and move a little.
Beauty backed up and tried to shoot the mutation again, missing, when suddenly the three-armed goblin charged PAST Beauty (third missed potential AoO) at the horses, and they bolted, wagon in tow. Vin toppled from the driver's seat, as the large goblin climbed onto the wagon's front seat. On top of the wagon, Jasmine had a fantastic Reflex save to keep her feet and acrobatic check to backflip off, and landed somewhat less than gracefully, but landed it. She and Rajah then joined Rapunzel where Rajah got his first taste of goblin face.
The wagon disappeared down the road as the remainder of the goblins vanished over the hilltop. Three more goblins remained engaged with the party until we killed them. We were left with over a dozen dead goblins on the road, an unconscious actress and a fiery angry Vin Vendor. Beauties alchemy and crafting gear, along with all of Jasmine's gear, including 80 pounds of food for Rajah, was in the back of the wagon and gone.
We quickly moved around the bend to see Sandpoint, less than a kilometer away...smoke rising above the rooftops, and bells pealing the air.
We’ve decided to try something quite different at home. My daughter, 13, who’s only played once or twice, and my girlfriend who has never played both decided they’d like to try a campaign. As we were looking about, talking about options, we had a silly brainstorm one night and decided to run Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition as Disney princesses. My best mate joined in, and I thought I’d record the proceedings here for posterity and chuckles.
The goal: choose 4 Disney princesses and convert them to Pathfinder, using their (loose) stories and personalities as guideposts, and run through RotRL AE. The builds are our own interpretations, so ymmv on how “accurate” you think they are. The goal is NOT automatically to try to tell their “traditional” stories. For instance, I don’t know if I’ll have traditional villains like Mother Gothel, or Jafar or whomever, but if I CAN find fun ways to wink at their traditional stories, or Disney stories, or even OTHER Disney stories, I’d love to.
The house rules: Not many, which is highly unusual, as we were wanting to give them RAW for their first run-through. I’ve slightly adjusted their hp and how they function (closer to Starfinder), were using critical hit and fumble decks, hero points (for advantage), Feats, Flaws, Traits and Drawbacks, and some feat to combat options changes (Power attack, Weapon Finesse, etc). Also a rule for wands that expands their potential.
The tools: I’ve about four grand in minis, so we’ll be running it on the table, with fantasy grounds on my computer to access the campaign info super easy, and Herolab to track all combat. Got everyone new dice, and we’ve ordered some HeroForge minis where we needed them.
The princesses:
- We wanted four princesses, so I’ll be running a DMPC. I chose a class build I’ve always loved that runs with a really high AC, but is not a complex spellcaster, so I went with Mulan, an Unchained Master of many styles & Hungry ghost monk who will multi-class into a Bladebound Magus Kensai. She focuses on Crane style, Panther style, and her family katana that will awaken at some point is called Mushu. She is Tian.
- My daughter chose Rapunzel, and made her a White-haired Witch with a chameleon familiar. She currently is thinking she may have been a slave in Cheliax, but hails from the Mwangi expanse...making her possibly a black Rapunzel. I am fascinated by this, so we’ll see if she continues to develop her that way.
- My girlfriend chose Jasmine, and we made her a Qadiran royal. She is on a “Qadiran” (Roman) holiday, and is a Slayer Vanguard & Warhound, with a genie-touched (DM fiat) tiger animal companion named Rajah who she’ll eventually mount and ride.
- My best mate chose Belle (she goes by Beauty), and went with the more historical telling. She is from Galt and her father, an engineer for the Galt military who imported and built foreign weapons from Qadira (and Jasmines deceased father), fell afoul of a cruel Prince in Varisia. She has come to find this Prince and finalize her fathers’ debt. She is a Gun chemist Alchemist Chirurgeon with VMC in Soul bound Unchained Summoner.
We start this next weekend, after having session zero last weekend. We plan on playing at least one weekend a month.
I welcome any comments or even ideas. I’ll gladly lift something if it is a neat way to adapt the story.
male human (Chelaxian) Gunslinger Bolt ace 7/ Swashbuckler 4
This saddens me as well. But it is completely understandable, the disappointment and frustration you must be feeling in making a choice like this. If you ever do feel the need to come back...please do. You’re one of the most prolific, talented, iconic DM’s on Paizo. The community will miss you, and those of us who’ve been privileged enough to be a part of your stories infinitely more so.
Asher is a drifter, after washing out of attempting to join the Black Griffon Company in Korvosa, an Elite unite meant to defend the City-state of Korvosa as the spies of the Crown. He's honestly not sure why he washed out...or even that he actually did; but he woke up on a boat heading south across Lake Encarthan, with a tremendous headache, a black eye and a broken rib, and very few belongings. He has vague memory of taking shots of curdled blood with a troll covered in smelly smoke and a beautifully hued shawl. The wagon-driver said he was paid a hundred crowns to take Asher to Druma, and tell him he if he returns he will be arrested.
Asher has sworn off alcohol, although that likely won't actually stand. He grew up the second cousin to a Lord in Cheliax, so while not really ever having money, he grew up around money. He was warded to the Lord by his parents, who had got into a spot of financial trouble with a shipping scheme to Isger. He therefore is a bit of a conflict in himself: he's poor, but acts like he's wealthy, mostly from mimicking his cousins, who were spoiled beyond belief, and envying their positions. He feels that poor people are poor because they are lazy, and is a bit prejudiced against the short races, feeling they are not "humanoid", but make great servants.
Asher loves a good meal. Ribs, rich pastas, cheeses of all varieties, avocados and seafood...you name it, if it's well-made, he wants it. He is a fan of the way they cook in Andoran, although he would never admit it around his relations.
When Asher arrived in Druma, he just couldn't do it, so he started south, crossing the Five Kings Mountains, to look into an old friend. Tomorrow he'll hit a dreamy little stain called Penwith, where his friend lives, near the northern border of Andoran. Sigh. Likely there will be no one who knows their way around a kitchen there. All he wants is to find a place to stick his head in the sand, and make a few coins, which he is dreadfully low on, and perhaps find a woman. His days of mantras and katas and martial training and purpose of defending his homeland are done.
He wishes to wake from this unshaved nightmare and have his life back...with purpose. But having never had one, he's not sure who he should ask to give him one.
Asher is a Monk (Master of many styles, Martial artist), and will be taking levels of Magus (Kensai, Bladebound, Mindblade). He is Neutral Good, I suppose. I tend to play character, not alignment, but I'd follow the DM's lead in this. He is a little of an idealist, wanting an external life that conforms to his values, but not understanding his own values yet. He's curious, quick to implement ideas, adaptable, and can be a catalyst. He is avarice, definitely feels he wants to have it all, never feeling satisfied with what he has. He feels he will never be happy, until he finds what has always been missing. He does not know what that is.
Asher has a secret: he always actually disliked Korvosa. The people, the culture. He wants something more distanced from the greed of Cheliax, which he unfortunately exemplifies. This stems from a fear of life; he feels his life is not good enough, not worthy, easily overlooked, thus his nature of avarice. But he's never had a home he cared to defend enough to call it home.
The details, countries and what-not, can easily be changed. I've not built the character to your specifics (stats, etc), but he is built. I've never known a DM to chose someone because of how nicely they have their +2's lined up on their character sheet, but more for their back-story, and writing. I can knock out the character super fast if chosen. Thanks. :)
