- What sort of game would you all like?
- Is there anything specific that you'd like to chase, experience, explore?
- Anything that's played, cliche, or you're just tired of seeing?

I play anything, just don't throw at us the old "kick open the door,kill the orcs and take the loot.10' away along the hallway there is another door,kick it open....." game style.

No worries there....

Okay, I have reviewed all the sheets again and herein present my findings. I have done my own, but fixed things as I found them. Others are welcome to review my sheet in case I have overlooked something.

Maruusk

Okay, I have reviewed all the sheets again and herein present my findings. I have done my own, but fixed things as I found them. Others are welcome to review my sheet in case I have overlooked something.

Quinaweniel

Picture on sheet?

Armor type should be none

Current HP: 4

No weapons so add unarmed strike in there.

2 ranks in each of Search, Diplomacy, Bluff and Forgery cost you 4 each since they're non-class skills. So you're over by 8.

The sheet still more fluff, I think.

The total skill points at the bottom of the skill tab displays "32" so i thought i was ok with that

The sheet is adding up the skills as if they are all class skills, but four of them are not. If you're going to use the sheet to do the calculations, you need to check off the cross-class skills.

On the other hand, if you want to ignore those check boxes and do it manually, that's fine, but then you need to actually do the calculation...

Oh, and Combat Casting gives you +4 on your Channeling only during casting defensively, not during other uses of Channeling. So I would take the +4 out of the Misc column and just add it to the skill name, like:

Channeling (+4 casting defensively).

Guys, my apologies, but I'm going to have to drop. I hope you enjoy your travels in Norrath, may Tunare protect and guide you.

Guys, my apologies, but I'm going to have to drop. I hope you enjoy your travels in Norrath, may Tunare protect and guide you.

Easier now than mid-game. <wave>

---

Leaves you all without a healer beyond the meagre heals a BL will get at level 5.

Revery (Erudite Enchanter]
Maruusk (Vah Shir Rogue)
Quinaweniel (High Elf Magician)
Sajeek (Vah Shir Beastlord)
Tudan (Barbarian Warrior)

Guys, my apologies, but I'm going to have to drop. I hope you enjoy your travels in Norrath, may Tunare protect and guide you.

Sorry to see you go...

Want to NPC a healer? I could run one as well... How are Druids at healing?

Want to NPC a healer? I could run one as well... How are Druids at healing?

I find a flaw in my DMing, where my in-group NPCs tend to become hint machines (not to mention tedious to make them present but nearly useless in combat...though I still have to have them doing something every round, but trying hard not steal the spotlight), so I am now avoiding having them like the plague. It is a highly tactical game, so I am working hard to not adjust that balance one way or the other.

The iconic EverQuest MMORPG based a group around a tank, healer, slower and DPS. Depending on the nature of where they were going they would also pay attention to a mezzer and puller.

Your warrior is the apex of the tank role, the pets could tank as well. You have a rogue, mage and beastlord for DPS. You have a mezzer in the enchanter. You have two slowers: beastlord and enchanter. Healing-wise you're very light, with only a beastlord. The enchanter would make a decent puller if he's got a suicidal streak.

Instead of the enchanter would work, but not as well. You are welcome to retool on the fly, this is the perfect time to do so, so if someone would like to change classes I'm on board.

Druids are decent for teleportation and a number of utility spells. They make decent healers, but the cleric is superior in that role, since they not only can heal incredibly well and resurrect.

p.s. Hmm...the first resurrection will give someone an experience drop. My fix, to compensate for the barbarian's experience 5% adjustment might have been useless. If anyone has another idea, please throw it my way.

hmmmm, perhaps a Merchants Guild of Traveling Healers and potion sellers, spread throughout Norrath? Someone/thing that allows us to stock up on healing supplies?

hmmmm, perhaps a Merchants Guild of Traveling Healers and potion sellers, spread throughout Norrath? Someone/thing that allows us to stock up on healing supplies?

Not sure if EverQuest has healing potions, due to the incredible number of healing classes in the game (bard, beastlord, cleric, druid, necromancer*, paladin, ranger, and shaman). * In a real real pinch, since the process of healing causes them damage.

If it has them, not sure how expensive they would be. Looking at the other potions in the Game Master's Guide, I'd guess that they'd be hundreds of gold each. Not sure how well healing at higher levels could be managed by potions if they were a viable healing option and existed in the game. If anyone sees healing potions in one of the books please let me know.

Mike if you're wanting to be a slower and healer you might want to look at Shaman. They're both. Think the only goodly races that can be shamans are Vah Shir (here kitty kitty kitty) or Barbarians (do I look fat in this dress?).

p.s. It's always the clerics that flake out first lol :)

I could run a shaman too. I'd been mulling over putting a shaman named Gwendalyn somewhere in Tudan's background; she could be his younger, wiser, more popular and business-savvy sister. And it would be easy enough to send her off on a spirit quest if someone else wants to join the game.

In EQ2 druids were good healers,not sure of EQ.Am not at home and don't have access to my material atm.
Maybe interested in running two pcs, but not sure if my work schedule will allow me to.

On second thought, I have enough going on that I should probably only run one character.

I could run one as well...

I could run a shaman too.

Maybe interested in running two pcs

I appreciate the offers :)

To use EQ vernacular I think "boxing" (one person running two characters) would be something I would like to avoid.

If we end up with no other healer then you'll simply not have healing until level 5. Seems suicidal, but I'm sure it will be interesting. Natural healing and bandages will be key. Hope someone is a master at bind wounds.

As healers clerics can be amazingly efficient especially considering the celestial healer divine power and their buffs. Druids could make up the difference with their offence, since if the foe is up less time it certainly can't do as much damage.

The choice is yours, if you all wanted to run around as 5 wizards that would work for me (though if we could lock in the changes, or suddenly not being able to play, now it would make life easier for me to start this thing sooner rather than later).

If the book is any good at all at reproducing the online experience, then playing a warrior without a healer would be extremely tedious, even with bandages. Having lots of hitpoints would become a liability to having fun. I'd rather switch to a shaman in that case.

If the book is any good at all at reproducing the online experience, then playing a warrior without a healer would be extremely tedious, even with bandages. Having lots of hitpoints would become a liability to having fun. I'd rather switch to a shaman in that case.

It does that "LFG PST" or "Group seeks healer for Crushbone ph4t l3wtz PST" sort of vibe to it, which is nice for those that were wanting us to recreate the MMORPG experience for them.

You guys are welcome to juggle thine characters as you wish until I start training yo...err start the game. Plus it has fun side effect of us getting to watch Mike/Revery get a twitch in his eye as he tries to keep up.

Then we'll have no tank....the problem stays.
If Fredrik changes to shaman i could follow my initial idea and go wood elf ranger (of course female, i'm huge fan of elven girls :) )

Then we'll have no tank....the problem stays.

If Fredrik changes to shaman i could follow my initial idea and go wood elf ranger (of course female, i'm huge fan of elven girls :) )

Shaman are tough summabishes that later get pets. Backed by a rogue, beastlord, beastlord warder and a mage pet gives a fair amount of beef to the front lines.

Considering a slowed/debuffed mob (an EQ name for a mobile monster) being tackled by a high DPS group with a solid healer, I imagine you'll be alright against 90% of the encounters out there. Against big scary foes you'll probably have to rotate out the pain, or utilize some tactics.

All good either way though :)

<hands some Xanax to Mike>

@Gandal: Go with whatever you want to play the most. I'm switching because Tudan wouldn't be fun to play without a healer, but a tank isn't really necessary. Everyone has hitpoints.

If you'd rather play a wood elf ranger, then great. I just don't want for you to feel like you have to. ;)

P.S. Still figuring out the magic system, but the background and description are already half-formed. Just need to write them down.

Just trying to give the party a good balance offence/defence.
If everyone thinks we'll be ok i'll save the time to roll another PC,after all the magician has pets.

Updated:

Revery (Erudite Enchanter]
Maruusk (Vah Shir Rogue)
Quinaweniel (High Elf Magician)
Sajeek (Vah Shir Beastlord)
Gwendalyn (Barbarian Shaman)

I've played in several games GM'd by Xehn (under different names, of course) and based on those, everyone would do well to abandon any preconceptions you can identify of how games run. His games are different. Combats are different, role playing is of utmost importance, and thinking outside the box is definitely a boon.

I won't give away more than this, because the discovery is half the fun. Just hold onto your brains. If anyone is concerned that this game is going to be slow-paced, just don't worry about it.

So for a party as it stands, we have Beastlord, Shaman, Rogue, Magician, Enchanter. Definitely balanced enough for me, so I won't offer to change to a Druid, as I was considering. Unless the Shaman changes back into a Warrior or something.

Mike if you're wanting to be a slower and healer you might want to look at Shaman. They're both. Think the only goodly races that can be shamans are Vah Shir (here kitty kitty kitty) or Barbarians (do I look fat in this dress?).

p.s. It's always the clerics that flake out first lol :)

What's a "slower"?

As for Clerics, if they just gave all spellcasters CLW, clerics could just go away. :-)

Shaman was #2 on my list. Something I was definitely interested in playing. If someone else has a healer that they'd rather play than what they have, then I'll switch back to Tudan; otherwise, I'm sticking with what I have.

As for "slower": Shamans get spells like Drowsy and Waking Sleep that don't look so good to me. I didn't play casters much myself, but I remember the equivalent spells being better. Noticeably slowing the rate of attacks, and slowing movement too.

Still learning this magic system, but the debuffs look rather nerfed. Less effective and harder to land. Leaning more toward the buffs for this game.

Here are the first two stages of my work on Quina'w pic, i know it sucks.

Google drive 1

Google drive 2

Also sorry for the poor quality of the images,did them in haste.

This appears to be the morning of side-by-side comparisons. : )

What's a "slower"?

Shaman and Enchanters (to a lesser degree Beastlords, Bard and higher level Necromancers targeting undead) can cast spells that slow, which is much like its equivalent in Pathfinder in terms of concept, not power. Both can also haste, which is also like Pathfinder, which also amps up as they level until foes are crippled by their slow and turned into psychotic buzz saws by their haste.

Enchanter
- Level 4 (languid pace: slow 3)
- Level 5 (quickness: haste 4)
- Level 7 (alacrity: haste 5, tepid deeds: slow 4)

Shaman
- Level 2 (drowsy: slow 2)
- Level 4 (waking sleep: slow 3)
- Level 7 (quickness: haste 4)

Page 181 breaks down haste and slow, explaining their effects.

for Clerics, if they just gave all spellcasters CLW, clerics could just go away. :-)

A side-by-side comparison of the 3 core healers across the first 5 spell levels:

Druid
- Level 1 (minor healing: heal 1D10, skin like wood: +3 hps buff)
- Level 2 (cure disease: 1 effect, cure poison: 1 effect, lifeforce: cure 1D4 ability damage)
- Level 3 (light healing: heal 4D6, protection of wood: +3 hps buff for group)
- Level 4 (invigor: fatigue recovery/cure subdual damage)
- Level 5 (healing: heal 6d10)
* The druid is well suited for offence with well placed DoTs, direct damage, damage shields and battlefield control ending the fight quicker so they do not have to heal as much.

Shaman
- Level 1 (minor healing: heal 1D10, cure disease: 1 effect, inner fire +3 hps buff)
- Level 2 (cure poison: 1 effect)
- Level 3 (cure blindness, lifeforce: cure 1D4 ability damage, light healing: heal 4D6)
- Level 5 (healing: heal 6D10)
* The shaman is a master of buffing and DoTting, not to mention potentially equipped to get mana back at a rate that far exceeds most other classes with cannibalize. Their buffs and debuffs are so impressive that they will not have to heal as much.

Cleric
- Level 1 (courage: +3 hps buff, minor healing: heal 1D10, cure poison: 1 effect)
- Level 2 (cure blindness, cure disease: 1 effect, lifeforce: cure 1D4 ability damage, light healing: heal 4D6)
- Level 3 (center: +13 hps buff, invigor: fatigue recovery/cure subdual damage)
- Level 4 (reanimation: resurrection, symbol of transal: 7D6 hps buff)
- Level 5 (reconstitution: better resurrection, healing: heal 6D10, celestial remedy: delayed heal 5D10 hps each round for 4 rounds, power of life: heal ability damage/negative levels and level or ability drain)
* Bring the pain, I can heal all day in about 91 different ways.

They all start in the same place, but it doesn't take long for the cleric to pull away in terms of healing and buffing hit points. Each brings something different to the table, so it really comes down to play style.

As for "slower": Shamans get spells like Drowsy and Waking Sleep that don't look so good to me. I didn't play casters much myself, but I remember the equivalent spells being better. Noticeably slowing the rate of attacks, and slowing movement too.

I don't remember a snare component of the early slow spells.

MMORPG:
Drowsy
2: Decrease Attack Speed by 11% (L5) to 25% (L60)
3: Increase Disease Counter by 3

Waking Sleep
2: Decrease Attack Speed by 23% (L13) to 35% (L60)
3: Increase Disease Counter by 6

EverQuest suffered a great deal of power creep with later expansions. This game takes place just as the Luclin expansion came out, so the maximum level was 60 as it was with Kunark. Spells got insanely more powerful in later expansions.

Still learning this magic system, but the debuffs look rather nerfed. Less effective and harder to land. Leaning more toward the buffs for this game.

Shaman are the masters of buffing and enchanters are the masters of debuffing, though the both do a bit of the other.

Looks like the pulled it over from the game almost word for word after converting the differences in scores and changing things like stamina to constitution.

EQ RPG:
Disempower
-4 to CON
-4 to STR
-1 AC

EQ MMORPG:
Disempower
2: Decrease STA by 9 (L12) to 20 (L34)
3: Decrease STR by 13 (L12) to 15 (L16)
4: Decrease AC by 6 (L12) to 9 (L28)

The online game scales by level, which would be a nightmare to track in the RPG unless you're an accountant, so they just increased the duration to 1 minute per level, compared to the online game where it was 1.2 - 2.0 minutes.

Landing debuffs cold was always a problem, even in the game, unless you lowered their resists, which is why you have the incredibly low mana cost mala line. The first in the line for shaman is malise and enchanters have the tash line starting with tashani.

All of these things are part of the tactics I keep referencing to and making the game challenging to play.

Here are the first two stages of my work on Quina'w pic, i know it sucks.

Nice!

<distracted by nipple fabric wrinkles>

I won't give away more than this, because the discovery is half the fun. Just hold onto your brains. If anyone is concerned that this game is going to be slow-paced, just don't worry about it.

Aww shucks, flattery will permit you to survive one of the 91 encounters I have planned for you. Though you will likely die of infection a short while later, you can be proud to survive longer than the others by a fraction.

Revery wrote:

I won't give away more than this, because the discovery is half the fun. Just hold onto your brains. If anyone is concerned that this game is going to be slow-paced, just don't worry about it.

Aww shucks, flattery will permit you to survive one of the 91 encounters I have planned for you. Though you will likely die of infection a short while later, you can be proud to survive longer than the others by a fraction.

Haha, my plan is in place! That extra round alive will eventually allow me to take over the world!

Haha, my plan is in place! That extra round alive will eventually allow me to take over the world!

How sweet the peoples of Norrath erected a statue in your honou...oh nm that's just your rotting corpse :)

I think Sajeek is all set, glad to see that the group is starting is starting to form up nicely.

This is only my second time playing EverQuest, so I am fairly open to whatever awesomeness that leaks out of Xenh's brain. And have no fear people new to Xenh, it will be awesome. Or we show up at his house with torches and pitchforks, hehehehehehehehe. Nah, Xenh's campaign are a blast.

As far as adventure seeds for Xenh to play around with, hmmm. Well, Sajeek came to Norrath to find his foster parents, and has been planetside for about a year. Sajeek thought he might have picked up their trail, and then the game started totally interrupts his search.

What I would like to see in the game? Us having a good time, lol! Other then that? Maybe the chance to wander around Norrath a little bit, see the sights, make new friends. And then eat them. Sorry, don't were that last bit came from :)

... And have no fear people new to Xenh, it will be awesome. Or we show up at his house with torches and pitchforks, hehehehehehehehe.

No pressure, man.

How close are we?

<places the game in gear, but keeps the clutch in>

<put it in neutral, apply parking brake>

Not much closer. Sajeek and Revery are ready.

Marusk hasn't been touched, and I also realized he hasn't chose a first level feat.

Gwendalyn has no spells, nor has she age, height, weight, hair or eyes. It will be tough for her to see... And she is missing a feat I think.

Quinaweniel is much farther along, but skills are still over by two ranks. And you can check it for background and the like.

Like I said, I didn't play casters much myself. ;) Going off of a distant memory of partnering with different casters, I'm surprised I didn't embarrass myself more than by confusing slow and snare.

I'll try to finish her up tonight.

Not sure I follow the language stuff, I have to spend ranks to determine the proficiency? Interesting, but...

I'll put this on...

Current training points: 5
Training points used:

Maruusk: Training points?

Skill points: Why 28? It looks to me like you should have 24...
Also, how many ranks in Common do you have?

The sheet needs some character description, personality, and background, I think.

-----------------------------------------
For languages, I suggest putting the language in the skills list only if you have ranks in it. And then under languages, put the language and the rank in brackets next to it, thusly: Common (4), similar to what Davide has done.

(I'm not sure about this, because Revery has 5 ranks but a total bonus of +12 in Common - what is the total bonus good for? In the description, it talks more about Ranks than actual Language skill checks.)

Ok, please recheck...

Maruusk

Yo, okay...

You get 4 ranks in common. I think when I wrote that you hadn't mentioned common on your sheet...

Do you have a first level feat?

Unarmed Strike is 1d3.

Did you use your 7 bonus training points, or what? For what?

Alignment, armor type and starting age as mentioned before.

The equivalent of CG is Discordant Good (pg. 140).

Like I said, I didn't play casters much myself. ;) Going off of a distant memory of partnering with different casters, I'm surprised I didn't embarrass myself more than by confusing slow and snare.

I'll try to finish her up tonight.

This is my first EQ caster. I figured I'd try it because a little bird (whose current name begins with X) really likes the magic system.

Note: if you choose a metamagic feat, you still need to specify that version of the spell when you prepare it. Thus, with 4 spells and 8 slots, you can have prepared both versions of each spell; at least, until you learn anotger spell.

Quinaweniel is much farther along, but skills are still over by two ranks. And you can check it for background and the like.

Everytime i check i think they are ok now.

edit: If it works at all.

Right, it could be that the javascript on the sheet doesn't work for your browser, I can't say. For me it works swimmingly and I don't even have to add anything up...

But your latest total looks right, my bad.

Quinaweniel is ready (background not included).

Xehn, oh wise GM, everyone is doing something different for background, personality, etc. Could you check those and let us know where we are lacking?

I was going to suggest the following at the minimum:
- history
- why you are adventuring
- physical description
- personality description

I've see GMs ask for these
- Describe two people you know who are significant/an influence in your life
- Describe one enemy/nemesis you have

With no cleric, resurrections won't be all that frequent (you'll have to drag that stinking corpse to the boneknitter), so I'm deferring my decision on how to deal with post-resurrection xp loss until I have had time to muse and/or ruminate a tad more. Maybe post-rez sickness that's profound and lasts awhile...hmm...

Xehn, oh wise GM, everyone is doing something different for background, personality, etc. Could you check those and let us know where we are lacking?

My hope for the backgrounds/personality/motivation is that everyone is putting some time into their character development, so there's something that makes the character interesting/unique or simply just demonstrates that they are not an 1 dimensional NPC (people have quirks, idiosyncrasies and traits that break them free from the norm, sometimes it's just as easy as to give your character a pronounced limp, which comes with a story).

How that looks is up to each of you, my only request is that you have a solid understanding of the motivations of your character when we hit the ground running.

Time invested will match the reward.

Please post here when you feel that your character is done and ready to play. Once all have posted, and Revery/Mike's character sheet requests have been completed, I will remove the emergency brake and put this thing into gear.

Ready, Captain!

Ready, Captain!

Got a PM.

Sajeek is done.

p.s. If everyone is done the character changes that Revery/Mike is requesting and chimes in that they're done here (having completed some character "fluff" stuff) I can assure you that we start tonight.

p.p.s. Do I have an adventure planned? Nope. Do I have anything planned? Nyet. Is my intro written? Nein. Am I worried? Not at all.

For Quinaweniel i can only say that her reason for beginning the adventurer life is the fact she has been forced to (kidnapped for having seen/talked too much....the exact nature of what she saw needs to be determined if GM wants to build a scenario on it,will see later).
For physical description i'll rely on pic (when i'll be done with it),but her height,weight,eyes and hair color are on sheet;i can add her hair are very long and straight.
For personality have to work on it,but can develop her during play;for now she is so scared that she will barely talk.

Bello vedere come il GM non sia preoccupato per niente, io lo sono :P
Nice to see how the GM isn't worried at all,i'm :P

So three done and two still to come...

I hope we hear from them soon.

Sorry... election junky here. I wish that I could make progress tonight, but just not going to happen. Tomorrow, though!

Close enough, putting this in gear in the next few minutes.

Welcome aboard the good ship Ragnarok, please tip your bar wench.

<locks the door before anyone can get away>

Game is live :)

p.s. Starting you with only "vague memories" as a device to help everyone with the transition to the game world as I run it. I leave you to define what that means, but as you become more comfortable you're welcome to have your character follow suit.