Hmm... behind Belgrin to be out of harm's way, or to heal him because he's in harm's way? I guess both reasons are good. ;) He'd never live it down among the other Vigilants, though...
@ Matthias: Welcome!
Just a quick note, remember that your protection domain gives you a +1 resistance bonus to your saves that is not currently reflected on your sheet. In fact, it may be a good idea to have your domain abilities on your sheet, so that you remember to take advantage of them when needed!
D'oh! You're right, I'll get that on my sheet shortly. Good thing you checked it! :)
Hello, all!
Happy to be joining you soonishly. Locke has suggested I make a new character, either a magus or bard, as the final member to round out the party. I have concepts for each, so I'll pose it to the group: which would you prefer?
1) An undine (refluffed to water genasi or, preferably, aquatic elf) watersinger bard. Beyond the ridiculously cool ability to basically use waterbending from Avatar, it gives the opportunity to introduce a totally different culture -- especially if our DM will allow the archetype to be taken by a full or even half Alu'tel'quessir.
2) A moon elven bladebound (and possibly also kensai) magus, with the black blade reimagined as an ancestral moonblade. I've done a good amount of research on moon elf clans of Evermeet, and I really like Amarillis. It also has the added benefit of its members being explicitly stated as likely to leave Evermeet to explore the mainland.
Thoughts? Suggestions? Complaints?
...cookies?
Oh, don't you worry about harm's way, Matthias. As much space as I take up when enlarged...
Oh wait. That was a spell from our magus.
Crap. And we were making a good team too...oh well.
Well, Drake, either way, I never turn down a good support character, and I tend toward multipurpose classes most of the time myself. You go with whatever you feel inspires you most, and the story will find a place for ya. Least that's how I feel about it.
yes to cookies.
And as I have stated a bazillion times I adore Bards...so that is my vote...always my vote.
Just dont make it a her that has a crush on Hezar or he is screwed!
hey oh!!!
I sense drama approaching. There will be competition.
hezar so hopes not...he is such a nice innocent boy
Also i had forgotten about Shar. Just looked her up, that is an interesting twist. I really want to go back and see what Landon was up to!
I hope he tells us
@ Belgrin: fear not, our new sorceress can embiggen your dwarf, as well. Hopefully our third new player will drop in soon and say hi!
Hi Drake!
Both those concepts sound awesome, but I'm guessing a waterbending elf would be more useful if we moved out where there was more water? In any case, I think the magus with a moonblade sounds really cool. Kinda makes me want to run one, too! XD
Make it a female elf who's after Hezar and has the moonblade to make her wishes known... LOL
@Matthias: Congrats and welcome!
The cool part about watersingers is they gain create water on their spell list, so one can just create it, then do whatever with it. But I kind of pictured the character with a jug or gourd full of water worn as a backpack to manipulate whenever (a la Gaara, if you're familiar).
Thanks for the feedback!
Hello. It looks like I'll also be joining to round out the party...
Ifrit (Fire Genasi) Sorcerer of Fire.
I just have to complete purchases of equipment and perhaps make some final tweaks (e.g. shifting skill points around, choosing different spells, etc.)
EDIT: I should mention that she will appear as Calishite human (via a magic tattoo that hides Ifrit/Genasi features)
@Drake: Ah, that makes sense. Then either concept would probably be a lot of fun to play... It will be interesting to see where you take either one! I've never been in a game with a water elf before. How do you picture their culture?
@Amestri: And right to the other end of the spectrum, LOL! Ifrits are awesome, especially when they can pass as human. I always think of genasi as looking human, but with some minor fluff trait that betrays their heritage, but I know not everyone sees it that way. Still, it can be a lot of fun. I'm currently in a Skull & Shackles pbem game with an undine who isn't aware that he's not human. *g*
Welcome to all the new players! I'm excited to have you here, and the new energy that you will bring.
@ Drake - both sound interesting ... I like the magus, myself, but would be pleased to see either character in the game. Don't feel constrained by post-gray box canon, either! Not sure who or what Gaara is, though....
@ Matthias - a female elf magus who is actually interested in Hezar is pretty much the exact opposite of our previous magus :-)
Also, an undine and an ifrit on the same team? Sounds steamy!
Also, an undine and an ifrit on the same team? Sounds steamy!
Obligatory groan!
I had thought a dinner party was about as far as one could get from an all-out melee; I had forgotten that both are battles, in their own way :-)
A gaara fan...hoo boy. This is going to be interesting...
Also: fire and water unite? long as we don't get a wonder twin vibe goin on, I'm ok with it.
If we get two more genasi, they can summon Captain Planet! ;)
argh you beat me to it! And you would need three. You need a crappy crappy druid with a monkey and the power of HEART
I don't know what gaara is, and now I'm worried :-(
I didn't either, but I'm pretty sure it's this. At least, the picture with the water jug suggests it...
That doesn't look so bad then. Thanks! I figured it was something anime-ish, which I know nothing about.
Oh, no worries. I'm not a Gaara "fan;" I just wanted to give a visual and thematic reference of someone carrying around a supply of an element they can manipulate. Thank you, Matthias, for having the foresight to link an image for me.
so looking ahead current players, and joining ones
We are going to have to select where we go next to rouse support.
We have the dwarves that Belgrin knows
Marius' Druids (though he needs help w a rogue malarite, which Hezar has promised aid in)
The church of Helm
The elves through Janiries
Hezar's parent have some contacts with the minor "nobility" of the region
Thoughts. I think we need to assist Marius in his urgent quest first, since he has been there with us, but that is just my opinion.
I fgure we might as well work out where we go next so when we get there we can just keep cooking
heh. that's not water in the jug...
it's sand.
and he is introduced as a psycho with zero regard for human life.
Have fun with that.
And yeah I agree with helping out the druids, since we're likely to get them on our side after we scratch their backs first.
I'm all for helping the druid as well. The church of Helm would be an obvious next stop for Matthias, but he'll go wherever the party needs him, of course. :)
Drake, I eagerly await the fruits of your labour! :-)
@ everyone: after you are done at the Stendarr estate, Zazzespur would be the next logical place to go; I'm sure the church would want a full report of what has gone down at Tilver's Folly. After that: well, let's just say you have a surprise waiting for you from the church, and that the game is going to become a lot more open and sandbox-y, in it's own way.
oooh, I recognize that pattern. I played enough RPG's to know what's comin' next, I'll bet.
Hopefully, what it lacks in originality, it will make up for in fun?
A surprise waiting for you in the church? Hezar, what have you been doing?!
me? what have you been doing w the lady?
Alias up.
This seems less complicated than the other concept, and I really didn't intend to invite comparisons to anime at all.
Anyway, spell selection and backstory will be up as soon as I get the time -- likely tomorrow.
ooo i hope he is not an elitest elf that hates Hezar!
@ Drake/Soren - apologies! I'm sure any comments were made in good fun: I myself know very little of anime, for good or ill, and was just playing along.
Having said that, your character looks great! I had to look up pirhana strike, but it looks fine (power attack for dex-based combatants? interesting) and I had to check out what type of sword Aelovar was.
Anyways, all of our new characters appear just about set. Integrated them in a way that makes everyone happy is the next big step. I had floated the idea of introducing them all together, as one of the other groups that the Helmite church had sponsored; perhaps they ran into some sort of difficulties and lost several of their members.
Alternatively, we could introduce each character seperately; that does require more work, but I'd be happy to do it for the sake of Verisimilitude.
@Hezar: Quite the opposite. His sword is elitist, but he struggles to temper it with his own patience and humility. I'm going to be developing this through dialogues between Soren and the sword, which will serve not only to develop both of them as characters but also be a source of comic relief, as the two bicker a lot (cue Odd Couple theme).
@DM: I'm fine with whatever makes things run smoothly for you. I can work the Helmite church sponsorship into my backstory if you'd like. Soren's primary motivations are honing his skill and testing it against worthy opponents, learning more about his moonblade and helping it evolve, and proudly representing Clan Amarillis and the elves of Evermeet as a role model. Any number of these could be factors that might lead him to the Helmites or to the party directly.
Also, I hope the sword choice is okay. I really want to develop him as a duelist, and even though rapier would probably be more appropriate for that, moonblades are traditionally longswords, so the dueling sword seemed a good compromise. Really looking forward to 5th level when I can take Quick Draw as a regular feat and then Dueling Mastery as my bonus. En garde!
The sword choice is fine :-) Am loving the concept of his relationship with his sword, too! His reduced spellcasting is a little sad, but he looks like he's going to be quite the badass with the sword!
Okay, a preliminary backstory is up. I'll modify it based on what we decide to do with character intros, but it's serviceable for now and ends up with Soren on the mainland going all wandering swordsman or mercenary, probably ending up traveling with Helmites.
Also did spell selection, and, upon realizing Magi don't get Mage Armor for whatever stupid reason, traded my Pearl of Power for Bracers of Armor +1 (same price).
Should all be kosher.
Maybe I'll toss you a Mage Armor spell once in a while since it lasts three hours and is one of my 7 spells in the day.
Mage armour is an unusual omission; it would seem more than just a little relevant to a Magi's interests. Shield is still a good spell, but the fact that its duration is 1/60th of mage armor's makes one go hmmmm.
Took me a moment to realize your AC was bolstered by canny defence; that high INT is really going to work for you! We'll have to keep an eye open for ways to keep your AC competitive without wearing armour!
@ all three new players: did you want to all come in at the same time, the remnants of another adventuring party chartered by the church of Helm? I'd want to leave it to you to decide what happened to your party, then go from there. If we can get quick consensus on this, I can get you all into the game today or tomorrow at the latest.
I'm entirely fine with the path of least resistance for introduction. If someone else feels strongly one way or another, I'll consent.
@Amestri: Kind of you to offer -- thanks!
@DM: Maybe I should just invest in a wand of Mage Armor instead of the bracers since they don't stack?
Yeah, Mage Armor was something they didn't bother with in the Magi, mainly since, aside from the kensai archetype, they can wear armor. At least we're 3rd so you can tap into more of your INT. 1st level kensai is painful.
@Soren: You can pass me the wand so I can tap you with it, if you go that route, so you won't have to worry about UMD checks.
Yay teamwork! Love seeing that!
Sure, by all means, go for the wand - yikes, with mage armor and shield you would be a VERY difficult target to hit!
Matthias and Amestri - your call about the introductions of your characters!
Arrrgh, conflicted! Nevermind; I'll just stick with the Pearl. It's the only way I can offset the lamentable loss of Spell Recall.
It's ok Soren, Hezar sacrificed spellcasting too
I'm with Soren - whatever works best for you is fine with me.
@ Matthias, Soren, Amestri: game on! Please check out the gameplay thread :-)
soren you ever play path of radiance or radiant dawn?
there is a soren in that that has the same look as your avatar
As much as love Fire Emblem (and strategy RPGs in general), I haven't played either. Purely coincidental resemblance, but cool nonetheless.