oh yeah color spray would be bad but its only a 15' cone so easy to spread out. I'm good with whatever we do, I just want the game to move along.
Friendly Informational Post
I'll be attending Gencon next week from the 14th to the 18th. During this time I'll pretty much be not checking the forums with any sort of regularity. I apologize in advance for this! Please feel free to bot me as necessary during that time to allow the game to continue.
Back from the con and catching up!
Just a quick note, and I noticed a couple of us had differing XP totals, so I just went back through the thread and added it all up again. From what I see, our current total is 1,334 XP. On my character sheet, I have a link to each XP award earned if anyone wants to go look.
Gonna double check loot too, though I think we're leaving most of it anyway.
cool, I must of missed 140xp some where thanks.
Am I missing some thing that I forgot to post?
Well, I'm not sure if Randu's attempt to calm the dog worked?
to be honest I thought you would be 100 ft away and only Drogan and Grumblejack would be at the window.
Oh? I may have missed something then. I didn't think it would be just the two of them but I might have heard the plan wrong
All right, going with that, it's up to Drogan and GJ about what to do at this point. Like alerting the rest of us if it's safe or not.
By my count, We're missing two someones.
Last Posts
Tykk Raleon's - July 10th
Orodreth Míriel's - June 3rd
I looked at some other alias's they used and couldn't find anything much more recent.
So what do you want to do?
Do you want to try to escape alone, my suggestion and then we would get others to join you later
Do you want replacements? If so should we open 1 or 2 spots and any preferences. Perhaps you have a friend who would like to join?
Lyrysa I don't understand what you wrote about the names in the gameplay, is it some kind of reference?
Sorry if confusing. I have three real life brothers, Matthew, Nickolas, and Thomas. So it's kind of creepy to me that two of the guards happened to be named after two of my brothers. Didn't mean anything by it, just thought it was interesting.
No problem, I just thought I was missing some reference.
Yeah I'm all for finishing the escape and then getting a couple replacements.
I'd vote the same, let's get out of here, then find some replacements.
I could probably send out a couple PMs if you like.
I have a buddy as well that may be interested, best DM I have ever played with, he is a great story teller. He also has played in a few play by post on other boards.
Time to find those replacements.
As before 1 or 2? Which roles?
I would like them to join before continuing much.
With Drogan and I we should have arcane and divine covered, and Drogan and Randu should cover front liner. In my opinion, a skill person and/or a dedicated range fighter are our biggest gaps. Of course just my opinions. What do you two think?
Also just mentioning the discussion thread didn't show as updated to me, I just happened to notice it was towards the top. Not sure if Randu and Drogan see the same thing or not.
I had trouble with updates earlier but not for this campaign. Go fig.
I definitely agreed with a skilled type. Any other could be a bit more open if we get two.
Do you want one or two? You started five because of the many submissions, but the adventure path is written to four players.
I think we should try with just one more. A bard would be best I think, giving us skills and boosting Randu and I at the front. I am very week HP wise until we hit level 5 and I become undead from the vampire feats. Another Ranger type would be bad either, but I think Bard would be best. As long as its not a dawnflower dervish.
Would you like us to level now?
I've always been a fan of the five player group myself. But if people would prefer 4 I'm not gonna argue.
I'd say go for 5 myself, a lot of players would love the chance, but I'm good with four. I don't mind another front liner either, though I'd prefer not another ranger... that might be too much on my toes
So 2 more it seems. Perhaps a bard and another frontliner?
Did you have any friends who wanted to join? If not I'll open recruitment.
I'll send out a couple PMs. Thought I might know a couple players, but they decided to go a different route. I'm not sure how hopeful though on my end, so I'd recommend a recruitment unless Drogan or Randu have better luck.
I'll give the next act a look and see if we can continue a bit as not to stop the story while waiting. There might be an option later to naturally include new players.
My one budy I though would be interested said he is too busy and he forgets to check pbp so he is out. So just open recruitment.
take a look in the recruitment thread and tell me if you like anyone of the submissions. Either here or by PM. When we agree on there is enough good submission, I close it 24 hours later.
Lady Adriana is good, it covers skills, Diplomacy which we currently lack and being a bard gives us the inspire plus additional arcane support. Also checked Havocprince and he/she is active with over 1200 post. So I choose Lady Adriana.
Erodin, and Karn both look ok as well and both have over a 1000 post and seem active. The other antipaladin seems ok but hasn't done ability scores yet in focus/foible. Erodin is probably the best front line guy, should have a decent AC, and two weapon fighting with a bard in the group will be pretty good, and Karn seems to be Cha focused more like the Bard so I would choose Erodin.
My votes, Adriana, and Erodin
I'd like to point out we aren't exactly lacking on the diplomacy front (Lyrysa does have a +10).
Adriana - As far as concept, it's only a little blurb but I like it. As far as mechanics, it looks like she went court bard archetype and is strongly focused on Diplomacy (+15 at level two, with the ability to buff it). With court bard she loses Inspire Courage (so she won't be helping that two-weapon fighter), inspire competence, and bardic knowledge. I won't lie, those are three of the big things I would have preferred a bard for.
Out of combat she'd be a valuable asset even with the overlap on myself. Aside from the charisma skills, she has sense motive and perception, both of which are useful.
In combat her performance looks to be debuffing rather than buffing until she gets inspire greatness. Glorious Epic (replaces dirge of doom) is a neat ability that makes enemies flat-footed. Beyond performance her only combat spell is Hideous Laughter. An 8 strength means not much for melee, but a 17 dex could help with range, just lacks feats.
Erodin - First off, a +10 stealth on a fighter caught my eye, colored me intrigued. I like his backstory, a disgruntled soldier. I went through some of his other campaigns as well and liked what I saw. So overall in concept I like it.
Out of combat, he has skills. Stealth, Climb, Acrobatics, 2 knowledge skills! Still liking what I see here. Depending on what we end up having to do mission wise he could be useful there.
In combat. Great dex, decent str and con. Two-weapon means no shield. I think he'll be more than decent on that end and a great complement to Randu.
Karn - Concept, his backstory is okay. I think it could have been fleshed out a bit more, specifically two points. His love having been killed. Was it sacrificial killing? Why did he suspect the priest but no one else did? Why wasn't a search done? The other is why he agreed to work for Thorn? I could see why Thorn wants him, but why did Karn agree?
Out of combat. Skill-wise he says he has 5 ranks, but I only count 4 spent. He also doesn't have the 2 extra from character creation. He did take a rank in disguise, and he's focused on intimidate. I agree with Drogan on the Charisma focus, but aside from those two doesn't have that many skills devoted to it. His Aura of Obedience and Cruety's are very nice though.
In combat. What can I say, he's an antipaladin! He'll lack the self healing of a regular paladin, but smite good is pretty darn good in and of itself anyway.
Raymond de la Chation - It looks like his stats were rolled back in January for another game, so I haven't really looked at him as a candidate yet.
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Overall, I'd have to say of the three, I really like Erodin and think he'd fit well. I'd say Adriana over Karn for multiple reasons for the fifth spot, but to be truthful I'd like to see what else may pop up first.
Yeah I didn't realize court bard gave up inspire courage. I would love to see a fallen Aasimar bard just focused on buffing and adding additional arcane support. Could even fill the Ranged combat role. I agree with Erodin though, so lets see what else comes up.
I'd give it a bit longer. I admit, I'm looking more at the backstories than the crunch. How Randu might interact with each, as imo, particularly for evil types, a certain degree of getting along will be required.
Adriana is a good match story wise. Her entire noble house full of closeted lawful evils? He'd probably envy her childhood :) and he would share many of her goals (Seeing the 'return to the old ways' as meaning nobles stop coddling weaklings) as ones he shared
Erodin is formidable. I think Randu would feel slightly conflicted about this. One one hand, Randu really DOES believe in superior blood lines and the like, on the other, he could certainly understand the desire to remove someone for incompetence and weakness. Randu would probably see the man as extremely talented peasant with promise of becoming something more. He got along well enough with Orodeth after all
Karn started out as a believer in the system, Randu never really was, but their mutual noble bloodlines plus new goals to wipe out the current regime would automatically have Randu give him instant respect at least at the start. They probably differ on just what new order should form in how to keep it. Randu wants everyone to know their place and act it, even if it's abusive. Karn seems to want a bit more protection for others.
None of those three would really clash with Randu too much, I don't think, or vice versa. That's good.
Raymond however probably would. Randu's backstory would have him possibly BE one of the noble bullies in Raymond's own.
So I think the only one I think wouldnt be a good fit would be Raymond, but it's nothing the player did.
Any of the other three would be fine and I'm having a hard time deciding. If you want to wait another day or two to see if anyone else pops up, that's fine too.
I think we'll give it two more days. Thanks for your detailed inputs.
Sorry to post up here but I want you all to know I am not against changing out the archetype. I just like the idea of court bard for how much it can hinder opponents. The scaling bonus to diplomacy is nice too. I could go just straight bard if it would be better for the party.
I think if we are adding another front line person the Bard archtype does not matter as much. If we were just going to be a party of 4 then I would say not having inspire courage could be a big deal. I admit I didn't check the backgrounds much. I want active players more than ones that can write a good story. I think too often games select good story tellers over ones that post often on the boards. PBP gives the opportunity to tell stories that people can learn to do better, but they have to be active for this to work. :) So I will check back in tomorrow to give an offical vote.
Vehz and Drax certainly come across as very different. The Alchemist might be almost too nice for the group (N alignment) but has a rather detailed backstory, the fighter/monk has less to go with, but might fit in better. Any thoughts on them?
I'll probably have to wait until tonight to go through them in detail. From a quick glance.
I liked Vehz's backstory, it gives some idea of who he is but leaves quite a bit open for development. I am concerned about how he would interact with my own (being a slaver and all). We might not get along that well. On the other hand it could also have interesting RP developments out of it. I don't know enough about the vivisectionist archetype to give a good mechanical opinion either, though in general I'm a fan of alchemists. Also he has a low postcount, which means he's untested as of the moment.
Drax is fairly barebone concept-wise, not really enough to give me an impression positive or negative. Mechanically I'm also not quite certain what he's going for. I'd like to take a look when I have more time. One thing of note. He has a feat, Web of Steel, that I haven't heard of and seems to be a bit on the strong side IMO based on his sheet's description.
I wish I thought of getting that brand removed. Randu will want to have that done eventually
Yeah Web of Steel opened my eyes as well, seems its 3rd party Super Genius Games. looks like he is going Sword Lord. Its a good defensive build. His AC will end up pretty high his damage will be fair. I haven't looked at the alchemist yet. I do love alchemist as well and the vivisectionist is strong. But if the post count is low I probably wont vote for he/she. I want active people and an active game. We have been moving well lately and I want to keep up the pace.
You can get the idea when you see Drogan :)
Yeah Web of Steel opened my eyes as well, seems its 3rd party Super Genius Games. looks like he is going Sword Lord. Its a good defensive build. His AC will end up pretty high his damage will be fair. I haven't looked at the alchemist yet. I do love alchemist as well and the vivisectionist is strong. But if the post count is low I probably wont vote for he/she. I want active people and an active game. We have been moving well lately and I want to keep up the pace.
We have been going along pretty smoothly of late. I think I'm getting a bit more into Randu's skin (not TOO much I hope, he is a bad guy ;)).
While I see your point, I remember my early times applying. I'm grateful someone gave me the shot, so sometimes I feel the urge to pay it forward.
You can get the idea when you see Drogan :)
Good point!
I know I thought the same when starting out. I always think when I'm not selected to a game that it will fall apart because of posting :) So I will consider him. Lets see what we have by tomorrow.
Got in mind who you want yet, OM?
I am not sure yet, leaning towards Erodin and Adriana, but I am going to spend some time today going over all the submissions again. Let me know if you want to voice your opinion, I'll take what you have already written into account.
After looking through again, I still stand with Erodin and Adriana.
I think they both hold up well even against the newer ones. Points to Adriana for her willingness to be flexible (though I'm perfectly fine with the Court Bard archetype)
Thank you for the vote of confidence. Now for a vote, keep archetype or switch to bard?