Black Tom's Castle Whiterock

Game Master Black Tom

You will all be starting at at the Slumbering Drake Inn (including alternates) near Byrny in the Wilderlands. Please post here as you finalize your characters and ask questions here as we tailor your backgrounds to each other and to the campaign.

It's up to you to decide whether you know each others or not. I will try to get each of you a specific hook, but I'll need a few days for this. I hope to get the game proper started sometime during the coming week.

Thanks for the opportunity, BT! Looking forward to this. Any input regarding background will be greatly appreciated.

Welcome aboard, everyone!

Looking forward to the game... sounds like fun!

edit: Just so you know in advance, I will be going on a retreat Thurs - Sunday of this week. I WILL have internet access during the retreat, so can post without issues, but Thursday and Sunday will be long days of driving without stopping for free wifi anywhere, so those two days I will have limited posting during the day (will be on at nighttime tho).

I as well am very grateful for the opportunity! I am incredibly curious to see how this all turns out, and excited to be part of the procession.

This is Torr... I'll be posting under this different alias as I modified the old one for a different campaign...

Whoops, Sorry I didnt see that we had started this yesterday. Well, I'll be keeping better track now that I know that we have started the ball

Well, at least there are four of us. :)

Torr, you need to change your avatar and drop the traits.

ooops, didn't notice I'd picked the same avatar - I will do so. no traits, eh? ok. - done

I thought I was leaving on my retreat on Thursday but just found out we will be leaving tomorrow - so I'll be on the road most of tomorrow (tues) and wont be able to check in until we get to our destination - sometime late afternoon-early evening - Just letting you know so you won't think I'm flaking if I don't post.

Eider: in the context of the campaign world you would be Tharbrian, the barbarian race of the West. It's mostly flavor, but it does entail that you get Ride and Survival as class skills and that you need to spend a language to learn Common. Hope that's OK.

Torric, you would be Alryan, the city-dwelling race that dominates this part of the world. Mechanically it gives you a +1 bonus to Diplomacy.

Here are your suggested adventure hooks:

Tyros:

Torric:

Eider:

Philander:

Let's see if Jim turns up too.

I'll need to make a few adjustments to accommodate for the loss of common. Also, if Ride and Survival are already class skills, does this constitute some form of bonus, or no?

*edit* Also, what is my base language?

No bonus, sorry. Your base language is Tharbrian.

Alright, I have made the necessary adjustments for this in my character profile.

The gameplay thread is now active.

Sitting in the inn at a small table with a map in front of her, Melima looks up at her travel companion in deep thought. "I wish we could find a lead some where to help track him down." Melima says out loud to herself. Her blue haired travel companion nods in agreement before going to go get more wine for them.

Sorry for the delay, BT. I've been totally slammed with work this week. I should have my background done and a post up in the IC thread tomorrow evening. Thanks!

I'm still here - just on a retreat and posting will be slow this week. I will still post at least once a day - once we get started in earnest that is. Sorry I missed yesterday, but paizo site was down for hours last night while I was trying to access it - then I fell asleep - just woke up a little after midnight and found it on, and here I am... 1 am and insomniac

I'm just dotting to post for the night, and just waiting for other people to show up in the game thread.

Dot for review.

Sorry, I forgot to post that I am removing myself from consideration for this campaign. Feel free to give my spot to someone else.

Good luck,everyone!

(Just wanted to post this in this forum as well to make sure it wasn't missed)

Dotting once again.

Flaeg, you look fine. You can have Xanthar's spot. Melima, you can have Philander's spot in the main party. Still waiting for Tyros.

Eider and Torric are confirmed for the main party.

Dot.

Zababa, you look fine too. You and Flaeg are currently the only confirmed alternates.

Thanks, Tom!

OK, Zababa, you are in. Please post in the gameplay thread. I don't know where Torric and Eider went, but I can accommodate five players.

Thom do you object if my Eidolon, Hector has his own "profile" as he is a biped humanoid.

No problem. You're still aware that your summoning list is going to be severely hampered, yes?

On an unrelated note, you all start with one hero point. Look in my profile for a list of their uses, but we'll get back to that when you get some more of them.

I'm still interested in running a second party if I ever get players for it, but right now I'm just glad I got one party running.

Yes and the only thing I plan on summoning is my Eidolon. My thought process on progression is going to be buffing and playing a support character.

That's admirable, and actually worth a hero point. We'll see how it pans out.

I suppose that means summoning is hampered all around, eh? Not that it is a real issue, as my plans for summoning were going to almost be strictly elementals. I may need to rethink my feat strategy though.

As well, I probably need to do some tactical rethinking with the lack of a dedicated healer (or determine how to work that role myself).

Actually Summon Nature's Ally will work just fine. But you are right about the lack of a dedicated healer. I know that you will have an alchemist and a paladin later on, but right now you are a bit light on healing.

So, fight Defensively and hope for the best? Gotcha!

Or Lady Chauntessa gives us a wand with a few charges of CLW?

I have some good news, people. I just realized that since this is a 3.5 adventure, it will work best with fast progression, and since no old characters wanted to join, continuity is not an issue. That means that we're going to use fast progression.

I believe that is what one calls a "win".

Thanks BT!!

I will be leaving on a retreat in a few minutes and may or may not have internet access until Sunday evening. If I don't, GM, please bot my character for me.

Well, congratulations on your first big victory. There will of course be some mopping up and exploring to do, but you have done well. I like both your tactics and the way you play your characters so I am very happy with this party.

With Eider leaving, you are a bit light on healing though. Once you level up, both Tyros and Torric will be able to contribute some healing, but right now, you can hardly use a Wand of CLW. I think you're pretty well balanced though, and I like to have a small party, but it may leave you vulnerable if any player drops out.

So I guess we should recruit a healer, or what say you? We could also go the gritty route and let you heal naturally, but that might get tedious.

I can always switch to heals if need be

I could switch to a Bard with the Archaeologist archtype without significantly affecting how I play my character. At level 2 they can Disable Device on magical traps like rogues, and CLW is on the Bard list as well as UMD being a class skill.

Lost my dot. There it is!

I could switch to a Bard with the Archaeologist archtype without significantly affecting how I play my character. At level 2 they can Disable Device on magical traps like rogues, and CLW is on the Bard list as well as UMD being a class skill.

Your Archaeologist looks good, Zababa. You could take a level in Rogue at a later date to pick up Sneak Attack and Disable Device as a class skill if you feel it would be needed.

Crap, I missed that DD wasn't a Class skill. :\ That's why I like Traits: with a few notable exceptions, I can get almost any skill as Class! I'd probably change the level 1 feat to be Skill Focus instead of Weapon Finesse... but then I'd be absolutely useless in combat.

Maybe a cleric, instead? With a good Int score, I could still have decent skills.

I've got a gnome archivist bard with an 8 strength in another PbP. Even without Weapon Finesse he's been able to contribute significantly in combat with buffing spells, flanking, and using Aid Another to grant allies either a +2 to hit or +2 to AC against a shared foe (only have to hit AC 10 to successfully Aid Another). And if you drop Weapon Finesse now you could always pick it up at Level 3.

A cleric would be welcome as well - perhaps one with the Knowledge domain to reflect Zababa's love for books and stories. Although I really see him as more of a bard (either as an Archaeologist, an Archivist, or without an archetype.

Sorry about the slow updates. I realize that I am more exhausted than I like to admit. I'm not dropping any of my games though, but it may be a bit until I'm up to speed. Pushing myself is not really an option, as I have learned the hard way.

I'm fine with Zababa retraining as an Archaeologist if that suits you, but I don't want you to make any more major changes. I guess you don't want any more party members, which is fine by me. That will mean a quicker progression and more loot for you. We'll deal with the healing problem later. At least you will certainly be able to afford a CLW wand or two for now.

Loot compilation coming up as soon as I can manage.

My opinion isn't so much "no more party members" as it is the simple expediency of not delaying things while you recruit replacements.

No worries, BT. This is a crazy time of the year. Take your time and rest up. We'll be here!

And I'm fine with sticking with 4 PCs if that would be easier.

4 is fine with me too - we can revisit the idea of more if anyone else drops out.

The guard captain answers: "Actually, we can take it from here. Well done, guys. Have you been able to rescue any of their victims?"