Count of the March (Inactive)

Game Master djdust

I will be out of town on a camping trip from 4/10 through 4/17. I will be unable to post until the following Monday.

Sounds lovely, enjoy!

A week of camping! Awesome! I've been enjoying the mountains here in Washington.

Sorry folks, got absolutely smashed by work and family this last week or so, and I’m not really going to be able to get to this for at least a day or so...

@Liamae: was camping fun? Where'd you go? I hiked up the Elwha River Valley for two nights a couple weekends ago--the Olympic Peninsula is amazing.

It was a lot of fun! We stayed up in the mountains in northern Georgia, outside of a town called Suches. We visited a few places, including Tallulah Gorge, but mostly stayed in the cabin and enjoyed being in nature and disconnecting from technology for a bit. :)

Sounds great! Cabin camping is such a cozy variety. Tallulah looks gorge-ous from internet photos! I'm hoping to do get out and away from technology often this summer, too.

Attai, didnt mean to leave you hanging. Hope you are well and can get back to us soon.

It turned out to be a really busy week, and now I have my home game session tomorrow to prep for. I'll pick this back up again hopefully monday.

It's been a busy week for me as well. I'll try to get a post up tomorrow morning.

I'll be out of town from Saturday 5/29 through Sunday 6/6. Please bot me if necessary.

Currently travelling this week as well. Will try to post when I can

Hey all.

Well it’s already a long hot summer here in New Mexico. I hope everyone’s keeping cool and safe wherever you’re at.

Kytes’ original player is thinking about returning to the game, and I’d like to get a head count to see who’s still active before moving forward with that.

So, Iagon and Moira have been active, but who else is here? Liamae, Túrante, Attai?

Yeah, still here, just... struggling to follow what's going on in the story.

Admittedly, there’s a lot.

Any specific questions I can help clarify?

I, um... I feel like I can't keep the characters and agendas straight in my head. We're talking to a... Baroness now? Because... reasons? After we did some stuff in... the swamp?

I honestly have no idea what's going on or what our goals are. :(

As a newcomer, my character doesn't know a lot of stuff, so I've had to do some out of character backtracking in posts to orient myself. This one from May 2019 seems relevant:

The Marquis nods appreciatively to Kytes and extends the invitation to speak freely to everyone. The Marquis and Marquess exchange glances at the talk of devils, and Captain Rodrigue leans forward with growing interest as Attai relays the report about the hobgoblin threat.

The Captain clears his throat, “Are you suggesting the hobgoblins are in league with agents of Hell?” He chews on this new insight for a bit then turns quickly to the Marquis, “Could it be Cheliax? Preparing to weaken our backs while all eyes are turned toward Qadira?”[/b]

** spoiler omitted **

The Marquis clears his throat in turn and nods “All the more reason to unite and secure this region.” His eyes turn toward you all, “That is our first order of business.” He retrieves a Scroll of parchment from a satchel at his side and holds it for all to see, “This is why I had to stay behind while you all travelled up here. The Marquess traveled all the way from Oppara to bring me this. These are the ratified amendments to the Treaty of The Wildwood, which officially establish this trading post as a barony of Taldor and allow us to conduct our business here. After years of politics and negotiations, all it needs is the signed agreements of the other leaders of the Verduran Province. You will travel with Master Ashilia here to bring it to the Druids of the Wildwood, then take it to Baroness Devy of Belhaim, then to whoever happens to be the Mayor of Wispil on the day of your arrival.”

He lets out a sigh, then returns the scroll to his satchel, [b]“It will be a journey on the order of two weeks time, if you are met without trouble. This forest is full of dangers of every variety, which is why I need men of your capabilities to make this journey for me. In the mean time, we will have the Captain and his men here to keep us
...

One of those PbP things where two weeks turned into two years IRL, I guess! Moira's just here to try to perform a funeral because that's her thing. I don't know as much why y'all are happy to work with the marquis, though. Right now Moira is on Team Baroness in her heart!

Ok. So, to recap:

Currently you are on a diplomatic mission for the Marquis to collect signatures for the newly amended Treaty of the Wildwood. You've already got one signature from Rear Admiral Trudos, and need Baroness Devy's and also whoever happens to be the Mayor of Wispil before the treaty can be ratified.

In the course of collecting these signatures, you were sidetracked by the dryad Lilacea to eliminate the threat of chaneque in the black bog, in which you were further sidetracked in exploring the bog cave and helping the friendly fungoid Gurp kill a cave troll.

You were also sidetracked by the floundered Coriander where you saved Captain Ortego from ettercaps, spore zombie spiders, and eventually a raiding army of goblinoids.

Then there was the random encounter with the shapeshifting crow-themed fey witch Galene.

All the while, everyone's been plagued with horrific nightmares except for Túrante, who instead seems to be receiving some sort of obtuse divine guidance. Either way, no one seems to be discussing it much.

So now here you are in Belhaim, trying to be diplomatic with Baroness Devy, who just explained that she'll sign the treaty only when her presumed dead son's remains are buried next to those of her late husband.

Of course there's also the tribe of fey centaurs threatening the Marquis' outpost, that incident where the young boy Linus was kidnapped by an imp and pack of gremlins, and a dense forest filled with countless unknown dangers. Not to mention all the s!%# that went down in Cassomir that only Iagon and Liamae are privy to.

In other words...

I can totally understand if anyone is frustrated or lost, but that's pretty much by design. This is a nonlinear adventure, with no clear antagonist or single quest line. There are multiple factions with their own agendas vying for power at play, and I put the burden on you as players to figure out who is your enemy and who is your friend, and ultimately what threats or goals are worth pursuing, knowing well that anything left unpursued may eventually bite you in the ass. So, right now, nothing is meant to be clear and direct. Everything should feel obfuscated and confusing.

That being said, I've tried to create as many tools and guides for you all to help keep things straight. I can admittedly do better at keeping them updated. They should all be editable by you, so please put them to use as you see fit.

Pretty much everyone but Moira is on the Marquis' payroll, which is usually enough to get lvl 1 adventurers motivated. But now you are a mighty lvl 3. If you have your doubts, I'm probably doing a good job, or a piss poor one.

I should add, I know I’m putting a burden on you players by designing the adventure this way. If you’re used to pre-written published adventures, this may feel unfamiliar, maybe uncomfortable. But this is pretty much the type of game I enjoy playing in and running, railroad in the beginning, open bloat in the middle, singular focus in the end. I’m asking you to put your trust in me, too. I spend an unhealthy amount of time thinking and planning and formulating for the games I run. I wrote that summary without referring to any notes. So, I promise, as you hack and slash your way through this adventure, you will chart a path through the tangled briar, and if you stay in touch with your character’s motivations, your goals will become clear.

I'm still here. Like Turante, I've been a bit lost as to what's been happening in the story. That is one of the pitfalls of PbP games, especially slower-paced ones. As Moira said, two weeks in-game can easily turn into two years in real life. I'm involved in numerous games on the boards and sometimes it is hard to keep track of them all.

That said, I do appreciate all the effort you have put into this game, GM, and I'll endeavor to try to re-focus my attention. Also, I had been under the impression that the elves were still in their room while all of these conversations were happening, but I'll go back and read them again and offer Liamae's two cents later today.

I'm in no way unhappy with the DMing, I just can't keep anything in my head. I feel like I need to make a reference sheet and a relationship map just for my own use.

Thanks for the feedback, if there’s anything you feel I can do better, I am always open to hear it out. Sometimes I get spikes of anxiety around these games. It is a commitment, and I’d hate to see it fail. I did just lose in fairly quick succession three players from my “in person” home game, and that triggered panic, but I think I can pick up the pieces. Hey, as an aside, if anyone’s eager to join an ongoing campaign run on Discord for about three hours every other Sunday night, give me a shout.

I will work on updating the Campaign Info tab as well.

Attai, if you’re out there, let us know how you’re doing.

Hello everyone! Wow, wild to be back. Didn't see that coming, but quite happy it did!

I'm fairly content at this point to leave Kytes to his ride off into the sunset, so I'll be returning with a brand-new character. I've got a few mostly-formed ideas flavor-wise, but GM suggested I check in with all of you to ensure a character that's a good fit mechanically since you've lost a few players.

Leading suggestion was a beefy frontliner, but since it also appears that Attai might be gone for good I'd also be happy to play a divine caster. To that end, here are the three ideas sitting in the forefront of my mind:

*****

Green Knight Cavalier: been dying to play one of these for ages. An imposing, inscrutable knight of the woodlands that takes beating after beating and just keeps on coming. Former Bellisan logger turned sentinel of the woods. Unfortunately, I can see a dogmatic defender of nature creating more than a few derailing RP impasses, so perhaps not the best choice.

Small Tiefling Monk: dodge tank, mechanically. Fluff-wise, an absolute cinnamon roll too good for this world. Unfortunately, she's about as terrifying a thing as you've seen walking on two legs, with an ear-to-ear maw full of sharp teeth that could only be described as "lovingly rendered by Junji Ito".

Nature-Oriented Divine caster: This is the least fleshed-out, but I really like the idea of a Druid/Cleric/Shaman-type who's core tension is trying to maintain balance between civilization and nature such that *both* thrive. Begging a pardon for a second manga/anime analogy: for those who have seen Princess Mononoke, if the Green Knight PC is San, then this character would be closer to Ashitaka.

*****

Please let me know what you think! I appreciate any and all feedback, and want to create a character that brings the most possible to the group, both from a roleplaying and mechanical perspective.

I am also extremely open to suggestions/ideas beyond what I've outlined here!

Nice to meet you, RamzaB! A tanky frontliner sounds really good this punch-taking bard.

Green Knight Cavalier looks really fun. I don't mind in-story tension between different party goals. My character would lean toward preserving nature in most cases. It's also often fun to play with someone who is very excited about their character, so that's a strong point in GK's favor for me.

Been a while since I encountered a monk. They can be cool.

Natural divine casters are great, too. I can say from experience that the growth subdomain is a hoot and a half (a hoot squared!). I've always wanted to play a shaman. My shaman concept is totally ridiculous and I've never quite managed to bring it to a table just because it's so off-the-wall, but the whole class is just cool.

Nice to meet you, RamzaB! A tanky frontliner sounds really good this punch-taking bard.

Green Knight Cavalier looks really fun. I don't mind in-story tension between different party goals. My character would lean toward preserving nature in most cases. It's also often fun to play with someone who is very excited about their character, so that's a strong point in GK's favor for me.

Been a while since I encountered a monk. They can be cool.

Natural divine casters are great, too. I can say from experience that the growth subdomain is a hoot and a half (a hoot squared!). I've always wanted to play a shaman. My shaman concept is totally ridiculous and I've never quite managed to bring it to a table just because it's so off-the-wall, but the whole class is just cool.

Pleasure to meet you as well!

Would like to hear from the rest of the crew, but I appreciate your enthusiastic support for the Green Knight. She's not so much of a tank in the AC sense, but rather the "has 34hp and can keep fighting without penalty down to -17hp" sense haha. Imagine if a T-800 came after you every time you littered or cut down a tree.

Well, either the tank or the divine caster would really help, I think. Seems like we could use the healing magic!

The Green Knight sounds really cool. Go for it! We can always get a wand for Moira to heal us with. :)

Would like to make certain GM is comfortable with Green Knight, and would like to hear thoughts from Iagon.

Building all three right now, so I should be able to finalize not long after that. Will need a few days to finish my catch-up read through the campaign though.

Thanks everyone!

I like the green knight. I don't think it'll create too much conflict, and anyways, conflict is what drives narrative. As long as we can place them in or around Belhaim and find a way to join on the immediate quest, alls good with me!

I like the green knight. I don't think it'll create too much conflict, and anyways, conflict is what drives narrative. As long as we can place them in or around Belhaim and find a way to join on the immediate quest, alls good with me!

That's great! I'll see if I can thread that needle.

If not...

...well, I just had an extremely stupid Cleric idea that I'm a little in love with. How fast do you think an Ecclesitheurge grappler would die?

Here she is! Fenchurch Marsh, Green Knight Cavalier. She is a big lady that smashes things bad for nature, is extremely difficult to kill, and also has Troubles.

I tried to combine her being a polarizing figure with actual campaign-specific hooks. I think I did ok.

I realize I took a drawback that also penalizes *other party members* as well as myself. It's very thematically appropriate for her, but I will drop the drawback and the attendant extra trait if that's gonna throw water on the rest of the group's fun.

@GM: It's built into her character that The Treaty of The Wildwood is both existentially and materially very important to Fenchurch. So I figure she found out about the new ratification from one of her Wildwood contacts and set out on her own to catch up with the party to protect them/help ensure success. If there's anything about her character or background that's potentially too complicated or troublesome, I am happy to adjust and course correct.

Green Knight sounds good to me! Welcome back

Oh! One last thing: I technically fudged the WBL rules a little: you're not supposed to spend more than half you starting WBL (for beginning above level 1) on a single item. WBL gets cut in half for Automatic Bonus Progression, so I had 1,500gp to spend. My Masterwork Living Steel Greataxe came out to 820gp, smidge over. Hope that's ok. If not, I'll downgrade it to a regular Masterwork Greataxe and buy a few more potions instead.

Keep your Greataxe. Welcome aboard. Thanks for tying in to the story so far. I’ll send you some notes here in a bit.

Fenchurch, do you have a discord handle?

Fenchurch, do you have a discord handle?

I certainly do! @Bardbarian

I’ll be taking a trip up to Denver this weekend. Feel free to play out Fenchurch’s introductions. See y’all soon.

Hope everyone had a nice holiday weekend!

Big project cancelled and quarter of the company laid off.

Still have a job, but things are a mess right now.

Thanks! Hope you did too!

Sorry to hear that Túrante, hang in there.

I’ll move things forward in a bit, just trying to juggle a lot around here.

And I still don't have a (steady) job... but I'm working on that. Lost mine last year. Freelancing seems like it's picking up again, so that's good.

I managed to keep my job through the pandemic, but in a few months I'm moving halfway across the country without any idea what I'm going to do for work so... fingers crossed y'know?

This morning I added days 5 and 6 to the campaign journal, found under the campaign info tab.

The conversation with Uufanes on day 5 is probably worth rereading.

Also the raid on the grimple lair is hella fun.

Hi everyone! I used Hero Forge to get a more directly-from-my-head visualization of Fenchurch. Just about the only thing I wasn't able to represent is the bizarre collection of crude furs she has draped over herself at any given time. I linked to a screencap of it in my bio.

Very few of my tabletop pals have anything approaching artistic skill, so we often use Hero Forge to build digital sculpts closer to how the character looks in our mind. Creating an account just to use the builder is completely free, if any of you feel compelled to do the same.

@Túrante: Rolling a 20 and a 1 in immediate order might be the most quintessentially TTRPG experience there is.

Usually happens when I make an attack roll.

I will be on vacation from 8/1-8/8. Updates from me will be sporadic until I return!

A sticker in my neighborhood for Fenchurch...