|
Welcome! Feel free to chat here, especially while I get the campaign info up and the game thread on the go.
To start the conversation, the game assumes that your characters know each other and are part of an established group that's travelling and adventuring together. I was thinking as an adventuring company. Does your adventuring group have a name?
Hello, hello. Thanks for letting me take part in another of your games, CrazyHedhegod, this is sure to be a blast. For those of you I do not know yet, greetings; I look forward to crushing the Red Hand with you.
Adventuring group seems a good fit. Looks like we are all Neutral Good so philosophically it makes good sense. Ambrose is bound to Brindol but is a knight errant of sorts patrolling the Vale, so I don't think he would mind banding together with some like-minded individuals. As for a name, I see Ambrose as more of a mid-latecomer to the company, after its inception anyway, so I'll leave that decision to the others.
Hello, I'll echo Ambrose, thanks! I have never owned or played this one so it will be a totally new experience and I'm looking forward to it. I did see that James Jacobs was one of the authors, so it will be interesting to experience some of his earlier work.
I'm fine with an experienced adventuring group. For names, oy, I'll throw a few out there, but I'm not attached to anything.
- Band of the Black Sigil
- Company of the Frozen Bear
- The Doom of Tercil
- The Lights of Viermar
- The Nightwatch
Hello, all! I still need to revamp Keliwyn and make sure he's outfitted properly, but will hopefully take care of that today. As for how he fits in with the company, I'll need to work on that as well.
Hey, Crazy, are you going to set this in Golarion, or are you leaving it in the Forgotten Realms? Just curious, so I can flesh out my background a little better.
Geraint! It's good to be playing with you again.
|
|
Hi, the action in this game takes place in a fairly defined area known as Elsir Vale. Rather than set it in an established world such as Golarion or the Forgotten Realms, I've decided to establish it as a small homebrew setting. I've started collecting any setting iformation in the campaign thread here.
Any areas outside of the Vale can be further defined as needed. feel free to have a look at the thread just now, i'm hoping to get the rest of the infoup this weekend and perhaps we can begin play after that. Would have gotten it all up tonight, but now I'm looking after a teething baby.:)
Here is a nice, large map of Elsir Vale with certain non-player knowledge locations taken off of it that I had saved from when I ran the campaign if you find it useful, CH.
http://philippinerpg.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/elsir-vale-complete.jpg
Linkified:
I finished updating Keliwyn, and he's ready to go, although I can't drop the Korvosa from his name.
Keliwyn's first impression is that of a well polished and put together young man in the human equivalent of his late twenties. His hair is usually pulled back in a deliberate effort to accent his elven ears and features. He wears well maintained clothes with intricate elvish designs, polished boots and a finely crafted brooch holding his cloak. In general, everything Keliwyn does is well though out - including how he dresses. Although he has a few choice items and impeccably maintains his clothes, it is all done so as to allow him to interact with a wide range of people, from the common worker in the typical pub, to members of royalty and society.
As a person, Keliwyn is very friendly and seemingly forthright. He is always sympathetic and willing to listen to people's opinions and problems, even if only calculated so as to gain their trust. He is, quite often, the smiling, happy guy in the pub willing to buy drinks for complete strangers, quick with a pat on the back, and willing to help those in need.
Keliwyn has only recently joined his traveling companions, having been sent by an elven population near the vale to look into growing reports of goblin & hobgoblin activity. Keliwyn has been used before to act behind the scenes, gather information, and generally keep tabs on what's going on around the region. Depending on one's political inclinations, he is a man-on-the-street, intelligence officer, or, as some would say, spy.
|
|
Here is a nice, large map of Elsir Vale with certain non-player knowledge locations taken off of it that I had saved from when I ran the campaign if you find it useful, CH.
http://philippinerpg.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/elsir-vale-complete.jpg
Wow, that's great. Would you mind if I used that link as a replacement in the campaign info? It would be much better for players.
|
|
I finished updating Keliwyn, and he's ready to go, although I can't drop the Korvosa from his name.
Well met, Keliwyn. For those of you I haven't gamed with already, I'm Nick, in my thirties with two kids. A librarian by trade, though at the moment I'm between jobs owing to the fact that we've just moved house to a new town.
Wow, that's great. Would you mind if I used that link as a replacement in the campaign info? It would be much better for players.
It isn't my creation; just something I found on a google search a while back. I don't see a problem in linking to it. I know on the old WotC forums there was a whole resource thread for Red Hand stuff where a lot of people did PC maps for Elsir Vale, so there's a number of them on google image search.
My horse's name is Smoke and her stats are in the spoiler block in my profile. I will add in description and background tomorrow, as well.
CH, I have taken the Arcane Bond, linked to my signet ring. But I also have a wolf animal companion. And a light horse.
I took a thrush familiar whose name is Abukcheech. I've added the stats in a spoiler.
Got my sheet up (finally, after losing it for three times while saving it).
Nick, not sure if you would allow two traits (basic and racial) to have the same effect. Basic: Reactionary / Racial: Warrior of Old, both giving +2 on initiative. If not, I'll take the Highlander trait instead of Warrior of Old.
Background story will follow later.
Keliwyn's done and ready to go.
As for me, I'm Bill. I live in Arlington, VA, I just turned 40, I'm married w/ two lovely little girls, and I'm a lawyer by profession.
I'm Werner. Live in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (wrong side of the Atlantic), married, no kids and a forwarder by profession.
Looking forward to playing with y'all.
Michael. Chicago, IL. Run the Chicago office of a marketing agency. Married. Two boys who both play Pathfinder too. Definitely looking forward to the game.
Hello all,
I was away at the weekend and somehow this passed me by.
Really looking forward to the adventure: Aleste is a happy-go-lucky character who has seen a thing or two, I think he would probably have been in and out of the established adventuring party: raising money to fund a lab, blowing up the lab, joining up with his friends and then repeating the cycle all over again.
I've got decent skills and can blow stuff up but I'm not so useful in melee and am nobody's idea of a party face.
I'm Shawn, 24, living in Riverside, MD (about 20 miles out from Baltimore). I pay the bills as a third-shift retail supervisor but I hardly let that be a defining factor in my existence; I am a writer by hobby-hopefully-turned-trade.
CH, I was wondering what your view on the concepts of knighthood would be in this campaign. I think a character goal of Ambrose's will be that he aims to legitimately become knighted under Lord Jarmaath. Mechanically I suppose he is already rather knightly but from a roleplaying perspective, he'll be aiming to prove himself worthy of it if such a thing were to exist in this.
Used to live in Baltimore...and then in Glen Burnie, hon. Worked at Aberdeen Proving Ground (blowing stuff up in RL) and then for EDS (now HP) in Herndon. That was several moves ago :)
I live about 5 minutes from APG. The explosions help me sleep, to be honest.
I'm a teacher, living in Oxfordshire UK.
Any suggestions for a god for a good alchemist?
|
|
Alrighty then! We're all here. I'll try to post tonight, but I have two small children who-will-not-go-to-sleep, so may not get the post up til tomorrow. I'll do my best.
Hello Aleste! I live in the UK as well, near Edinburgh, but originally from USofA. A possible god for alchemists could be Moradin. I tried to open up the race-centric deities so that for example Moradin wasn't only suitable for dwarves. Or, alchemy could be a new discipline that's close enough to magic to attract followers of Boccob, or even Wee Jas. And your character sounds like a bit of a wandering soul, so could be associated with Fharlanghn the Traveler.
|
|
CH, I was wondering what your view on the concepts of knighthood would be in this campaign. I think a character goal of Ambrose's will be that he aims to legitimately become knighted under Lord Jarmaath. Mechanically I suppose he is already rather knightly but from a roleplaying perspective, he'll be aiming to prove himself worthy of it if such a thing were to exist in this.
Brindol does indeed have an order of knighthood, though few manage to attain that status. Knights of the Order of the Lion's Claw are those warriors who have proven themselves as steadfast and brave in the defense of the city and its citizens. After several years of peace, the order's membership has dwindled as few have devoted themselves to the martial training necessary to meet the order's standard.
You could consider yourself to be on the path to attaining membership to the order, with true knighthood to come as you go up in level. There could also be a similar order devoted to the city of Dennovar, or perhaps the time has come for some heroes to create an order dedicated to the defense of the Vale as a whole!
|
|
Got my sheet up (finally, after losing it for three times while saving it).
Nick, not sure if you would allow two traits (basic and racial) to have the same effect. Basic: Reactionary / Racial: Warrior of Old, both giving +2 on initiative. If not, I'll take the Highlander trait instead of Warrior of Old.
Background story will follow later.
Hey Werner, glad you were able to get your sheet up finally. That's a good question. There are no rules that disallow it, though basically you're getting the benefits of Improved Initiative. I'd say I'll allow it, though you'll need to find a way to make a point of role-playing the backgrounds for the two traits.
Thanks, Nick. Got an idea in my head that would explain the whole character concept I'm envisioning. Including the two traits, based on the description provided in the APG for those.
I'd like to play it that Keliwyn is not already part of the group, so I'll wait for an appropriate time to introduce him once they are in town, if that's alright with everyone.
Fine by me. I figure Ambrose has only just joined up with the group as they came into the Vale, perhaps a few days previously. Though I could make it so that he was on an emissary mission outside of the Vale and met them elsewhere, if need be.
Hunting goblins in the mountains around the vale, on my way to town to restock supplies I joined up with those members if the party as I came across their camp late one evening.
Do we want to try a different origin? Right now Helaku and Aleste are the only ones that have not expressed a desire to join the group in the Vale. I certainly don't have an issue with a small group. Maybe we were a group of two or maybe our companions were horribly killed in our last adventure or something. Maybe it doesn't really matter and we're just four people coming into town who meet Keliwyn shortly thereafter.
- Ambrose - just joined the group as they came into the Vale
- Shaylar - joined group in Vale on way to town
- Keliwyn - wants to join group at appropriate time in town
|
|
Sure, that's no problem. As Helaku says, perhaps he and Aleste are travelling together and the rest of you naturally just fall in with the group.
Keliwyn, if you want to join in town that's fine, just means you have to wait a bit.
Do you want me to wait until you work out the background, or shall I continue just now?
I think that works. Ready when you are.
Initiative question:
Nick, what kind of terrain are we in at the moment?
If mountains/hills there is another +2 bonus on top of my total modifier of 12. If not my initiative should be 24, otherwise 26.
Die-roll: 10
Improved initiative: +4
Reactionary trait: +2
Warrior of Old trait: +2
Dexterity bonus: +4
Favored terrain: +2 (if mountains/hills)
What's the height on those ridges along the sides of the road? Able to get a mount up there, perhaps with a ride check?
|
|
The top of the rise on each side of the road is about 10ft higher than the road. This is difficult terrain and costs 2 squares to move one square. The forest at the top of the rise is filled with light undergrowth which counts as an obstacle.
Thanks for the reminder, Shaylar. I've updated the initiative list. Though the road is currently running through a small dell, the terrain is generally flat in this area, so no terrain bonus at the moment.
Nick, decided against doing two traits that both give initiative bonus. Think it's more like two items giving the same bonus to AC for example, which don't stack either. I'll drop Reactionary in favor of Highlander.
|
|
Hey guys, I may need to take a short break - I'm entertaining a relative visiting from the US and I'm not sure I'll have the opportunity to post over the next few days. If I can, I will, but otherwise I should be back posting again by Wednesday 13th.
BTW, how are you guys finding the game? Are the maps helpful? I think this is intentionally a tough encounter, to set the tone of the game, though it does seem that the dicebot is against you guys. I know we've just started, and Keliwyn still to join the group, but do you feel the party would benefit from a sixth member?
I think that, talking from what I recall from playing this one before, a sixth player would not be too much ;-)
The game so far is fun, even if the dicebot is doing its level best to set my blood to boiling. But such are the woes of a gamer ;-)
Not sure, if we can take down a few of these quickly then it'll start to get a lot easier. My concern is that we're fighting one of those 'hey, this is a really low CR encounter according to the rules but actually being swamped by people a few levels below you can be really deadly without the right party set-up' type of encounters.
Generally, one CR6 foe is easier than 4 CR4 foes backed up by 20 (because they didn't count in 3.5) CR1/2 foes.
I quite like toughing it out though, gives me a chance to starting learning how to play an alchemist (never played one before) at the margins.
This also seems a group that would excel with planning and/or placement. Not the best control test when you're on the wrong side of an ambush, I think. The hobgoblins certainly have the upper hand on us now. This is a tough adventure, but the current situation skews perception a bit. On the other hand, we do have a lack of healing and area of effect, and you know how much these published adventures assume that every group is packing fireball and a cleric.
Where is everybody? My power was out for a few days, and I expected to find myself playing catch-up.
Sorry about my absence. Last week before my vacation and things are just crazy. And on top of that, I got an intern to train. Nice scheduling. NOT! Will pick up as soon as possible.
I'm in the same boat BTW. A couple big pitches at work, Paizocon this week, a couple things due for Open Design, and another week of vacation later in July. Busy, busy. GMNPC me if I slow anything down.