1. downrightamazed as Taisper Stosz, Human Inquisitor of Abadar
2. Sigz as Berrin Myrdal, Human Fighter
3. smashthedean as Zander Orlovsky, Human Archer
4. vagrant-poet as Tandlara Esirrian, Elf Witch
5. Rellen as Verik Jarrow, Human Cleric of Abadar
6. ___________________________________________________________
Okay, what does the party still need? Anyone have any strong feelings?
Let's get everybody checked in and character sheets all done.
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Do you have a preferred format for character sheets DM Barcas? I keep hearing people mention profiles, but I've not tried using that yet, should not be a problem. If left to my own devices I would probably use the DnDSheets.com PF sheet - looks exactly like a typical character sheet I would use for RL play.
As to a 6th player I've looked through and all the characters that really grabbed me are already in the line up. I don't think we are really lacking anything, but I might lean towards a little more arcane umph, its the only area we don't have multiple characters covering.
vagrant-poet: Out of nosiness what hex/hexes are you planning on taking?
Just pick someone with an interesting story and I'd be happy with that!
Or rather, what skills are we lacking? We have a decent amount of magic, and plenty of healing. As three of us can use wands of clw!
T= Taisper (not sure what ranks you put where, so just marking +4 or better skills)
Z = Zander
B = Berrin
Ta=Tandlara
Acrobatics, Appraise, Bluff (B, T), Climb (B, Z), Craft, Diplomacy (T), Disable Device, Disguise, Escape Artist, Fly(Not Neccesary), Handle Animal, Heal (Ta), Intimidate (B, T), Knowledge (Arcana), Knowledge (Dungeoneering), Knowledge (Engineering), Knowledge (Geography), Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Local), Knowledge (Nature) (Ta), Knowledge (Nobility), Knowledge (Planes) (Ta), Knowledge (Religion) (T), Linguistics, Perception (T, Z, Ta), Perform (Not neccesary), Profession (Not neccesary), Ride, Sense Motive (T), Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft (Ta), Stealth (Z), Survival (B, Z, Ta), Swim (B), Use Magic Device
I don't have any for Rellen. But as an int 10 cleric, theres only so much new stuff he can bring. A dedicated stealthy or knowledge character would be good. Or a combination of both.
As for kingdom roles. Tandlara's not a leader, and Verrik is an organiser rather than front-man.
Nobody has high Cha. So we need a king/queen. Cha is so vital to the ruler and the kingdom that we need someone with at least 16.
I like Tandlara as she is, but could do her as a fey blood sorcerer. Rulership doesn't seem to suit her though. So I reccomend a new character to be royalty. Maybe a bard, as they'd fill all the slots?
Maybe announce what we need and give people a day or two to come with their best attempts, and the winner takes the prize?
vagrant-poet: Out of nosiness what hex/hexes are you planning on taking?
I have evil eye, I might take healing just because it suits her, but I'm open to suggestions.
P.S. Sorry to talk your ears off! I'm very, very grateful I was selected!
Berrin would step up if necesary but I don't see him as a ruler either. We're definately lacking in the knowledge department and í think thats a bigger issue than the stealth department.
A bard would be nice yes. He would cover everything we need I reckon, skills, spells and kingdom role.
Oh quick question by the way.
Taisapr is from Alkenstar, is he Garundi and the blondness a carryover from a previous incarnation?
Or are his family from Avistan, and have become localised after a few generations? Maybe the descendants of slaves who fled from Geb/Nex/Katapesh?
Either is cool, if he's Garundi it makes him suitably exotic, which will likely help woo a few ladies, if he's Avistani that explains why he might want to bring civilisation back to Northern Avistan, his ancestral homeland.
Just wanted to get a strong mental image.
I'm being very chatty!
But another NG character would be nice! Two LG Abadarians, Two CG warriors so far! And the white witch!
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Not selected skills yet, but at Tandlara rightly says there's only so much an Int 10 cleric can bring to the table in that department. If DM Barcas has no objections I might switch from travel to trade which would boost Verik's social skills at higher level substantially, I'll likley start with ranks in Diplomacy, Knowledge Religion, Sense motive, and Profession Bureaucrat.
Trait wise I will probably take Ease of Faith and Suspicious.
Do we need royalty? I would prefer not to use it. There are many other forms of government and I would prefer a system which does not necessarily elevate one character above the others. A council system perhaps? Even a Republic. A monarchy has the advantage of having an inherently strong symbol, but something without an institutionalized nobility allows for a land of opportunity sell. 40 acres and a mule for everybody! (Minimal Owl Bears!)
I should add that I'm only very vaguely familiar with Kingmaker so I don't know if it makes any stipulations, but I keep hearing its the ultimate sandbox.
Actually I had a great way to make a democracy.
Replace the King with a President but keep the rules as they are. Then replace the Councillor by a Senate, etc. And use the average of the councillors scores as the bonus given.
Hold elections every 4 years with campaigns using Diplomacy checks, getting bonuses for money spent on campainging and previous success and penalties for previous failures.
Don't really change the rules at all. All the other major seats are Ministers of various departments.
Have 1 councillor/s per 1000/2000 people.
[DRAWBACK: No queen, so no secondary ruler. And it should give an overall -2 to Stability, but +2 to Loyalty. People like the freedom, but politicians bicker and squabble where a king would act decisively. And is often more militant.]
For a rulling council replace King and council with a Council of 3-8 people. Average their highest mental scores (at least one must use cha, one use int, one use wis) and apply this to both The kings and the councillors relvant areas. Assuming its an oligarchy, with merchants gaining an important place. Set +2 Economy, -2 Loyalty. The council are good for business, as thats their livelihood, the middle classes flourish. But they are not as strong a symbol as a king, and don't have royal investment to excuse hard choices.
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On a completely different note, I'm rather saddened to see the return of 1 levels dips. That was one thing I was very pleased to get rid of from 3.5, but that oracle ability that gives Cha to AC instead of Dex... Very disappointing. I actually think that background wise, etc., Jemini was my favorite of those not selected, but the build just sticks in my craw as excessively twinky. I know I'm being judgey, but dipping into a class for an awesome ability was one of the things that really got my goat in 3.5, and 3 classes by 3rd level...
Yeah, I've always preffered having full class characters. Or multiclassing with some grand purpose involved. Mechanically motivated multiclassing isn't my thing. But it is for some people.
It's an oracle of nature ability though, so it'll be obvious when it doesn't suit a character or not. Level dipping wont ever go away. And some people like it, more power to them. It's just not my thing.
Especially with archetypes, the need to multiclass is lessened.
question: Are we using tha Hero Point system?
I'm all for a monarchy. I can actually envision Berrin as the relucant warrior king, charisma can be upped with magic items for the dice roller but I'd be more worried about his wisdom score when it comes to roleplaying ;)
@Rellen; Have you checked out plothook.net? They have a pathfinder sheet there wich has the CMB/CMD blocks that are missing on the dndsheet. Link to my previous kingmaker character, he was supposed to have been the sorcerous general/king but the game died last summer.
Sheet fluffed. Going to shop a bit more.
@Rellen; Hmm.. Good point. I assumed average.
I know Zander will definitely be opposed to a Monarchy as he's pretty much all "for the people" and whatnot. I'm thinking a Representative Democracy will probably be the way to go.
As for other characters to add, I'm thinking a Rogue or a Bard would be useful. Bard might be especially nice to have for the Cha bonus, considering that we have a pretty high point buy, we'll be doing better than average on all of the other government roles so we most likely won't suffer much from a lower Cha President/Prime Minister.
If I get a chance today I'll go through all of the current apps and make my recommendation. I started making an Excel chart of my own last night, but I forgot to save it unfortunately. Whoever we choose as our sixth it looks like we have a pretty awesome crew and I'm super excited to get this game going :)
Thats two against monarchy.
Frankly Tandlara would be pro-monarchy, because elves are very traditional for chaotic creatures. However if a non-monarchial system is undertaken, she will throw her full support behind it with no bitterness.
We of course have a parlimentary Monarchy. Have the Councillor replaced with a House of Representatives who have equal power to the established king.
Using Britain as an example, one Representtive per hex owned by the kingdom seems like a good metric. The councillor bonus replaced by the average wis/cha of the parliment.
Since the nation is still in its infancy we'll probably want to start off by ruling by council and also have representatives from each hex in House of Commons type setting where they can vote on issues that are submitted to us and then we act on them or something like that. I think that it's probably best to stick with the mechanics set out by the AP if possible and tweak the names and things. Also I don't want us getting voted out of office :P
Lol, we are probably getting somewhat ahead of ourselves in anycase. Really looking forward to playing with you all folks - I'm jazzed!
Haha, it's true. One one hand I'm tempted to say we wait longer to get more applicants and on the other hand I'm saying we grab someone up to get started :)
I prefer my character sheets in the same format that I use, such as Sir Damian. No spoiler boxes for statistical information.
Based on what I have found to work in my Star Wars game and a few game I'm playing in, I've got a few guidelines. Having researched your writing styles, I have confidence that you can stick to it.
1. This is a story and should be presented in a narrative form. Use proper punctuation, capitalization, and grammar. I know that everyone's not a native English speaker, so don't worry about getting it perfect.
2. "Speaking is in bold." 'Thoughts are in italics.' Actions are in normal font.
3. We'll be using present tense.
4. When in combat, put this at the top: [ooc]Round 1, Initiative 20[/b]. This will keep us organized during combat.
5. We'll be using GoogleDocs spreadsheet as the combat map. Ask Sigz, it works and is cooler than it seems. If you can't access GoogleDocs from work, we can work around that.
6. Experience! You can earn additional experience through good writing. I typically award 5 points for a basic post, 10 points for a decent post, 15 points for a great post, and 20 points for a truly amazing post.
Here's an example of the kind of post that I like.
Sounds good. Got my profile updated to the new format. I noticed your sample profile listed Hero Points and I saw that Berrin mentioned them; are we planning to use them? If so I'll update my profile with those.
EDIT: Ha, beaten on the Hero Point question.
Hero points are in, as per the APG. SRD link.
You will receive maximum starting gold, to represent Brevoy's backing of the expedition.
Ooh max gold. Zander's got a new chain shirt! :)
o.O Max gold O.o
I'll have to shop more then. *sigh* Maybee a horse?...
If this were a movie, what actor would you have playing your character?
A blond Natalie Portman or Cate Blanchett all Galadriel'd up maybe? I'm terrible at this question. Can never think of good selections!
I'm thinking a long-haired Ray Stevenson would fit the bill perfectly.
Tough question. I think I'll go with Sam Rockwell. He's a little older than Zander, but looks young enough and would be wearing either a mask or heavy prothetics the whole time anyway. Also he's got the acting chops to pull off the role which I doubt a lot of younger actors would be able to do.
Done. I picked up some more stuff.
Question; Am I the guide? Cause Berrin bought a compass and a footprint book for aid in such matters.
"What!?!" Berrin exlaimes looking indignant, turning from the group he gives an embarased cough as he stares at his compass as if willing it to give up some seacret. "No. No of course I'm not lost."
I'm leaning towards Jemini, with Betony, Erdukk, and Sir Gavin not far behind. Jemini's level-dipping does concern me, though.
What do y'all think?
I'm not overly concerned with the level-dipping as she seems to have the backstory and roleplay plans to back it up. My general stance on character optimization is that if it isn't over the top and the player puts the effort into creating a backstory to support their build, it's all good in my mind. As long as Jemini roleplays her incredible clumsiness correctly, I have no problem with her setup.
Of the current applicants I would say it is probably mostly between Jemini and Betony in my mind with Jemini slightly leading due to the usefulness of her high Charisma, but Betony keeping pace due to the coolness of a wolf-riding Gnome Cavalier.
Also, I could see an interesting dynamic between Zander and Jemini with her noble background and his mistrust of people with noble backgrounds.
Jemini looks like a solid bet. A high Cha character would be good as a ruler/president. It'd be easy to have alot of peasants vote for someone with noble training. Its what their used to. And she's a genuinely good person, who would surely subject to having a parliment.
And +5 bonus is really helpful for a young kingdom!
Being a Brevic native helps in my opinion too!
If your worried about level dipping, ask her not to do it!
Oh and Verrik's speed is reduced to 30 ft by his armor unless I'm much mistaken.
OHAI
Okay, I've invited Jemini in.
@Jemini As you may have read in the last few posts, the dipping is not my favorite thing. How would you feel about limiting yourself to Paladin/Oracle without too much Fighter? I don't want her stepping too much on Berrin's toes.
Taisper walks in and sees everyone chatting. "Was that 4 AM or PM?" he wonders to himself. Oh well, no matter, here were more friends. A capable-looking group. "Hi everybody, I'm Taisper, hope I didn't miss much important!" as he says this he removes an alarming array of weapons from his person and sets them on the nearby table. "Hey I would've been here sooner, but my uncle, back in Alkenstar City? He's rather a sot, and he gets rowdy in his cups and so as an agent of the Church of the First Vault, you know, I couldn't have him disturbing the peace like that. So I hauled him in front of a Judge for Pronouncement and the judge says, he says 'Tipsy Stosz, you've been brought here for drinking!' and my uncle he smiles really wide and he says 'GREAT! Let's get started.'"
Taisper smiles winningly as crickets chirp all around him. "So! What are we talking about, then?"
Oh quick question by the way.
Taisapr is from Alkenstar, is he Garundi and the blondness a carryover from a previous incarnation?
Or are his family from Avistan, and have become localised after a few generations? Maybe the descendants of slaves who fled from Geb/Nex/Katapesh?
Either is cool, if he's Garundi it makes him suitably exotic, which will likely help woo a few ladies, if he's Avistani that explains why he might want to bring civilisation back to Northern Avistan, his ancestral homeland.
Just wanted to get a strong mental image.
Well, he's from a poor, working class background, and I'd always pictured him being very down-homey, with VERY mixed blood. So kind of all of the above?
An, er, "unwelcome" slaver/slave union is definitely in his past.
I'm being very chatty!
But another NG character would be nice! Two LG Abadarians, Two CG warriors so far! And the white witch!
Taisper's actually LN.
If this were a movie, what actor would you have playing your character?
Matthew Mcconaughey ETA: though upon further consideration I don't have the CHA for that. I guess that leaves me with...Owen Wilson?
@DM Barcas: adjusted Taisper's age downward a bit, as I'm sharpening his role into inquisitor it seemed somehow more sinister if he was even younger. Lemme know if that's a non-starter.
Other than that, will finish refining character sheet tonight, all my stuff-n-fluff should be in place, just need to tweak format and make sure I didn't miss anything in the build adjustments.
If this were a movie, what actor would you have playing your character?Matthew Mcconaughey ETA: though upon further consideration I don't have the CHA for that. I guess that leaves me with...Owen Wilson?
We can't have two Owen Wilsons! One of you has to take Luke.
Done. I picked up some more stuff.
Question; Am I the guide? Cause Berrin bought a compass and a footprint book for aid in such matters.
I don't have a compass or anything like that, but Zander has pretty decent Survival that he'll be putting ranks into to help with tracking and guide-type stuff.
Radical suggestion spawned by the Luke/Owen Wilson thing: perhaps they can be brothers, as they are quite similar but different. Verik's only made 3 posts and can still change his alias for another 7.
Just an idea. Tell me what you think.
Tandlara smiles faintly at the human man's story. This one is barely more than a child, even by human standards. Tandlara assumes anyway, she had always found human measures of time difficult to grasp. Even after spending longer using them than most humans.
'Hello Taispar. I am Tandlara. I beleive we were seeing who has a mount for the upcoming expedition to, what was it, Oleg's. Yes that' the one,' she smiles disconcertingly at him again. Lips twitching only slightly, face calm, eyes gazing at him with an intensity most civilised people would consider rude.
The original intention for Jemini was:
Level 1 - paladin
Level 2 - oracle
Level 3 - paladin
Level 4 - fighter
Level 5 - fighter
Level 6 - fighter
Level 7 - fighter
Level 8 - fighter
Level 9 - fighter
Level 10 - paladin
...
So to eliminate the dip I should remove oracle. Alternatively I can eliminate fighter entirely (and keep a 1 level dip in oracle). Or even stay a pure paladin (and reduce Charisma to 18 and adjust a bit to moderate the Dexterity score).
I understand the concern with regards to dipping, I usually play pure classes myself. On the other hand, sometimes I like tinkering and re-flavoring mechanics to create something original. :)
I'm perfectly fine with any of the options mentioned; let me know and I'll adjust her ASAP
Hello faithful leader type! Pleased to make your ado!