Welcome to the game! I look forward to a fun campaign.
Take some time to introduce yourselves and figure out if and how your characters know each other. I will be posting some more basic starting information soon. :)
Hello!
Some notes:
I will roll passive Perception, Knowledge, and Sense Motive checks for your characters when the situation calls for them. To speed things along in combat, I will roll initiative for everybody. Those whose initiative scores are higher than the enemies can post their actions, I'll summarize the results and the monster's actions, then everybody can post for the following round's actions.
I am usually online weekdays between 5:00 AM and noon, and can check in sporadically the rest of the afternoon. I will try to post at least once a day during the weekend, but my access is limited on the weekends.
The game begins in the small town of Phaendar. The town grew around the tumbledown ruins of an old Chelish bastion, and now a citizenry of 400 makes up its permanent population, spread between the town and outlying farms. An informal town council oversees the community, largely to organize festivals and collect funds for repairs, but the people of Phaendar generally resent anyone assuming too much control over the community, and they steadfastly refuse to elect anyone to positions like sheriff or mayor.
Phaendar’s central square consists of a few small businesses: the Taproot Inn, the Trading Company, and an auction house and theater, as well as two dozen small family homes that double as workshops for leather- and woodworkers. Most of the town consists of wood and thatch structures, plus a few canvas-walled pavilions. Monsters, bandits, and even the occasional Molthuni raid destroy property too often for most Phaendari to feel the expense of long-standing stone buildings to be worth the investment.
Notable characters include Aubrin the Green, a cleric of Cayden Cailean and former Chernasardo ranger; Father Noelan, a cleric of Erastil who runs the local shrine; Smith Kining Blondebeard, a female dwarf who runs the Phaendar Trading Company; and Vane Oreld, owner of an alchemist's shop and the closest thing the town has to a doctor.
Phaendar is nestled along the southern bank of the Marideth River, a stone’s throw from the Southern Fangwood Forest. Trade comes through the town over Phaendar Bridge, the only suitable place to traverse the swift, rapid-coursed river for 50 miles in either direction. The town of 400 residents rarely sees any excitement, making the Market Festival a major source of news, entertainment, and revenue. The 2-day affair, held once every 3 months, gathers farmers and herders from across the Nesmian Plains, as well as woodcutters from the nearby Fangwood and prospectors from the Hollow Hills, to trade for supplies and raw materials. Even traders from the “big city” of Tamran make their way to the event, swelling the town’s population to half again its normal size.
As the adventure begins, the stalls have closed at sunset, and townsfolk and visitors alike retire for some humble drinking and carousing. You should decide among you where your group has gone to relax: Oreld's Fine Shop, the Phaendar Trading Company, the Riverwood Shrine, or the Taproot Inn.
Thanks for having me. I'll have Mia's profile up tonight. As for a meeting place, I vote for the Taproot Inn.
Inn sounds good.
It works for me. I had written up that I was staying there tonight anyway. I'll have the alias populated after work today.
I look forward to playing with you all, or in some cases some more.
Did we plan to use background skills in our group or not? It won't take much for me to add them in but I haven't done so yet since I wasn't sure if we'd use them or not. For the record I am very much for them as they help flesh out a character in my opinion.
Go for the background skills. :)
Okies.
Gotta take care of my background skills too, but hanging out at the Taproot sounds perfectly wonderful to me. Minto agrees, don't you, boy?
*pant* *pant*
Sounds like the inn it is, then. I'll have the gameplay thread up shortly.
The gameplay thread is now up. :)
Okies, will have actual gameplay post up when I get home in a bit.
Before I get a post in Griffo, given my background having lived mostly in the Fangwood and learning of Gozreh from the local druids while tending to the trees and selling herbs in town, do you want our characters to know each other, or of each other anyway? Makes sense to me given my backstory but thought I'd check with you.
I've been scratching my head all day, don't know if Surma would know anyone or not.
Natives of Phaendar probably know Mia on sight. Now, whether they know as a person is up to you. She's been hanging out on the edge of town for a few years now. Most would probably have heard the rumors about her, though I think that's more up to the GM than me.
Speaking of...
How do you want to handle Mia's mother calling her? Do you want me to play it out, or will you shoot me a message when she's doing it?
Before I get a post in Griffo, given my background having lived mostly in the Fangwood and learning of Gozreh from the local druids while tending to the trees and selling herbs in town, do you want our characters to know each other, or of each other anyway? Makes sense to me given my backstory but thought I'd check with you.
That sounds fine with me. Griffo's more old school in his religion, though. He follows the Green Faith. So he's probably not one of the druids you've been looking to directly for spiritual guidance - more like a friend with a similar but somewhat different focus for his spirituality when we hang out at the ecumenical pot luck on alternate Sundays.
Sounds good Griffo.
Okay. Thanks for running with it like this, GM. I'm glad you're having fun too.
I'll post in the game thread tonight.
Thinking about it, Griffo and Eilyne have probably met Mia before. She's a trapper that's been living on her own for a few years at the edge of town, and before that was raised by a bitter, rumor-mongering woman called Mama Grotti. Given the size of the town, anyone who's visited in the past 18 years has probably heard rumors about Mia, most of which claim she's some sort of demon or monster.
Surma, how is your character's backstory coming along?
Sorry it's taken me this long, I pretty much hit a wall but I think I've gotten over it, will have backstory and gameplay post up in a bit.
Surma was never quite that passive. Aggressive even for her size and among her litter-mates the young Witchwolf left against her family's wishes to join the militia when she heard stories of the growing conflicts and realized how dire it was. Though young she was relentless and soon found herself assigned to a large strike team formed for an important attack.
Ramgate.
She doesn't think she'll ever forget that night. It was supposed to be glorious, they were supposed to be heroes, but the failure and slaughter that followed was nothing but horrific. Part of the aid group rather than the direct attackers she only managed to survive through grim luck, if you could call it even that.
An errant bomb tore through her group and sent her sprawling into a depression near a tree, her allies, or what was left of them, following soon after and gruesomely obscuring her survival. Through pain and shock all she could do was watch and listen as the rest of the night unfolded, the screams and explosions and sound of fires still getting to her keen ears under the bodies.
Before sunlight could truly come the next day she managed to free herself from the bottom of the pile and fled.
In the two years since she's aimlessly wandered around her country, momentarily joining up in a town's defense or an impromptu raid but she hasn't been able hold to anyone or any place for too long. Acting like a crazed ghoul once combat erupts she realized staying someplace peaceful for too long would not be best for herself or anyone else.
There's nothing truly more horrific than being on the battlefield to her. But there's nowhere else she feels more at ease.
Sorry for the delay, and if it's not very good.
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No worries. It's quite evocative, actually. :)
Okies, yay! Thankies ^w^
Surma, you posted, it wouldn't show up, but you could reply to it?!? That's weird.
And no, I can't see it in the main thread either.
Yeah I had to go to her profile > posts and then just hit reply.
*shrugs*
I'm going to guess it's a software error - we could see that post return at some point after the site's down for maintenance one day.
lol yeah
Sqqqqqqquuuuuuuuuueeeee!
They put the Pathfinder Comic materials up on Archives of Nethys!
Still need Griffo's actions for this round.
Here's a map of Phaendar.
Key:
A-Oreld's Shop
B-Phaendar Trading Company
C-Riverwood Shrine
D-Taproot Inn
E-Phaendar Bridge
I've updated the campaign info page with a list of survivors you have rescued and your total provision points.
Your followers will mostly keep to the shadows as you move about town, but they can also be a valuable resource. Beginning on the second round of any combat, a PC may order a single follower to assist her as a move action. If she succeeds at a DC 12 Diplomacy or Intimidate check, she gains a +2 aid another bonus on her next check, or to her Armor Class for 1 round.
Okies, thanks.
Okay, I'm thinking we circle around the Market Green counterclockwise. If we stick to the buildings we should be able to hide well enough. Mia and Surma lead with Griffo and Eilyne behind.
*nods*
That was my thought as well.
Also is anyone keeping track of loot or should we start it here?
I'll add a consolidated loot list to the campaign info tab.
Yay! Thankies!
I keep thinking "I hope Eilyne doesn't run out of spells, she's going through them real quick... wait" XD
Forgot to edit the names on the initiative list. The earth elemental entry should be for the hobgoblin. :P
Go Rocky, go!
The elemental will follow along but won't attack unless Eilyne succeeds at a Diplomacy check as a standard action.
Ah gotcha.
Or we could stay back and shoot her full of arrows.
I'm good with that too.
Your band of survivors is ready to lend a hand, but also equally ready for a hot meal. The refugees must eat and be kept safe, but can help you gather resources, guard camp, scout, and produce goods you can't otherwise buy in the middle of the woods. Some can even come to the rescue if you find yourselves in danger.
Each day, an NPC can be assigned to perform one task around camp or generally employ skills on the PCs' behalf. The most useful such projects include the following.
• Assist: NPCs can assist a PC or NPC with any skill they're trained in, automatically granting a +2 aid another bonus.
• Build Shelter: Creating a shelter for one Medium-sized creature requires a successful DC 12 Craft or Survival check. For every 2 points by which the result exceeds 12, the shelter can accommodate one additional Medium-sized creature. These shelters are simple and cold, but enough to prevent a character from being fatigued from lack of shelter.
• Craft: With access to the necessary tools, NPCs can craft finished goods for the PCs upon request, using the normal Craft skill rules (Core Rulebook 91).
• Forage or Hunt: Characters who spend a full day hunting or gathering and succeed at a DC 10 Survival check gain 1 Provision Point. Characters gain 1 additional Provision Point for every 2 by which the result exceeds 10.
• Herd: Phaendar's sheep and goat herds were scattered in the attack, and many were lost in the Fangwood. NPCs can recover a single goat or sheep with a successful DC 16 Handle Animal check. Captive animals can be maintained with a single successful Handle Animal check (DC = 10 + the number of animals) per day. Neglecting to maintain the herd or failing this check indicates one or more animals have wandered off. A captive animal generates 1 Provision Point every 3 days in the form of milk (and eventually cheese or butter), or can be butchered to immediately provide 2 Provision Points.
• Scout: NPCs trained in Survival or Stealth can scout the area or keep an eye on Phaendar for the PCs. With a successful DC 10 Survival check, an NPC can either discover one point of interest in the area (such as an encounter location) or reduce the chances for a random encounter by 5%. An NPC who succeeds at this skill check by 5 or more can identify one danger in the area of the encounter (if any exist).
• Stand Watch: An NPC can stand watch, attempting Perception checks and even confronting danger while the PCs rest uninterrupted.
• Support: One or more NPCs can follow the PCs to assist them, carrying equipment, standing watch at temporary camps (see below), and providing skills the PCs may lack. NPCs hold back from combat, but should the PCs lose a fight, the NPCs attempt to drag their unconscious leaders to safety.
• Use Skill: NPCs can use any of their listed skills on the PCs’ behalf, such as using Handle Animal to train captured animals, Heal to provide long-term care, or Knowledge to answer questions for the PCs.
Regardless of the refugees' general mood, specific named NPCs take on a helpful role within the group and provide unique benefits so long as they remain alive and friendly to the PCs, as follows.
• Jet: Jet keeps the resources maintained, making sure the refugees use the most perishable items first and helping people pack balanced loads. She knows many stories and songs that she shares with the others. So long as Jet oversees the cooking, the camp generates 1 additional Provision Point each day.
• Kining: The stolid dwarf keeps everyone's weapons sharp and true, and though she grumbles, she trains the refugees how to fight so they don’t panic. All the refugees gain a +1 bonus on initiative rolls while Kining remains with the group.
Rhyna: She uses her herbalism training to find healing plants and savory herbs while foraging, and treats the small wounds the refugees suffer daily. Characters in the camp heal 1 additional hit point each night while they rest so long as Rhyna remains with the group.
The resources the PCs and their followers need to survive are abstracted throughout this adventure as Provision Points. One Provision Point sustains a person for 1 day and consists of a half-gallon of fluid (clean water, or ale, broth, cider, goat’s milk, or sheep’s milk) and 3 to 5 pounds of stable food (apples, berries, bread, dried boar, dried venison, hard cheese, mushrooms, nuts, pickled vegetables, and smoked trout). The PCs' followers carry their resources in a hodgepodge of bottles, jars, and satchels stuffed into improvised backpacks. Each Provision Point of resources weighs about 10 pounds. Together one trail ration and a waterskin also translate to 1 Provision Point, but weigh only 5 pounds.
Consuming only half a Provision Point per day sustains a character, but leaves that person distracted and irritable. A character who eats only a half portion takes a –2 penalty on attack rolls, damage rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws until she consumes a full portion. If a person eats half provisions more than 3 days a week, she doesn’t have enough body fat to endure starvation for long, and must begin making Constitution checks each day to avoid taking nonlethal damage.
If a person eats no provisions in a day, she takes the –2 penalty on all attack rolls, damage rolls, ability checks, skill checks, and saving throws listed above. Typically, a character can go without water for 1 day, or food for 3 days before making Constitution checks to avoid taking nonlethal damage. Remember that a character who takes any nonlethal damage from starvation or thirst also becomes fatigued, imposing additional penalties.
Perhaps more important than even food is basic protection from the elements. The Fangwood Forest and Nirmathas in general are temperate, with frequent light rains. Shelter can be as simple as an abandoned home, a cave, a lean-to, a ruin, a tent. If a shelter option isn't immediately available, a character can construct a temporary shelter sufficient for one Medium-sized creature with a successful DC 15 Survival check and 1 hour's work; for every 2 points by which this result exceeds 15, the shelter can accommodate one additional Medium creature.
Sleeping without a shelter is cold and often wet, exposing a character to the elements and leaving her fatigued the next day. If she sleeps without shelter a second day, she awakes exhausted, which persists until she can find shelter to rest in for a night. For several weeks in the summer, nights in the Fangwood are warm and clear enough that characters don't require a shelter to sleep comfortably unless there is an unusual cold snap or precipitation. Creatures under the effects of an endure elements spell are not fatigued by sleeping without shelter.
Adding map to campaign information tab as well.
Cool, will have to look all those options over in a bit.
I forgot for leveling how are we handing HP?