DM Corvus' Blood & Mist (Inactive)

Game Master CorvusRed

Welcome players, to what will hopefully be an interesting and entertaining twist on Pathfinder.

A couple things to note:

As previously stated, I plan on making this as RP heavy as possible. While combat is inevitable, expect brutal odds and harsh consequences to a fight. I won't be sculpting every fight to suit your party level and provide a challenge. Sometimes you'll need to run, frankly, and I'm not always going to tell you. The absence of magical healing, at this point, should way heavily on your decision.

Since this is a Gothic horror campaign, I have adapted the Ravenloft rules from 2nd and 3rd edition D&D to be used, specifically the Fear, Horror, and Madness rules. When faced with a situation that requires a check, you will be informed, and it will be on you to RP the effects in a suitable manner. I will post a link to these rules shortly, so you are familiar with them.

In your alias profile, please include the crunch for your character, as well as your background, equipment, and general appearance. Here is an example of what I want your profile to look like. This is for everyone's convenience.

As far as skill checks go, I post under a spoiler the results, denoting the necessary DC. It is up to you to roll if you want.

In combat, I roll Initiative for everyone. For an example of how I run combat, you can check either of the other games I am running.

"Speech should always be in bold," he said, While they keep the internal in the italics," he finished, inwardly.

When the party is separated, Spoilers will be used to keep things secret. It is up to PC's to impart information they gather from spoilers to the rest of the party as their character would see fit.

Anything else I can think of, I'll try and address before we get started.

Start date will be sometime next week, hopefully Wednesday.

Awesome! I'm excited to be here. This is the first true horror-themed game I'll have played (other than CC and that's more horror-lite) and I think it sounds like a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to being scared --I mean-- 'pretending' like my 'character' is scared!

I'll get my character profile fleshed out, just barely made the avatar a few minutes ago.

I can usually post multiple times a day, and am pretty good about keeping up with the pace of the group. I have the chance to post at work sometimes, and that helps me keep up. Just for everyone, I'm excited to play with you! I live in the GMT +7 time zone (Utah, USA), and that'll of course affecting the hours I'm paying attention to things.

Lets rock London!

So did I not make the cut? The way you worded your last point makes me Wonder if youve just forgotten my submission.

So we're actually at six pc's (apologies to Mr Krast!)

I am in the eastern standard time, and I post mainly between 9-5. Weekends are sporadic, and I dont expect much from you Saturday through Sunday!

When it comes to group decisions (door on the left or door on the right?) We do it thusly: One person makes a motion, followed by one confirmation to follow through with the action. (this saves on needless agreement posts).

I will belay this, of course, if a strenuous enough objection is brought up before i can update the thread with the results of said action.

Makes sense?

Makes sense to me. 1 suggestion, 1 confirmation and we're committed!

I finished the crunch under Roland's profile if you'd like to check it out.

Looking forward to getting things started... The final version of background and crunch can be seen in my profile.

Great to be here, Corvus! I was a fan of reading your Carrion Crown game. I'll get working on moving Joss' info to this alias.

I wondered what you thought about the Historian trait. It seems a bit powerful for a Pathfinder trait with the way Bardic Knowledge works now. If not, maybe Scholar of Ruins or Rich Parents.

what's the source on Historian trait?

Legacy of Fire AP, which was written for 3.5. Bardic Knowledge was a specific check then, but now it's just Knowledge. Linked here.

sorry was away at a course all day! Hurah! Glad to have been picked! Will get my profile up asap

Here he is, ready to go.

A bit at a loss as to what equipment to get other than the stuff ive already got. So far thats:

Enfield Mark I Service Revolver

6 Bullets (Loaded)

6 Bullets (Pocket)

Studded Leather

Disguise Kit ("Worn")

Open to suggestions.

Also, a note on the cost of bullets...Are we really gonna use the cost of 15! GP from the book? 15 Pounds for a bullet...now thats what I call gun control.

Richard, this should help. Corvus said we're playing at Guns Everywhere level.

That does indeed help. Ive never had a game where guns were anything but rare, so completely missed that part, thanks

Taking a peak at everyones character crunch ive spotted a few things.

Roland is listed as having 14 HP and taking HP for favoured class. Since we get favoured class for our NPC class, he should have 16 (8+ half 1d10 +1 + 2 favoured)

Paidraig is middle aged so he has 2 unspent stat point

Before middleaged:

Str: 11 Dex: 11 Con: 11 Int: 12 Wis: 14 Cha: 13 + 2 racial

As for Richard, ive decided to get the human alternate racial Focused Study. Since im taking a Skill Focus Feat, theres really no reason not to, should we reach such lofty levels as 8+

Ok...here is Ang's profile.

Well done, all.
Ready to get this silliness started, me.

Since Father Paidraig is just starting out, I am going with point buy and ignoring age adjustments unless the GM says otherwise.

Starting or not I dont really think age adjustments are a choice.

That all depends on DM ofc, just sayin.

@Jossem: No go on the campaign trait, sorry.

@Padraig: I would say that you should proceed as such: Purchase normally, then apply age modifiers.

@Roland Clive: If Roland is a detective, I'm curious as to why he doesn't have a firearm.

Kindly request that everyone update their profile into a similar manner as Father Padraig. The essential info is simple to find, and much of it is visible in thread at all times.

We should be underway on Wednesday. Meantime, please make sure you're updated. If you want to solidify any inter-personal details, please do so.

also make sure your background info is in your profile.

I will be going over profiles as they are updated to make sure we are all 100% ready to go.

Meantime, if you feel the need, please peruse the gameplay threads of my other campaigns, to get a feel for how I handle most things.

Inter character relations. Feel free to add to or deny any of these.

Jossem Rook:

"Ah yes I remember him well. He was doing some sort of digging when we first entered Afghanistan, wouldnt leave even when ordered to. He was a feisty one but in the end he agreed to pack up and leave. place was going to get dangerous for englishmen down there. I doubt he remembers me though"

Tommy McIntyre:

"Who told you about Tommy? Ok so I like to enjoy myself what about it? When I went looking for some...recreational remedies, his name came up, introduced me to the right people he did. Kept in touch with him on and off the last couple of years. Him and his friends are always up for a bit of cards and tobacco, although truth be told, hes been winning a bit too much, if you know what I mean"

Roland Clive:

"Roland Clive? No sorry, cant say I know him. My father used to talk about the Clive family when I was little though. Cant remember anything specific, but it was generally praise. Good upstanding people."

Ang Xin:

"Ang who? Xin? Sounds asian. I knew a few of their sort, but none by that name."

Father Paidraig:

"Ive seen him once or twice in the company of Tommy. Talked to him for a bit one time, but that was mostly about God and saving my soul. Cant say I listened much"

@Jossem: No go on the campaign trait, sorry.

@Padraig: I would say that you should proceed as such: Purchase normally, then apply age modifiers.

@Roland Clive: If Roland is a detective, I'm curious as to why he doesn't have a firearm.

OK: His original point buy stats would be:

STR 11
DEX 11
CON 11
INT 12
WIS 15
CHA 13 (+2 Human for 15)

For middle age it is -1 to STR, DEX, CON and +1 to INT, WIS, CHA:

STR 10
DEX 10
CON 10
INT 13
WIS 16
CHA 16

@Richard, thanks for caching the HP error.

@DM Corvus, he's more of a P.I. as he doesn't work for the police department. He does detection work and has no qualms about using a gun... although maybe that could be a fun character quirk, if he's extremely nervous about firearms. I figured he could pick one up during the adventure if he feels it's needed. Also, he struck me as more the non-confrontational types and so while he can defend himself, he rarely looked for trouble, relying on his knives and brass knuckles when trouble came up. During the 1880's in London guns were considered quite dangerous and had a negative connotation.

Hmm, maybe Clive has one in the office that he can pick up in emergency situations. Unless you'd like him to have a firearm on his person, then I will happily add one.

@Clive I like the bit about him being nervous about guns. If he has one stashed in his office anyway, that's completely up to you. remember, you get one free weapon, so it wont negatively impact your wealth if you decide to do so.

@DM - That is an excellent point. I'll have him stash one at his office then. Thanks.

EDIT: Also I've updated his stat and profile. I think Clive is compliant now.

Also, for anyone else who's not very familiar with firearms, this link should come in handy.

Firearms

I totally forgot about the one free weapon! Joss paid full price (double actually) for his sword cane. He might pick up a pistol too.

And I'm not so sure firearms were seen as that dangerous back then. A sword might still be preferred for simplicity, but we're definitely in the age of revolvers and reliable cartridges. The world is learning from the Remington 1861 revolvers and the Brits have created the Webley Bull Dog and aren't that far away from the first Standard Webley Revolver, variants of which were continued to be used until the Cold War.

Edit: Scratch the Pistol idea. I like him with just the cane right now. Plus, I'm going to go for the Extremely Fashionable trait, which gives a bonus to skills if he's wearing at least 150gp worth of clothing and jewelry. Not having to pay for the sword cane will just get him there.

Yeah Jossem, I'm not referring to their reliability, rather their ease of use, availability etc... They were thought of as easily accessible and the price was dropping enough that many could now afford them. Apparently they were also associated with 'wild foreigners' (Americans) who were bringing guns into England and supplying them to the poorer districts.

Fair enough. I will probably incorporate that into Joss' viewpoint then and it explains why he doesn't have one either. Not for civilized folk.

I can't envision a good reason that Paidraig would have any weapon than a stout walking stick that doubles as a cudgel. No guns hidden at the abbey...

@GM Would it be OK enable us to do a roll-call post in the gameplay thread? It would be easier to keep track of updates to the game that way.

Thanks!

I do not think Ang would need, nor want a weapon of any kind. Being a "foreign devil" is bad enough, but being an ARMED foreign devil will get him harassed by even more people. The only connection he might have to the players, I had thought, was his grandfather's shop supplying the "recreational" remedies that Richard uses. But that is up to him.
I will try and get the alias sorted out to your specification later today, as well as a background.

Ok, I believe Ang's character sheet is up to date now. Please check and if there are any problems just tell me and I will fix them. I just need to add his background. Will get to it asap

Free weapon.... Tommy strikes me as the type that would prefer not to involve guns in his business. My impression is that the criminal world at the time was not armed like a para-military organization, but rather more polite.

As polite as a cudgel to the skull, anyhow.

I would imagine him having a big boomstick at home, though. Can't be too careful. He wouldn't carry it ordinarily, but if he thought he were going into a firefight, he'd probably bring it along.

I'm probably shooting myself in the foot, but the character is a thumper, primarily.

Still looking at the characters to see who I may know and how.

Richard I provide for his pipe.
Father Padraig I've known since I were a lad.
When I read Ang Xin's intro post I sort of imagined Tommy watching and thinking "WOW! Yellow or not, anyone who can scrap like that can't be all bad." So I might have dropped a word (and maybe a guinea or two) on the coppers to make sure they knew the chink was acting in self defense.
Roland could easily have come across Tommy in his search for his sister's killers. Tommy wouldn't generally rat on a fellow criminal, but he'd gladly make an exception for a killer of little girls. (DM's call if he has heard anything helpful)
Jossem... I got nuffin. Falling back on "We don't ALL have to have history together at the beginning."

Oh come on Father, I know you've watch Boondog Saints. If saints can use a gun... surely the good Father can as well. ;) How does one pronounce Paidraig? I'm saying it like Payday sounds.

Also I second Paidraigs motion to dot the gameplay thread somehow, purely a convenience thing at this point.

As for previous connections, Roland is usually pretty private.

He's not religious, but is more a once-a-year church-goer. He's got contacts with the authorities, and would probably have contacts among the seedier side of London as well. Maybe he would know you through those contacts Ang?

I bet he's heard of Richard Foxworthy, but they've probably never met.

I don't think he'd know you Jossem, at least I don't know how he would.

Tim, you could easily fit into the seedier side of London category Roland has associated with during investigations. Perhaps they could have a mutual-interest professional-type relationship?

Pay-drig (like rig). Its an old gaelic form of Patrick.

Wow, guns everywhere and a free weapon and only one of us is taking you up on it, GM. A testament to really feeling our characters.

Jossem may be the odd man out here. He probably won't be in Whitechapel on purpose. That said, the one thing Joss has is connections. He sells artifacts on the black market and his family knows people. Maybe you don't know him, but he could know of you. Plus, he works at the University, so he might have picked your name up there too.

Father Paidraig: You might actually know Jossem years earlier when you were at Westminster. He would have been a boy then or possibly a teenager. You might be more acquainted with his father.

Roland: This is probably a case where Joss knows your name and you don't know his. Though you could have heard his name in connection with black market trade, but it would be ancillary only.

Ang: Could you have possibly worked at the University for a time? Something like landscaping or trash or cooking.

Richard: While we could have met in the field, you would also recognize the family name, and Jossem would know yours. Perhaps that's how you two met up in Afghanistan. Would you have been in the Middle East as well?

Tommy: The only thing would be black market dealings. Jossem or his buyers could have hired you to protect or courier artifacts.

On the subject of contacts, I like to think Richard has mostly lost touch with all his old "high society" buddies, isolating himself in his home and having gotten a reputation despite his attempts at keeping his seedier activities secret. However either through pity or friendship, he still has a fair few who would help him if he asked.

Im also thinking I might as well go full blown sleeseball and have Richard be the sort to turn to the "street girls" from time to time. Not sure how well that will sit with Corvus but I imagine maybe hes got only one that he goes to, with whom hes got a Pretty Woman-esque romance going. The kind where they both know nothing will ever come of it, kinda like Krassus and his slave woman in Spartacus (sorry if that reference is obscure to some of you).

Would also be a good reason why Richard gets tangled up in all the mess we will surely get into. I could see him looking into hiring someone like Roland to look out for her with that murderer on the loose.

I had thought about Angs family being involved in supplying Richard, but wasnt sure if that would be something his family would be involved in. I agree, he frequents Angs grandfathers shop. Guess he knows the name Xin after all.

Maybe Jossem and Richard ran into eachother later when Richard returned from the war, remembering eachother from the dig site. They may not be best buddies, but maybe hes one of those few who would still help him if asked.

---

Lastly, my choice of the name Richard was partly because its a common english name, but mostly because of a juvinile desire to have a character who everyone calls "Dick"...yeah I know, silly, but id like everyone to call him that when speaking :)

Once they know him properly ofc.

Richard: While we could have met in the field, you would also recognize the family name, and Jossem would know yours. Perhaps that's how you two met up in Afghanistan. Would you have been in the Middle East as well?

I pictured Richard as being pretty new in the military when he got sent off, holding his rank mostly by virtue of his fathers influence. He was "on tour" for several years before the massacre though, so I imagine he took the time to visit neighbouring countries whenever he got leave. His only language appart from English is Farsi, so he could definetly get around in the Middle East.

Actually come to think of it, the fact that he speaks it may have been why he got sent to Afghanistan in the first place. Maybe he spent his late teens to early twenties traveling the Middle East?

Heck we could take it even further and have them be old buddies who traveled the region together, Jossem due to achedemic interests, Richard to meet the people and sample their vices. I can imagine Richards father having been part of the FIRST Anglo Afghan War. Growing up on stories of the region would have been all the reason Richard needed to want to see it for himself.

The exact nature of it will depend on how old Jossem is though...if hes young, maybe Richard took him along at the request of his parents?

Anyway, wall of text, gonna stop for now :)

Actually, I'll change one of Jossem's languages to Persian. While French really makes sense for a wealthy Englishman, his work and experience is about the Middle East, including the Ottoman Empire. Arabic and Persian (Farsi) would be very helpful.

Not sure how much languages will really play a part of the game, but Jossem's intent is to learn several.

I'm thinking Joss is the youngest. Maybe 29. Much older and he would be married, probably. As it is, he's pushed that off by being in the Mideast and at University. So maybe one of his first forays to the area was with Richard who already knew much of it.

Ang's Grandfather runs a traditional medicine/apothecary shop in Limehouse (off Pennyfield)and Ang is learning the business. He is also somewhat involved with the red dragon criminal tong that runs a number of opium dens, prostitutes and restaurants in the area. Well not a full member, he and his grandfather are afforded some respect by the tong. Ang's grandfather also has ties with the Chinese legate here in London, Kuo Sung-t'ao, so might recognize some nobles names.

I'm liking these connections.

Before I post the gameplay thread, I need you each to consider something.

When we begin our tale, you will all be in a somewhat close proximity to the site of the fifth Ripper murder.

Most likely, taking a drink at the Twin Daughters' pub, perhaps searching for the services of one of the working women who frequent the area?

that is for you to decide, feel free to elaborate as much as you like as to who and where you are, locations, other characters, etc. (and while I am mostly fictionalizing nearby locations for my own simplicity, the location of the fifth murder was off Dorset Street, an area in the East End of London.)

Here is a link to my version of the Fear/Horror/Madness rules that will be implemented.

gameplay thread will be posted at some point tomorrow, i think. I will send everyone a private message when it goes up, so no one misses it.

Also Tommy, I called you Tim earlier, apologies. Anyways, yeah lets have them have that professional relationship as Tommy would be someone Roland would have felt comfortable coming to with question or just to feel the pulse of the undercity, interesting news, etc... For a price of course.

@ Roland: No harm done.
Tommy'll be a useful resource, within the limits of his personal code.

Since I brought it up:

I hope you do not mind, but I am posting a link to a fantastic map of London, 1868. It is a little early, but I think it will give people some idea where things are located. Sections can be blown up and it prints off quite well (I have the whole lower right side to see where 'chinatown' use to be...and funny enough it is quite close to Whitechapel...

London Map

thats fantastic, thanks!

That is awesome. Now, where is this Dorset Street?

I think it likely that Tommy would be making the rounds of the streets in what he would consider his turf. He wouldn't exactly be a pimp, but he'd make sure nobody else was trying it on either. The girls would know they could count on him for a bit of muscle now and then, as long as he got a cut of any extras they took.

He'd likely be inside the Twin Daughters, having a pint, or walking the streets keeping an eye out for Jack.

Anyone Irish and/or Catholic would know Father Paidraig, at least knowing who he is and where to find him. The Church was too central to the cultural community back then to not have some knowledge of the local clergy.

Additionally, Father Paidraig makes it a point to try and assist/counsel those on the other side of the law, and due to his personal history is much less judgmental than others in the church. So those who live on the finges of illegality or cultural exclusion would probably know him from his personal charitable mission. He is the type who is willing to take God out of the conversation if it helps someone in need.

Just remember, England was primarily protestant at the point our game will be picking up. And while the outright persecution of Catholics had abated, they were still generally disliked, if not worse, by most.

Papist dogs, and whatnot.

Tommy, did you find Dorset Street? It's cut in half between two maps. It's at the bottom right of the map showing the SW corner of The Regents Park, and the top right corner of the map square on the east end of Hyde Park. The Hyde Park portion reads "Dorset" and the Regent Park portion says "Street" splitting the whole name into two map sections basically. I also noticed a Dorset Square just west of the southmost tip of Regent Park.

Very cool map by the way, thanks for posting it.

Your welcome...I had the same problem locating the old chinatown...it was between 2 different maps..so I printed them out and taped them together...