Rise of the Runelords: Chosen of Sandpoint

Game Master polyfrequencies

OOC Thread for Rise of the Runelords.

Feel free to interact in the Gameplay thread. The adventure will start once everyone has checked in on the Gameplay side. No need to use your sample post as your first post unless you want to.

A bit about me.

I have been running and playing D&D since I was 12. In high school I ran a 2ed Ravenloft campaign off and on as players were interested and available.

In college I ran a VAMPIRE the Masquerade game with the characters hitting snapshots of time from 1190 to 2000.

Since 2002 Table Top I have run:

A 3.0/3.5 Forgotten Realms campaign from 1st to 37th level utilizing various 2ed and 3ed modules as well as home brew adventures.

The Age of Worms (plus other side quests) with the characters topping out at to 24th level.

I now run a Waterdeep based campaign with the players at 7th level having just arrived at New Waterdeep in Maztica.

Since 2012 here on the Boards I have run:

A V20 Dark Ages game on the boards for 3+ years currently with 13 players one from each Clan.

I stepped in to DM a 5E Ravenloft campaign when the DM disappeared.

A Way of the Wicked game which two other DM's vanished from.

A Call of Cthulhu campaign Beyond the Mountains of Madness.

And now this.

I also play in about 12 other campaigns.

Point being i have been doing this for a while and I will not vanish as I have seen many DM's on these boards do.

Thank you for picking up a second table. I look forward to finally playing through this AP. Do you have any preferences for the format of status bars?

Thank you for picking up a second table. I look forward to finally playing through this AP. Do you have any preferences for the format of status bars?

Not a problem, there were just to many good submissions to allow so many people to not get in a game!

Plus I find that it is hard to get into a game when there is not a big track record of already being in games which is why I seriously considered prior PbP history for this group.

This is an interesting group mix with no dedicated healer. However 2 Bards with Cure Light Wounds, a Druid, and a Paladin should make up for that collectively.

No preference for status bar formats.

I will handle all Perception & Initiative checks for the PC's on my side and do Block Initiative to remain consistent in what I am doing in my WoTW game as it has been working well so far. I am not a huge online map DM but if it becomes necessary I will seek some out. I generally prefer to explain the scene in front of the PCs than use maps.

Huzzah!! I got in!! :D

Huzzah!! I got in!! :D

Always a great feeling! :-)

Hooray! Time to buckle down to do some writing!

One of Karina's archetypes does replace spell-casting and another replaces Mercies. So, she's not a healing focused paladin. Her specialty is protecting others and shining a bright light into the darkness.

She still has her base Lay-on-hands ability for some healing later, she'll be able to do some other things with it.

As for maps, since I do most of my posting from mobile devices (phone and tablet) I've found that Google Slides is the "best" option. Or at least the one where I don't have to ask others to move my avatar. It's got all the features of Google Drawings, but also a native app.

She still has her base Lay-on-hands ability for some healing later, she'll be able to do some other things with it.

As for maps, since I do most of my posting from mobile devices (phone and tablet) I've found that Google Slides is the "best" option. Or at least the one where I don't have to ask others to move my avatar. It's got all the features of Google Drawings, but also a native app.

When I think of Paladin healing I generally think of Lay on Hands.

As we progress, I will keep those in mind.

Yay! I'm in! Thanks for picking me!

Should we figure out some prior relationships and so forth considering our fairly long shared past at the beginning?

Yay! I'm in! Thanks for picking me!

Should we figure out some prior relationships and so forth considering our fairly long shared past at the beginning?

Feel free to do so. I will not require it though.

While you may all study at the same Cathedral, you all worship different Gods and have different duties which the Gods expect from you. So it is possible that some of you may have passed by one another for years without engaging each other.

I once went out on a date with a girl I spent three years in Law School with including overlapping classes and our first date the was the first time we ever spoke to one another.

True true. My grad program wasn't a very large one and I certainly didn't know everyone in it.

I could see Rojava and Ratsy hitting it off well but there is an age gap, 15 compared to 18. A massive difference at those ages.

So, we have a Sarenite paladin, two bards (one Desnan, one Shelynite), a Gozreh druid, an Abadaran ranged fighter, an Erastilian monk, and a Desnan arcanist. A very interesting and unusual group.

One thing that I'm noticing is that we may be skewed a bit toward ranged combat with a ranged fighter, a zen archer, and my intention to go ranged with Rojava. Think I should plan to be more of a melee skirmisher?

Definitely think that this will be an interesting group to be a part of. It will be nice to see how Marcelano learns to get along with the less lawfully inclined members of the party.

Edit: Block Initiative? What's that? I'm unfamiliar with the term.

Definitely think that this will be an interesting group to be a part of. It will be nice to see how Marcelano learns to get along with the less lawfully inclined members of the party.

:p

I'd been hoping to get in with Rojava - that icon is just so cheerful!!

I don't know if Sandpoint has ever had ... oh, wait, it has. Sandpoint officially has 1,240 people, so it's a small town, and isn't actually all that large; going off the map, it's got at most 125 families, and maybe a lot fewer. Going with 125, though, puts the average at 10 people per family - 1 grandparent living with the family, 2 adults, and 7 children, some of whom may be old enough to be considered adults. Going off typical sociology, most everyone will 'recognize everyone by sight', even if you don't know their name. Going off various sociological research of medieval-level societies (I cannot recommend S. John Ross's Medieval Demographics Made Easy enough), there'll be 31 members of the clergy, but only 2 actual priests. With Sandpoint, that might actually shift a bit in favor of the clerics - 6 clerics, one for each god, and 27 members of the clergy (i.e. acolytes, etc.), including us. We should all know each other by face and name, especially since (I presume) we're all living on the temple grounds itself (that square of buildings 'behind' the temple I would guess to be living quarters, kitchen, etc.).

Except for myself, all of you have been in Sandpoint, living at the temple complex, for at least 4 years; there is only a maximum age difference of five years - and though the 15-year-old half-ork is a close-combat sort and the 20-year-old human isn't, I can easily imagine the former being used as a live training partner for the latter in developing his emergency-close-combat skill. Otherwise, well, I can't imagine not knowing who the people living in my own dorm are.

I know Windsight (which is the name everyone would know him by - the alias'll change by the 10th post, just getting y'all used to him) will readily practice with both Marcelano (ranged) and Karina (close); since Panther Style is something I'm planning on him having, he'll keep his close combat capabilities in working order. I can see him debating with both of them and, actually, all three of them being something of a trio, Marcelano and Windsight being the eldest and Karina being more upright than the rest. (The Three Lawfuls, if you will, even though Windsight's 'lawful' is more 'structure and discipline' than 'laws of men'. :P )

I think Windsight would get along well with Lia, despite her Desnain (Desnaic?) apparent flightiness; he's an often-preoccupied sort himself, and I think he would understand if she, in the middle of a conversation, just stopped speaking and started thinking - or even just wandered off. (I think he might treat her as a little sister, if he doesn't have a secret crush on her. Not sure.) He'd definitely enjoy making a kite for her. (Speaking of which - Craft (Kites) into Craft (Bows) or no? I'm good either way.)

Rojava and Gwyddym probably make music together, playing and singing and dancing. (I notice, though, that Rojava doesn't have Perform (String) - has to default, but it's a +3, so ... ;) Might move a point from K-Nature into it, I dunno. :P ) They might also be involved, considering they're the same age. I think Windsight would acknowledge and enjoy their music, but I'm not sure how much they otherwise have in common; combat practice with Rojava (Gwyddym's is still undefined) at the very least.

Believe it or not, the only one I see as being potentially misanthropic in this group is Thorn (or Rat, whichever he prefers). I do think Windsight might connect with him in a bass-ackwards sort of way, as Windsong's a hunter, Thorn a druid; they may well spend time together outside of the city.

Anyhow. That's my two coppers worth!!

To help things along, here's a useful list ...

Character . . . . . . . . | . . Player . . | . Race . | M/F | Age | Sandpoint | Algn | . Deity . .| Class
Marcelano Alazario . | HenshinFan |. Human .| . M . .| . 20 . | . 4 years . |. LN . | . Abadar .| Fighter
Lia Tani . . . . . . . . . . | Mordred'o'F |. Human .|. . F . | . 16 . | . 4 years . |. CG . | . Desna . | Arcanist (Blood Arcanist, Dreamspun Bloodline)
Rojava Brishen . . . . .| . rdknight . |. Human .|. . F . .| . 18 . | . 6 years . |. CG . | . Desna . | Bard
Hudok 'Windsight' . . | . . TWO . . . |. Human .| . M . .| . 23 . |. . 1 year . | . LN . | . Erastil . .| Monk (Qinggong Zen Archer)
Thorn 'Rat' . . . . . . . . | . . 12.5% . .|. Human .| . M . .| . 15 . | 5-8 years | . TN . | . Gozreh .| Druid
Karina of the Flame .| Demon Lurk | Half-Orc |. . F . .| . 15 . | . 7 years . |. LG . | Sarenrae | Paladin (Divine Defender, Warrior of the Holy Light, Sacred Shield)
Gwyddym Soarsong | Bimpnottin . |. Human .| . M . .| . 18 . | 18 years . |. NG . | . Shelyn . | Bard

Wow, so many posts in so little time :)

I am currently visiting family over part of the holidays. While I do have internet access and a laptop here, I won't be making many or long posts until I'm back home monday or tuesday-

But let me say that I'm very happy to be here, and doubly so that we're with an GM that won't disappear :)

I think TWO had an interesting point there...since Sandpoint is small, we should probably at least have some prior knowledge of each other. Especially because we're such an exclusive "club" of "choosen-by-the-gods" youths.

Can't quite imagine the "yeah, you are truly special, uniquely choosen by your god. There's a couple others like that here at the cathedral but you won't ever talk to them"-version...I'm open, of course, but I think it's a more natural setup if we do know each other...how much we interacted still is open, of course(as TWO so aptly described Lia, she may not be everybody's cup of tea for friendship/prolonged social interaction...and I guess other characters have their own quirks on which to base how much time is spent between any 2 individuals)
(on that note, TWO: I'm open to both a little sister role and a secret crush one, we can take things fluidly and see what direction we go - She'd definitely enjoy spacing out while watching a Kite dance in the wind-)

either way, checking in, and I think it's a very interesting and great table. Also, it would be interesting to know if Marcellano is commited to ranged or open to switch-hitting. It DOES seem we are rather ranged-based. But will need to take a closer look at everybody again when I'm back home to get a feel for things :)

Yeah, I can imagine Lia and Windsight on a cliff or the beach, flying a kite or two or three for a good long while. I can also easily imagine Windsight crafting butterfly kites. And while I'm not sure a butterfly shape would work for a two-line stunt kite, I'm sure a bow shape would work ... ;) (And maybe he treats her like a little sister -because- he has a secret crush on her ... ;) )

I agree you all may know one another I am just not requiring you all to tie backgrounds together if you do not wish to. :-)

Edit: Block Initiative? What's that? I'm unfamiliar with the term.

Just saw that when reading again...basically it amounts to "US vs THEM" style combat.

so not

Player 1, Player 2, Enemy 1, Player 3, Player 4, Enemy 2, Enemy 3, Player 5, Enemy 4, Player 6, Player 7, Enemy 5,
but rather
Players, Enemies

If initiative for enemies is in the middle of players, such as Players 1-4, Enemies, Players 5-7, then it basically turns into

Players 1-4 act
Enemies
All players
Enemies

It's a rough explanation, but it works a lot better in pbp than regular initiative, as theres no "waiting" for actions or your turn to come up for players. You come online, you can post, because the tactical situation won't change(barring actions of other players, but mostly with blocks it's "first post, first act", so you don't need to wait on other players actions.)

Sorry for the long post, and apologies to GM if my understanding of Block Initiative from the other games I am in is different from his, but I thought I can try and explain it.

Marcelano Alazario wrote:

Edit: Block Initiative? What's that? I'm unfamiliar with the term.

Just saw that when reading again...basically it amounts to "US vs THEM" style combat.

so not

Player 1, Player 2, Enemy 1, Player 3, Player 4, Enemy 2, Enemy 3, Player 5, Enemy 4, Player 6, Player 7, Enemy 5,
but rather
Players, Enemies

If initiative for enemies is in the middle of players, such as Players 1-4, Enemies, Players 5-7, then it basically turns into

Players 1-4 act
Enemies
All players
Enemies

It's a rough explanation, but it works a lot better in pbp than regular initiative, as theres no "waiting" for actions or your turn to come up for players. You come online, you can post, because the tactical situation won't change(barring actions of other players, but mostly with blocks it's "first post, first act", so you don't need to wait on other players actions.)

Sorry for the long post, and apologies to GM if my understanding of Block Initiative from the other games I am in is different from his, but I thought I can try and explain it.

You got it, thanks Mordred.

Wow! A demographic breakdown of Sandpoint! That's the kind of thinking I can appreciate! One thing that should probably get thrown into the analysis is that Golarion, at least those parts detailed, don't tend to follow medieval family patterns all that faithfully. When families are detailed they tend to look more like modern families, well say late 20th century modern families with 2-3 kids. (Now what the farmers out in the boonies around town might be different) Also there are more single individuals than would fit the pattern. So, more more likely a larger number of families (or households) with a smaller number of members each.

Rojava uses her rebec as an accompanying instrument only. She'd never play it without singing. I see it as the difference between a person who sings and plays piano to accompany the singing, versus someone who plays piano in concert. I any case I'll be picking up string at 2nd level.

It's hard to imagine that Rojava wouldn't know everyone, that's sort of her business, but as for compatibilities, let's see. She and Gwyydym would seem to be a logical match, but there's a lot of ambiguity there. They might be good friends. Rojava might have broken his heart :P But Rojava is a free agent baby, and friends, possibly with occasional bennies is as far as that would go. They could also be rivals, a less likely direction for Rojava, but it also depends on how Gwyydym is played. I could also see them as having difficulties communicating about music due to different philosophies of it. If Gwyydym is focused on the music itself as art as a Sheylynite, while Rojava sees it as a medium for communicating with others, they might not get each other very well. Sort of like putting Philip Glass and Bob Dylan in a room together.

I can see Rojava not mixing too easily with the lawful types, nothing too difficult but a "sticks up butts" versus "mend your ways" type of friction. Again depends on individual play. Probably Rojava and Windsight would be most comfortable with each other?

Whether or not Rojava and Ratsy actually hang out, they have broadly compatible socio-political views.

Individual reactions to Lia may vary but in the end I think she's going to be everyone's little sister. Rojava would view her as an adorable puzzle.

One thing for Windsight. There is a monk in town (House of Blue Stones? Something like that?) A woman that he would almost certainly know. He might train with her, etc.

Yeah, Sabyl's in his background.

My copy of Rise of the Runelords just arrived. Game on.

Thanks for the info on block initiative Mordred, and very good insight into character connections TWO. I was already starting to think along similar lines as you regarding who Marcelano would associate the most with from the other blessed children.

In fact I think that Windsight would be the one Marcelano would most likely consider a friend at the start as I see their initial approaches being very similar, though as Marcelano gets more "stick-up-butt" regarding the letter of the law as he learns the laws of the land by picking up Knowledge (Local); I think he'll start trying others patience and someone (I'm actually seeing Karina for this though if others get to it first c'est la vie) chews him out on it causing him to reflect and instigates his turn to LG.

Edit: Where's the gameplay thread? Been looking for it but haven't had any luck.

@HenshinFanatic

The gameplay thread is up at the top of the page. Click over to the tab immediately to the left of The discussion tab, which is where we are now.

Thanks, didn't notice that earlier. This is certainly more convenient than what the old AtomicThinkTank forums had for PBP.

Oddly, with their similar background (Rat in Magnimar and Karina in Riddleport) there may be some bonding between Rat and Karina. Although she views civilization and the laws of man as things that raised her up out of darkness. She'll probably have tried to convince him of that, so they may have had a falling out over that.

Martial training with Marcelano and Windsight makes a lot of sense. Her being the target of blunted arrows works to all their strengths. The shield has always been her strong point, moreso than the sword.

Until the late unpleasantness, she probably tried to convert goblins from the beach. But after the fire and Father Tobyn's death, she has simply watched them. (They would likely been violent at some point.)

While charismatic, she has never been interested in the arts, so I'm not sure she'd really connect with the bards. Lia on the other hand is destined to start out as everyone's little sister (a very River Tam vibe there).

Also, it would be interesting to know if Marcellano is commited to ranged or open to switch-hitting. It DOES seem we are rather ranged-based. But will need to take a closer look at everybody again when I'm back home to get a feel for things :)

Marcellano has taken Empty Quiver Style, which makes it seem like he's pretty committed to ranged, Of course fighters have so many feats they're almost automatically switch hitters. I've never seen one in action, but by reputation zen archers can melee with a bow very well.

What I wonder is if we will have anyone who can deal high enough damage to end fights quickly. If I were to use my combat allocated feats to melee rather than ranged Rojava could help out. With weapon finesse, arcane strike, and a keen rapier, along with snake style, I can stay in melee alright I think. Snake style would let me use sense motive for my AC and I can use versatile performance to substitute my perform singing for sense motive on the rolls. But I won't hit as reliably and my damage will be lower.

By mid levels we should be doing okay I think, but it looks like every melee option will take a while to come online. We could be hurting at low levels, and we may be lacking in damage output at high levels.

Ugh, I'm very sorry Karina, I forgot about you! With so many of us maybe we're fine for melee damage, even though sword and board tends to be lower damage, You'll still have those smites!

Yeah, I thought about River Tam too :)

I like the group because of the balance, there are no hevy duty frontliners or blasters, a bunch of Batmen who will need to approach combat strategically. Should make for a really interesting campaign as we proceed!

Once everyone checks in on the I/C thread I will move the game forward.

Over the course of the next 10 days the group can also finalize their various ties to one another.

I will be away the first through the 6th and will update as I am able.

Ugh, I'm very sorry Karina, I forgot about you! With so many of us maybe we're fine for melee damage, even though sword and board tends to be lower damage, You'll still have those smites!

Yeah, no smite. Yet another archetype trade-off.

Bastion of Good (Su)

At 1st level, a sacred shield can call upon the powers of good to defend her and her allies against evil. This ability functions as smite evil, except that the paladin gains no benefit on attack or damage rolls against her target. Instead, any attacks the target makes against allies within 10 feet of the paladin deal half damage. Attacks against the paladin deal full damage, but the paladin gains a deflection bonus to her AC equal to her Charisma bonus (if any) against attacks made by the target of the smite. This bonus increases by +1 for every four paladin levels (to a maximum of +6 at 20th level). As with smite evil, if the paladin targets a creature that is not evil, her bastion of good ability is wasted with no effect. Feats, abilities, and the like that increase a paladin’s number of uses of smite evil per day increase a sacred shield’s uses of bastion of good per day.
This ability replaces smite evil.

Karina is all about surviving the long haul. And helping others do the same. Damage output does seem to be our weak point.

I think Windsight will at least enjoy the bards; I would tend to believe (have to do more reading to make sure) that the Shoanti tend more towards skaldic performances, epic sagas and the like - singing, simple instruments, driving rhythms, etc. I haven't thought about his singing voice, though, which is something I usually do. Hm.

I did plot out Windsight's future; once we hit 2nd level Windsight will be the next best thing to a front-line fighter, with 3 standard AoOs for those bad guys who try to break his bow; he's already got a competitive AC. When we hit 3rd he WILL effectively be a front-line fighter, something that gets boosted (AC-wise) at 4th, when he's got 3 standard AoOs + 1 movement AoO, flurry, and 1d8 base melee damage.

I think our main tactics will be suppression fire - wound and let the hardest come in one at a time, take out the rabble; anyone who -really- wants to shoot the opposition in close combat with our front-liner(s) should of course pick up Precise Shot if you haven't already. I disagree that we don't have any heavy damage-dealers; while we may not have an 18 or 20 STR among us, I think we average a pretty good damage output - and anyone Lia touches with her 'bit of luck' power is going to be hammering the enemy. (That works for the -entire- round!!)

Incidentally, re: Lia - you think Windsight taught her unarmed combat, perhaps? Or maybe the two go down to the House of Blue Stones two or three times a week ...

I do wonder some about the un-archetyped characters; were you guys considering archetyping, but wanted to see what was needed, or did y'all want to keep your options open? I can see either way. :) I did notice that we don't have a trapspringer/lockpick among us, though ...

Also am looking to see how Gwyddym is finalized.

Speaking of finalizing - Oh Great And Powerful Oz DMD, any ruling on the two asterisked items on Windsong's character, namely a) saving the feat, and b) whether I can get 'Craft (Kite)' as part of the archery crafting? I have realized that he might've made numerous kites for kids to fly during the festival ...

There is a Trait that allows Disable Device from the Mummy's Mask Player's Guide to be as a Class Skill which would fill as an effective Trapspringer if needed (assuming someone wahts to spend a feat to get 2 traits).

I would not worry overmuch, the AP was designed for 4 PC's, your group is 7!

And after all, if you can hit it with a big hammer and it breaks the lock open, you got a 'barbarian's lock pick' right there, eh? ;)

Spells will assist in overcoming many problems and most of you have spell power. :-)

But yes, Barbarian lock picks are effective too!

This AP BTW tops out at level 15, will have too see what I cab run to bring the group to 20+ :-)

@Rojava+Rat...Regarding the age gap between Rojava and Rat, should actually only be 2 years...human characters usually start with 16 years earliest according to age table...so Rat should be 16, which, if you are not close to 19, could be a rather small gap of just over an year, then(you just turned 18, he could soon turn 17)-

@close-combat...the problem I see is that while everybody picking up point-blank master is very effective regardless of melee(zen archer automatic, fighter likely, etc...), ranged weapons CAN be shut down quite easily.
Increase Wind levels to where ranged combat is not viable. Fickle Winds spell. Darkness(not only spell, natural too...as mainly humans we have no darkvision or low-light vision), Solid Fog(+other Fogs, including natural). Grapple specialists, warp wood, people with improved Sunder or Disarm(not provoking)...I know most of them will have melee as a backup option, but it could still be bad for us if a single spell(e.g. Fickle Winds) can basically shut down most of our damage output and feat choices...(as the backup melee options may, without invested feats, simple not be powerful enough).
we CAN work around that, but it's something to keep in mind. I run home games, too, and there is a lot of people going for ranged combat in hopes of always getting of full attacks...and some groups have come to regret that decision, just by playing intelligent enemies as intelligent enemies...its a "all eggs in a basket"-style of play that CAN work, or fail spectaculary.

@traps: aye, i noticed that too. One option would be if one of the bards wants to pick up Archeologist Archetype. While it does NOT make them into class skills, they are absolutely great trap monkeys. Would also help to differentiate them a bit from one another if either wants that. And dual-bardic-performances...dunno...they'd have to learn to play well together first, otherwise that would probably be very disharmonic :) Just putting that out there as an option.

@River Tams vibe: I should really take the time to watch Firefly, should I not? Been planning to do so since forever, but always delayed...but now I've got an excellent excuse to do so ^_^

@Karina: Hi Ooran. Just noticed.

As said, I'll write some more about chars and in gameplay once I am back home, but it's very inconvenient using this laptop(old model, small screen, keyboard bugging out sometimes...) but I am very happy to hear that so far Lia seems a likeable character ^_^
I know you only get few chances for first impressions, but it MAY take a while with Lia to gauge the sweet spot between efficient pbp and "out there", so if she doesn't come across as imagined at first, give her a little until she's reached that point. Thanks :)

This AP BTW tops out at level 15, will have too see what I cab run to bring the group to 20+ :-)

I love that way of thinking :)

In my case regular bard seemed the best option for Desna and the all around feel of the character. It's really hard to beat a plain bard with any of the archetypes. The only ones I like very much are Dawnflower Dervish, Arcane Duelist, and Archaeologist.

Dawnflower Dervish is incredible. I love it! It's also obviously not an option for Desna.

Arcane Duelist is good if you really want to melee, but I kind of feel like too much is traded away for things that you can come close to with a regular bard anyway.

Archaeologist has good flavor and could about halfway work with Rojava's character fluff as written, but I think it would require a goodly amount of reworking the character for it to fly. And it's still not quite a rogue. Quite a bit of work for traps.

Two regular bards seems a bit odd for a party but we'll have inspire courage from dawn to sunset and that's what bards really contribute to a fight.

I am thinking pretty hard about going into the Evangelist prestige class when I qualify.

Is Evangelist even in? I prefer to ask first before planning for that. Aligned Class simply seems too good.
(especially for some base classes...it would increase my HD from D6 to D8, my BaB from 1/2 to 3/4th, skills from 2 to 6, 2 extra class skills, plus all the other boni. Even if I lose out on ONE caster level, evangelist would be too good to pass, alone the extra fluff possible with all those skill points...i could dance in the moonlight, and craft origami-)...

Missed that before:

Incidentally, re: Lia - you think Windsight taught her unarmed combat, perhaps?

Could be quite likely...I saw it as a form of instinctive Aikido, but IF there's someone to train with...she can have picked it up there. In that case, she would actually try and use it for self-defense(otherwise would have just seen it as prerequisite), even if not very successful.(But funnily enough, she would likely hold her own in a tavern brawl, since MOST people would provoke when brawling, and even at -1, her damage should sum up...obviously weaving around blows and countering where it hurts, then :))

@Barbarian lock picks...doesn't even take a Barbarian :)
One of my favorite Home-Group characters was a strenght-based Dwarven Rogue fighting with Waraxe and Shield, flanking for Sneaks.
He carried a portable ram called "lockpick" that he inherited from his father...good times. Subtlety was not his strong suit, but gods was he fun to play.

Yup, it's so good it's almost embarrassing. I'm assuming that Evangelist is allowed since it is for Table 1, If it's not for us I don't mind.

I guess when you step back and think about it this is sort of a "rich people's problems" type of conversation. We're a 25 point buy party of 7, each of us with a domain. :)

And yes, you DO need to watch Firefly. The River Tam comparison to Lia is not stretching things at all.

Oh, and yeah it would be about 2 years. If I have my chronology for Sandpoint correct Rojava would be just into 18.

Due to the DMing situation for Table 3 (It seems Desneans like to DM!), Rojava will be shifting to Table 3 and Matrim will be the second Desnean for Table 2 with us.

Thanks for the flexibility Rojava!

Welcome Matrim! There is the party Rogue.

Bye bye everyone, it was a pleasure to meet you!

<Steps into her TARDIS>

For me, I went with a non-archetyped fighter because I see going for mithril breastplate and maybe even later mithril full-plate as being solid options when combined with Armor Training's bonuses and my focus on dexterity. The Empty Quiver style is more of a back-up in case someone tries to take me on directly. I also didn't want to give up Weapon Training because of the advanced weapon training options I was planning on taking like Versatile Training at 9th level for perception and stealth, and at 13th Focused Weapon to give my crossbow some extra damage; at 13th I also pick up Ace Trip which if you've read it is pretty solid letting me attempt to "trip" flying enemies to send them plummeting to the ground. Was going to pick up the Burrowing Shot weapon mastery feat at 16th via the Advanced Weapon Training feat for the Weapon Mastery option. If you can't tell I really like the options from Weapon Master's Handbook.

I have not picked up the Weapon's Master Handbook Marcelano, you think it's worth it? It would seem you do for the Feats but how is the book overall?

Bye bye everyone, it was a pleasure to meet you!

<Steps into her TARDIS>

bye...pity, already got used to you ^_^

Hey guys. It looks like i'll be on this table.

Overall? Excellent, one of the best Player's Companion's I have ever seen. If your character uses a weapon there's something in there for you. Does it "fix" the fighter? Not completely no, but its definitely part of a trend towards that goal that started with the Ranged Tactics Toolbox. It personally has my expectations set quite high for the upcoming Armor Master's Handbook.