Looking for 2-3 replacement players for an ongoing Age of Worms Campaign.
We specifically need a warrior and a divine type of character. We are just into the campaign so you did not miss to much. Please post if you ave interest.
Expectations:
1. Minimum of 1-2 posts during M-F, 1 post per weekend.
2. Creative and interesting backgrounds are a plus.
3. Play nice with others.
4. Character optimization is okay, but try not to go overboard.
5. Have some knowledge of Greyhawk.
Character Guidelines:
1. 1st Level Characters
2. Race: Core, APG, UC, UM, ARG (Non core races are okay, but I will probably only pick one)
3. Class: Core, APG, UC, UM, UE (Non core classes are okay, but I will probably only pick one)
4. Archetypes: Core, APG, UC, UM, ARG, UE
5. Abilities: 20-pt Buy
6. Alignment: Any good or neutral. (No evil)
7. Wealth: Average Starting
8. Character Traits: None
Well, I KNOW I am familiar with Greyhawk. It was my first love, as far as settings go, with my primary focus and knowledge base having been the Gnarly Forest. Heck, I not only wrote stuff to support the Living Greyhwak campaign, but I spent some time as one of the Dyvers' Triad!
Do you include stuff from the independent (on-line) Greyhawk magazine as being core, or do you ignore that material and focus exclusively on TSR/WotC published material?
Do you support the WotC political correctness alterations to the traditional story elements, or do you support the older, more bigoted world view inherent in much of the setting?
Believe it or not, much of the above is relevant to my initial character thought. As I said, I'm a big fan of the Gnarly Forest and, as such of both the Gnarley Druids and Rangers. In the Gygax version, the Gnarley Forest was constantly being over-run by invaders. Invaders from the Pomarj trying to get to the City of Greyhawk. Invaders from Celene, Dyvers, Furyondy, Greyhawk and even Ulek trying to expand their borders and fell trees. Raiders from the Wild Coast looking for whatever they could get. The people of the Gnarly survive this constant barrage by simply getting out of the way, by not meeting strength head-on, but instead yielding territory and using guerrilla tactics to punish these occupying forces only as long as they stay where they aren't welcome (the forest as a whole).
The people of the Gnarly became VERY insular as a result, and they refused to trust any dwarf-, elf- or orc- kin that they encountered in the Forest. Halflings and Gnomes were already extremely rare in this part of the world, so they wouldn't fare much better.
That background provides quite a specific flavor and environment to build a character from, to give a character a chance to grow and exceed the limitations of his upbringing.
WotC specifically threw out the racial distrust. They kept the overwhelming human majority in the Gnarley Forest (with werebears being the second most populous race), but explicitly wrote material stating that all of the organizations within the Gnarley were completely racially integrated and the Triads (creating what WotC declared as official Greyhawk material) redefined the population as the sort to stand barricades and meet overwhelming opposing force with insufficient direct force, refusing to allow the population the wisdom that Gygax had their survival dependent upon.
So, yeah, your preferences about what to use or not use as the history and background of the setting is directly relevant for what I was looking at as potential submission to your game.
I don't know if a mobile, ranged combatant meets your group's warrior needs. I think a Druid could meet their divine needs, though I bet it isn't what they might be expecting. I prefer the Ranger game. To avoid direct ties to an organization that might be problematic with the theme/goals of the story-line, I could go with my original Living Greyhawk concept - a non-human who WANTED to be a Gnarley Ranger, but who couldn't join because, well, he's not human!
EDIT:
I see Queslin is the only warrior personality left in the group, and he certainly seems to have the whole ranged Ranger thing down, doesn't he? Your group needs a wall. Hmmmm . . ..
On-line expansion material (pre-WotC) had Dyvers accept Dwarven refugees into the city, and they became the judges of the Dyvers' legal system as well as the majority of the local constabulary. Very Lawful Neutral. I could look at a malcontent Dwarf, unhappy with enforcing laws that make paying the right fine at the right time more important than the nature of the crime, and who went looking for a more adventurous (pardon the pun) life as a result.
Still just thinking out loud.
2nd Edit:
Yeah, an Armor-Master Fighter (Ultimate Warrior archetype) starting with Dodge and Combat Expertise, looking long-term at Stalwart Defender (Advanced Player's Guide), wielding a flail-type weapon and shield and focusing on the trip and disarm feat chains looks promising for providing a wall character. Won't do much damage, though.
Dwarf is absolutely not a requirement in Pathfinder. Hmmm . . ..
Now, let's be fair. I am NOT Gygax and I am NOT Eric Mona. I am very comfortable talking about Dyvers & the Gnarley Forest. I am somewhat comfortable talking about Celene, the Uleks, the Wild Coast, the Pomarj and the Scarlet Brotherhood. I have some information in my head about Furyondy and Greyhawk.
For pretty much everything else, I need a reference to hold up my end of a conversation. Thank goodness for the internet on that point. I recently moved to follow work, and my wife stayed behind to try to get rid of our previous home. I brought one mini-van of stuff with me. Work clothes, a kitchen, a bed, etc. were all more important to me than my gaming stuff. Sure I brought some of it along, but only the stuff I thought I was likely to find being played in my new location. All of my Greyhawk reference material is in the back bedroom at the previous home, along with the rest of the stuff my wife has been stacking up for the movers to bring when she's ready to join me.
I've been playing Feat selection games, tying to figure out how I want the character to look as he (potentially) advances. I'm trying to convince myself I can do what I want with a Dwarf instead of cheesing that extra Human feat along the path.
I have a fairly complete mechanics sketch out of the way. Next I need to write-up a Greyhawk specific background to match the character concept. Starting in the cirn hills outside of Greyhawk, he's probably from Urnst, Dyvers or the Kron Hills. I'l look at Urnst.
ARG Dwarf variation:
Dwarf:
+2 Con
+2 Wis
-2 Cha
Medium
Slow and Steady
Darkvision
Defensive Training *
Lorekeeper (replaces Greed)
Giant Hunter (replaces Hatred)
Stubborn (replaces Hardy)
Stability *
Rock Stepper (replaces Stonecunning)
Weapon Familiarity
Languages: Common, Dwarven; Giant
Attributes:
S 5 14 14 +2
D 5 14 14 +2
C 5 14 16 +3
I 3 13 13 +1
W 2 12 14 +2
H 0 10 8 -1
Makes:
Attacks +3
Fort +5
Ref +2
Will +2 (+Stubborn)
HP 13
AC starts at 12 T12 F10
Starting Skills and Feats:
Acrobatics
Knowledge (Engineering)
Swim
Dodge
Shield Focus
Gear's not detailed at all, though obviously the heaviest armor he can afford, a shield, and a one-handed weapon of some sort. Flails will be the primary weapon choice later, but he's a long way away from those mechanical benefits mattering.
For now, though, I should have headed to bed an hour ago.
Okay found a pathfinder conversion. This is what I'm looking at so far want to get concept approval before I make the alias and do all the hard work.
Darius Blackstone
Cleric of WeeJas
Scroll Scholar
Domains Repose and Memory.
Lawful Neutral
He is the child of a Wizard who was taught rigorously when younger by his father but when no arcane talent manifested itself he was given over to the temple as a priest. He seeks knowledge for love of it and has no qualms about dipoing into what others might think is questionable as long as it doesn't Violate his ladies precepts.
@hustonj, thanks for the interest. Also if you really want to go for the ranger type, I'd say go for it. I use to do the do the LG stuff for Shield Lands, great times. To bad it had to end.
@divineshadow, cool a another Wee Jas follower! As for the domain conversions, do you have a link? And I'll take a look.
Dang. Duchy of Urnst, not the County. County is further East. Ah, well.
Draft background story:
Born in Pontyrel, a mining community in the Duchy of Urnst, Thalin benefited for being in one of the larger Dwarven communities in the Duchy. This allowed him to learn more about what a Dwarven Hearth is than many of his contemporaries elsewhere in the Duchy. As a young lad he ran away from home to seek his glory in the Greyhawk War, heading West and South to help face off against the forces of the Pomarj. He tried to attach himself to many units, but none were willing to take in a dwarf so young that his beard hadn't come in. Eventually he stumbled across the Oeridian Skyrts, a Dwarven mercenary unit that all wore those silly man dresses that so many of the Oeridians favor. At first, even these Dwarves were sending young Thalin on his way, but an old dwarf stopped him, looked him over, and declared "He'll be my shield bearer." So, Thalin served as Fundin's shield bearer for a little more than a month as they faced off against various Pomarj forces. Fundin kept making a point that Thalin wouldn't be allowed to wear a Skyrt until battle had made a proper Dwarf out of him. This whole time, Thalin had been learning about combat, tactics, preparedness and even the training methods the O'Skyrts used to sharpen their skills. One evening, the scouting report indicated that the approaching forces included four full squads of giants. The O'Skyrt encampment was louder and more boisterous that night than normal.
In the morning, the only thing Fundin said was "Belt yer Skyrt on, lad. Die a proper Dwarf." The Pomarj forces were victorious that day, but it was a very expensive victory. Only three of the giants survived. Most of the army opposing them was slain, and the rest scattered. Thalin doesn't know if Fundin survived the day or not, but he knew that he had no desire to seek a glorious death. He dropped his Skyrt on the battlefield and, with his tail between his legs, headed for home.
Still beardless when he returned home, Thalin's reception went as might be expected. First they chewed him out for being gone for so long. Then they loved on him for being alive and coming back. Then they found out where he had been and punished him for taking such foolish risks. Then they heard about his last battle and celebrated his survival. He never mentioned belting on his own Skyrt. Given his recent martial focus, they moved Thalin's apprenticeship from mining to soldiering, to protecting hearth, home and the riches provided by Dumathoin. His experiences on the battlefield had gifted him with more knowledge about combat than some of his would-be teachers, but his focus always seemed to be defensive. Even when he would choose to go on the offensive, he refused to drop his defenses as far as his teachers would.
After his beard came in, Thalin decided that he needed to find somewhere where he fit better than he did in Pontyrel. As he started to leave town, he stopped and purchased a length of woolen plaid. "Belt yer Skyrt on, lad," he said to himself as he picked the cloth out. Then he started walking North, skirting the edge of the mountains, until he reached the hills, and turned generally Westward. He was thinking of seeing what he could find in the City of Greyhawk, but the gods thought he should stop a little closer to home than that.
With that, the story of Thalin Shieldbearer begins.
Queslin's player here. I plan on going arcane archer. A wall would be awesome for me to hide behind while I'm launching arrows and spells at the enemy. But another ranger to take up my slack would be just as welcome.
Chain Mail, Large Shield, Dex, Dodge & Shield Focus makes for an AC of 22, 24 Fighting Defensively (-4 to hit), and 28 on Full Defense (no attacks allowed). At First level. With less than 160 gp worth of armor. A Tower Shield would increase those numbers by 2 but imposes a flat -2 on all attack rolls.
I hope either's wall enough for openers.
I can do a background story for the Ranger idea after work today, so that you can compare them. I would be looking at either staying pure Ranger or maybe branching out to Horizon Walker if the story gives me cause.
Okay, a quick draft background for the non-Gnarley Ranger concept I mentioned originally.
Draft background story:
A native of Celene, Craes was raised in a culture of art, magic, music and comfort. As is encouraged in a pure Elven culture, he followed his heart in what he studied and what he tried to learn. He didn't follow his father into sculpting live trees or his mother into the clergy. He did find his way into the woods, into the wilderness. He began travelling with the local hunters, learning from them and becoming more and more comfortable in the wilds of the Gnarley Forest.
As he began making trips deeper and deeper into the Forest alone, his confidence continued to grow. He eventually ran into an older human ranger, wearing 2 silver oak leaves and a silver acorn on a necklace. Ferren and Craes spent a great deal of time talking about living on the go, about living with the wood, with the land and with the other creatures of the wood. Even though Ferren was teaching Craes many things, they became good friends. Ferren repeatedly apologized for being unable to welcome Craes into the Gnarley Rangers, acknowledging that the Ranger Knights specifically exclude Elves from membership. Eventually, Ferren's silver acorn was replaced with a gold one, as he was promoted by the Ranger Knights to replace one who died. Shortly thereafter, Ferren, with many of his own sworn Gnarley Rangers and many of the others, went North to join in the fight against Iuz.
Within the year, one of the older humans returned to the Gnarley Forest with a bag full of silvered oak leaves and acorns. He handed Craes a necklace with a golden acorn. Craes tracked down one of the other Ranger Knights, carrying Ferren's symbol of office, and asked, again, for permission to join the Gnarley Rangers. Again, he was denied. The statement left no real room for discussion. "We do not accept Celene spies. You may have fooled Ferren, but you do not fool us."
Creas returned home for the first time in several months. He focused on working with the local hunters again, rounding out much of what he had picked up through the gentle years of his training. As this was purely Elvish training, it took several more years to complete. When he believed he was ready to instruct newer students rather than being a newer student, he packed his gear, told his family he was going on a long trip, and went East.
He's wandered his way near the Southern shore of the Nyr Dyv, finding himself in Diamond Lake.
I can, of course, build either character.
I guess to complete the pattern I should play with the mechanics on this, too.
divineshadow, I will go through my 3e books tomorrow and I'll do the conversion for the Repose and Memory domains, that way you can use those.
As of the APG, Memory is a subdomain off of Knowledge.
The same chart shows Repose as a valid, Pathfinder primary domain already. Yep, Core rule book. (PRD makes these searches FAST.)
Now, if the flavor of the previous versions is different from the current, I understand the reason for looking at a conversion. Again, I don't have my old references with me, though, so I can't form an informed opinion on the matter.
You are right, they do exist as official pathfinder domains. Strange I guess I just never remember seeing them. I should have checked the PRD. Dur! So we have that covered.
Hustonj and Divineshadow if you want to have your PCs ready to go for Monday, I will get you into the game.
I will have Divineshadows character come looking for his or her fellow Wee Jasian Breda.
Also I will be out of town up in northern Minnesota without any internet other than my phone, so we will pick the game back up on Monday the 8th.
Your character guidelines say average starting wealth, but I see where you told the current crew to go with maximum instead. Based on that, I'm building on maximum value instead. I can adjust if you wish.
Thalin Shieldbearer
Attributes:
S 14 +2
D 14 +2
C 16 +3
I 13 +1
W 14 +2
H 8 -1
Combat Stats:
Initiative: +2
BAB +1; Melee +3; Ranged +3 (-2 for Tower Shield)
Light Flail +1 for 1d8+2 @ x2
Chainmail +6/+2/-5/30%/-/45# 150gp
Tower Shied +4/+2/-10/50%/-/45# 30gp
Light Flail D8/x2/5#/B/Disarm, Trip 8gp
Light Flail D8/x2/5#/B/Disarm, Trip 8gp
Fighter's Kit 29# 9gp (a backpack, a bedroll, a belt pouch, a flint and steel, an iron pot, a mess kit, rope, soap, torches (10), trail rations (5 days), and a waterskin)
Gear Maintenance Kit 2# 5gp (metal polish, a small file, a leather paring knife, conditioning oil for leather, two soft cloths, extra leather straps, a sewing needle, and a few buttons)
Soldier's Uniform 5# 1gp (sturdy boots, a kilt, a belt, a shirt, gloves, a jacket, and a hat. The belt includes several loops or rings for tying pouches, a waterskin, a scabbard, and similar things a traveling soldier requires.)
Acid Flask (x3) d6/x2/10'/Acid/Splash 3# 30gp
134#
59gp change
Background:
Born in Pontyrel, a mining community in the Duchy of Urnst, Thalin benefited for being in one of the larger Dwarven commuities in the Duchy. This allowed him to learn more about what a Dwarven Hearth is than many of his contemporaries elsewhere in the Duchy. As a young lad he ran away from home to seek his glory in the Greyhawk War, heading West and South to help face off against the forces of the Pomarj. He tried to attach himself to many units, but none were willing to take in a dwarf so young that his beard hadn't come in. Eventually he stumbled across the Oeridian Skyrts, a Dwarven mercenary unit that all wore those silly man dresses that so many of the Oeridians favor. At first, even these Dwarves were sending young Thalin on his way, but an old dwarf stopped him, looked him over, and declared "He'll be my shield bearer." So, Thalin served as Fundin's shield bearer for a little more than a month as they faced off against various Pomarj forces. Fundin kept making a point that Thalin wouldn't be allowed to wear a Skyrt until battle had made a proper Dwarf out of him. This whole time, Thalin had been learning about combat, tactics, prepardness and even the training methods the O'Skyrts used to shapren their skills. One evening, the scouting report indicated that the approaching forces included four full squads of giants. The O'Skyrt encampment was louder and more boiterous that night than normal.
In the morning, the only thing Fundin said was "Belt yer Skyrt on, lad. Die a proper Dwarf." The Pomarj forces were victorious that day, but it was a very expensive victory. Only three of the giants survived. Most of the army opposing them was slain, and the rest scattered. Thalin doesn't know if Fundin survived the day or not, but he knew that he had no desire to seek a glorious death. He dropped his Skyrt on the battlefield and, with his tail between his legs, headed for home.
Still beardless when he returned home, Thalin's reception went as might be expected. FIrst they chewed him out for being gone for so long. Then they loved on him for being alive and coming back. Then they found out where he had been and punished him for taking such foolish risks. Then they heard about his last battle and celebrated his survival. He never mentioned belting on his own Skyrt. Given his recent martial focus, they moved Thalin's apprenticeship from mining to soldiering, to protecting hearth, home and the riches provided by Dumathoin. His experiences on the battlefield had gifted him with more knowledge about combat than some of his would-be teachers, but his focus always seemed to be defensive. Even when he would choose to go on the offensive, he refused to drop his defenses as far as his teachers would.
After his beard came in, Thalin decided that he needed to find somewhere where he fit better than he did in Pontyrel. As he started to leave town, he stopped and purchased a length of woolen plaid. "Belt yer Skyrt on, lad," he said to himself as he picked the cloth out. Then he started walking North, skirting the edge of the mountains, until he reached the hills, and turned generally Westward. He was thinking of seeing what he could find in the City of Greyhawk, but the gods thought he should stop a little closer to home than that.
With that, the story of Thalin Shieldbearer begins.
Okay so work was stupid busy this weekend and was work extra long shifts out of nowhere. I have the character built on paper should have it posted in a few hours. No this is not a normal thing for me sorry that is all.
Your character guidelines say average starting wealth, but I see where you told the current crew to go with maximum instead. Based on that, I'm building on maximum value instead. I can adjust if you wish.
Nice work on the character. Dumathoin as a patron, nice choice as well.
As for wealth, I did change it to max. So it is all good.
Okay so work was stupid busy this weekend and was work extra long shifts out of nowhere. I have the character built on paper should have it posted in a few hours. No this is not a normal thing for me sorry that is all.
Ralafas reporting in. Sorry I'm late bad storm took out our power while I was asleep. Will get up backstory in a day or two internet is actting funky think the hub down the road was damaged. They are sending someone to look at it. But I can play from my phone now that I have power.
Ralafas reporting in. Sorry I'm late bad storm took out our power while I was asleep. Will get up backstory in a day or two internet is actting funky think the hub down the road was damaged. They are sending someone to look at it. But I can play from my phone now that I have power.
No problem. I'll get have you as a member of the WeeJas cult in Diamond Lake and you have decided to go looking for Breda. If that is okay with you.
And Thalin I will have you meet Ralafas outside the cairn as you were traveling in the region. From their I will have you enter and meet it the rest of the party in their current location. You can RP your meeting at the entrance if you wish or we can just FF to the rest of the party.
Seeing how you were looking for a martial or divine character, how about I split the difference? An inquisitor of St. Cuthbert. If I recall, there's a church in Diamond Lake that has a unique view on the Cudgeler's scriptures.
Backstory:
You ask why I do what I do. It is because I care.
Diamond Lake is dying. There is a cancer in this town that eats away at everyone in it. The virtuous have no place here - they either leave or are consumed by the scum that ply their trade here. Life is cheap, and as long as the ore flows, the Free City doesn't care who lives or dies.
Take my mother. She wanted to be a seamstress, move to the city, get out of Diamond Lake before it took everything from her. Someone got word that she was looking to leave, so somebody made sure that that didn't happen. She was attacked on the street, dragged into an alley, and beaten horribly. Stole all her money. Left her destitute. Left her with nothing.
Nobody cared about her plight. Nobody but the whorehouses. There was still one trade she could ply, and they snapped her up as quick as they could. Being a prostitute comes with certain occupational hazards. I was one of them. I suppose I should be grateful she didn't take poison to make sure I didn't come to term, but whatever. Maybe she didn't know what was growing in her.
So she gives birth to the half-breed inside her, takes one look at me, and gives me over to the church. Makes sense, who wants their trick to be chasing after a child? Of course, the church of the Cudgeler isn't exactly well-respected in town. Doesn't matter to me. I'm used to it. The father taught me to hate what I was, what I represented. Taught me that the flog can whip the Pomarj out of me. I'm not sure if that's the case. I still try, though.
Not everyone sees the light, though. There's bad people here, all the way from the murderers and thieves in the alleys all the way up to Balabar Smenk and the rest of his ilk. There's days I wish that the Doomgrinder had driven over this cesspool. The Free City would have to build anew, start over from scratch. They couldn't do any worse than they already have. But this is the town I was born in, and someobdy has to do something to make it better. And if that means bringing the Cudgeler's word to the pious and the profane, then by the God himself, that's what's going to happen, and may the Upper Planes help those that stand in my way.
That is why I do what I do. I do it because I care.
Half-orc Inquisitor. I'm not leaning towards any of the archetypes. If you've got a spot for me, I'll make up a character sheet pronto.
