Hello! Big group, but looking forward to the game! Would you mind listing out each player, character, race, and class to help us keep track of everyone?
Give me a moment and I can do it.
Oh and hello, thanks for picking Khatijah, hopefully I can continue to deliver.
All my info - character name, race, and class are in message intro line. Player name is Anne, from So. California.
Count Buggula-Kara-Halfling-Bard(Dervish Dancer)
JAF0-Fionnbharanel "Finn" Teklet-Gnome-Cleric of Sarenrae(Theologian)
hustonj-Mas'ud-Ifrit-Bard(Arcane Duelist)
Choon-Tolus(Because I think this is what DaWay meant when he typed Talos)-Vishkanya-Rogue(Deadly Courtesan)
CampinCarl9157-Taldor Rockheels-Dwarf-Fighter(Foehammer)
Aknira-Arizhel/Hadassah-Halfling-Summoner
Dreaming Warforged-Cahal ud'Din-Human-Barbarian
AdamWarnock-Khatijah-Human-Fighter(Two Weapon Fighter)
Only one full caster and not arcane at that! (is the summoner considered full caster?) This will be interesting. Not a lot of magic in general.
Also, thanks for picking me. I'm loving playing this character.
I'll also edit my class line to include vital stats as Khatijah and Kara have done
Not really any ranged either - this is a very melee-heavy party. Should be interesting.
my campaign trait is 'finding Haleen'
Just want to note: For this first weekend there will probably be conversations taking place on different days in different places so we all need to pay attention to the where and when of our RPing to avoid time-hopping PC's. (Sorry if this is painfully obvious, but still just wanted to mention)
Earning my freedom. I'll get stats added shortly.
I will post mine then parenthesis Zerika's since I cant fit both. (Or I can make Zerika an alias of her own if you prefer)
Origional build was Finding Haleen, however; there were several others who had same, and it would have been a pain to reconcile.
Rebuilt to Earning Freedom, but; now it seems we are all slaves.
Your call. My backstory is drafted both ways.. Just let me know what you want. I prefer Finding Haleen because it adds a layer to the story, but I am squishy so saves are always nice...
-Final Edit, I promise-
I also have the Born Leader feat, if Leadership is banned (I admit it is not a good idea in a party this size) I would be happy to change that as well.
Earning freedom.
Earning freedom.
And squishies might want to stay behind the not so squishy fighters and barbarian. Khatijah has HP to spare.>:)
Don't worry, I plan for the first few battles to be rather hard on Tolus without the baddies help. Remember, he's never even been in a fist fight, so this is gonna be... Interesting.
Oh, believe you me I am NOT going to be any where near the enemies if I have anything to say about it :)
That is why I have Stealth
Am I missing something, or do we have two halfling master summoners here?
I'm slightly confused how hadassah and azariel are the same person.
Sorry, Arizhel is the Half Elf summoner I switched to due to some background issues with this campaign (at the time there were like 4 people doing Finding Haleen). Hadassah is in a different campaign (Just learning PbP and so in a module to kinda learn the ropes of the format.)
Arizhel is the Halfling Master Summoner in this group. Any reference to Hadassah is a mere screw up on my part.
So to summarize:
Hadassah was v 1.0, and currently in Hollows End.
Arizhel is v 2.0 of Hadassah, renamed because the campaign builds for the two adventures are different point values, different traits, and different wealth.
Sorry, Arizhel is the Half Elf summoner I switched to due to some background issues with this campaign (at the time there were like 4 people doing Finding Haleen). Hadassah is in a different campaign (Just learning PbP and so in a module to kinda learn the ropes of the format.)
Arizhel is the Halfling Master Summoner in this group. Any reference to Hadassah is a mere screw up on my part.
No worries. It's my first time too. Just a little confused. Thanks for clearing that up.
Only one full caster and not arcane at that! (is the summoner considered full caster?) This will be interesting. Not a lot of magic in general.
A master summoner only gets 6 spell levels (like a bard) but they get some spells earlier than wizards or sorcerers.
Finding Haleen
A Summoner is a fairly powerful caster, depending on how played. The dev team that built the spell list broke some basic game-balance constraints in order to keep the spell power available to the Summoner equivalent to that of a full Wizard at the same level. Summoners gain access to 3rd level spells at the same time that Wizards gain access to 4th level spells. Many of the Summoner's 3rd level spells are from the Wizard's 4th level spell list,and not only does the leap continue, but it REPEATS later. So, many of a Summoner's spells are character level appropriate for a Wizard, not to the smaller "spell level" they are assigned to on the Summoner's class spell list.
The Bards are SUPPOSED to be useful, not big guns. That's my plan/goal with Mas'ud!
As an Arcane Duelist, Mas'ud is going to be keeping himself in the thick of things, and may well have a shorter lifespan as a result. The archetype is designed to be up close and personal.
Okay, completely out of character . . .. This whole thing about poison use . . ..
In actual Arabic culture, food and water were to expensive to waste. If you took a prisoner, you provided neither food nor water to said prisoner until you have decided to keep him alive. Prisoners could die of thirst while their captors argued over whether they were worth the expense to keep alive or not.
Traditionally, when a house with money prepared a meal, one large common platter was prepared. The men would eat, then the boys, then the women, then the children, then the servants/slaves, and then the remainder would be provided to the beggars and poor on the street. It was not possible to poison someone's food without poisoning an entire household, or wasting food enough to feed a large number of people.
In our more European histories, poisoning was VERY common. What we're dealing with is NOT European based, however.
Now, as far as poisoned weapons go, I honestly have no idea how frequently they were actually used, though I suspect the answer is STILL VERY RARELY (again, the water expense of getting poison was amazingly prohibitive), but the stories focused on personal prowess and grand magics. Poison use by anyone except the bad guy that needed to be overcome runs counter to the whole structure of the hero as it exists in Arabic culture. BTW, the best, brightest, and most shining examples of heroes in Arabic culture are the little guy sticking it to the mean, overbearing, abusive man. The longer the hero manages to survive sticking it to the man, the greater his fame. It is also part of the Arabic hero culture, though, that the little guy ALWAYS EVENTUALLY LOSES. Yep. The biggest and best heroes in Arabic culture all eventually die at the hands of their superior enemies. The fact that they made such a superior force pay attention to them spending resources and effort to find them, is what makes them heroes. The bigger the enemy, the less reason they have to seek out one guy, because the less one guy should be able to do to actually annoy them.
Just so you have some idea of the background information from which I am basing my posts on this topic.
those of you searching for haleen need to work out your relationship. How was it in the past? Is it still that way, if not how's it changed?
Looks like that is just Fionn' and Mas'ud.
Since both of our write-ups assume our relationship with Haleen was in a different part of the world, I'm not sure how to work to combine those stories . . ..
I assumed Haleen was "local" to the area the story takes place in, while Fionn' seems to have assumed she was in Varisia, unless I misunderstand what she wrote?
well she was born in varisia but traveled all over the world with her merchant parents until they were killed and she ended up with haleen, which could have been anywhere technically - kind of depends on where the gm wants to put haleen and when. I say when because Fionn is in her 50's and her parents died when she was in her tweens (twenties) so she had what? maybe 15-25 years with haleen... could have been when haleen was very young and maybe not here in katapesh, since I have been playing Fionn as a stranger to katapesh, that would make sense.
Okay, completely out of character . . .. This whole thing about poison use . . ..
In actual Arabic culture, food and water were to expensive to waste. If you took a prisoner, you provided neither food nor water to said prisoner until you have decided to keep him alive. Prisoners could die of thirst while their captors argued over whether they were worth the expense to keep alive or not.
Traditionally, when a house with money prepared a meal, one large common platter was prepared. The men would eat, then the boys, then the women, then the children, then the servants/slaves, and then the remainder would be provided to the beggars and poor on the street. It was not possible to poison someone's food without poisoning an entire household, or wasting food enough to feed a large number of people.
In our more European histories, poisoning was VERY common. What we're dealing with is NOT European based, however.
Now, as far as poisoned weapons go, I honestly have no idea how frequently they were actually used, though I suspect the answer is STILL VERY RARELY (again, the water expense of getting poison was amazingly prohibitive), but the stories focused on personal prowess and grand magics. Poison use by anyone except the bad guy that needed to be overcome runs counter to the whole structure of the hero as it exists in Arabic culture. BTW, the best, brightest, and most shining examples of heroes in Arabic culture are the little guy sticking it to the mean, overbearing, abusive man. The longer the hero manages to survive sticking it to the man, the greater his fame. It is also part of the Arabic hero culture, though, that the little guy ALWAYS EVENTUALLY LOSES. Yep. The biggest and best heroes in Arabic culture all eventually die at the hands of their superior enemies. The fact that they made such a superior force pay attention to them spending resources and effort to find them, is what makes them heroes. The bigger the enemy, the less reason they have to seek out one guy, because the less one guy...
Ok, I didn't know that. Any of it. Thanks for enlightening me. I'll alter Tolus a bit to bring him in line with the fact that poisons were not used in food. He'll still use his own poison as it's a core class feature (and he is kind of unreservedly serpentine), and probably the injury poisons. I'll just go ahead and admit here I had a European idea of poisons and food so that really discourages the "ingested" category.
I think we have an opportunity here too to create the first Arabic style serpent-hero. A snake that fights with his fellows in the best traditions of fighting against the odds when all the other snakes are working for the bad guys. Tolus will probably have to prove himself an ally, especially to mas'ud. I now understand better why we seem to have such a disconnect. We were operating different continents in some respects.As far as hero narratives, we may want to lean west a bit. This is Pathfinder, after all.
well she was born in varisia but traveled all over the world with her merchant parents until they were killed and she ended up with haleen, which could have been anywhere technically - kind of depends on where the gm wants to put haleen and when. I say when because Fionn is in her 50's and her parents died when she was in her tweens (twenties) so she had what? maybe 15-25 years with haleen... could have been when haleen was very young and maybe not here in katapesh, since I have been playing Fionn as a stranger to katapesh, that would make sense.
Check, but how old would you say that should make Haleen? 45+ at least, right? And that assumes she was YOUNGER than you when you first met her. Reasonable if she is human, half-elven, or halfling, but any other choice would put her too young to have been saving you or too old to reasonably be running around on an adventure now.
What race is Haleen supposed to be? Her age in this combined story makes her race significant!
If you had 15 years with Haleen in and around Varisia, that would let me have 10 years (or a little less, which is what I had in my mind already) with Haleen in Katapesh. It would also make the dream sequence about her needing help a better tie to getting Fionn' on the road and trying to find Haleen to help her.
In this particular method of adaptation, our two characters would truly have never met before the recruitment thread!
I really dont think I could have chosen a more controversial character if I tried! :) I will enjoy having Tolus prove himself to the group, I think. Depending on how this goes he may get exiled by the group into wilderness or something.
well she was born in varisia but traveled all over the world with her merchant parents until they were killed and she ended up with haleen, which could have been anywhere technically - kind of depends on where the gm wants to put haleen and when. I say when because Fionn is in her 50's and her parents died when she was in her tweens (twenties) so she had what? maybe 15-25 years with haleen... could have been when haleen was very young and maybe not here in katapesh, since I have been playing Fionn as a stranger to katapesh, that would make sense.Check, but how old would you say that should make Haleen? 45+ at least, right? And that assumes she was YOUNGER than you when you first met her. Reasonable if she is human, half-elven, or halfling, but any other choice would put her too young to have been saving you or too old to reasonably be running around on an adventure now.
What race is Haleen supposed to be? Her age in this combined story makes her race significant!
If you had 15 years with Haleen in and around Varisia, that would let me have 10 years (or a little less, which is what I had in my mind already) with Haleen in Katapesh. It would also make the dream sequence about her needing help a better tie to getting Fionn' on the road and trying to find Haleen to help her.
In this particular method of adaptation, our two characters would truly have never met before the recruitment thread!
Haleen is stated out in the players guide and is human there.
Mas'ud - it might make more sense if Haleen disappeared while Fionn was still in Qadira studying fire magic - would be more in line with her being younger... and haleen didn't have to be in varisia - it could have been anywhere except katapesh (since I am running Fionn as being a stranger to the area)... maybe even Andoran which is just across the waters or even Absalom which might be interesting - DM do you want to chime in here on this matter since you know more about Haleen than we do - her age, her story, etc.
Public Service Announcement:
There's a chronicle called Dark Markets: a guide to Kataphesh I just found that may help us in understanding our setting, if youall have access.
Edit: so, I skipped a lot of that. Most was concerned with Kataphesh the city and contained details that I don't need right now. Most interesting is that Kataphesh is the poison Capitol of the world and there are several poisons unique to Kataphesh. I'm not so sure an Arabian view of poison is intended for the natives of the city/country. It even goes so far as setting up the poison makers guild as one of the most powerful and influential guilds in the city.
Chronicle? I'm not sure how you are using the term. The title doesn't sound like a PFS module, and chronicles are the paperwork tracking used in PFS play, right? What are you referring to, and could you provide a link to a valid, legal source?
I don't mind good references at all!
Chronicle? I'm not sure how you are using the term. The title doesn't sound like a PFS module, and chronicles are the paperwork tracking used in PFS play, right? What are you referring to, and could you provide a link to a valid, legal source?
I don't mind good references at all!
The series title is Pathfinder Chronicles. I think it's type is a source book. Written by Stephen Greer and Amber Scott. I'll try to find it in the store.
Here it is. . It's part of the campaign setting subscription, but I think we'll need to have DeWay's ruling on whether to make it legal and just how deep he wants to take this into traditional Arabian style.
Another note: If DeWay rules the book as applying to us, according to the map in that book, we are currently in a region that is mainly grassland/plain with "dry patches", so we may have to adjust our environment slightly. The sun would still be punishing as we describe; it would just be less sandy and more dry grasses.
Edit: this is also mentioned in the Player's Guide, though not directly. Kelmarane stands under the northern mountains and the rains from those mountains water the grasslands directly south (where we are traveling). It gradually turns to true sandy dessert as you go south in the country.
Also, bear in mind that Katapesh has more Persian than Arabic influences - but that's still l they are - influences. Doesn't have to fit exactly with historical or current persia or arabia.
well i have good news and bad.
the good news is that my in-laws have finally left.
the bad is that one character has dropped out. there is no more Cahal ud'dincant wait to start to start this game for real on monday
Will you be including the book mentioned earlier in the thread?
Also, are we going Persian or Arabian. This will probably decide how large a role poison will play for Tolus. (full disclosure: I had planned to use poison quite a bit. )
I just noticed that Mas'ud and I tend to be Really long-winded. I'll make no appologies. Honestly it may only get worse. :P
Wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with the fact they are both trained in Perform: Oratory, would it? <eg>
Persia? I know that I know very little about Persia. Mas'ud was designed with an Arabian bent, though. The whole djinn thing seemed to play right into that kind of focus.
Wouldn't have ANYTHING to do with the fact they are both trained in Perform: Oratory, would it? <eg>
Persia? I know that I know very little about Persia. Mas'ud was designed with an Arabian bent, though. The whole djinn thing seemed to play right into that kind of focus.
Why nothing, nothing at all. :P
As for Persia, they had a big influence on Arabia and your Arabian bent could fit right in from what I know. I'll admit I'm no professor, though. Most of what I know comes from Greek history and the Bible. The book of Esther is set in the Persian empire before and after the time of Xerxes war with the Greeks. You know, Thermopylae and all that.
But anyway, if it'll let me use poison more, I'll jump on it. Vishkanya poison and crafting poisons and the intrigue of slipping people poisons without getting caught was the main reason I built this character as a Deasdly Courtesan.
Can't wait for this to really start. I've been chomping at the bit for days. I think I actually got a sease and desist letter from a coalition formed by my F5 key and the refresh operation on my phone. Fortunately, computer use is a dictatorial relationship so I just told them to shut up and refreshed again.
The awesome rping going on doesn't help, either. Way to go guys. :)
Do you have any idea how tempted to click the spoiler that says "DM's eyes only"
but I've been a good boy.
I may also change my name to Talos, just to make DeWay's life easier. :P