Tarlane
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Alright folks, I created this thread for planning out the team and character creation, I might use it as a spot to kick off a bit of fluff RP as well while people are still finalizing.
But for now, I'm going to give total information overload. I've got a ton of details below, so I'm trying to break it up into more manageable sections.
1st Level
25 point buy
300gp initial equipment.
2 traits(remember traits have to come from different categories)
Stick to Paizo sources, but beyond that I'll be lenient.
Once I know a bit more about your background, I'll give you a rumor or two, not all true, that may have helped draw you to the dungeon.
1. Things get more dangerous as you go deeper. This is perhaps the keystone of old school dungeon design. As you get farther from civilization and into the wilderness, the more dangerous things get. So then, it just makes sense that the farther you get from the surface, the deadlier and stranger things get. In both cases, the farther you travel from the known to the unknown, the greater risk you take.
3rd Edition created a system that used Challenge Ratings to match relatively appropriate encounters to a given group of player characters (the key word being "relatively"). Matching monster toughness with PC toughness has always been in the game in one form or another, of course. But in dungeon design, this isn't that important, because the dungeon level dictates (or at least suggests) the difficulty of the encounters. Things too easy? Go down. Things getting pretty dicey? Go back up. Of course, finding the way up or down isn't always easy, but that's what makes it fun.
2. Treasure and other rewards are based on challenges overcome, not PC level. Again, 3rd Edition created a gauge to determine appropriate wealth for PCs of a given level. But if the challenge determines the rewards (either based on how hard it was to get to the treasure, or the guardians that must be defeated to obtain it), then this should take care of itself. It does mean that skillful--or perhaps lucky--player characters will be able to get more treasure than average ones, but that's a good thing, if you ask me.
Let's look at points 1 and 2 together for a moment. Basically, the assumption here is that players will need to manage risk versus reward. In a standard campaign, the DM controls the level of challenge for the players. But in a dungeon like this, the players can choose to seek encounters that might be too challenging for them in order to get bigger rewards, or stay and face easy challenges for low rewards. This is sometimes referred to as a "sandbox dungeon," because the DM just presents a sandbox in which the PCs to do whatever they want, and go wherever they want.
3. There's a happy medium that embraces both realism and fun. When discussing dungeons with people, you hear all kinds of things:
"Dungeons aren't realistic. I don't like them."
"Dungeons can be made to be realistic, but then they aren't much fun."
"Dungeons are terribly unrealistic, and we love that about them!"
Somewhere between the people who want realism (or at least, believability) and those who want wa-hoo fun, there is a broad middle ground where most people can find something to enjoy. That means neither a careful and detailed study of the dungeon's ecological balance nor a 30 foot long dragon in a 20-foot by 20-foot room with no way for it to exit. The dungeon's got to avoid obvious, glaring challenges to a player's suspension of disbelief while not bogging the text down in details that no one will pay any attention to anyway.
4. The dungeon is dynamic and huge--there's no clearing out the dungeon. This gets to the heart of the difference between what I call a megadungeon and a regular dungeon. (Some might call the former a dungeon and the latter a lair.) The point here is that regular dungeons are small--5, 10, even 30 rooms--and megadungeons are vast, with hundreds of rooms. The megadungeon is an environment, not just a locale. In many ways, it's like many joined dungeons, connected lairs, and so on. Kill a monster and another might wander in and take its place. The dungeon detailed here--called Dragon's Delve--is a megadungeon.
There's another point to be made here: the megadungeon may be more than just an underground complex. The megadungeon adventure might include a side trip to a wilderness locale, a gate to another plane, a teleporter to a mystical forest far away, and so on. It's all a part of the megadungeon, even when it's not entirely underground.
5. The player characters are not the first adventurers to explore this place, and they won't be the last. As they explore, your PCs will find the remains of previous adventurers. They will hear about other parties coming to the dungeon to test their own mettle. They may even encounter them while delving into the depths themselves. This contributes to the dynamism of the dungeon environment.
6. Although there are many entrances, and many ways to get from level to level, this dungeon is being presented so that the PCs are unlikely to get ahead of the design. This doesn't mean things are linear (because linear dungeons are bad dungeons). It just means that sometimes access to certain areas will be temporarily blocked. For example, a secret door may pass from one level to the next but be hidden in a way that makes it much more difficult to find on the higher floor.
7. The rules exist to facilitate the dungeon, not the other way around. Basically, what this means is, if I have a cool idea for an encounter and present it in a way that forces me to bend the rules, I'll do it. If a monster needs an extra feat in order to fulfill its role, I'll just give it the feat.
I know that the rules were designed the way they were for good reasons. (I mean, c'mon. Consider my design credits.) One of those reasons, of course, is consistency. So I'm not going to throw the rulebook out. But I also know that the rules can't be expected to work in every situation. Rather than resign myself to accepting the occasional Encounter Level based on the formula that doesn't feel quite right, the value of a treasure that seems inappropriate to the specific situation, or the monster whose stats don't allow him to do what he needs to do in a given encounter, I'm going to change them. The key here is that the design needs to fit the specific situation, and the rules were written with general situations in mind. In this dungeon, DCs will fit the situation, even if they don't match the book 100% every time. Encounters will be designed to work the way they need to work for the most fun for all. This is why an actual human being serves as a game designer (or a DM) rather than a computer.
8. Magic gets stronger the deeper you go. This is related to point #1, but it's worth mentioning again. The farther you get from the surface, the more mysterious and strange things become. This means that magical tricks and traps get more powerful, encounter areas get weirder and wilder, ancient treasures are better preserved, and sorcerous and otherworldly creatures are more at home. Basically, the deeper you go, the less the place seems like the undercroft of some quasi-medieval keep and more like a unique, subterranean fantasy environment all its own. And the best part? This doesn't just fit with dungeon design philosophy, but also with the backstory behind Dragon's Delve. There's a reason why there are weird and challenging magical phenomena in the dungeon, and why they occur in greater numbers the farther down you delve.
9. Food is fairly abundant in the dungeon. If you don't mind the taste of rat. The point here is that the dungeon's full of life--rats, bats, insects, and so on. Just because it's not given stats and isn't a threat to the PCs doesn't mean it's not there. And so all the carnivores in the dungeon have enough to get by. Not that they wouldn't mind a tasty treat in the form of an adventurer or two.
10. Every level or sublevel has its own unique character. This is another old school trope and, I must admit, one that I love. The level's character might be expressed in similar inhabitants, a related purpose for the chambers, or a theme of some kind. The prison level. The submerged level. The demon lord's level.
A vast underground dungeon of labyrinths and catacombs, built perhaps by dwarves or perhaps by wizards--or maybe even dragons--Dragon's Delve is infamous among treasure-hunters and monster-slayers. Filled with deadly danger and ancient treasures, the dungeon offers both risk and reward in equal amounts, each growing more intense the deeper one goes. How much peril is worth risking for how much return? It's all up to those brave enough to try.
The tales of Dragon's Delve teem with contradictions and unbelievable anecdotes of impossible encounters and bizarre monstrosities. And yet, some of it all must be true. Do demonic cultists really use Dragon's Delve as a secret base? Is there truly some kind of ambient magic seeping up through the place? Did wizards of old hoard away powerful artifacts in the dungeon's vaults? Do gateways to remote lands and even other planes of existence really lie somewhere in Dragon's Delve? Does the prince of all dragonkind really hold court in the deepest reaches of the subterranean stronghold? No one knows for certain, but those that could find the answers to even some of these questions, or learn even a few of the dungeon's other secrets, might earn for themselves notoriety and wealth beyond imagining.
If they survive.
Dragon's Delve lies in a remote corner of Mivon in the River Kingdoms, that people once called the Duchy of Chordille. Yet a hundred years ago or so, the folk of the surrounding lands took up arms against Chordille. They razed the keep and slew the duke. It's hard now to find someone who knows the real reason why this happened. A few speak of evil intent on the part of the duke, who had plans for conquest. Others, however, say that the duke's actions were always benevolent, and that the conflict arose from misunderstanding, or perhaps deception on the part of some mysterious third party.
All that is known for certain is that folks call that remote area the Fallen Duchy. It boasts no ruler and little population. Wilderness reclaimed Chordille, and it is now a land of dangers.
People in Brindenford, a small town just two miles to the north of Dragon’s Delve, claim that murderous humanoid creatures prowl those ruins. Goblins? Orcs? Worse? No one seems to know for sure, and eyewitness accounts are few, and always contradictory. They also claim that the place is both haunted and cursed.
So many questions. So many secrets.
If you dare to brave this ancient dungeon, go well equipped. Be ready for anything. Keep your eyes open, and search everywhere. Any passage or door you find could lead to wealth enough for you to retire. Or it could lead to certain doom.
But that's what being an adventurer is all about, right? This isn't an undertaking that you'll finish in one foray or even a dozen. This is the challenge of a lifetime. As someone thrilled at the prospect of exploring the unknown, incredible challenges, and the promise of gold and magic, Dragon's Delve is exactly where you've always wanted to go.
The lone nearby city is the small town of Brindenford which only holds on in this area due to being positioned on a major trade road known as the Queens Road and just downstream from where two large rivers combine, making the town’s survival strongly in the interest of the lumber consortium. This trade is supplemented by a regular influx of adventurers, purchasing supplies for excursions into the Delve and somewhat more rarely returning with treasures to sell and trade.
The town itself has a population of about one thousand people, most of whom are human. While the Mayor Saddanna is technically the law of the city, no one questions Sherrif Mansan’s judgement and he makes many of the day to day decisions in the town and has recently taken over the gathering hall in town to serve as a barracks for a growing constabulary.
Brindenford boasts three taverns to serve both the locals and the frequent travelers that pass through. The Lost Shepherd is the most famous of the inns in town as the most frequented by adventurers prepared to set out to the nearby dungeon. The Bridgeman is the fanciest inn in town, popular among merchants passing through town and anyone in town with the coin for a good meal. The Water Stone could be considered a ‘dive bar’ in the town. Its usual clientele are the local miscreants as well as the poor loggers.
As well as taverns, Brindenford has several shops that are well stocked for a town its size. Fascher’s Supply is a general adventurers store, run by a would be explorer to keep those wishing to face the Delve stocked. Leaving the fixing of plows and shoeing of horses to several less skilled metal workers, Aesa’s Smithy covers the weapon and armor needs of anyone who needs a good defense. Finally, Queens Crafts is a large communal shop run by a number of craftsmen as well as their apprentices. Functioning much like a in-building bazaar, nearly any sort of worked or trade good can be found here.
There are a number of temples in the town, while Brindenford isn’t a deeply religious community, their rough history and dangerous surroundings has led to nearly all its citizens paying some service to various gods. Nearly everyone respects Sarenrae and her clerics, the Temple of Sarenrae is easily the largest in town. Following it is the Temple of the River gods, a multi-god shrine where worshippers have tied their own pantheon of deities to the aspects of the river that provides them much of their livelihood. Kurgess holds a small shrine in the city, the loggers respecting his strength and competitions. Finally there is a crumbled shrine to the demi-goddess Glarias who has lost worship here since the duke was killed a century before.
The town doesn’t have a library to speak of, but it is home to a sage named Felstor who is known to be a great mind throughout the River Kingdoms and is considered to be the most knowledgeable man alive about the history of the region and the dungeon itself.
Lamastu has a great deal of power in the region outside of the civilization of town. A powerful cult of monstrous humanoids and deformed humans known as the bestial horde worship her and often lead attacks on travelers or the town itself.
Kurgess is a minor god elsewhere in the world but his portfolio of strength and competition and freedom suit the local loggers very well. Most locals who worship him believe that he is the son of Cayden Cailen and Desna and the two greater deities are worshiped at his shrine as well.
Glarias is a minor diety who has fallen out of favor in the region since the fall of the Duke of Chordille a century before. She is thought to be a herald of Desna and represents the moon.
Sarenrae holds the largest following in the region with her primary clerics all being female, though there is a small sect of men in her service known as the Brothers of Charity. The proximity of the dungeon and frequency of adventurers has colored the cleric’s views in some ways. While they give freely to the townsfolk and loggers in need, offering food and healing to those without, the church has a strict policy of using explorers ill gotten gains to fund their other charity works. Any strangers are charged fully for the church's wide variety of services.
The River Gods- A popular local belief system that is at least given lip service by most of those who work on the water in some way. Rather than finding new gods to worship, instead it is a different way of viewing a number of the greater gods that ties them to the river which provides their livelihood.
Nethys- Thought to be the source of the celestial river, Nethys is worshipped for his aspect as the creator. He is the patron of crafters as well as local mages and sages.
Gozreh- Worshipped for the chaotic nature and rapids of the water, Gozreh is worshipped for the clash of elements he represents.
Abadar and Erastil- According to the River Gods belief system, these two gods are thought to be twins, a reflection of each other from the surface of the river casting its opposite.
Norgorber- Serving as a warning in the pantheon as well as the patron of more unscrupulous followers, Norgorger represents the treachery of a rivers ability to be a slow flowing stream one moment and dangerous rapids the next.
Torag- The source of industry among the River Gods. Torag uses the strength of the river for his own ends, spinning mills and shapping steel and stone.
Millennia passed with the unnamed dungeon being regularly occupied and expanded as one set of inhabitants was either driven out by the next or simply vanished before the new occupants moved in.
Several thousand years ago the dungeon gained its name as Metterak settled within. Known as the Prince of Dragons, Metterak is thought to be a spawn of Dahak himself. The dragon ravaged a wide area around the dungeon for centuries before suddenly going silent, its unknown if he is sleeping, has left the region or was finally slain by one of the many adventurers who hunted for him over the years. Legends persist that whatever his fate, he remains at the bottom of the dungeon. From his first appearance the dungeon has taken on his namesake, being referred to as the Dragon’s Delve.
About a millennia ago a coalition of some of the most powerful spellcasters in the world known as the Mages Four set up their home within the dungeon, using it as a fortress and a laboratory. People often speak of the wondrous items that were produced from the dungeon at this time, whether found or created.
Five hundred years ago, an adventuring party gathered an army of displaced Aldori, leading them to clear out the dungeon. Somehow their plans were altered and rather than clearing the area, a fortified tower was erected nearby and they began to conquer the local populace, enforcing a cruel reign. A powerful cleric of Sarenrae known as The Red Saint rose up and struck down the leader of the adventurers and squashed the army, securing the worship of the goddess in the region and leading to the local practice of her clerics being almost exclusively female.
Four hundred years ago a large red dragon begins to terrorize the region. After nearly fifty years a gold dragon is spotted circling nearby and is assumed to have driven him off as he isn’t seen again.
Finally, just over a century ago the lands around the Dragon’s Delve are granted to duke Chordille and his followers. Chordille Keep is erected over the site of the dungeon itself. The Duke is well liked by the locals but his reign is less than 30 years when troops from surrounding lands invade, killing the Duke and Duchess and razing the keep. No troops or ruler are left to maintain the area, leaving Brindenford and the surrounding area uncontested and referred to as ‘The Fallen Dutchy.’
For RP posts it tends to be easy to follow certain patterns to make things easier to read.
- *Descriptions and actions can be described through normal text.
*Dialogue should be bolded.
*Thoughts italicized.
*Any out of character commentary using the ooc tags.
*Information for just specifc people, or the results of skill checks will be hidden in spoilers. We operate on the honor system with those.
If you aren't sure how to do any of those things, click on the 'how to format your text' show button underneath where you enter text and it will let you know, or just ask.
An example of the information given above. I can't embed spoilers in a spoiler, so I just put those in brackets
The vampire crept slowly into the room, considering his victim. Or more accurately his victim's throat. His mind seemed to echo every pulse within calling to his hunger. Finally my thirst will be slaked... Yes, you will do nicely. Leaning over the prone victim, his voice comes out in a low almost soothing whisper "Sleep now, embrace being mine...
<spoiler=Perception DC 20> You wake feeling a presence looming over you.You may act in the surprise round.</spoiler>
<spoiler=Will Save DC 16> There is a sensation of control washing over you but you manage to shake it off.</spoiler>
Hopefully that gives a fair idea of how posting should be formatted so that everyone can communicate effectively.
I try and be a very responsive and flavorful DM for combat situations, taking your rolls and giving a little fluff to them to add to the dynamics of the situation. When we are on initiative count, I find it easiest to post in any order with any applicable rolls(attack and damage, even if you don't know if you hit for instance) as well as a backup plan if there is any chance of your main one getting disrupted. Ex: I strike the goblin next to me, if it is already dead then I charge the bugbear.
Once the next person in initiative has posted, I will create a combat post of fluff and results for him and anyone else who has already put up their actions who goes after him. Basically, combat in play by posts already take time, so I am looking to avoid any extra holdups because the person who goes second happened to be on an hour before the guy who goes first, and now we are waiting another full day for his post. Obviously when a surprise event happens in combat I will pause to let anyone who has already posted modify their actions, but it should make normal round by round combat go faster.
| Brendig |
Not decided completely on what class, but I am pretty much 100% certain I'm going to be playing a Ghoran. It's a plant species that is sentient, and was created by an evil druid working for Nex centuries ago. Nex being the king of the same-named country. So, basically my idea is that my character has been trying to delve this dungeon for a very long time, and has actually forgotten why he's even doing it to begin with, or how many times he's tried. Since he's dependent on sunlight or he'll whither away, he's unable to get very far on his own before having to leave. Despite being a plant creature, he's tolerated rather well in the town due to his habit of leading lost children who wander outside the town back to it. Although he never really remembers the children he's helped as they age into adults, they remember him and usually treat him well.
| Brendig |
So far we have:
Gio: Bloodrager
Yoshi: Healer (cleric or shaman)
Monica: Witch
Paul: Synthesist (as far as we know)
Me: skill character (Either investigator or rogue-ish)
Last thing that is important: We need to pick a party alignment, and try to stick within one step of it. I know some of you were leaning towards evil, and that works great for one of my builds, but so does neutrals and goods. I've got one solid idea for each alignment range on evil-good, and they all work equally well for law-chaos. So, what does everyone think? I'm fine with whatever.
Tarlane
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I was just popping on to do that summary and it looks like bobby covered that for me. That is looking to be a pretty balanced party which is definitely a boon, and I'm not seeing anything so far I'm red-flagging. We have a pretty wide swing in races, so I am probably going to look to give the kobold a little boost somewhere.
For alignment, I was going to go with the old video game standard to keep you guys somewhat together. Basically, have you guys pick a party alignment and then everyone be within one step of that. So if the party alignment is NG, have everyone be in the range of LG, NG, CG or NN. If you pick in the middle you'll end up with potentially bigger disparity, but hopefully that will keep you all fairly close without locking you down to a specific alignment. Probably the easiest route is to post what you are thinking for your alignment and we can see if you all already fall into a bracket or not.
Also, if you guys are starting to feel a little more sure about what you are going to play, drop a spoiler tag and throw a little bit of backstory into it for me including why you might be interested in the dungeon. Doesn't need to be set in stone yet or too detailed since we are still making characters, but I want to give out some rumors about the place and looking for who might have heard what.
Tarlane
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And so right now its looking like the only thing the party is probably going to be a little short on is utility magic, so that is pretty good.
Gio: Bloodrager
Yoshi: Healer(Cleric of Shaman)
Mon: Ranger
Paul: Kineticists(Earth)
Bobby: Trap springer(depending on group alignment)
And it sounds like we are leaning towards the middle of the scale for alignments.
| Brendig |
Ok, if we have a ranger, then I will go with my investigator most likely. No reason to have 2 rangers in the team really. I'll drop a spoiler tag with his background in my next post, and roll him up. Can't believe I'm the normal race in this group.
Oh, another thing for us to maybe consider ahead of time: Party leader. Doesn't have to really be the talker, just the person we all decide ahead of time makes the final call on decisions for us as a group.
| Aeron Woke |
Gio has always been good at telling people what to do. How badly do we want a leader? Cuz she IS the blood rager...
| Brendig |
Tarlane
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Having a 'leader' does definitely help just so we don't hit a snag point in the pbp by things being bogged down by indecision about which way to go or something.
I'm in temp glasses that have my head killing me when I'm reading too much, so I'm not being super productive in helping right now, but I'm going to try and come up with a little bump for the kobold in power tonight and am going to start considering rumors for you guys based on what I know of you so far.
Tarlane
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I'm going to have you guys make aliases for your characters and toss them up there as they are ready for me to go over them.
To make an alias, click on 'My Account' at the top of the screen.
There will be a section called 'Message Board Aliases'
At the bottom you 'Create a new Alias'
Toss in the name you want, find a pic you lick under avatar image. Pathfinder society doesn't matter for this game, so just click submit changes when you are one.
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To add the info to your profile, you just click on your Aliases name(If you haven't posted as him yet, you can go back to the My Account page and he'll be under the Message Board Aliases section)
Once that is open, just hit 'Edit My Profile' on the right.
You can put the actual character in the About section at the bottom. It accepts all the same sort of formatting as the rest of the board, so you can make things pretty with bold, italics, ect.
To make things easier, Yoshi's character has a great example, filling out a couple of the sections with commonly used info about your character. For example putting a spoiler with your AC, hit points, saves, under the 'race' box, and one with skills under 'classes\levels'. This will let us pull up some of the info without actually having to open your character.
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If you guys want to make your lives a lot easier and are using herolab to make your character, once the char is done, you can click-
File > Output Hero Statblock
One of the tabs at the top of the window that opens is 'BBCode' which will put your character into forum formatting for you, so everything will already be prettied up and readable.
From there you can just hit copy and paste it into your profile.
Tarlane
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Also, Yoshi I figured out how I wanted to change the kobold for you to catch him up.
Shifting their ability score from Greater Weakness to 'Flexible' will get him out of the total suck category, but he's still got a few kicks in the gut so I'm going to give you a few more RP worth of abilities that seem to fit.
You can either have prehensile tail or one of the 1 or 2rp powers that relate to whatever color you are(focus on swim or hold breath if you are black scaled, for example). For a very rare bonus that fits your background, you can also add 'wyrmscourged'.
Tarlane
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Okay, here is what I'm looking at for you other two
Sylph
Energy resistance(electricity 5)
Storm in the blood(fast heal 2 for 1 round when you take electricity damage, up to max of 2hp/lvl per day)
Oread
Energy resistance(acid 5)
Crystalline Form(+2 ac vs rays, 1/day deflect a single ray as if using deflect arrows
30ft instead of 20ft speed(standard instead of slow)
| Adrasteia Deimos |
Mike is this alright for her background?
Tarlane
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Gio, that background works for me, though I would recommend a change of venue. Setting it to Daggermark(the largest city in the River Kingdoms) rather than Absalom. That would mean you trained under Jallor Clovesh- He probably would have seen you as a secret weapon, but would have kept you in seclusion with the temple you were left at still so everything else would be the same.
Doing that puts your backstory in a location that lets me play with it a little more as the story progresses, I have some ideas for your past tribe you probably wouldn't remember if you were a youngling.
And I just pointed it out to him on skype, but it looks like the party is actually going neutral. Paul is LG, Gio and Mon are CG, and if yoshi keeps the same he had when he made the char on the other pbp he will be LG as well. It sounds like some of you have a bit more of a 'good' leaning, but fall in the neutral camp.
| Variel Lothloren |
Ok, here is my new character, and the one I'll be using with this group for this dungeon. I will include his background below.