GM Jen's A Time of Turmoil: There Be Witches in the Highlands (Inactive)

Game Master Retech

"Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather the multitudinous seas incarnadine, making the green one red."-Macbeth

So I've thought about this for a month, and I've decided to run a PbP. At first I planned an adventure path, but I read through a few and they had too much railroading for my taste, so this is my very own. The setting is based on medieval Scotland + England following the events of Shakespeare's Macbeth, except with a lot more fantasy. As such, all classes and such are allowed (although might want to be careful if you want to play as a witch).

I'm looking for 4-6 players that are able to post at least once a day. However, I enjoy having an interactive enviroment, so I will be posting frequently to respond to your actions, but important plot events and party decisions will get at least a day so that everyone has a chance to post. You can always chat up with one of the NPCs to search for information or snoop around for clues, but if you're going to try and assualt the king or something, that'll probably require a discussion.

I am a first time PbP GM, but I've GMed with tabletop for a while and have played in PbP before, so suggestions and criticisms welcome. As for your characters, they need an important motivation for why they are going to see the king, as that is how they are going to meet. The death of a king is always a scary event for all that were once ruled by him, because of the uncertainty. Perhaps you are a peasant chosen by your village to ask the king to give them rights to hold a market, or you are a spellcaster going to offer your services, or anything plausible. The only restriction is that the highest social status that you can start with is country gentry.

Sources:
-All Paizo Sourcebooks (if you can show me a reference online, as I don't necessarily own all of them)

-Dreamscarred Press Psionics (Both books)

Character Creation Guidelines:
-Level 1 (I would start higher, but some things are trivial at higher levels)
-25 Point Buy
-Human-like races (For the sake of this game, everything will look more human. Half Orc's teeth won't be so pronounced, they won't be so green, etc. Aside from Drow Noble and Svirfneblin, anything that can reasonably look like a human. So nothing like Mermaids or flying creatures)
-All Classes allowed from sources (Just keep in mind that danger of being a witch. If you prefer the mechanics of a Samurai but the flavor of a Cavalier, we can work with that.)
-Two Traits
-Max hitpoints on first level for both PCs, Animal Companions, and Summoners, Half + 1 for every level afterwards. This is to balance out the fact that some of the more powerful ones don't fit the setting and shouldn't be used (Rhino, Elephants, Apes, probably not a good idea)

Just remember the setting: dark, gloomy, depressed, everyone's suffering. Then you'll be fine.

Right now, I only need a general character outline and backstory, what race and class, and your motivation for going to see the king. Right now, I am thinking of running the game in Scotland, but if there is enough interest, I will run two groups, one in Scotland and one in England. Unlike other threads, I will not forcefully keep them at the same pace as each other, but if it is clear that both groups are racing to one place and one group is ahead in time, but the other group should get there first, I might add a few side-events to distract the faster group.

I'm not sure how long these recruitment things last, so I will probably leave this up for a few days or up to a week before I decide. In the meantime, I will ask questions to let me get to know your characters.

I would be interested, but I'll have to read macbeth again and and read back some of my book on england medieval history.

However from what you wrote, a few things are not so clear. You speak of the characters about to meet the king. Which one are you talking about: the king of england or the king of scoltland?
Second, can you tell a little more about the setting reaction towards spell casters. Are mages/sorcerers rare but heard-of or are they unknown.

The next question is about religion (oracle and cleric). I suppose the setting will be monotheistic. If so how do you see cleric or oracles in it?

I'm intrigued by your idea and would like to give it a go. I'll wait for your answers to propose a character outline but would tend towards a spellcaster.

Presenting Mal the Red. I originally made him for another pbp that isn't probably going to start anymore. He's basically a Scottish Highlander. Ignore his current background as it was made for the other campaign: I will rework it as soon as I have time.

I will probably weave the character's backstories into the plot and setting, so even if you're not completely sure something, you can add some backstory that I could weave in. Perhaps your father was a slain knight, left a widow behind, etc. It's always more fun when the players help write the story too.

I chose the setting following Macbeth, because it was a time of political intrigue and chaos, not because I require people to read Macbeth (even though it is a good play). Even if you have no desire to read and just read the little plot summary I put up there, you'll be in good shape.

Some setting info:

I have made the campaign so that it is not necessary to read Macbeth or know medieval history. There will be some characters from the book, but I am not actually a literary master, so there will probably be deviations.

Compared to the traditional Pathfinder settings, there are fewer spellcasters, but they are common enough that most people have met at least one in their lifetime. Each king would probably have a few directly in their service and a few dozen in their armies.

In terms of religion, there are many ways that you could go with it. It is a mix of fantasy gods and Christianity, so there would be one overall god, but each of the gods of Golarion would be just one "face" of that "god".

Clerics and oracles work in the traditional sense. I personally don't believe that you need to literally be a cleric to take the cleric class, so if you have a character and you find that a class to be a good mechanical representation for it, go for it.

---

Also, I am not the kind of GM to railroad (Except at the very start, to get the characters together as a party). Once we begin, I will be dropping plot hooks left and right. Since it's a PbP, things are naturally slower than tabletop, so every "random encounter" will have some hidden purpose, whether to introduce more of the setting or give you an oppertunity in some form. Be creative and surprise me!

Obviously this game calls out for a bard. So later this evening I'll get started writing up a female human bard. I would like to know first though if females will be at any disadvantage in the campaign?

Also, will there be occasions for the PCs to have starcrossed romances?

How's this guy look as far as fit?

Also, what are your rules on starting wealth and equipment?

Thanks, and as a Shakespeare fan, I'm looking forward to this campaign.

Intrigued!

Considering a French Rake-type, or maybe a blustering Highlander. Will need time to consider all the possibilities, so may go for a spellcaster of some kind as well.

I like the concept of applying the Pathfinder fantasy races to nationalities. How far do you want to take that? Will the fantasy races retain some of their 'fantasy-ness'? i.e. if I play a Norse Dwarf, does that suppose that Norsemen are all Dwarves or that all Norsemen are Dwarf-like... (And French Elf-like, and Irish Drow-like etc...)

To Joy:

Being female should not inconvienience you. Certainly, the characters will react differently, but it shouldn't be an issue. Myself, every character I've played has been female. It's fun looking at things with a different perspective.

And certainly. I come up with interesting characters and plot hooks, but I don't force you to go anywhere. I won't be throwing things at you, but if it fits the occasion and the characters, go right ahead. (Although don't describe anything past kissing in detail, because that can get wierd and stuff)

To Gyle:

It looks like a good fit, but perhaps you could add some detail to what he seeks. Is his goal primarily to restore the name and title of his family or is it more of a rich and powerful thing?

I forgot to add this in the first post, but it's maximum starting wealth. Try to incorporate some items that might not find use in a regular campaign, like a person of your stature might have, because there will be ample oppertunity during the campaign to get weapons of war and such.

To Capricornus:

Excellent idea. The reason that I allowed the diversity of races is because I thought just having humans would be too run of the mill. I will think that over, because it's possible that some people's character builds wouldn't fit with that. What I was thinking was to have certain nationalities tending towards certain races, like the typical Norwegian might be a dwarf. All the people think of themselves as the same "species", if not the same race necessarily.

Good idea though, will mull that over

Updated my goals (still vague enough to allow a little room for maneuvering) and included my equipment.

Please let me know if there is anything else I should update.

Can't wait to start.

Also, we're talking 1060s real earth time. Are you fixing the game culturally and technologically to that time period? i.e. the French Rake Rogue I envisaged really fits more into the 1600s. (Not to say I can't adjust, naturally)

Not submitting a character, as I'm in enough games here and want to let others have a chance to play.

Just dotting because it sounds really cool, and I might want to read along now and then. Good luck!

Out, out, damned spot! You stupid dog!

Thanks for the encouragement. It was a leap of faith to try a different setting than Golarion, and I'm glad people seem to like it.

To Capricornus:

The time period is not hugely definite, because I borrowed some elements from King Lear and the Merchant of Venice as well. Just think, generally Middle Ages. Also, it's a fantasy setting, so things might seem a bit more technologically advanced than it would've been at the time period (hence why I am allowing gunslinger, but more of the crazy alchemist experimenting with explosives than 1800s bandit style thing)

It's just that Shakespeare's plots of intrigue always feel more realistic than something that I could engineer myself, which is why I'm starting from the end of that point (because honestly, lots of the fantasy strife is kinda cheesy)

Change of plans. The pbp that wasn't supposed to happen is eventually gonna happen. This mean that I'm going to withdraw my Scottish Highlander and go for another character instead. Fortuately, I keep a bunch of spare premade characters.

Now, who would that character be? I have an Half Elf Illusionist Wizard, a Dwarf Rogue and an Human Oracle of Battle (they are all listed under my aliases, of course I need to adjust them to the campaign). Right now I would go for the Wizard, but let's see what you have to say about it (I would also like you to help with my background a bit, since I'm thrilled by the setting but don't know much about Macbeth). Alternatively, I could ask to swap Mal the Red in the other campaign for the Oracle (it wouldn't be out of place there as it would be here). What do you say?

To Pixel Cube:

Well, a Scottish Highlander is definitely an iconic character to the setting, and I am sure that I will definitely take one (or two), though I'm not sure which one that will be.

I'm sure that all of characters will fit well, but I know that I already like Mal the Red.

To Pixel Cube:

Well, a Scottish Highlander is definitely an iconic character to the setting, and I am sure that I will definitely take one (or two), though I'm not sure which one that will be.

I'm sure that all of characters will fit well, but I know that I already like Mal the Red.

** spoiler omitted **

The other DM is ok with that. Mal stays here: background coming soon.

@Gyle: Irish Drows are a superb idea.

Okay, so I've decided what I'm going to do about the race-nationality thing.

Firstly, just keep in mind that the races aren't hugely different as they are in the traditional setting. Everything looks pushed towards the human side of things, so dwarves are a little taller and a little less hairy, but still retain their character. Similar with the other races, so it isn't like "Ah, it's an orc!", but more of "Ah, it's a really wild looking guy!" More of different ethnicities than different species.

Secondly, each nationality will have a typical race, so most members of a specific nationality will be X. Naturally, there are always outliers and immigrants in every place, so you can't assume that all Norwegians have high constitution or anything.

I will need your help though, so please comment on that in the discussion thread, even if I haven't decided the players yet.

As far as the common race to region concept, I'd make the following suggestions:

Norse: Half-Orc or Orc. Its easy to go dwarf here, but the raiding, pillaging, and raping behavior seems to me to fit more with orcish tendencies. Perhaps save the dwarves for Russians or Germans (should those regions or their people come into play...)

For those of the British Isles, I'd suggest the following:

Scots: Humans, Wood Elves, and Half-Wood Elves.

English: Humans, Moon Elves, and Half-Moon Elves.

Irish: Humans, Dark Elves, and Half-Dark Elves. (I like the dark elves for Ireland. The constant overcast skies of the isle seem to go hand in hand with the light blindness of the drow)

Wood elves and moon elves are distinct in culture and appearance, if not in actual racial abilities, but I have seen some examples of racial differences, just not sure if it was in Pathfinder of old Forgotten Realms material.

French: Moon Elves and Halflings

Germans: Dwarves and Gnomes (Very industrious and war like)

All of this is off the cuff, but if any of it seems to fit...

Can we expect a good deal of fey in this campaign, given that they were so much apart of British mythology and Shakespeare's works?

I would like to submit Razo of Worms for review. He is a Germanic Inquisitor(witch-hunter) of the Holy Roman Church. The key is part of the coat of arms for the Bishop of Worms so that is why it is included in my name. Worms is in germany near the Rhine.

I would like to play this character very much in the sense that the ends justify the means, and fighting fire with fire so to speak when dealing with witches and heretics. I choose Zon_Kuthon for the "face" of god, believing in purification through pain.

To Gyle:

Yes, this seems nice. Fey will make their appearance known, but not at the very start. Well, I guess it depends on the choices that the group makes, but the setting has lots of fey in it. Although I don't want to give too much away, since most people are "in the dark" about goings on.

Are Drow different from dark elves or the same?

To Razo:

Ah, adding a potentially nice contrast to the group. I'm not a big fan of strict alignments myself, but I understand the direction which you're coming from. To avoid potential trouble, I will likely handle detect evil and protection from evil as things against the truly malevolent, instead of the kind of thing that you're portraying.

Keep up the good characters guys! It's possible that we will have enough strong and interesting personalities for two groups. At times brought into conflict and at other times forced into mutual defence. I will make sure that both parties would have all different shades of personality and class balance, so if it comes to a point where we are stretching it, I would rather run one group of six than two groups of three.

Of course, there seems to be enough interest to run two different groups. I will leave recruitment up likely until Wednesday because I have a big exam on Tuesday, but I will be commenting throughout.

Drow and dark elves are one in the same. Sorry, it's a habit from older editions of DnD.

What is the starting equipment, or is that to be provided once recruitment is done?

This is tickling my fancy to indulge in my puckish bent and play a huckster, shyster and parlayer of cheap tricks. Ancestry tainted by the fae at some point (though he is unknowing of this) Tobar was originally imprisoned by the recently deposed king.

He is being dragged before the newly crowned still in chains to beg or bluff for his freedom.

Mechanically would be a Human (English) Bard with the Fey Foundling feat (from Inner Sea World Guide). Unsure exactly what archetypes to stack on yet as I need to review it a bit more.

Just putting the marker down and will revert later with more content.

To Nimon:

It is max starting gold, which you can purchase whatever you want with it. I suggest bringing some mundane but useful items as well, since there will be oppertunities to purchase items that a peasant wouldn't have but a trained soldier might

To Mark:

Sounds good. Actually, I was reading a book with a character somewhat like yours, although that character was murdered years before the book begins. Have you read, the Pillars of the Earth, by Ken Follett?

Jen - I have not read the book in question, most of my fae influence comes from the fine work of Neil Gaiman (Sandman, American Gods, Stardust, etc).

One mechanical question - would you allow for skill retraining with Versatile Performance?

To Mark:

Yes, I will allow that. Bards are already troubled in the performance department, so it is a sensible thing to do, so they can still be good at skills and have the flavor of performance. You can retrain the skills that are affected when you hit the various levels and move them around.

To everyone:

Just curious, but has anyone playtested the vehicle rules? Are they interesting and easy to use?

Excellent good - will churn out the character later on tonight my time.

Will be a Court Bard archetype with a focus on Oratory and Satire. Perhaps even imprisoned for lese majeste against the previous king.

Capricornus presenting Alain Lenoir, Elven Rake Rogue. Info (some in progress) in profile.

Using his natural charm, he is trying to talk his way into becoming useful to the new King by virtue of his (not inconsiderable) knowledge of noble politics.

He is a Face-Type with a good Diplomacy and Bluff, and Knowledge: Nobility. He may take levels in Fighter too.

I see we have a lot of Face type characters and at least one other Rogue represented, so I may switch to something else if necessary. I have an alternate version of Alain who is a Cad Fighter, and if inspiration strikes I always enjoy Wizards and have wanted to try an Alchemist too.

I wanted to ask, instead of taking my Deity's weapon(Spiked Chain)
can I instead have a longsword(flameberge) since it fits the period and my character a bit more? If so then this character is finished and ready for approval. If not just change out longsword for spiked chain and he is good to go.

To Alain:

What is his age in "human" terms? I find it hard to convert, so could you put a little parenthesis with his approximate human age for convienience?

I think it's shaping up to be that we have almost the perfect amount of characters and balance for two groups.

To Razo:

I can't find the flameberge longsword anywhere. What book does it come from or where online?

Made the note on my profile. Also, feel free to place Alain where you want him, in either group. I'll just modify the background to refelect him ending up in England or Scotland.

What of racial ages? Do you want Elves and Dwarves and such to actually be 119 years old, or will we just all be aging in human terms?

I think Razo was intending to just have a longsword (so standard longsword stats), and for flavor's sake call it a flamberge... though being a good German, he probably should have a Flammenschwert instead....

To Alain:

Plotwise, I will probably need them to age around the same rate, because it would lead to issues if the kings of a certain country just happened to drop dead a lot faster than others.

Although this doesn't apply to fey creatures and such, but for the "humanoid" PC characters, they will all age roughly in human terms.

I will be back in a few hours to answer more questions and look things over.

Still polishing off the rough edges on my character, but some details below:

Given that another beat me to finishing up a bard, I instead present a human sorceress with either the Elemental or Fey bloodline.

Room for a wandering welshman?

Presenting Hywel Mawr. Skilled raider and exile.

Story skeleton.
A cousin to Gruffydd ap Llywelyn king of Powys. Hywel was involved in an extra-legal cattle raid on the Bishop of Hereford. His exile was part of the reperations demanded by the clergyman. Hywel is far from upset with the arrangement as it frees him from an unwelcome marriage agreement.

Crunch skeleton

Hywel is a fighter type. I am thinking barbarian, fighter, or cavalier depending. Human definately.

I am thinking is this will be a low-magic campaign I might try one of the less armored archetypes, but the call od the chain-armored lance wielding knight is strong.

To Alain:

What is his age in "human" terms? I find it hard to convert, so could you put a little parenthesis with his approximate human age for convienience?

I think it's shaping up to be that we have almost the perfect amount of characters and balance for two groups.

To Razo:

I can't find the flameberge longsword anywhere. What book does it come from or where online?

The stats are for longsword, the flameberge is more of just a design feature popular in Germany(though the unique shape did make it exceedingly difficult to treat a wound from the blade). I do not think there is a pathfinder product that has one, if there is I am unaware. I was just going to use Longsword for the stats/mechanics of it.

How's this for a background? Please comment and suggest.

To Mark:

Very nice. I can definitely picture the character that you are depicting. Do you have an idea for what he specifically said that ran afoul of the royal sympathisers that led to his arrest?

To Joy:

I think you're missing the racial stat bonus, And what is your character's backstory (and related, reason for visiting the king)? The motivation is especially important, because there needs to be an original reason why you start doing stuff, almost as the way that the party gets together.

To Poor:

Do you have any idea the reason why he wanted to leave his wife and her personality? I think that would give some insight as to your characters personality. And any preference for her name?

To Nimon:

Yes, I'm good with that. An additional benefit that I will give for that is that a wound created by it requires +2 DC for the heal check, if someone were to try and heal that way. True, a small bonus, but it can always come in handy.

To Mal:

That's a very good backstory. If the groups are forming up the way that I think they are going to form up, I will probably use that backstory somewhere.

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I think I have identified roughly two groups here. We are short a divine caster, but that is about it. I will still leave this up until Tuesday or Wednesday, but I think we have some great players and characters for this.

To Poor:

Do you have any idea the reason why he wanted to leave his wife and her personality? I think that would give some insight as to your characters personality. And any preference for her name?

To Poor:

Well, it is my understanding that Welsh mercenaries were highly prized Usually they would travel from place to place with a band, but single mercenaries were not uncommon. The Welsh are common enough in the British Isles that there isn't really a strong stereotype associated with them, as everyone has met their own Welshman before.

Just advanced warning that there will be plenty of combats indoors, so calvalier might be a bit difficult to use, if it is focused on the mount.

"With the pricking of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes" - Macbeth

One of my favorite quotes of all times, not deeply profound, but I like the way it sounds.

Finished up a character to submit. This game seems like a good fit for a Monk using the Martial Artist archetype, for your typical peasant brawler/wrestler type. So here's Dougal Chalk for your consideration. I'd be happy to expand on anything you have questions about.

To Poor:

Well, it is my understanding that Welsh mercenaries were highly prized Usually they would travel from place to place with a band, but single mercenaries were not uncommon. The Welsh are common enough in the British Isles that there isn't really a strong stereotype associated with them, as everyone has met their own Welshman before.

Just advanced warning that there will be plenty of combats indoors, so calvalier might be a bit difficult to use, if it is focused on the mount.

hmmm so barbarian is out...... I'm looking at archer, general fighter of Cavalier. from what I have seen cav's are quite effective on foot so lack of horse will not be a huge issue. hmmmmm will look at rules tonight and decide.

This is good. The parties are shaping up to be balanced. Just waiting on a divine caster and possibly an another assisting fighter-type and everything will be balanced. Especially if it ends up that the parties meet at some point.

To Doug:

I really like the background. It's hard to describe what I like, but it's just so "middle-agey". That's probably not an adjective, but it sorta makes sense.

Nearly decided.

Hywel is an Order of the Dragon Cavalier. I was sorely tempted by the Ronin and am still considering it. If I do choose Ronin how will you deal with the weapon issue or is a re-skinned samauri too much of a stretch?

To Poor:

I am not overly concerned about the Eastern flavor of the Ronin. If you think that mechanically, it fits your character the best, then I will be okay with that. If the weapons issue is referring to the weapon expertise class feature, you can choose an equivilant "Western" weapon.

Is there another issue that I'm not seeing?

As far as weapon flavour goes - two words - Damascus Steel!

I'd like to throw my hat in here, if you have room for another. I've read most of the posts, and would like to submit an English Oracle of the Dark Tapestry. He'd be a doom-sayer; it's likely he was a poor peasant before the king's death, when he started to see the visions. He's being haunted day and night by horrible visions of crumbling cities and the death of a great many people, and is convinced that these visions mean the end of civilization. Thus, he despairingly preaches the end times on the side of the road. He has the clouded vision curse, and says that the visions he has witnessed were so horrible as to rob his sight from him.

I'm not sure why he'd be seeing the king; maybe on charges of witchcraft? I don't know whether doom-saying was against the law...

I'll wait for you to say whether there's room in this PbP before statting him out.

Just so you know, I haven't read Macbeth, though it wouldn't be hard to learn more about it (I have the internet, after all.)

To Shane:

Yes, certainly we have room. Such a nice and diverse group that we've gotten. I'm starting to set up the groups now. Since people are expecting that the recruitment ends on Wednesday, I will probably put up the thread on Tuesday and give until Wednesday before we continue.

I'll put up the groups sometime tomorrow.

Jen - as far as what insult put him in prison, I've been doing a bit of research and come up with a likely scenario.

Tobar was in general a travelling ode teller, news bringer and satirical poet. During a performance to the common folk, he implied that the nobility were as suckling pigs - jostling for position at the sows teats.

Unbeknownst to him, there was a member of a noble household in the audience who took umbrage at his implication and spoke out. Tobar turned on the man, mocking him and weaving magic into his words. When he challenged the man to respond, his tongue could not form words and he was jeered as he fled.

Having seen the humiliation as an act against his own household, the noble ordered guards to arrest Tobar and arranged for him to be thrown in the gaol.

Ideally I think the insulted noble would be one that was in power during the previous reign, but is currently on the outer with the new king. Thereby giving him a reason to be released (so as to embarass the insulted noble) and also provide a powerful enemy in the background.

Profile and stats will be finished by the time you draw lots for the groups.