If you guys want to build a little momentum before the game starts, I'd suggest discussing everybody's roles in the party, as well as plans for character progression.
Finally, if any of you share campaign traits, it might be interesting to integrate a bit of shared backstory. It's up to you! I'll be checking in online every so often over the weekend to try and answer any questions.
Dmitri's going to be start off as mostly a martial character, but as he levels he'll start focusing on his spellcasting more. The idea is to be a support caster, using buffs and Sermonic Performance to help everyone out. :)
He has the Chance Survivor trait, I don't know if anyone else took it, as well.
Hi, everyone! I know nothing about CC, other than it is the horror AP, so I'm pretty excited for this game.
Brogol will be a skill monkey/utility guy. Hopefully, he'll have a trick up his sleeve when it is needed by the party. His skills are currently fairly rogue-oriented, and will get more knowledge-oriented as the game goes on. He'll be able to step into melee for awhile, but I don't think will have a ton of staying power. He also may make a decent face at some point, or at least an intimidator.
As for character development, right now Brogol is definitely a subservient type. He'll probably latch onto a character with authority. He's aware of his monstrous appearance and pretty ashamed of it. I hope that he grows to accept who he is. He's also lacking a moral compass. He's not evil per se, just someone who has never known anyone with ethics. He is pretty young and still very impressionable. As such, he could become something of a mad scientist, or go a lighter path, depending on how things shape up, including party dynamics. I see there are a couple of good PCs here, so out of character I will certainly be taking that into account.
I took the teacher's pet trait, but don't know that Brogol would know anyone else off the bat - he's been pretty secluded from most everything for the past few years.
@Dmitri - I love the evangelist archetype, and look forward to the Sermonic Performances to come!
At 1st level Bookman is more of a mobile grenade with attached wikipedia. He can only cast three spells per day, but one of them is very (encounter ending) powerful. Sadly outside that he's not going to be a lot of use in combat; he's got poor hp, ac, and is not great at attacking. He does have all the knowledges, and some pretty decent rolls, so he'll be useful when something needs to be known.
As we level he'll have more spells per day (so will be useful more often) but does not get more 'novas'. He does have the ability at later levels to 1/day burn spells for a druid/cleric/bard spell so he should be able to help with utility.
With some gold he can do scrolls of various utility spells that should help out.
Bookman is going to want to turn back as soon as he's gone nova even more than standard wizards. OOC I suggest we avoid doing this as otherwise we risk becoming the "Bookman and Friends show". That does mean there's going to be encounters where you might as well be literally carrying him though!
Aduard is dedicated to preserving the Bookman persona. This means he's convinced he's upper (or at least upper middle) class and should be respected. The Bookman Persona is a "good" man, but no paragon of virtue.
Bookman has 'inspired by greatness'. The Professor's life is a model Bookman envies. I see the Bookman persona as being modeled on the late professor in many ways - the person Aduard really wants to be, but isn't.
Of course this is all to keep secret what he really is. At least for a while that shouldn't be showing up.
Dashil will do ok at combat - she's not full BAB, but has Strength 16 and crits on an 18-20; plus she has some decent judgements to assist her.
In terms of character, she's not a goody-two-shoes paladin any more, but she's definitely looking to try and stay on the path of righteousness rather than stray any further; not sure she's exactly a moral compass, though!
She has the confidence that comes partly from age, but mostly from not giving a damn any more. She's not going to win prizes for niceness, but she is good at intimidating (+7) and reading people (+10 Sense Motive - Aduard, she's likely to clock reasonably quickly that you aren't all you seem; just a thought) so will provide direction if she thinks the group needs it.
Dashil has known the professor for more than 20 years; she has the Chance Saviour trait - as detailed in her background, back in his youth he was a bit more reckless and set off to explore some ruins without waiting for his escort. Dashil was there on a separate matter but reacted quickly enough to save his hide. Since then she's accompanied him a lot; she likes the fact that he never tried to judge her for her past and just accepted her for who she was (she gets very tired of people staring at her looks...).
It's entirely possible that she has already met some of you, if you worked for him.
Dashil: good point. I guess I could try to rejig the character in order to try to hold it off, but I'm okay with her having a 'hunch' that he's an impostor, or possibly not trustworthy. Makes for some interparty tension but hopefully she's not so far fallen that she'll not act too hastily on a hunch - and possibly angst about the days she could just 'detect evil'.
Other than that she'll have no issue working out when he's trying to bluff her, but almost all of that is just the impostor angle and in fact most of the time he's going to be telling the truth anyway.
If you start interrogating him and asking him point blank something like "have you taken a life" he's likely to (reasonably) react angrily.
His motives are actually relatively pure for coming; he wants to pay his respects to the professor, and he sent the professor a manuscript for editing and fact checking that he wants back. The manuscript is the only copy and he doesn't want anyone to read it.
Bookman is a relatively well known author, incidentally (looking at his profession score, anyway). People might potentially have heard of him or even read something he wrote. His niche is dark supernatural/horror fiction that is actually well researched.
How well known are the other characters? I can see Brogol probably isn't, thought the doctor might be. If people judge Dashil it suggests a bit of a legend might have grown up around her.
Dmitri is probably pretty unknown. He's just your average traveling priest, and they don't tend to be particularly memorable.
I think that the Doctor D. was a pretty well-known figure in certain Ustaleven circles: occultists, criminals, academics and monster hunters all might know the doctor personally or know of him by reputation. Thus, I think it is probable that Aduard knows the doctor and may have met Brogol - though he probably didn't pay the young half-orc much mind, as most of the doctor's guests saw Brogol as little more than the doctor's valet and manservant, and few would have known that Brogol had grown into the role of the doctor's trusted assistant - which would suit Brogol just fine.
Looking at everyone's crunch, I think with a Aduard and Wakati both being knowledge-based, I may shy away from that aspect of Brogol's future development and go more for the rogue and (eventually) face roles, which will be needed - except intimidate - Dashil is/will be scary ;).
But right now, I can't see Brogol having the confidence to even try to be diplomatic - as such I moved a skill point from Diplomacy to Disable Device, if that is OK with you, GM Olmek?
Sure. No dice have been rolled yet.
Sure. No dice have been rolled yet.
Great - thank you!
Aduard: wow, detailed response to a throwaway remark! Lots of food for thought - but don't rejig your character. As I've told many of my players, Sense Motive doesn't equal telepathy, and detect evil isn't a substitute for actual thought (in any event, isn't Aduard CN?)...
It's likely, as you say, that Dashil will have no issue working out when Aduard's trying to bluff her, but she's no moral compass herself (that's Sarenrae's job, in her view) and is unlikely to pry too closely into anyone's background, as they might return the 'favour'. She'll probably have a hunch that something isn't quite right, but how she reacts will depend on how obvious you make it.
As for fame, hmmm - hadn't thought about that. I'm reluctant to make a level 1 character too famous, but maybe within Ustalav (where it happened) the story of the Paladin who fell after the village she guarded was destroyed is well-known - I'll leave that for the DM. The full truth is known to very, very few people - all of whom have been sworn to silence. If you don't learn it from Dashil, you probably won't learn it (DM intervention aside).
I'm pretty certain that Dashil doesn't read Bookman's sort of writings: too close to what she has endured, I suspect. Could be wrong; my characters tend to surprise me, along the way.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Detect Evil doesn't actually detect a character's alignment. It detects evil auras like a cleric or an evil outsider or an undead.
Corrected ;)
If you have enough hit dice, your alignment will give you away, regardless of aura.
Bah. That's what I get for being too lazy to Google.
@ GM Olmek: There is, however, a particular nasty form of "skeet shooting" sabotage. Misdirection can make anything radiate as anything else. So you can make that old lady resonate as evil (from, say, a skeleton) then subtly point the Paladin at her. If the Paladin detects evil and kills the old woman without evidence, they probably fall. All this takes is a 3rd level wizard with a grudge.
I'm not saying Aduard ever would have tried this in his bad old days...
@GM Olmek: Aduard writes in a journal (as he is afraid of losing his memories) but obviously can't make this too obvious. If possible I would like this to be his spellbook, and for him to use Linguistics to write in a code. This does mean his writing is likely to be slower and briefer than otherwise. I figure someone can use Linguistics to decipher it if they get the book, but at least they can't just cast Comprehend Languages. If possible Code would look like arcane spell instructions & theory.
Also, is there any problem if I occasionally post excerpts from the journal? I figure it means people know what he's doing OOC, but I don't think we're playing a PvP game and I'm happy to trust people to use the OOC knowledge to create a better story.
Skeet Shooting: Casting Detect Evil and then killing anything that radiates as evil
@Brogol: That means that it would have been a different 'edition' of Bookman visiting the doctor, probably an older one. No offence, but the doctor sounds pretty dodgy - is it possible some elementary disguises were used?
@Brogol: was not my intention to push you out of a niche. Which knowledges were you looking at? Some overlap can be fine.
@Dashil: Thanks, and No problem! And yes, Bookman's CN (at the moment anyway). Just thinking it must be nice for paladins when they can go "that guy seems dodgy... hang on a sec... DETECT EVIL... yep. Dodgy." And therefore something Dashil might miss.
I want to be hiding from someone, so sounds like Dashil might be the person to hide from :)
I'm sorry Aduard - I think I misread your backstory. I was under the impression that Aduard's current incarnation is living in Ustalev. Certainly, Aduard and the doctor could have met under an earlier incarnation as well, as the doctor is an older man - probably in his 60s by now. Obviously, Brogol never would have met Aduard in that case.
And yes, most people would probably describe the doctor as dodgy, though the doctor would say that he has made himself unconstrained from rigid societal constructs in order to do the things for Ustalev's people that must be done ;)
As for the niche thing, don't worry about it! I'm actually happy to not have to fill that role, as it would be spreading Brogol pretty thin. He'll probably take a rank in a knowledge here and there to denote the continued filling out of his education, and with the inspiration mechanic he can still probably pitch in from time to time and should be able to aid another quite often - which makes a lot of sense, seeing as how he's basically a play on the "assistant to the mad scientist" trope.
Brogol probably will continue to up knowledge (local) every level, as it fits with his rogue-ish background.
@ GM Olmek: There is, however, a particular nasty form of "skeet shooting" sabotage. Misdirection can make anything radiate as anything else. So you can make that old lady resonate as evil (from, say, a skeleton) then subtly point the Paladin at her. If the Paladin detects evil and kills the old woman without evidence, they probably fall. All this takes is a 3rd level wizard with a grudge.
Just saying, I think the vast majority of Paladins have more sense than to murder somebody in cold blood, even if they detect as evil.
So long as he ain't pulling this kind of stuff, Dmitri probably is willing to let Aduard do his thing with minimal, if any, interference. Not that he's particularly perceptive about this kind of thing, but he's got a very definite definition of what "doing good" is, and stuff outside that is going to get a damn good scolding.
Agree with that, Dmitri - detect evil is not a substitute for thought (see: Miko Miyazaki)! Besides, people who aren't evil can kill you, too... Dashil's fall was in part because of disgust with the supposedly good (or at least neutral) folk she had to protect who did awful things to one another. Not that it excuses what she did, of course.
@Aduard: would be great to have your journal extracts! I'm not interested in PvP so please don't let that be a factor. And if you want to be hiding from someone, by all means it can be Dashil. What are your plans for Aduard? I'd like Dashil to seek redemption at some stage; hopefully we can accommodate both our characters into the larger story without too much conflict!
@Brogol: not ignoring you, just no particular thoughts on how we'd interact. Suspect it could be fairly uncomplicated and reasonably good-natured (to the extent she has a good nature, of course).
@Brogol: not ignoring you, just no particular thoughts on how we'd interact. Suspect it could be fairly uncomplicated and reasonably good-natured (to the extent she has a good nature, of course).
Yeah, there's no reason for Brogol and Dashil to know each other. Since Brogol is a pretty submissive sort, I'm sure he won't have problems with anyone. He'll just be happy to have a group to hang around with :)
I'm sorry Aduard - I think I misread your backstory. I was under the impression that Aduard's current incarnation is living in Ustalev. Certainly, Aduard and the doctor could have met under an earlier incarnation as well, as the doctor is an older man - probably in his 60s by now. Obviously, Brogol never would have met Aduard in that case.
And yes, most people would probably describe the doctor as dodgy, though the doctor would say that he has made himself unconstrained from rigid societal constructs in order to do the things for Ustalev's people that must be done ;)
As for the niche thing, don't worry about it! I'm actually happy to not have to fill that role, as it would be spreading Brogol pretty thin. He'll probably take a rank in a knowledge here and there to denote the continued filling out of his education, and with the inspiration mechanic he can still probably pitch in from time to time and should be able to aid another quite often - which makes a lot of sense, seeing as how he's basically a play on the "assistant to the mad scientist" trope.
Brogol probably will continue to up knowledge (local) every level, as it fits with his rogue-ish background.
Ah. My bad, it's a very confusing story.
Let's put some names to these faces.Original mind = Sim.
This Body = Caseron Diovich
Last Body = Vladimir Tollivich.
Up until a few days ago Sim's mind was in Vladimir's body pretending to be Bookman. He then took over Caseron's body and is still Sim pretending to be Bookman.
Does that help clear things up?
@ GM Olmek: There is, however, a particular nasty form of "skeet shooting" sabotage. Misdirection can make anything radiate as anything else. So you can make that old lady resonate as evil (from, say, a skeleton) then subtly point the Paladin at her. If the Paladin detects evil and kills the old woman without evidence, they probably fall. All this takes is a 3rd level wizard with a grudge.Just saying, I think the vast majority of Paladins have more sense than to murder somebody in cold blood, even if they detect as evil.
So long as he ain't pulling this kind of stuff, Dmitri probably is willing to let Aduard do his thing with minimal, if any, interference. Not that he's particularly perceptive about this kind of thing, but he's got a very definite definition of what "doing good" is, and stuff outside that is going to get a damn good scolding.
The vast majority of NPC paladins do... my experience with PC paladins is a little more mixed.
Not thinking Aduard would do anything like that now, but I want him to have been dodgy in the past.
@Aduard: would be great to have your journal extracts! I'm not interested in PvP so please don't let that be a factor. And if you want to be hiding from someone, by all means it can be Dashil. What are your plans for Aduard? I'd like Dashil to seek redemption at some stage; hopefully we can accommodate both our characters into the larger story without too much conflict!
I'm hoping so. Actually I think the stories could work really well for a Paladin of "Second chance" Sarenrae.
I think Aduard is going to slowly move over to the side of good; his 'happy ending' is basically becoming the professor and using the dark knowledge he has acquired over the centuries to help educate people to fight evils.The important thing here is that a lot of the 'evil drives' that pushed Sim into being evil in the first place are gone. Normally very long lived characters are portrayed as "falling to evil", but in this case I'm looking at a sort of "falling to good".
What Sim hasn't had in a very long time are close friends. People he can like and actually trust. Hopefully the group becomes that.
I can dig it. Dmitri is a very friendly sort, so you won't have problems finding a buddy in him.
For some reason I wasn't getting notice of posts in the discussion for this group, sorry for the silence.
Radag is solidly and seriously going to be a martial horror slaying creature, I hope.
I like to be more fluid with character development so usually dont have plans with where Radag will be later on.
If there isnt much issue with the AP (adventure path) I am a fan of having a history with other pcs. For inspiration I like to draw on the bond system. Basically you come up with a general one sentence statement with a fill in the name blank space and then fill it in with a characters name and add a little blurb explaining it.
Here are a few for example:
______ is prepared to hurt me.
I have seen how ______ handles themselves in a fight
I have seen ______ wounded and weak.
I saved ______’s life.
A PC would just have to enter another character's name to instanyly have an interesting history with another character. Everyone could have as many or as little of these as they like but the statements should be unique/different from everyone elses.
If anyone is interested in this idea I gladly volunteer Radag to your bond/history development.
As a disclaimer the bond system was developed for use in apocolypse world originally and is not my own creation, although I am a fan.
Yeah, Radag's a full on martial, he's going to be handy to have around! Maybe he and Dashil were the muscle in previous expeditions with the Professor? Looks like they complement each other's skills: he has the edge in combat, but she can intimidate and cut through deceptions (oh, and heal!). My guess is that they've saved each other's lives, but Radag probably has the lead, which would annoy Dashil. They probably bicker a lot...
BTW, Aduard: how are you getting retainers at first level? Or are they made of pure narrativium? :)
BWAHAHA! They are secretly "Laborer Team" from Ultimate Equipment.
"But Aduard" you say "Laborers can't have profession skills. They'd be the worst servants imaginable! You yourself have much better profession skills in everything they do and would be better off just doing it yourself!"
AHAHAHAHAHA Now you see the genius... wait...
If someone was coming from Caliphas (or Virlych I guess) they might have run into Aduard's party.
Obviously anyone who had physically met Aduard in a previous body and knew who he was (Aduard) would be a problem.
Sorry guys, I just sort of see Bookman as very up tight about formal occasions like funerals.
@Brogol: Hmmm. Bookman ran a forbidden tomes type thing for a while. Perhaps he, the doctor and Brogol knew each other through correspondence? That would mean they could be on a first name basis without either knowing what the other looks like.
Possibly Brogol was actually used as a courier once or twice?
@Aduard - The Doctor would certainly have an interest in forbidden tomes, so it is likely that he and Aduard knew each other in some capacity then. If Doc bought a book in the last four years from Bookman, then it is also likely that Brogol acted as courier, unless Doc would have wanted to meet Aduard personally. Otherwise, errands were beneath the man.
Really enjoying your journal extracts, Aduard! Wondering where you find the time, though - they look like a lot of work
@Dashil: Thanks :)
They do take a while, but they help me get into the headspace before a post.
@Brogol:
That might be the way to go then. We'll need to work out why you can't just reveal Aduard's secret immediately, but that should be possible!
So, yeah. Anyone wondering how/why Dashil fell... kinda like that :)
PS MY music for the scene is NSFW (think Pulp Fiction...)
I love that rant Dashil :)
Dang. Had to step out in the middle of writing a post, now we've moved one! Ah well.
You can always drop a past-tense post into a spoiler.
True, but that only really works for actions that are not going to have changed the flow of the story.
Brogl: I like where you're going. Do I take it you interacted mostly with the servants but overheard Aduard talking on occasion?
Are you okay if, when Aduard works out who you are, he remembers you from letters the doctor has sent then? "Oh, you're the Doctor's new assistant - he speaks very highly of you" type thing?
Wakati: we're trying to set up previous links. Between characters. Difficult with Aduard, I'm afraid.
I was planning to have Bookman go by and use last names (Irefirst, Stockl, etc).
Given Bookman is a family name, and you are from a long lived elven family, are you interested in "family ties"?
Stockl and Bookman used to be part of a rare/forbidden book trading network. Seems like something you or your parents might be interested in.
Also possible your new addition (via the puzzlebox) might have memories of Sim (old bookman)
I notice you were in Caliphas, so we could have met up.
Where was your carriage coming from?
Sorry guys, posted the excerpt as Bookman, rather than his journal.
@Aduard: Previous links to Wakati are going to be hard, considering he's led a rather sheltered life to date. The most likely route is through his family. His parents may know of the rare/forbidden book market, but would lose interest quickly in any works of "fiction". One of his siblings, though, could be active in the trading network for fictional works. That seems like a good 'rebellious child' type activity.
Regarding the "hitchhiker" in Wakati's head, he dates from the time of the Whispering Tyrant, so 1000 to 1500 years ago. If Sim dates back that far, it's possible they crossed paths. At this point, Wakati has no real control over the memories he receives from Hilen, and can't actively access them. So any realization of a past link will be a drawn out affair over the course of the campaign.
As for Caliphas, he was only there briefly, searching for transportation to Ravengro. He's originally from near Iadara in Kyonin, and traveled by boat across Lake Encarthan. If they met there, it would have been a brief chance encounter.
Brogl: I like where you're going. Do I take it you interacted mostly with the servants but overheard Aduard talking on occasion?
Are you okay if, when Aduard works out who you are, he remembers you from letters the doctor has sent then? "Oh, you're the Doctor's new assistant - he speaks very highly of you" type thing?
I think so, Aduard. I think Brogol would have spoken with the servants more often, and even if he interacted with Aduard, he probably would have avoided staring or perhaps even looking at the Bookman, as he would have been extremely self-conscious and aware of his lot.
Although I think the doctor was quite fond of Brogol, he wasn't the type to show it - to Brogol at least. The assistant would be very surprised (and secretly very pleased) to know that he was spoken of so highly by the doctor.
Also, Brogol's formula book, a gift from the doctor before his disappearance, is bound in human skin. This seems to be exactly the type of book that the Bookman could deal in, yes? If so, Aduard may notice the book the first time that he sees it, and Brogol, years back, could have actually picked up his future forumla book from Aduard without knowing what it was. Just a thought, anyways...
@Brogol: Absolutely! Done.
@Wakati: While Bookman writes fictional works, and some are banned, the network trades in forbidden tomes of all sorts; including spellbooks.
If you were in correspondence to the Professor then perhaps also in correspondence with Bookman?
I'll have a post up tonight. I've got an IRL game right now.
Have any of you played Numenera?
Certainly have not.
I also haven't - it looks interesting. What's your take, GM Olmek?
No I haven't I'm afraid
I haven't played it but Im into sci fi stuff. Why do you ask?
Hadn't even heard of it until you mentioned it
Could everybody make a Roll20 account? This is how I prefer to run encounters.
Once you've done that, click here. That's the campaign link.