GM Raventhorns Drums of War Stone Age Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master Raventhorn

Hello everyone I will be having everyone sit in and discuss how we will make the society more importantly how you all fit into this stone age tribal system

Also as we have quite a few divine casters we will go over the system of gods or spirits setting up domains together to make it work at least partially for everyone

Please sign on in at least 2 days time this is so I know who is here and who isnt so I can contact one of the other 2 to fill in and get this story rolling

Thank you again everyone and look forward to developing this game as an ever changing environment that you as people will mold along with me as the mere storyteller.

Dotting.

I'll have my character alias up in a bit.

"Don't bother me right now I'm fixing some hides to make into leather armor so shush! Oh, clan totem? Anything big is fine by me."

As Edgar, will have alias up in a bit.

Your plan for combat sounds good. One request, if I may, make a summery of each combat round as it ends, so we all know what actually happened. Other campaigns have done it, and it seems to work. The time limit seems fine.

As for myself, I don't mind if the GM changes my action to certain extant. Example, we are fighting three thugs, I cast spell x, which targets thug 1, but Manak has higher initiative and on his turn kills thug 1. In the round summery, you announce that my spell targeted thug 2 instead. That sort of thing is cool by me.

I have arrived. That for picking me. I really appreciate it. I will have my alias thrown together this afternoon once I get home from school.

Cleric in residence!

Thanks for the opportunity! This is going to be fun.

As for combat, I am running a PBP right now and we do combat as follows.

1. PCs or GM declares combat.
2. GM roll initiative for all combatants.
3. GM averages PCs' initiatives and monster initiatives
4. Whichever "team" is highest goes first.

This way any PC can post when they can, once all PC have posted, the GM sumarizes what happened, then the monsters act. Repeat.

Just waiting on aranik

Delighted to be here with my Oracle - the Breath of Heaven - Aranik.

Thanks Raventhorn.

All she needs is a few tweaks, perhaps a few corrections and the right equipment.

I'm eager to find out more about her tribe!...

Alright now that everyone is here we can begin to talk about how we shall set up the tribe so first order of business is backstories

You all have been living in this tribe since childhood literally lol so you will all know each other pretty well if some of you wish to be brothers or brother and sister please talk about this now

Aranik you don't get a choice :) you are the second daughter of the chieftain

Profile is up.

I wouldn't mind being the son of the current Shaman/Medicine man. It would fit well, and explain the skill choices I've made.

Put me down to be Roakrak's twin brother. He's got a heavier connection to nature while I feel more close to the gods themselves. Maybe our mother was the Shamaness?

What do you think about that Roakrak?

I am open, trust feeling stuff out here.

Sounds perfect to me, DSP.

Profile is online.

Wow, this is definitely a spellcaster heavy party. DSP and Roakrak have the shaman/witch doctor angle, and Aranik is connected to leadership. What is poor Narrati to do?!

I'm open to suggestions for the character. What do you guys think?

Narrati could be Manak's sister if that sounds ok, but Manak is all right either living by himself or with someone else, his place just smells like hide and leather all the time so probably not a lot of people like to spend lots of time around his hut.

Possibly, since our characters are so similar, Shano's ranger and I can also be brothers, not twins, but still related :)

Any other suggestions for Manak?

DSP Roak Narrati I believe if all three of you were related by blood somehow it would definitely account for all of you having magic somewhat in you You 2 could be twins and Narrati is a cousin or some such just a suggestion

Yes I didn't intend this to be spellcaster heavy but I was faced with three of the same exact martial character sooo....yeah anyways

Actually twins and possible cousin the shaman is your grandfather and is beginning to become elderly thus the rise of DSP's importance to the tribes spiritual needs and thus why he is assigned to this party of fighters though we might change that to scouts really lol instead of warband lol

That sounds good to me.

I took the Natural Born Leader trait and I hope to take Leadership at 7th, so growing into a prominent figure in the tribe is kind of "in the stars" for this guy.

I am working on his name now. What is the situation with "the gods" or "the totem" or whatever it is? Do we have a specific charm or something?

I am currently working on Jushem's background. He is a vicious man of the wild and something of a recluse. He likes animals and would be part of the tribes hunting team. Highly valued for his empathetic skills with animals he proved to be a good support on hunts.

I have him as a single adult male in the prime of his life and anxious to start getting more involved with the tribe.

He is hoping to incorporate beasts of burden into the tribes daily lives. This first requires him to master the art of domestication. His final goal.

Also, what is our tribes name and what kind of environment do we live in, Jungle, Plains, desert, mountains, or forest?

One more thing. Why are there no barbarians?

In a hunter-gather tribe, we're probably all cousins of one sort or another. I like the idea of being Manak's sister and DSP/Roakrak's cousin. For Manak/Narrati's family, I'm inclined to have their parents both alive as hunter/scouts that travel ahead of the main group. Our characters are old enough be self-sufficient adults, everyone is happy to let Manak have his own tent and Narrati doesn't have much need for one, but not yet married. It could also work to have to have Narrati as a sibling of DSP and Roakrak, keeping the spookiness in the family, for the most part.

I imagine Narrati and Roakrak have worked together fairly often, he knows how to use plants for healing and she knows how to craft odd things(craft Alchemy) and doesn't mind going for plants that grow in hard to reach places.

For the character herself, I see something of an extreme, to others, activities junkie. With the Water Lung hex, she doesn't fear the water. Flight hex means that falls are either fun, or frustrating if that means you have to get back to the top. I'd like to switch out one of her current skills, probably Intimidate or Use Magic Device, for Climb, as that seems more natural.

Thoughts.

I am trying to figure out how Aranik will fit in and what kind of role she will play in a party full of casters. I changed to a new image, which I think depicts her heathen nobility.

Firstly, she is the young daughter of the chieftain - so she should command some respect among the people of the tribes.
She has social graces - I plan to portray her as a very beautiful girl. And I have invested in her diplomacy skills -including sense motive. She should be well versed in the local religious rites.

Her powers are significantly augmented under night skies.

I think this will be a challenge. I don't know what Raventhorn is going to throw at us...but we have a lot of casters and not much muscle. No barbarians :-).

If it comes to battle situations I think Aranik can be tough - but she will definitely play a more defensive role, avoiding bloody confrontations. She will likely prefer to stay back and defend with a longspear - buffing-debuffing and healing with spells as needed.

I wonder what to select for her second language. Without knowing the setting yet I picked Celestial as a possible option- it seemed to fit. Perhaps angelic spirits whispered to her in her sleep as a child.

Heeeeey Aranik that's a bit harsh, what are Shano and I chopped Mammoth liver? :P Both of us can handle a bit of the martial stuff, especially since I'll be going pure class Ranger or mixing in a bit of Fighter, and Shano is gonna have a big ol animal companion soooo we can hold the frontline in combat :P

Also, for the GM should we pitch you our ideas for the Totem or would you please provide us a list that you can associate with appropriate gods and such that we can vote on which one/ones we like best?

"Forgive me Aranik but I have trained and fought with many a wild beast and have been rewarded with these mighty arms." I flex my muscles for the lady to see and admire. "Though I may not be very socially involved, I am not without my skills. I will do whatever it takes to protect you from harm. I will one day tame and train beasts to serve our tribe <Insert Tribe Name> and to serve your father Chieften <Instert Chief's name> with as much of their own hearts as I do with mine. For I am Jushem, mighty hunter and animal handler of our tribe and I will serve both you and your father to the death."

I am starting to get a feel for this character and working on a few details. I may even change some things. Though I am curious, are we going to have to worry about speech patterns since this is a tribe or is this just how we sound to each other?

Well guys it ultimately comes down to that not many people applied with marital classes as was requested lol. It was either have very small party leaving out alot of good plot hooks I can later use or....well we have you all now haha

Also I will address any other questions after my law class so far we just have to set up how you all intereact on day to day basis with tribe before we get rpping and then we set up the religeon of the tribe more details to follow

On languages....there are none sorry at least at this time

You have common which is the only language the people of the tribe can percieve

please trust me this is just beggining stages things make sense once plot rolls in

Once we set up the religion, I'll put up an Animal Companion.

Ok im back ok so lets go down the list of concerns I am percieving,

Age, most of you are under the age of 24 being kind there, remember that in harsh enviroments max age was usually 40 due to limited health care as well as limited food supply,

We are playing a beginning of a people, just barely out of hunter gather society

Aranik while you will have some respect of tribe members you being the daughter do not expect much I am sorry I am not a bigot or anything like that but the truth was most tribes were male dominated we will work on trying to be equal but don't expect the others, especially Jushrem and Manak to just OBEY you thought id clarify that and no we will not delve into sexist comments or anything but I do enjoy heavy rp content instead of a fantasy world whre everyone is hunky dory :)

Also Aranik the diplomacy is good FOR later :) at the begining do not plan on being involved in important descisions they will only view you as a young girl since well you are :)

On animal companions PLEASE nothing exotic please on case to case basis I will weigh the likely hood of the animals being domesicated granted the world of pathfinder is very different than our own

On magic please remember that the use of magic on day to day basis I will frown on lol its probabkly a very very new thing and yto have bunch of kids running around casting spells probably get people nervous :)

In a hunter-gather tribe, ............. I'd like to switch out one of her current skills, probably Intimidate or Use Magic Device, for Climb, as that seems more natural.

Thoughts.

You asked for our thoughts, Narrati. I think the skills you picked already seem quite fitting for Narrati. If you really wish to make a substitution - I think UMD fits with Narrati's witch-crafty interests and activities. Climb would make her even better at getting around. I might pick one of those in place of Knowledge: Arcana. I'm not sure how Arcane Knowledge fits in the Stone Age setting. I don't see a particular reason for Narrati to favour Intimidate - but you know her better...

Oh and on the discussion of no barbarians

Well again we didnt have many submissions for them

So had to come down to a choice, the rangers seemed more at least tuned to the needs of a tribe instead of a purely martial character thats only purpose of the class is destruction sorry thats very blunt but had three of the same character pretty much so anyways yeah no barbarians guess you wil have to think of crafty ideas to deal with things

The young girl in a brutal, stone-age society. I dig it.

Once we get this out of the way we can move on into the story also i am working on intro post to bring you up to speed

EDIT: This is DSP btw.

DSP remember there is no heavy shields

Gremm would being happy if speeching evolved with tribe. Am big roleplay commitment, but is worth it for story."

Should our language start simplistic and evolve as our society grows?

DSP remember there is no heavy shields

I knew I missed something, sorry.

EDIT: It's fixed and my profile is updated.

on the language its ok to be slightly simplistic but by nomeans go overboard lol just will be harder for me to translate :)

on the language its ok to be slightly simplistic but by nomeans go overboard lol just will be harder for me to translate :)

So we can't go full-on AM BARBARIAN? :P

Should we name the tribe ourselves and I'm still aching to know what our chief's name.
I'm still trying to work out Jushem's story. I should have the final draft up tonight or tomorrow.

I actually would like some suggestions but ultimately I wil have to come up with something for your tribes name or how you identify yourself

Usually the tribes totemm impacted this choice so in other words

Lets get down to religion

I'm seeing Desna, Erastil, Sarenrae, Gozreh, and possibly Curchanus(if he is alive at this point) as the logical deities. Weather(Gozreh), Sun(Sarenrae), and Moon(Desna) I can see being supplicated/appeased, but Erastil seems the most logical deity for a tribe to focus on. If it were me, a god that gives good hunts and teaches his followers to protect the tribe and honor traditions/respect authority, is the sort of patron I would want as a chieftain/hunter/normal-person.

@GM Raventhorn: what are your thoughts a switching a class skill?

@Aranik Thanks. I wasn't quite sure about Knowledge:Arcana either, but skill is used to identify magical auras, and that seemed to fit. I'd say intimidate would seem the least in keeping, that or Knowledge:planes.

What about an ancestral god for the tribe. A heroic warrior of old?

Domains: Repose (Ancestors), Community, War, Nobility

Sarenrae might be worshipped in the aspect of a fire goddess. A goddess of the hearth. Keeping the home fires burning may have been a sacred trust in the Stone Age - a matter of survival for the tribe.

Or an animal totem. Clan of the......

Since we have a good number of clever casters...we might be from a clan known for its wisdom.

Raven Clan, Owl Clan...

A society just coming out of the hunter gatherer stage would not have had time to develop gods yet.

At best, our people worship the elements or ancestors or spirits.

Either way, it can't be anything defined, and certainly wouldn't have a name yet.

My 2 cp.

The Totem doesn't really matter to me, but personally I'd rather have the Bear as our Totem, as it is both the powerful Titan of the Forests and Valleys as well as a Paragon of Wisdom. It fits for Manak anyways I think, at least in small parts. Just my suggestion.

Gremm does bring up a good point for the naming and such, since Spirits were the only things substantial as far as Gods go in this time period so if we just stick to the Mother Earth and Father Sky ideas I think that would be our best bet for the Religion.

Also, this is just a point made by me Aranik, but I for one get tired of cliches when it comes to a clan being famous for one thing or another. Yes it makes sense to have a Raven or Owl Clan for lots of Wisdom, but people can come from anywhere as can Magic in this world. I read a very good novel not a while back where the group's Magician was a Viking type guy XD All I'm saying is that it would really break the Norm if our number of spellcasters, who really AREN'T such yet if GM Raventhorn means much by that casting magic frequently is a bad idea, are from a tribe such AS the Bear, or something else you wouldn't expect.

:) my two cents.

Depends. If we are going with a pathfinder stone age settling, which was my impression, apologies if that is a mistake, then yes they would. Erastil is explicitly stated as being worshipped by hunter-gatherers and teaching humanoids the use of the bow.

If we're going more historical, then there probably wouldn't be a organized religion, in the Old Kingdom Egyptian sense. However, the indigenous Australians and indigenous Americans had developed belief systems while living as hunter-gatherers and early farmers.

@Aranik: Again. It really depends on whether we want to take in a pathfinder/golarion direction or more homebrew. Perhaps owl is your personal totem. You have a connection to night/sky, more so that regular people.

@Manak: Bear sounds good to me, though personally I'd choose a cow(or goat or pig). We don't have them yet, but a cow has always struck me a excellent totem. Very useful creatures... though a cat is fine too.

Really your move GM. Give direction and we can flesh out. Give us a sandbox and our respective pantheons will have a vicious debate to the death.

@ Gremm: Perhaps the beginnings of a priestly tradition are just starting to emerge...centered perhaps around the cult of an ancestor...

@Manak & Narrati: How can we avoid hackneyed cliches in a Swords and Sorcery fantasy game? :-P. But your points are all well taken. I would be delighted to explore magical-spiritual ideas in a way which is unique to this setting.

btw...Bear Cults were wide spread all over the world in the old old times. We could find plenty of historical material to inspire us there.

All of the characters here - casters in particular - approach magic in very different ways - or converse with different spiritual entities. Raventhorn hinted that we would be different from the other folk of the tribe - that our magic might even be shunned.

Anyway. I am not sure where this is going. All of your comments have been provocative.

Here:s another idea. A cult surrounding an artifact - or collection of artifacts - like a cargo cult.

My two cents.

First off: I for one like the ideas of the Bear and spirit worship. They fit well with the backstory I am assembling.

Second point. There is way to much analyzing going on here and I don't want any part of so feel free to discuss that without me.

Third thing: This world. Personally. I hope it is either set in a stone aged Golorion or a Homebrew fantasy world. That would make it very fun. More so than if it were based in the real world.

Theres my input. More may come but I want to see what others have to say first.

Lol yes this is homebrew dont think of golorion at all thus why we are making new "gods" mostly I was trying to see if you guys prefer simplistic Father Sky mother earth spirits or a pantheon of different spirits

So pretty sure we are making multiple spirits and sorta centering around bear clan?

That works for me!

Sounds good to me.

You have my approval.

Huzzah for the Bear Clan! (and pantheon)

NOOOOOO NO NO! no bear clan no repeat movies allowed BAD!

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