GM Sappy's Rise of the Runelords - Little Heroes Table 1 (Inactive)

Game Master Sapiens

Welcome everyone, congrats for getting in! You can dot and delete in the gameplay thread, to get notifications up and running, and you can meet and greet here. If you want to braid backgrounds further, go ahead. Also I'll take a closer look at your sheets for crunch.

I did fumble my Wisdom check and started this game while things are pretty intense at my university, so I apologise in advance: I'll start the game in a couple of days and there may be times where I disappear for a day or two. But I'll come back (and a poke in the Discussion thread will likely bring me back faster).

Now, as I mentioned, we won't start RotRL right away. I'll start with the nice Cat and Mouse 3PP module, unless you are somewhat opposed to it (you can have played it, as long as you keep player and character knowledge separated).

One last important thing: would you rather have this game start before or after the Late Unpleasantness?
Before would mean that you would be just a bit younger than Ameiko Kajitsu, Leandro Mvashti and several other well-known Sandpointers. And the Unpleasantness will be playable (which may also change things further in the story...).
After would mean that Ameiko and company will be noticeably older than you. It will also require me to tweak a few dates so that things remain consistent.

Hi, all. Thanks for having me!

First of all, I'm fine with a more flexible posting schedule. I totally get work, school, etc. being a priority.

Second, that module sounds fine with me. I know nothing about it.

Third, I'd prefer Ameiko and company to be older. I think that those characters fit into the older role model position really well.

Hello everyone!

Actually that works well for me. I have a bunch of things on this weekend, but plan to take Tuesday off.
As I'm in Australia, my times are going to line up crazy. It's 10:30 here when I post this. Usually works out, though.

Happy with the third party module - will it be set in Sandpoint?

I don't know enough about RotR to really have an opinion on timing.

@GM Sappy: Are you okay if we forge more links?
@All: who wants to forge more links?

Is anyone interested in playing Whistleball?

Woohoo, congrats to us for getting in. So I'm totally fine with the module, and I agree with Ileyna on Ameiko and co. being older.

Oh, and I definitely want to create more links. But not through Whistleball. Whistleball is stupid. :P

I'm not at all familiar with RotR, so I'm ambivalent about the relative ages of the NPCs. I'm also quite happy to establish some connections. Who would want to be friends with The Wild Child of the Woods?

hello

Depending on how much older. I don't mind

Happy to work with the wild child

And Sammy. Especially if she likes tricks and jokes =^^=

Okay, let me summarise what I've worked out first;
Sammy is 8. (small)
James is 13 (medium)
Taraketh is ?? (medium)
Ilyena is 10 (small)
Lucy is 13 (medium)
Ruuki is 8 (small)

Sammy and James are siblings
Ilyena and Taraketh get on okay. T has met tallow.
Sammy is Teasy to Ilyena?
Sammy likes Ruuki's jokes. They are friends.

James will overlook a lot in order to get a good Whistleball player, and he's a decent guy. He is in absolute denial about most supernatural stuff, and trying to convince him is likely to make him angry because he'll think you're trying to prank him. On the other hand that means he's not going to be freaked out by rumours of someone being cursed or possessed etc. He accepts people are suggestible.
@GM Sappy: How obvious is spellcasting (especially psychic spellcasting) in your game? By default it has glowing lights and stuff, but that makes kid spellcasters really obvious, and probably impossible for James to rationalise away.

Lucy: Lucy seems to have a lot about being 'proper', but does slip away to play? What does she play? Does she live in town, or out on a country estate? If the latter, then potentially Sammy and James could have the farm next door. Alternatively, I could (with permission) move a skill point around so he's taking a class with you? Possibly fencing, or riding, or somesuch?

Taraketh: if you're on a farm near James, and around his age, you may have ended up as friends by default. James has some wilderness skills, so maybe they head out hunting together at times?

Ilyena: Jams won't mind Tallow, but he'll argue whether she exists. On the other hand he might well rationalise it to himself as an invisible friend and 'play along'.

Ruuki: If you're friends with Sammy, we may be sort of step-friends?

Ruuki is small and he's 8

Step-friends :P

@sappy, thanks for having me! Excited to play. I'm going in totally blind on story stuff, so I have no opinion on ages and such for other characters.

@James, Lucy is SUPER about being proper, but kids will be kids, and being cooped up in a manor to study things all the time would drive any kid with a innate sense of adventure insane. So, she slips away to play and makes 101 excuses about WHY she's doing so, even though it's usually about being rebellious. She's proper, not obedient. Most of Lucy's study involves languages and contracts, so they probably wouldn't take a class together, but I could absolutely see Lucy being a pretty darn good Whistleball player, considering she's got a hell of an arm with that 14 strength. Assuming James at any point could figure out that getting Lucy to do something mostly involves telling her she's not good enough or not able to handle playing with the other kids.

It's just some stupid bumpkin game... yes, I did throw that rock really far, what does that have to do with... I'll have you know I'm a Galonnica! I can do anything a stupid common boy like you can! I'll show you! Give me that stupid ball!

My str is dropped to 12 due to size. But Dex is up 2 =^^=

-Posted with Wayfinder

All in all, I think that I may have you start before the Late Unpleasantness, but keep Ameiko and company older, since you like them to be role models. They'll likely be in their late teens at the start of the game, which means their twenties at the start of RotRL proper. Would you like that?

Totally OK if you make connections, I enjoy the intertwisting of characters you are making :)

For spellcasting, in my games usually arcane magic is flashy, divine magic less so, and psychics are pretty subtle. I'd have to reread the rules for power displays.

Flashy suits me fine.

Except for his shifting abilities. those would be as subtle as he can possibly make them

I think Tark (I'm going to shorten his name to Tarketh, rather than Taraketh) is happy to go hunting with James. He's friends with Il, and probably sort of friendly with Sammy - especially if she's James' sister. He has little patience for whistleball, but Orvis (the familiar) loves it, so he plays anyway.

Oh, and Tark is 12, and can stay medium.

I'm not at all opposed to more ties between the characters. I'll be honest, though, I went with teasy from Sammy because of something in her questions. I think it was the "frogs in people's drinks" thing. Ileyna wouldn't be so into whistleball. She'd have played a few times, but it's not really her thing.

Sammy is definitely the mischievous sort and would absolutely tease the other children, but not in a mean spirited way. More in a playful, not realizing you don't like it way, because she is 8.

Think Sammy might have put a frog in uppity Lucy's drink? Getting the goat of the snooty rich girl seems like a pranksters dream.

Sammy and Ruuki would get into all kinds of trouble when they were together

Sammy would absolutely be besties with Ruuki, and would absolutely have played some kind of trick or another on Lucy. Probably several.

So
* Sammy and Ruuki are the young kids who prank all the time?
* Tark and James are the older boys, neighbours who've known each other for years, and head out into the woods to hunt on occasion (slings, I assume, though we might have been allowed to hold a bow every now and then). Potentially they drag others along with them? Additional food might be welcome in a farming family come winter.
* James' whistleball obsession is not shared by his friends

Ilyena: As she is midway between Sammy & Ruuki (8), and Tark, James and Lucy (12-13), how do you see her interacting? Does she hang out with the older kids, or the young uns? See also below for a potential link...

Lucy: Lucy seems pretty unlikable to a bunch of 'country bumpkins'. Is that what you're headed for? I'd like to make sure we've got some good reasons to stick together for the first few years (at which point the shared experience will hopefully be enough to keep us together). Could we set up a situation where she'd be happy to hang out, even if just through loneliness?
Tricking her into playing might work, but it'd need to work repeatedly - like she's determined to 'win the cup' or something.
If necessary I can petition to change something in James to make then connection easier. He lives with his paternal aunt, and his mother is (at the moment) a blank slate. Potentially she could have had noble blood, or even be related to Lucy. With Sammy's permission their father could have been an officer or something somewhere, and moved away when his wife died. I could even trade away Godless Healing for a nobility-related trait. I'm keen to have him be 'common' now - and definitely don't want to take a 'noble' roll - but assuming male primogeniture then inheritance through the mother gives him nothing - but might give him a claim Lucy recognises? Potentially he is expected (by his Varisian aunt) to 'pay calls' on family?
Scarnetti is the obvious family to choose - even if indirectly - because it'll also give a link to Ilyena 'for free'.
Alternatively, do they share tutors or teachers in anything? A snooty hyper-intelligent classmate who helps with homework is much more tolerable...

@James, yup, she's suppose to be that annoying friend you hang out with because your a kid and when your a kid you end up hanging out with people cause of proximity and not because you actually like them. My hope is that the adventure will kick some sense into her and teach her that the other kids she's looking down upon are valuable and important to.

As for the nobility thing, that might work, but the teachers might be better. Maybe as a punishment she originally had to help James and Sammy with homework and such and since it's become just sort of a "Thing" that she sticks around and helps (Ostensibly cause she "is suppose to" but in reality cause she doesn't want to be lonely again).

I imagine Ileyna being pretty immature. She spends a lot of time with her sister, and quite a bit with Tark, but overall, she probably relates to the younger kids more. She's old enough now to know that 8-year-olds make stupid jokes and pull dumb pranks. Besides, James has probably made it clear that he doesn't understand about Tallow, and Lucy seems like she's the kind of thirteen-year-old who might act older than she is.

Tark loves the pranks that Sammy and Ruuki play, but has no desire to join them in pranking. Instead, he actually sort of enjoys being the butt of the joke - he's good natured about the whole thing, and understands that kids will be kids, and they should be encouraged to play to their strengths, rather than quashing their impulses.

James and Ilyena are his only real friends. He would do anything to get along with them, including that damnable whistleball game, though he's much happier when James wants to go into the woods, and so is Orvis. The little mongoose delights in rooting through the underbrush for vermin and leading the boys toward tasty plants and little creeks.

As for Ilyena, Tarketh only really feels comfortable talking with her. He's not very chatty with most people, especially grown-ups, since they all get so *weird* around him for some reason.

Tark's older sisters are much older - 20 and 24, respectively, so they have little time for the boy or his gang of misfit friends.

Hmm - was thinking about it this morning.
If Daddy Vestrana is Varisian, then James' mom can be Scarnetti. That gives the link to Ilyena - who can be a cousin - and a reason to hang out with Lucy. Ideally he'd be set to 'own' the farm they're on through inheritable grant, which means he's technically landed nobility - even if the land is one acre.
There are going to be educational situations for a noblewoman that require her to learn how to interact with her peers. Cheliax might look down on Magnimar (and Sandpoint), but her tutors are not exactly spoiled for choice.
James has NO INTEREST in noble education, so if Lucy can do his work for him (which means he doesn't have to learn it) then so much the better! Gives a good reason for him to hang out with her, and put up with her prissy manners.
The one exception might be if they're being taught swordsmanship or something. I can see James being interested in fencing because it is a sport.

Ruuki studies a lot. But it's mostly home schooling from his family who travelled a lot. Hence the broad knowledge of languages. Plus they are too poor to actually afford school anyway. Due to their race, magic is kind of important

So he really enjoys his time with his friends.

-Posted with Wayfinder

I'm going to be away for the next 3 days or so on a rafting trip. I'll be around after that, though.

Have fun! I'm quite ready to start the game but we can wait for Ileyna to be back.

@Sappy Does the change sound okay?
@Ilyena Are you okay with being step-cousins?
@Lucy Are you okay with (A) very, very minor nobility and (B) occasional shared lessons?

Sure, the change is alright.
I'll try and have the first post ready in a few hours, one day tops.

@james, Totally okay with either or both. :)

Aaaand first post is up! Hoping that the site doesn't have any more catastrophical crashes.

So, post on hold.
@Sammy: I need a name to threaten Sammy with. What's the aunt's name?
I'm thinking this, if you're okay

I actually named her Anya and established her as a fortune teller, but otherwise that works.

I couldn't see a name. Anya is fine. Travelling fortune teller works - suggests she's Sczarni. I'd like her to have a reason why she wants to leave.
I figure she's sticking around so James can get his 'inheritance' and have a connection to his mum's family.

Hey @Sappy: Did you have a preferred status line formatting?

I didn't think we could cast Detect Magic, since we have CL 0, and the duration is 1 min/level?

Uhm, good point. I was thinking caster level 0 for CLO checks and magic items or somesuch, and I totally forgot about X/level spells.
How about having 1 round/level and 1 minute/level spells brought to 1 round, 10 minutes/level and 1 hour/level spells brought to 1 minute?
(you may change your spells accordingly, of course, if you picked only fixed-duration ones for this).

I will unashamedly admit that this is why I took Harrow Chosen.

RE CL0
Oh, I thought that was the cleverest thing about it!
Perhaps treat it as caster level half?

Uhm, good point. I was thinking caster level 0 for CLO checks and magic items or somesuch, and I totally forgot about X/level spells.

How about having 1 round/level and 1 minute/level spells brought to 1 round, 10 minutes/level and 1 hour/level spells brought to 1 minute?
(you may change your spells accordingly, of course, if you picked only fixed-duration ones for this).

Sounds fair to me, I didn't even think of it!

I actually agree with James! I'll keep things as-is.

*looks at notes*
And so it was that everyone ran away from the questgiver... Oh well, RP and be merry, children. I'll set up some minigames in a bit.

We're kids, are you shocked?

-Posted with Wayfinder

We can steer it back... Make Sammy apologise to her or something.
;)

I mean, these things happen even in super-focused adult games.

Side note: I'll be very spotty for the next week. I'm helping move my grandparents into assisted living, so I'll be busy. Thanks for the patience.

had a horrible week. Couldn't even get to any of my games till now. Will post again in the morning

-Posted with Wayfinder

So here's the deal :
Today GMT+2, 3:25 am we welcomed my first born into the world. 16 July 2017

Welcome to my partner in geeky crime. Aldrèa

-Posted with Wayfinder

Mazel tov!

Congratulations!