The journey begins with discussion.
Posting here now instead of Slack so that it lasts:
The campaign requires a LOT of book work in terms of jobs, capital, mapping, etc. I strongly recommend that as these come we pick up areas handled for the game. If it comes down to it, I'd love to throw my hat into the ring for handling all the maps. It's a part of the game I've always loved (and the reason for my unreasonable love of graph paper) but I think my proximity to paizo maps, files, etc makes it easy.
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I will be handling the main strategic map; there will be one -- one! -- for the entire campaign. Once we get to actual city-building though, I am happy to cede control of specific city maps and building maps to Taranis. I will also not say no to a character-created hand-drawn map of expeditions and surveyed lands, etc..
I will definitely want someone to keep track of XP and gold and items and such on the Tracker.
The kingdom-building aspects will have plenty of jobs to divvy as well, once we get there. If you survive until then, of course.
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I'll be trying to keep an in character journal. Over the years I've increasingly moved away from detailed backstories, as they now feel like a prison for the present. After all, if the prequels were that interesting, they'd come first.
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I'll be trying to keep an in character journal. Over the years I've increasingly moved away from detailed backstories, as they now feel like a prison for the present. After all, if the prequels were that interesting, they'd come first.
Questions are a burden, and answers a prison for oneself.
LOL this is the second campaign I think where Matt chose a picture in use already within our lodge. :-) Marc = Arryn Glasswalker
I don't remember actually... Don't change this one. I'm just teasing.
He was also [redacted] in our Dragon's Demand.
two things.
1) I'm going to be out-of-state during vacation week (not next week, but after). I'l l still be posting, but it'll be sporadic & short as I'll be using phone only.
2) I'm still looking for recomendations for feat selection. :-)
two things.
1) I'm going to be out-of-state during vacation week (not next week, but after). I'l l still be posting, but it'll be sporadic & short as I'll be using phone only.
2) I'm still looking for recomendations for feat selection. :-)
If you give them an inch, they'll take a feat
My dad used to say, after he built a pool in our backyard for my mom, "give them an inch, they'll take a foot; give 'em a foot, they'll take a yard; give 'em a yard they'll put a pool in it"
I suggest we develop a typical pattern for exploring.
1. Whenever possible, we thoroughly explore and map.
2. We explore in a back and forth fanning motion. So from here we travel East one hex, explore it, then from there SW, W, NW. That gets us the layer around the Trading Post. We return when need be.
3. Whenever a pressing quest meets us, we skip the normal pattern to deal with it. Once done, we pick up where we left off.
4. If we go off piste and things start killing us to death, we back it up and take a different path.
The metagamer in me thinks we need to build up to that, that we've seen the BBEG's minions and we need to explore.
1. Cuz I've played WWY too many of these.
2. Oleg and Svetlana didn't push us to.
3. The GM gave us the instructions on how to explore.
Let's explore in the direction of the camp tho. Do some recon. I'd hate to come back here to an uncle owen/aunt beru situation...
Okay then. Let's spend the rest of the day in which we fought off the bandits to explore this hex for anything else, and then head to the first hex that way.
THUNK.
Wandering Monsters!
I am a grognard. I have an intense love of the old game, and miss some of it's tropes and blemishes. Yes, wandering monsters can drastically slow a game down, but if ever an AP should have them, this is it. (and I welcome the XP and potential loot.)
Just a quick heads up. I'll be on business travel from April 19 - May 2. I expect to be able to post from my phone, but will not have access to a full computer (or if I'm the DM, the adventure.)
My current goal is to post 1/Day, though at GMT +1 it could be at odd hours. By all means, bot me if needed.
If this is a Windy Fellowship Lodge Game, I'll be on Slack, but likely only reading.
I will DEFINITELY not be able to keep up with the campaign tracker!!!
I can cover the Campaign tracker in the interim.
+3=12!!
nothing else of note for leveling.
level 2 ding!
1d8
Don't forget to update your "line" below your name...
Level 2 HPs...
I'll do the rest when I can.
Zed's new skills: Know: Dungeoneering, Know: Engineering, Know: History, Know: Nature, Know: Nobility, Know: Planes, Know: Religion, Perception
Zed's new spells: Expeditious Construction and Expeditious Excavation
I'm WAY jet lagged, and haven't leveled up yet. If I can get it in during school I will ASAP.
Note for later when I update Herolab:
Skills: Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Nature, Geography, Perception, Survival
Just a quick heads up. Starting Friday 17-Aug until Tuesday 21-Aug my internet connection is going to be spotty. I expect to get in a morning and an evening post, but likely only that.
I am moving across the country over the next week. I will be scarce as well.
And I'm going to be at beautiful Lake Tahoe for a week. So, oddly, my posting should be more frequent lol.
<--BOOOOMmuthafukka!!
Feat: Power Attack (this will be on by default, trex)
ability: Blood Sanctuary (see the game thread!)
Heads up everyone. I'll be AFK from Friday 1300ish until Tuesday 0700. I will do my best to check in once per day, but I'm expecting it to be a bit difficult (I'll be in Washington DC as pit crew for my fiancee as she runs a marathon.)
Thankfully I'll see GM Trex and Zed!
Putting this here. At level 9 Taranis gains an ability that greatly depends on some geography. Just something to keep in mind:
At 9th level, once per day, a Green Faith initiate can travel as if with transport via plants to any major Green Faith druid circle or important holy site. Each of these sites is marked with special standing stones that allow all Green Faith followers within range using transport via plants or tree stride to sense their distance and direction. At 14th level and again at 19th level, she can use this ability one additional time per day. This ability replaces venom immunity.
Who among you shall be your ruler?
This is tricky - very tricky. Taranis might be de facto squad leader, but I don't know that he'd make a good ruler, despite his Archetype. Unrak is actually the most charismatic.
What shall your lands be called?
Now taking suggestions! I ask nothing funny, it wrecks my immersion.
What shall be the alignment of your community?
I took a look at our alignments. NG, LG, NG, TN, NG. I think Neutral Good makes the most sense. This means +2 to Stability and Loyalty.
Where shall your capital be established?*
I like taking over at the Stag Lord's Fort. Open to ideas.
What shall your capital be called?
Same issue as calling the state.
Ruler: Unrak, Taranis
Consort: Nah
Counselor: Taranis or Augrym
General: Augrym, Marc
Grand Diplomat: Zed, Unrak, Taranis
Heir: None
High Priest: Taranis, Augrym, Marc
Magister: Zed, Unrak
Marshal: Anyone but Zed
Royal Enforcer: Not yet
Spy Master: Any
Treasurer: Zed, Taranis
Viceroy: Not yet
Warden: Augrym, Marc, Unrak
looking at the kingdom rules now (just got through Roles). I wish that the Ruler could choose from a second stat like all the other roles did...this next bit will combine RP and munchkinism, so bear with me.
I was hoping that Unrak would be a support character; I specifically created/conceived of him with "not being the ruler" in mind :-) Mechanically, though, the highest Cha makes the most sense. Does Taranis' +1 vs. Unrak's +2 make THAT much of a difference? The power-gamer in me says "Yes, no brainer" but we were just talking about this last night (in Starfinder)...how important, really, is it? On first glance not so much.
On the other hand...if Taranis WAS the ruler, the kingdom/group would be "gaining" a +1, but foregoing using his +4 in Wisdom elsewhere. Unrak's highest stat is Str, +3...meaning with him as ruler, we'd be "missing out" on a net +1, vs. missing out on Taranis' net +3. Looking at the numbers this way, the choice is (sadly) clear.
I could see something happening where Unrak simply assumes his brother will be the ruler, but Taranis (in his greater wisdom) realizes that his gifts are best used to focus elsewhere, and Unrak's "force of personality" will benefit the settlement more. Urnak grudgingly agrees and becomes a reluctant warrior-king type of guy, who is openly strong & able/willing to rule but relies heavily on his friends' council, & much prefers to be On The Open Road whenever possible.
As an aside, I find it ironic that, if this does come to pass, my character becomes the "leader" in 2 campaigns, by accident.
Unless there's some good argument against this, I'll agree to it. By "good argument" I mean RP and/or mechanical. I mean, if someone really had their heart set on kingship, we'll make it work & p~#*! the mechanics up!!!
of course, with Trex's potential ruing of "ruler can use Cha or Wis" this question is moot & Unrak advocates for Taranis to be leader. :-)
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Alright, here is the deal. I have chewed on this a bit now. I will allow Charisma OR Wisdom as the primary stat for the Ruler.
HOWEVER.
If Wisdom is used, it ONLY applies to the first Kingdom attribute chosen (Economy, Loyalty, or Stability). Once your Kingdom grows large enough so that you get a bonus to the second and third attributes, Charisma applies for these second and third attributes regardless.
My rationale is essentially that a small community is tight-knit enough that a ruler can have a more direct relationship with their citizens and convey their legitimacy through the wisdom of their decisions. Once a kingdom gets bigger, sheer force of personality is more necessary to hold the disparate parts together.
Place names are WAY harder than character names. If taken from the real world, it comes with baggage. If taken from fiction, it comes with expectations. So it should be original. Brevoy and the names near it don't fit a language profile, though the culture has a lot in common with early modern Spain. For this then, I'll look at words in Latin, Spanish, and Punic.
Here are my thoughts on the town (capital):
This should be personal. The name of a town should evoke feelings for comfort, solace, HOME.
Taub (Punic)
Domus (Latin)
Casa (Spanish)
Solacium (Latin)
Demesneshire (Norman)
Solace (English)
Redleaf (My vanity)
Ehiztari (Basque)
Laketown (It is near one)
Isernhaus (Susalka)
Esston (S)
A kingdom should be strong. The name of a kingdom should evoke feelings of patriotism, loyalty, and should sound good when shouted as a battle cry:
Cazadoria (Spanish)
Venatoria (Latin)
Solacia (Latin)
Jagergaard (German)
Marchland (German)
Vanagaard (Latin-German)
I'm not sold on any of these, but it's a place to start.
I like NG, I vote for King Unrak, I think Jagergaard or Marchland (capital), Solacium (nation) sounds cool, and I like the Stag Lord fort as a starting point.
I'm ticked off that rules in the kingdom are tied to ability scores making certain classes defacto choices - For example I've served under way too many generals who are STR or CHA heavy yet were horrible.
Anyway, since wizzerd is pigeonholed into either Magister or Grand Diplomat I volunteer Zed for the Magister role under protest.
Edit: In fact, the more STR/CHA a General is, the worse. INT/WIS make the best ones. I'm pretty sure CHA would be a good way to pick a mayor or a party planner, but why King? Good lord. I'll stop complaining.
Alright. I think Taranis is the Ruler as he’s been the defecto leader plus now it works out statwise. I think we could debate the stats thing until we’re blue in the face but I completely agree. A strong argument could be made for multiple, if not all, stats for any position. I have to think they decided this would be the best way of doing it mechanically when they built it. That said, if people hate the roles they’re being pigeonholed into, I think you should make the suggestion to Trex for which role you think you fit into for role playing reasons and why your stat makes sense.
NG is fine by me you wishy washy hippies.
As far as other roles go, I’m fine with whatever role that has been identified for me except Counselor. My 4th level stat boost will be going into Wisdom bringing me up to 16 and Strength is 18. But Counselor just doesn’t feel right for RP purposes. Even High Priest seems like a weird fit, but much less weird than Counselor. Something in Law & Order makes the most sense to me given my skill set. My preferences would be around General, Warden/Marshall. Although I really need someone to explain to me the difference between Warden and Marshall as it sounds like you really don’t need both. It really sounds like one person could do both of those jobs.
Given the massive penalties for not filling a role, I think we should consider bringing in NPCs to fill those roles. Starting with our new friend, the follower of Erastil. I think if Unrak becomes General, then Akiros and I could handle the Warden/Marshal duties together as I see this friendship budding from the moment we laid eyes on each other. He’s coming back to Old Deadeye.
For name, I’m really feeling Solace. But I’m feeling it for a kingdom name. Solacia sounds a little weird to me. But you’re (Taranis) right, Solace feels like home. Plus it sounds like Vallis which was the name of the kingdom in Lodoss War which we both loved. As for capital name, Redleaf sounds right given the brothers. There should be no reason we could all name a town if the opportunity comes up later.
There should be no reason we could all name town if the opportunity comes up later
This. And unless I miss my guess, it WILL come up later.
Proposal to answer Trex's questions...
Who among you shall be your ruler?
TARANIS REDLEAF
What shall your lands be called?
SOLACE
What shall be the alignment of your community?
NG (any objections..?)
Where shall your capital be established?*
THE FORT OF THE OLD STAG LORD
What shall your capital be called?
GRIMSTAGG (because that name is awesome enough to share!!) but maybe you want to save that for the town YOU name so...
I AM NOT OPPOSED TO REDLEAF/FORT REDLEAF/SOME DERIVATION THEREOF
More proposals, filling other roles:
General: Unrak
Warden: Augrym
I think these are more appropriate than the reverse because 1) I can see a stag-themed individual wanting to be "on the run" and 2) I can see the general wanting (demanding?) to stay by his brother & protect him directly. I would not object to reversing the roles, though, if you feel you really want General, Augrym!
Magister or high priest: Marc (not sure where you WANT to be...)
Zed: you pick :-) I'm partial to boosting the economy, so maybe treasurer?
I like the reasoning for Unrak being general.
Looks to me that there is a majority for:
Ruler: Taranis Redleaf
Capital Location: Stag Lord's Fort
Alignment: NG
Names do not yet have a consensus, but it looks like you all are leaning towards Solace for the kingdom and maybe Redleaf or Fort Redleaf for the capital. Once those get nailed down, we can move the story forward.
If Trex allows it, Harold of Harold's Discount Heraldry (CotCT NPC I built) could make the trip out here with tidings from King Odric, and perhaps stay on to help us develop a few heraldic devices). No real in game benefits, but a fun tie-in from Zed's backstory.
Also, I support Taranis as Ruler.
Alternate name idea: Marchland for the Kingdom, Solace for the capital.
I dont like the idea of naming our places after PCs... unless it is their homestead or something. (will cross-post to Slack)