From a meta-gaming perspective, I'd say they are willing to let him die. In fact, I find it odd that he even surrendered. His use of the word "heretics" points to a religious fanatic archetype. They usually are cool with dying for the cause. Maybe these guys aren't quite as hardcore, though. That'd actually be a refreshing change. :)
Actually, come to think of it, Geralt might also arrive at that conclusion - though not necessarily in the same way.
As for 'civilised goblins'... sort of rare, sort of not. The place on the 'monsters' ladder where goblins usually sits is occupied by the Nyriskus, who are similar (small, ambushy, fighty) but not really related. Goblins are more rare than feared, and although their societies tend more towards the 'no city walls, we live where we live' mentality, they're certainly not seen as a :monster:. A nuisance, maybe...
But it chages a lot by region to region. Up here in the mountains half the people won't really know what Ravboom is.
As evidenced by the kid calling him a "green boy" :3
Sorry Zirul, I think Jack beat you to it.
Yep, Acrobatics check was just for the spoiler, so that if you're sensitive enough to movement and balance you'll notice the rhythm-change - you're all tense and standing, so unless the train goes seriously off the rails I won't ask for balance-style checks.
Sorry, but my tablet died on me. I'm borrowing a computer for a few minutes, trying to catch up where I can. I'll be good over the weekend, then sketchy for a while until I can get a replacement.
Still here, just chilling out at work (bleh night shift). I'm just curious, what do you guys think of character backstories and such? Do you like to create real intricate ones or do you prefer to keep it short and sweet and just play it by ear on how your character develops? For the DM and those that DM/have DMed, do you like seeing in-depth character backstories or does it not make a lot of difference to you either way? :)
Personally I always enjoy a character having a fairly detailed backstory. I usually play it a bit by ear, filling in details of a char's history as I play them. Every now and again I'll flesh out a story before start-of-play on a whim.
Usually when I think of a Level 1 character though, I think of someone who's young and hasn't seen or done much (or else they'd be higher level), so the amount of backstory is limited from the start. It's one of the reasons I enjoy starting characters at higher levels - to open up the possibilities for what they could already have achieved in life.
Reverse train because, unless I misread, we're pretty much on bridges between mountains for the most part, or on mountainsides. If a train hits our train the falling debris will smash us or the rising steam cloud will cook us. Plus the whole, all those other people on the other train.
Personally I always enjoy a character having a fairly detailed backstory. I usually play it a bit by ear, filling in details of a char's history as I play them. Every now and again I'll flesh out a story before start-of-play on a whim.
Usually when I think of a Level 1 character though, I think of someone who's young and hasn't seen or done much (or else they'd be higher level), so the amount of backstory is limited from the start. It's one of the reasons I enjoy starting characters at higher levels - to open up the possibilities for what they could already have achieved in life.
Generally agreed.
Right now, I'm playing a character that's 123 years old...so...he has loads of life before him...and some pretty strange stuff. He's just been...lazy.
I'm a bit here-and-there on backstories. As a player I try to keep it as broad strokes that can be filled in later, but I think a lot of that is because I had a very good DM when I started playing D and D - he would drop hints when we entered new areas or spoke to new npcs that our paths may have crossed somewhere before, and character backstories often grew out of that. Gave a very 'connected world' feeling.
As a GM myself, I prefer someone to have a few important events set in stone and the rest of it mutable - it gives me hooks for the story that tie in to the characters directly. But there's always the chance (and it happens occasionally) that somebody wants to shove their backstory in the face of the rest of the party, and make it the absolute number one priority. Generally not on purpose, of course, but the effect is still the same. I did play in a game where I and an ally were merely bodyguards of a prince, and created our characters to be bodyguards. The story was about the prince and we were snarky advisors who acted on his whims - and it was a great game, because we knew what we were in for from the start.
But...
I also remember a game where one of the player characters decided to merely treat the other characters as body guards, because his backstory said 'he was the secret prince of blah blah'. Which went okay until one of them snapped and murdered him. I generally rule against PC on PC violence, but... yeah, he had it coming. :)
Reverse train because, unless I misread, we're pretty much on bridges between mountains for the most part, or on mountainsides. If a train hits our train the falling debris will smash us or the rising steam cloud will cook us. Plus the whole, all those other people on the other train.
Rav makes a very good point here - it's possible you'd survive a head-on collision in a still train, but much more probable for you to survive being 'shunted' by a train moving faster than you but in the same direction.
Loot list?
I'll stick it up by the end of the day - currently at work, so can get away with a brief post now and then but definitely not opening up the campaign documents. ;)
...But there's always the chance (and it happens occasionally) that somebody wants to shove their backstory in the face of the rest of the party, and make it the absolute number one priority.
Yeah. Sadly a fairly common phenomenon in my experience.
Had the same problem Geralt many times. once had a dm that played a character in his own game. I'm not fully opposed to this if done right but he made the game all himself.
Ack... as a long-time DM I know the temptation that NPCs can bring...
Which is why when introducing an NPC that might stay with the party for a long time I purposefully give them no (or at least next-to-no) combat abilities. because once it's said or written, you can't back out of it without the players crying foul, and as soon as they do that you know that you're straying toward Dick Marvel territory (if anybody gets the reference...).
I would probably take a different path - if a long-term NPC joins the party, I'd just ladle on the challenge all the more. :) Of course, my DM experience is still limited. I'll be starting to DM on these boards eventually.
And no, I'm afraid I don't get the reference. Comic book thing?
I've once used a gm pc when i got a group of newbies to play. only used him to show the others how to do things and keep them alive til they got the hang of it. I have to admit tho i was tempted to keep him since i was the only Pathfinder group around but decided against it.
I like writing backstories but i find sometimes they way i want to play the character doesnt match the background as i play him so i usally like to rp with them before i finish the background.
Ha, Dick Marvel was an NPC is a comedy sketch by (I think) RPPR, in a game of call of cthulhu. The players were going to met him at his mansion, which was invaded by Nightgaunts. The players could do absolutely nothing to them but then Dick Marvel appeared, using his secret ninja skills to snap all of their necks because he was an archaeologist millionaire badass who outclassed the players in every way. I recommend hunting it down, although I don't know off-hand where it could be found.
And I don't think there's anything inherently wrong with having an NPC to help in combat... just that they should never drive the story by their actions. Even if they do something important, it should always be the decision of the players as to where they go next. ;)
Most of the time we've had an NPC with us for any length of time in RL games, it's usually been a cleric who mainly healed us and smacked things around a little bit as needed. Support characters probably work better for not stealing PC thunder...unless you've already got a support PC, perhaps? :V
Zirul, you manage to loot number 3 (who is unconscious) and then two other dead bodies. The rest of the attackers either escaped or died somewhere out of the train and are lost behind you.
You find...
3x Re-Breather masks,
3x Sets of thieves tools,
3x Sets of leather armour with integrated fur covering,
3x Silver Daggers,
3x Small dog-eared books,
240gp worth of local currency,
1x small stone that feels warm to the touch,
1x copper torc (worn around the neck),
and 2x belt pouches containing a few small needles each.
how many of us are there. 6, 5? I will split all the gold evenly. How much gold each?
Dibs on 2 of 3 silver daggers.
And now for the rest of the party to call dibs, whatever is not wanted will just be sold.
Ravboom is the type who prefers a half-way workable plan NOW than the perfect plan...
...after the train explodes...
I'll stick time-critical rolls in GM only spoilers, so you can check after the fact that I wasn't fudging timings to catch you out. ;)
how many of us are there. 6, 5? I will split all the gold evenly. How much gold each?
Dibs on 2 of 3 silver daggers.
And now for the rest of the party to call dibs, whatever is not wanted will just be sold.
And yep, six of you by my count.
so 40 gold a piece.
Ravboom, you sure you don't want anything, which would be handed to you immediately upon exiting the train, or when our characters meet.
I lost the thread, here. Rav, why exactly do we want the train to go faster?
The train is at a standstill right now, and Jeza is trying to get it started in reverse. We have to accelerate, and we want it to accelerate backwards as fast as possible away from any oncoming trains. :)
@zirul
Without knowing what the unidentified stuff is (torc etc) there's nothing in there he can use. It's all Medium sized, and he's small. The thieves tools are useless for him, and the books are almost certainly religious books explaining why these morons wanted to crash the train. Besides which, he can't read. :)
Sigh. Thanks for the answer. Now I've gotta go back and read all the GM posts for the last while, cuz I totally missed that the train had come to a stop. i thought we were still speeding along!
Funny, I don't recall skimming through any of 'em...
Look for the posts where you followed Ravboom out. Jeza and Jack pulled the emergency cords while Rav was climbing on the roof. He slid down the upper car. :)
That's why Jeza asked if Ravboom was brave or crazy for climbing up as they were doing an emergency braking.
I think we should wait until we find out what everything is before we split it up. That way we can figure who would benefit more from it rather than having someone have an item they can't use.
Jack has a point. Not to mention we might want to wait to see if we can salvage the situation or if we're doomed to a fiery death in the next little bit ;)
Well also, in that case, shouldn't we be worried about throwing any wood into the boiler? Don't now how Gatsby will rule it, but in our world, throwing tables and chairs off off a train is entirely negligible as far as reducing it's weight. Thinking we should feed the fires with some of it instead.
But somebody else will have to suggest it if this is a good idea in-game - Geralt doesn't know enough about the engineering to think of it.
I think the fuel is already there, we just have to put it in.
Sorry, I meant feed it more fuel, not that there's no fuel at all (I hope?) >.>
Indeed, the fuel is already there and you just have to shovel it in.
Don't now how Gatsby will rule it, but in our world, throwing tables and chairs off off a train is entirely negligible as far as reducing it's weight.
Ooh, you haven't seen what the cargo is yet... :P
Lead ingots?
The attackers were trying to save the city... from widespread lead poisoning!
My god, how did you guess! Now I'll have to change my plans... :P
A truly insidious plan it was!
I assumed it was gold, and Ravboom was going to be tossing bricks out the door while everyone else cried.
Zirul, I:m not going to say that you can:t go dragging bodies across the ricking bridge, there is enough space to walk... but it's also at least half a mile in heavy snow, on icy iron slats, at an altitude high enough that oxygen deprivation sets in damn quickly after strenuous physical activity... and you're completely exposed to the wind.
Now I'm not saying that you're going to die... but you will have to start making saving throws against essentially beginning to freeze to death after the first few minutes of exposure. You'll probably still make it - but you'd be in pretty poor shape by the time you got to the city.
(There's a reason people don't usually just walk the ricking-bridges without serious preparations...)
Basically, I'm not going to railroad (ha!) you and say that you can't, but I am going to suggest that it might not be the best idea.
Then again, you're not sitting in a big metal box waiting to be hit by a train, so who am I to judge? ;)
I assumed it was gold, and Ravboom was going to be tossing bricks out the door while everyone else cried.
Far more valuable than gold, Rav - it's something secret in a big box. And it doesn't get much more valuable than that.
I assumed it was gold, and Ravboom was going to be tossing bricks out the door while everyone else cried.Far more valuable than gold, Rav - it's something secret in a big box. And it doesn't get much more valuable than that.
And yet, as the box get's pushed out of the cargo car, unopened, it's value vanishes in a puff of moist breath in sub-zero air.
Yep... there goes a potential plot thread! ;)
We've stumbled across a whole cargo of MacGuffins! We can choose any story we want!
Unless it's like the basement of Cabin in the Woods, and we're choosing any horrible death we want.
Zombie redneck torture family :(
Zirul, I:m not going to say that you can:t go dragging bodies across the ricking bridge, there is enough space to walk... but it's also at least half a mile in heavy snow, on icy iron slats, at an altitude high enough that oxygen deprivation sets in damn quickly after strenuous physical activity... and you're completely exposed to the wind.
Now I'm not saying that you're going to die... but you will have to start making saving throws against essentially beginning to freeze to death after the first few minutes of exposure. You'll probably still make it - but you'd be in pretty poor shape by the time you got to the city.
(There's a reason people don't usually just walk the ricking-bridges without serious preparations...)
Basically, I'm not going to railroad (ha!) you and say that you can't, but I am going to suggest that it might not be the best idea.
Then again, you're not sitting in a big metal box waiting to be hit by a train, so who am I to judge? ;)
True, but I have a cold weather outfit on and a racial resistance 5 to cold to take into consideration.
How long is the walk? Is it really about 1/2 a mile? And how long will it take me on foot?And how cold are we talking? And does my mask give me any bonus as well since it will protect me from some wind?
from environmental rules
Cold and exposure deal nonlethal damage to the victim. A character cannot recover from the damage dealt by a cold environment until she gets out of the cold and warms up again. Once a character has taken an amount of nonlethal damage equal to her total hit points, any further damage from a cold environment is lethal damage.
An unprotected character in cold weather (below 40° F) must make a Fortitude save each hour (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d6 points of nonlethal damage. A character who has the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the skill description).
In conditions of severe cold or exposure (below 0° F), an unprotected character must make a Fortitude save once every 10 minutes (DC 15, +1 per previous check), taking 1d6 points of nonlethal damage on each failed save. A character who has the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well. Characters wearing a cold weather outfit only need check once per hour for cold and exposure damage.
A character who takes any nonlethal damage from cold or exposure is beset by frostbite or hypothermia (treat her as fatigued). These penalties end when the character recovers the nonlethal damage she took from the cold and exposure.
Extreme cold (below –20° F) deals 1d6 points of lethal damage per minute (no save). In addition, a character must make a Fortitude save (DC 15, +1 per previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage.