@Mykhael What role(/s) appeals to you?
Once the PCs have cherry picked out positions we could start considering NPCs for other roles.
I could do Counselor. Can a person fill two roles?
Nope.
All right, that settles that. So, that leaves 5 unfilled positions. Treasurer NEEDS to be filled but the others could be left vacant if necessary. If we are recruiting Oleg, Svetlana, Jhod Kavken, and Akiros as members of our new government, then we could have:
Variable Roles:
*Ruler (CHA) - Colwyn +2
*Spymaster (DEX or INT) - Richard +4
Economy Roles:
Magister (INT or CHA) - Niadroub Kliip +4
Marshal (DEX or WIS) - Xantria +3
*Treasurer (INT or WIS) - Jhod Kavken?
Loyalty Roles:
*Councilor (CHA or WIS) - Mykhael +4
Royal Enforcer (DEX or STR) ?
Warden (CON or STR) - Oleg?
Stability Roles:
General (STR or CHA) - Akiros?
Grand Diplomat (INT or CHA) Svetlana?
*High Priest (WIS or CHA) - Elena +3
GM: are we able to ascertain what the NPCs in question would be good at?
One second between posting!
I think we are ready for killing those mercs.
Possible disposition of positions.
Variable Roles:
*Ruler (CHA) - Colwyn
*Spymaster (DEX or INT) - Richard
Economy Roles:
Magister (INT or CHA) - Niadroub Kliip
Marshal (DEX or WIS) - Xantria
*Treasurer (INT or WIS) -
Loyalty Roles:
*Councilor (CHA or WIS) - Mykhael?
Royal Enforcer (DEX or STR) -
Warden (CON or STR)
Stability Roles:
General (STR or CHA)
Grand Diplomat (INT or CHA) -
*High Priest (WIS or CHA) - Elena
Not Important:
Consort - (not relevant, right now)
Heir - (not relevant, right now)
Viceroy - (not relevant, right now)
Suggesting Akiros for Royal Enforcer rather than General or Warden who will under a lot of pressure while he works on his restraint. At least with Royal Enforcer if he's activated it's because the things he's going after are meant to be hurting. I like the character but although he might prefer Warden or General those are going to be constantly stressful positions.
Ninja'd! :)
I forgot about Kesten Garess. :)
NPC Leaders?
Akiros Ismort Desired role General Best role Warden Description aimless Attitude Indifferent
Jhod Kavken Desired role None Best role High Priest Description self-doubting Attitude Friendly
Kesten Garess Desired role Warden Best role General Description Stern Attitude Friendly
Oleg Leveton Desired role Treasurer Best role Treasurer Description surly Attitude Friendly
Svetlana Leveton Desired role None Best role Councilor Description kind AttitudeFriendly
Name Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
Akiros Ismort 14 12 16 10 8 15
Jhod Kavken 10 8 13 12 18 14
Kesten Garess 17 8 13 10 12 14
Oleg Leveton 11 9 10 12 15 8
Svetlana Leveton 8 9 10 11 12 15
@Elena. I'll have a little event written up when you next travel the lands for your animal companion.
@Niadroub. Yes to Leadership role skills.
I'm also going to use the Temple rules, so a temple of Erastil being LG would give +2 Loyalty and Economy.
@Niadroub. Yes to Leadership role skills.
I'm also going to use the Temple rules, so a temple of Erastil being LG would give +2 Loyalty and Economy.
Thanks, DBH.
Colwyn, that means that you can start increasing Knowledge (nobility) with some of your many skill points if bumping Charisma doesn't work for your build. That's assuming, of course, that you're interested in your Leadership bonus to the kingdom. I don't want to make any assumptions.
There is a penalty for switching rulers out, so keep in mind that we don't need to fill a role immediately if we're going to regret it when we encounter someone better suited down the road.
Akiros looks great for a Constitution based role, which means Warden. But roleplay-wise, he's a former bandit, so I think the PCs would make it clear that this is situational and a chance to prove himself.
Jhod Kavken has the best Wisdom we're likely to see for a while, which means Treasurer, but thematically, I don't know. Maybe Oleg has a decent Profession (Merchant) skill?
Kesten works for General with his high Strength, but Royal Enforcer might also work, if he's up for it.
Oleg just doesn't have impressive stats. Svetlana has a decent Charisma, but the only one left is Grand Diplomat, which seems like a stretch. We are building a kingdom in a land occupied by fey; I don't feel like it's impossible that we'll encounter a friendly fey with a high key stat. This will show representation in our government for the indigenous population.
I could totally see a high-Dex kobold wanting to be our Royal Enforcer. :)
For RP reasons I kind of want to give NPCs the role they want, even if they would be a point behind someone else who would be better suited. The big point is to avoid the penalties involved in having a role go empty. Anything else is just gravy.
I doubt that Jhod or Svetlana would want to be the Royal Enforcer.
Mykhael: any chance you'd prefer the Grand Diplomat role and we can stick Jhod in as councilor?
Variable Roles:
*Ruler (CHA) - Colwyn +2
*Spymaster (DEX or INT) - Richard +4
Economy Roles (+9):
Magister (INT or CHA) - Niadroub Kliip +4
Marshal (DEX or WIS) - Xantria +3
*Treasurer (INT or WIS) - Oleg +2
Loyalty Roles (+7):
*Councilor (CHA or WIS) - Mykhael? +4
Royal Enforcer (DEX or STR) - ?
Warden (CON or STR) Kesten +3
Stability Roles (+5):
General (STR or CHA) Akiros +2
Grand Diplomat (INT or CHA) - ?
*High Priest (WIS or CHA) - Elena +3
I suppose Akiros as general isn't a big issue... we wont be in position to build an army for a while so he'll have time to temper his rage.
I'd prefer it if we didn't pressure a PC to particular leadership role just to utilize certain NPCs.
I think Akiros as general is an issue. He's a former bandit that nearly attacked the PCs and has anger management issues. I don't see us putting him in charge of our militia. Niadroub Kliip firmly opposes. He'll talk your ear off about terrible officers during his time in the army, if he gets going.
Now that I've stirred the pot... All, I'll be taking my family camping for the weekend. I'll be back Sunday night.
Mykhael would also be against Akiros as the General. He just doesn't trust the man. I think we can leave a couple of roles open until we find better candidates (or fill them temporarily now). i don't have my hart set on councilor either.
How does this sound:
Variable Roles:
*Ruler (CHA) - Colwyn +2
*Spymaster (DEX or INT) - Richard +4
Economy Roles (+9):
Magister (INT or CHA) - Niadroub Kliip +4
Marshal (DEX or WIS) - Xantria +3
*Treasurer (INT or WIS) - Oleg +2
Loyalty Roles (+7 ):
*Councilor (CHA or WIS) - Jhod +4
Royal Enforcer (DEX or STR) -
Warden (CON or STR) Kesten +3
Stability Roles (+7 ):
General (STR or CHA) Mykhael? +4
Grand Diplomat (INT or CHA) -
*High Priest (WIS or CHA) - Elena +3
I think in the role of Royal Enforcer Akiros can do less damage (hopefully). Anyway here are the roles I prefer in no particular order: General, Warden, Royal Enforcer, and Grand diplomat.
Having said that I am also leaving for a family camping trip.
I'm ready to go when you are, all I need is for you to tell me where you're heading first?
Right. I don't think we have a concrete location on this beast. This thing's probably in the forest, so let's try Hex 28 first.
28 is fine. DBH, can you remind me where remaining bandit camp is? And there was another landmark we heard about at the same time, but I also forget where it is.
Our bad for not noting it on the map.
The Tatzylwyrm's lair is Hex 27.
The Bandit camp is Hex 35.
I've put a link to Richard's map in Richard's subheader thing. I'll try to keep it up to date. I can add notes and alter it a bit easier.
I love that map, Richard. I think the art style is charming, and it makes for a simple but effective reference point. It's a great complement to the GM's main, more detailed map.
DBH: Thanks!
Richard: I agree with Colwyn!
I can expand it in any direction for when that comes up... we'll invade Restov yet! But the really nice part is I can add borders to the hex so we know which one is ours, I can toggle on and off hex numbers that kind of thing.
With the game I'm running over skype I've got hidden notations in the hexes to keep track of terrain improvements.
It really looks great, Richard. What program do you use?
I was proud of the kingdom map that I was doing for my real life friends (still a PbP, though). It's more utilitarian than Richard's map, but I was using it to mark the PC's kingdom's border, landmarks, and tile improvements as they became relevant. I took the blank hex map from the KM map pack, drew an opaque hex over every map hex, and then deleted a hex once they'd explored it. It was labor intensive on the front end (an evening's worth of work using Paint.NET), but I could update the map on the fly.
We got one random Kingdom Event into Book 2 before we collectively lost interest. (Well, it seems that they lost interest, and I lost patience.)
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Hex Kit
I went in for the Kickstarter as a bit of a gamble and it paid off. Thats the app with black and white tiles. You can get colour ones as purchases or importing hexes. In theory you could import the files from Kingmaker to recreate the map but I always found the difference between planes and hills a bit easy to miss at a glance. For the $20 I paid for the kickstarter and got all the bells and whistles it was definitely worth it.
Very nice.
I use hexographer for my own stuff, partly because it has a free version (though it's good enough that I bought the paid version eventually).
BTW, did I get the Stag Helm? Or Did Colvyn?
Not sure it was ever entirely settled but I'd be supporting Colwyn more for it now. It'd be kind of cool for the ruler to have it... and he's finding religion.
Admittedly, in addition to character development and becoming a better fit as ruler, one of the reasons I wanted Colwyn to convert was so that he could make use of the Stag Helm.
Admittedly, in addition to character development and becoming a better fit as ruler, one of the reasons I wanted Colwyn to convert was so that he could make use of the Stag Helm.
You can use it without being a worshiper of Erastil, though it does more for you if you are.
You will need an alignment change though. Either to NG or LN at least.
Could someone move Mykhael up next to Xan. I'm stuck posting from my phone and can't do it. Thanks in advance.
You will need an alignment change though. Either to NG or LN at least.
Unless you're a cleric or something you don't need to be a certain alignment. I can totally imagine a lay worshiper of Asmodeus being CE and thinking they were truly devout and cunning in their interpretation of the law. That said I think Colwyn is gravitating towards NG as time goes by.
You will need an alignment change though. Either to NG or LN at least.Unless you're a cleric or something you don't need to be a certain alignment....
You can pay "lip service" to a god of any alignment no matter what your alignment is, but that doesn't count as being a real worshiper. If you want to get mechanical magical benefits from a faith, you have to have a valid alignment. If you don't have the right alignment, then the god doesn't recognize you as one of his own, which is the important part.
So he can go to a church of Erastil and pray along with everyone else, but he won't be able to use an Erastil-based item without the right alignment.
Mind you, a successful Use Magic Device check allows you to "fake" an alignment for the purposes of a magic item, so he might be able to go that route if he doesn't want to change alignments.
Mind you, a successful Use Magic Device check allows you to "fake" an alignment for the purposes of a magic item, so he might be able to go that route if he doesn't want to change alignments.
Reminds me of a side-character in one of my other PC's backgrounds - a con artist so good that people joked he could probably con his way through the Test of the Starstone if he ever set his mind to it.
Alignment in D&D is so crazy. I wish they'd do away with it.
I'd edited the alignment and deity on my character page. I describe Colwyn's alignment as "N edging towards NG" because I don't think he's made the full evolution yet.
For purposes of the Stag Helmet, I'll roll Use Magic Device checks if Colwyn tries to use its power more than once per day.
I'm sick from some bug at the moment.
Sorry, update tomorrow after I've had a good nights sleep.
Ugh, feel better soon.
Just a heads up folks,
My wife and I will be leaving this afternoon for a long-delayed honeymoon to Iceland. I will be bringing my laptop with me, so hopefully there won't be much disruption in my ability to post.
Hope you have a wonderful and worth the wait haneymoon.
Ooh, nice! Have a good trip!
Hey, folks. While we're finishing up Book 1, have we talked about where we're going to found our first city? I can't remember.
Also, we should think about what we're going to name our first city. I remember that this took up a surprisingly long time for my group.
I don't think we've talked about that yet.
Colwyn would suggest Orlacksburg, but after he gets called out for such an egotistical name, he would probably offer something more reasonable albeit uninspired like Greenfield or Thornholme.
As a joke, for the kingdom's name, he might suggest Toadsylvania.
Richard could cover the front door if the others deal with a one of the flanking groups?
Orlacksburg could work but Richard will definitely say no to Toadsylvania. For the capital name if we go for the ruined fort that's the Staglords old base perhaps we could incorporate the lakes name into it. Tuskberg as it's on the Tuskwater? Stags Fall?
For Kingdom name settling on the government type can help.
...I want our first Inn to be called 'Toad and Stag' with the image of a giant toad perched a top a dead stag.
For our Hypothetical Kingdom, how about "Hypothetica?" :)
The -burg suffix normally indicates a town rather than a country. And I'd rather it be called something that isn't based on one of our names specifically.
We want to be pulling settlers from Brevoy, so perhaps a name that would appeal to them would be good, like "New Rostland" or something similar.
Do we want it to be a kingdom? I would be fine with a republic. Or something that suggests the land is governed by a council (us).
Richard would be happy with a Republic but he'd rather they don't tie the name in too much with Brevoy.
The Republic of X always has a nice ring to it? The Republic of Greenbelt-The area. The Republic of Tuskwater- the giant lake to the south. The Republic of the Stolen Lands...
We should save the names that we're not going to use for the capital, because, presumably, we'll be founding other cities.
Capital City Locations suggested:
Stag Lord's fort
Capital City Names suggested:
Orlacksburg
Greenfield
Thornholme
Tuskberg
Stag's Fall/Stagfall
Nation Names suggested:
Hypothetica
New Rostland
Greenbelt
Tuskwater
Stolen Lands
Narlmarch
Kameland
Government types suggested:
Republic
First Inn Name!
The Toad and Stag
My thoughts: I am fine with naming cities after our characters. There is nothing unusual about that, in my opinion. Therefore, if Colwyn is to be the ruler (I'd love to see this played out in the Gameplay thread), I'm fine with Orlacksburg. But maybe if we're going with a republic, the capital city shouldn't be named after one of the rulers. I'm not sure how strongly I feel about that, though. Inspired by Richard's suggestion, I also really like Stagfall as the capital city name.
I like using the Stag Lord's fort as our capital, actually. It seems one of the more fortifiable locations that we've come across, and (sorry for metagaming, here) it seems pretty obvious that we'll be exploring/expanding southward, so the fort is a centralized location.
As for the nation's name, there's no reason our player's would know this, but if DBH views Rostland the same way that I do, Rostland might not appreciate having a colony to the south named New Rostland. If we look at the names for the forest and hilly plains areas that we've explored, they are known locally as the Narlmarches and the Kamelands, respectively, so we could base our nation after one of those two names. Something based off of Tuskwater is along those lines, which I also like. I think that naming our nation "The Stolen Lands" sends the wrong message, though. :)
Government type: My character grew up on a backwoods swamp farm where he knew only his extended family before being effectively press-ganged into a local lord's military. He doesn't have much use for authority, so a Republic sounds like a grand idea to him. It might be interesting to see him having to be in a position of authority, what with his views on the authority. I'm not going to object if the party decides to go with an Autocracy, however.
Inn name: The Toad and Stag sounds perfect!
It's been over two weeks since Mykhael, or his player have posted anywhere. I've sent him a PM and had no response in a week.
Do you wish to recruit another player, or do you feel the party is fine as it is now?
I also think you should start rumors to travel through the Stolen lands, tales of the dreaded Toadstag! A huge toad with giant antlers that leaps on the unwary and ends their lives!
No one who has seen it has lived to tell.
Toadstag sounds like a custom monster that needs creating!
I can go either way concerning a fifth character. I hope Mykhael is all right.
Do you wish to recruit another player, or do you feel the party is fine as it is now?
Frankly I could go either way. It means that I have more healing to do, but then that's kind of the idea of this character.