Leinathan's Private Campaign (Inactive)

Game Master leinathan

I will say there is an interesting dichotomy between the two.

She has a very dark past (no pun) but is the face of innocence and purity, where his exterior in no way reflects the purity and innocence in his soul.

Pun away! I grinned.

What makes this dynamic particularly interesting for now is that she either knows or believes to be true everything you said in your second paragraph while he either doesn't know any of it or doesn't accept those parts that he knows. I suspect, however, that her inability hitherto to appreciate his self-esteem problem, stemming both from childhood insensitivity and her assuredness that he's worrying over nothing, will become tiresome presently. We should correspond on how to resolve this beat in a satisfactory way.

Not sure I'm tracking on which part you mean from the second paragraph.

As for his state of downer, it may only get worse as he hits 3rd and grows his claws, or 11th (I think) and has full on wings. I think the best is to recognize that he doesn't say it to be down or self-degrade, it actually serves in a sense as his drive to push himself to be above what he was raised to believe as true.

His adopted father inadvertently made him stronger, in his religious convictions and determination to do the right thing, by his bad judgment of constantly reminding him he is nothing more than hell-spawn. As such, Mulluq's self-effacing mantras push him to greater things.

For others, though, I can see it being much like Marvin the robot from Hitchhiker's Guide. They just learn to accept that it's hard wired into his programming to be a downer, and just ignore much of his belly-aching. This seems like the safest approach. The more you try to convince him of his goodness, the further he will go to show you that you are wrong.

TL;DR, he's hopeless, it's easier to let him sulk.

Not sure I'm tracking on which part you mean from the second paragraph.

Sorry, I was a bit obtuse. Here's how I see what Mulluq and Isilma see.

Isilma knows she has a dark past, and that it is easy for her to hide the signs of it, particularly from non-elves (good thing for her Aravashnial is blind, huh?). Isilma also knows, because Mulluq told her, that Mulluq hasn't done any bad deeds. She knows him to be innocent. So she does not understand why he beats on himself the way he does. After all, her own sins are as gross as can be, and she doesn't make a spectacle of herself the way he does.

Mulluq does not know much about Isilma's past. She has told him little and has only hinted that there is more to know. He believes her to be innocent. He also believes that his exterior reifies the corruption of his soul, while in fact there is no corruption to be reified, and the contrast between body and soul is simple irony.

Am I wrong?

For others, though, I can see it being much like Marvin the robot from Hitchhiker's Guide. They just learn to accept that it's hard wired into his programming to be a downer, and just ignore much of his belly-aching. This seems like the safest approach. The more you try to convince him of his goodness, the further he will go to show you that you are wrong.

TL;DR, he's hopeless, it's easier to let him sulk.

It may be safe, but I'm not sure this is an interesting or fitting place to take Isilma character-wise. Her life experiences suggest to her that no one is hopeless, and that people reaching out to help each other is a magical thing. If anyone could have been said to be hopeless, after all, it was her; that's what the Dark Fate means. And yet some very good people spent a very long time caring about her and for her, freezing her on the precipice (though that was mostly luck) and pulling her back. She is not the kind of person who can act like that, but she wants to be. An arc that moves her from that perspective, that ambition, to a perspective that says sometimes there's just nothing you can do for another person would leave her deeply unhappy (ironically, in need of the sort of help she wants to , and it would leave me deeply disappointed.

The Hitchhiker's comparison is instructive, I agree. The people who ended up tuning Marvin out, after a few facile attempts to connect with him, were really pretty immature, as befits a farce. But I don't want Isilma to stay immature. After all, if she does, I can't have her take Wizard levels. :P But nor do I want her, in maturing, to internalize the message that sometimes there's just nothing to be done. That hardly fits the theme of the AP, after all.

So I think it's worth pursuing an arc that has her recognize that Mulluq has strange coping mechanisms and ways of motivating himself. That he's not really as self-destructive as his words suggest he is, and that she could be the kind of person who could help him if he needed it...which he doesn't. It's the difference between "nothing to be done" and "nothing needs to be done."

I don't expect this to be resolved any time soon. That's why I spoke in my last post in terms of "beats". I would like to talk more (via PM if that's agreeable) about how we can move from this scene, to other scenes, to an eventual resolution.

Is anyone taking any other actions here in the Temple? Or shall we move on?

I'm good to move on, as long as you folks are.

Moving on sounds good. I was holding off posting til I heard from Anevia, but there's no reason to keep folks waiting.

Does anyone know what Lysbeth's been doing?

Well, Lysbeth is the same player as Raijinn, and he posted that he's been having a rough couple of days.

Yes, hello, sorry. The past few days have been rather unpleasant, but I ought to be around more going forward.

I apologize for the extended disappearance. I had some personal issues that had to be taken care of and I was sick this past weekend. Things are back to normal now though.

^ So, about this Cruroar absence.

Is this going to be a consistent thing?

I apologize for the dissapearance. The past month has been pretty rough in my personal life and I had alot of things I had to get straight before I even considered getting on Paizo not to mention I just got back from vacation. I am going to continue in this campaign if possible and I am looking at the getting back up this weekend. Again my apologies but my personal life had to take priority. Things are straight now so I should be fine to get back up and running.

No apologies necessary.

How are we doing HP for this, roll, half+1, or half?

Here's my roll, just in case we're rolling
1d10 ⇒ 10

(Please tell me we're rolling)

My general policy is this:
You may CHOOSE to roll or you may take 1/2HD+1. You can't re-choose after you have rolled (not that I think you have a problem with this).

I'll have my profile updated tonight (as well as a post!).

Changes have been reflected on my profile as well.

Oops, forgot to say he was updated (done almost right after my roll)

Level up
HP: 12 (rolled 10, +2 Con)
Saves: +3 to all (Divine Grace), +1 to Fort/Will
BaB: +1
Skills: +1 Religion, +1 Sense Motive (Favored Class) +1 Diplomacy
Special: Divine Grace (Chr to saves), Lay on Hands

Word for flippin' word...

So are y'all done with this?

I know we all have more games with one another, but I was just wondering if I should post more or inactive this.

I'd be fine with moving on. I don't have anything to contribute to this scene.

I'd rather continue, and really enjoy the characters and relationships we have formed. With Cruroar's own campaign going to the inactives (and his PC's in this and my S&S going silent), it's almost assured he's out. Uriah said as much and bowed out in the discussion thread of that game. Now I have to try and take Stanley to another CoT.

Zimmer, as far as this scene, there isn't much to contribute, we have time and almost free reign in their city. It's really up to us to decide what we're going to do.

I've actually been waiting with my posts, to see if anyone else was posting. For a bit it was looking like it was just Lein and I.

Lein, I would suggest grabbing one or two others to get some new blood flowing. I know I'm a fan of their playstyle and like the speed of both Faedrin and Tanjvats from our SStar game. Just my 2cp.

I'll see if I can find somebody and get this started and running again :)

Admittedly I've been having a lot of trouble getting into this game and I'm not sure why. It might be as simple as not finding my own character very interesting.

I apologize for that. Is there something either of us can do about that?

I highly doubt it's your fault. It's not like it hasn't been engaging. It's probably some combination of finding her bland and not really loving the Oracle as a class. Let me think on it a bit, though.

To be fair, I'm not the biggest fan of the class in the whole world either.

On another note, I've managed to make an old-aged cleric that hurts just as bad as the paladin in one of the parties I play in.

To be fair, I'm not the biggest fan of the class in the whole world either.

It may well be that that's it. Would you guys be okay with me rebuilding her (mechanically) as something else? Bard is my typical "Go to" but Cleric could also work.

I would have no problem whatsoever with you rebuilding her.

Neither would I.

Sometimes reshaping them turns them into who you wanted them to be in the first place using the original build.

Heck, right now we are in the perfect place to get ANY change in charter. Any other survivors could have made it here, with or without help from the Mongrelmen, and any of the current could decide to stay. I personally think this is the best place (thus far) for any type of PC reboot/introduction.

I've contacted Faedrin from the Shattered Star campaign and have informed another player that I've played with about the need for players in this game. If I don't receive responses from either of them, I may turn to the recruitment thread, as I don't want to overtax the players that I already have and there are only so many players that I really love the playing style of.

I'm surprised that you haven't gotten Dien into any of your other games. She's just fantastic.

And thanks so much guys. I'll see about getting Lysbeth restated tomorrow, as I'm still up in the air about which of the two I'll go with.

OH MY GOSH YOU'RE RIGHT I NEED TO MESSAGE DIEN RIGHT NOW. I HAD TOTALLY FORGOTTEN.

I'd gotten ahold of dien and also Faedrin's player. Dien was just recently accepted into a WoTR game, and so declined the invite, but Faedrin's player accepted and is going with a CG human warpriest of Desna. Let me know if you think a fourth is enough or if I should snag another.

That's purely your call. We had 4 before. If you would like more or just the 4, I'm good either way.

Hey Lein, one of the MW chain shirts we found, could I find someone in town to modify it for me (my wings being the issue)? If so, how much would it cost, and how long would it take?

It'd be 50gp to get somebody to modify it, and it'll take two days.

Actually, scratch the gold cost. You can get it done for free, but with a service rendered in return.

I was about to ask, what that would be, and instead decided to ask if you would like to RP the event?

Yes, I would! :D
Hmm who initiates...? I think you.

Dien was just recently accepted into a WoTR game, and so declined the invite

Oh that's a shame. I actually have a friend who has been dying to play this if you do want a fifth person.

Also, I have Lysbeth almost entirely rebuilt - I did decide to go with Bard. I'll have her posted up today. I'm excited for this.

Annnnnd done. I left the old crunch spoilered in the profile in case you wanted to do any comparisons.

Greetings everyone! Leinathan asked me to poke my head in and say 'hello'. Looking forward to going through this super excellent AP with you guys =)

Hi!

level 2 hps: 1d8 ⇒ 3

Ugh. I'm gonna be awful squishy!

Annnnnd done. I left the old crunch spoilered in the profile in case you wanted to do any comparisons.

A few things for ya, Lysbeth - your hit points should be different because your Con modifier got adjusted downwards by one - you should have two fewer hit points.

Also, you should be MUCH older. Dhampir age at a rate similar to elves.

As a 2nd-level bard with a CHA mod higher than +0, you should have three 1st-level spells/day.

Other than those things, very easily fixed, I like the change. Good job, and I hope you're happier with your character.

Also, we've one more incoming - but that'll be the last. Five is enough for this group, I think.

Welcome aboard Killian!

Other than those things, very easily fixed, I like the change. Good job, and I hope you're happier with your character.

Whoops! Adjusted all those things. Cheers! And yeah, I'm hopeful that it'll be better. :)