Nightflier's New Beginings Game Thread

Game Master nightflier

The strange encounter lasted only for a short while, albeit it seemed far longer to those involved. It seems that most of the Kariv and other passengers are flabbergasted by what happened. While Rinaldo the Bard was strumming his stings, apparently composing a song on the fly, one fat merchant started to splutter and yell: "Fools! We could die! All of us! Simply because you wanted to play heroes! I payed good money for the protection of this caravan. I demand a refund! And for these fools to be banished into the woods!"

Thaneirziah whips around, a furious look on her face. "We did what we were paid to do! I am truly sorry you were not able to gather a fine trophy to show your compatriots, but at least no blood was spilled on your fine clothes!"

Vasek turns around and nods at Than's words then adds. "Like I just said, it's gone. Would you prefer we spilled blood all over your fat feet? Would you prefer we subject the young ones in the caravan to visions death and violence to haunt their dreams? We found a peaceful solution while showing the creature that we had the strength to do it in if it didn't cooperate. Would you like for this fine bard here to sing a song about the corpulent merchant who refuse to pay the guards that just successfully averted disaster? I. Don't. Think. So."

"What do you think would have happened with out us? You would likely be his next meal no?" Tiadora asks the man pointedly.

Arak has no further comments to add that might refute the merchant's assertions further.

Faced with a disapproval of so many armed strangers, the fat man start to sweat even more prominently. "I have payed to join this caravan and enjoy its protection - not to be bullied by the riff raff such as you! When the night comes and Baba Svetlana opens the doors to her wagon, I will lodge a complaint!" He sharply turns and leaves you alone.

The doctor chuckled to himself. This was turning out to be a very entertaining day.

"Dragon, you seem to be making friends everywhere you turn. I am impressed."

Vasek mocks in a high pitched voice, "When the niiiiiiight comes! and Baba Svetlana oooopens the doooooors to her wagon, I will lodge a complaint! Waa. Give my a frakken break."

He then turns to the doctor, and smiles, "Yeah, I have a real knack for getting along with humans. It's my specialty. Talking griffons with superiority complexes, not so much"

Glimmer simply listens to the exchange wondering what is going on.

Taneirziah watches the fat merchant disappear out of view, a calculating look in her eye.

I could have made that fat prick eat out of the palm of my hand...but there has to be a better way...

"That one may give us grief down the road, not the least is preventing us from getting paid!"

The caravan moves on. Minotaurs are huffing, the draft horses have stopped neighing and it seems that they are recovered from the fear and near panic caused by the griffon. The things have settled and the night slowly draws in. Some time after dark, a tall Kariv, with a hair as white as snow and a prominent scar running down his face and neck approaches the travelers who are following the last car.

ooc]Please roll d20 + status[/ooc]

Status: 1d20 + 7 ⇒ (10) + 7 = 17

Status: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (6) + 10 = 16

Status: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Status: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (20) + 9 = 29

1d20 + 6 ⇒ (13) + 6 = 19 Status

White-haired Kariv approaches Doctor Rok Daudagr. He bows slightly and with a gravely voice says: "My Mistress, Baba Svetlana, seeks the indulgence of your presence. You may choose two companions, if you wish, and join her for dinner tonight. Do you accept?"

Tiadora looks on in interest.

"I do." the doctor nodded. Noting Tiador's interest he gestured to her. "Would you like to join us?"

"Anyone else?" he rasped, looking around the small group.

"I would. This seems rather interesting, and quite the honor apparently." Tiadora replied. The fact that the caravan was run by a woman boded well.

Thaneirziah nods eagerly in response, "I also would be honored to join you for dinner."

Perhaps I can learn more about our mysterious hostess...

Vasek starts to raise his hand to volunteer to go, then reflects upon his day so far and decides to stare off into the woods somewhere.

Vasek starts to raise his hand to volunteer to go, then reflects upon his day so far and decides to stare off into the woods somewhere.

The doctor chuckles. "Vasek my friend, I think your particular brand of diplomacy will not be needed this time."

"Ladies, I would love to have you join me."

Was there a point to the roll? I rolled 29. ;p

Arak shows a stoic face at not being recognised as of noble blood, but inwardly breathes a sigh of relief. This part of the world still confused him, and he felt uncomfortable navigating the mores and assumptions of the locals.

"It will be my pleasure." Tiadora says with a nod to the masked Doctor.

"Yeah. I'll keep an eye out for talking hippogriffs."

Elven Archer is interesting but I think after looking over everything I'll stick with Magus: Eldritch Archer archetype. Perunalia's predilection toward archery is kind of perfect for a rare type of spell slinging archery style.

Okay :)

So, guys, when can you finish your characters? I'm gonna be busy tillonday, but I can post on my phone (as I'm doing right now) and comment on your builds. How much time do you need?

A couple days. Can we get a breakdown of what people are playing again? And I mean role. I was going to originally going to do arcane but looked like we had no tankee types, so I switched.

eakratz: 16, 16, 14, 14, 13, 12 - primary tank
Doomed Hero: 15, 15, 14, 13, 12 - primary arcane
Mark: 17,14,14,13,12,10 - ranged damage
Eric: 16, 14, 14, 14, 13, 13 - skill support
Oceanshieldwolf: 16, 16, 13, 11, 11, 10 - melee support

I might be Arcane, but I'm not going to be casting a lot of spells at enemies. I'm actually more of a traditional cleric role, with lots of healing and support spells, especially for the first few levels.

I just dont have the casting stat to make my DCs viable offense options.

Ok cool. I was going to say we need divine casting. Maybe I should lean towards a war priest to back up

This is Oceanshieldwolf's human male gauntlet witch character, a Kushite from the capital Nangui. Writing up his backstory today, and trying to wrap my head around the interaction of skill bonuses from class/feat/traits to the new list. :)

Sent you a PM regarding backstory nightflier...

Eakratz posting as Vesak, Paladin of Velos. Not complete and can't gaurantee a backstory soon but it's a start.

Posting my character alias. Full mechanics pending. The picture isn't perfect, but it's the closest thing I can find to a cool looking plague doctor.

Going with an Agathoin Aasamar, since they are the animalistic ones.

They gain Summon Monster 2 as their spell-like ability. Would you allow me to add Bloody Human Skeleton from the Variant Summons list to that ability? That seems like a good way of tiding me over in the undead minions department.

Will get the bones of the character put together tonight. I'll also be offensive arcane.

I will work on my character's crunch this weekend. She should be ready to go afterwards.

OK, guys. Here it is.

First, I'm gonna link here the files for my skills:

Nightflier's Homebrew Skills 2.0

There are two type of skills: Common and Uncommon. Uncommon skills can not be taken without some previous experience or teacher. Common are taken as normal. You do not have class skills, but you choose 4 background skills and gain +3 bonus (as you would with class skills). This reflect various backgrounds and interests of your characters (perhaps there are fighters who are interested in spellcraft, or rangers interested in alchemy).

So can we select any of the Uncommon skills at starting or does it have to be taught in game. If previous teaching is part of backstory could we begin with a rank in an uncommon skill or are they generally not known to all but a select few people in the world?

Considering the education and academies in Perunalia, I wanted to take the following human alternate trait.

Comprehensive Education: Humans raised with skilled teachers draw upon vast swathes of knowledge gained over centuries of civilization. They gain all Knowledge skills as class skills, and they gain a +1 racial bonus on skill checks for each Knowledge skill that they gain as a class skill from their class levels. This racial trait replaces skilled.

With your skills that would apply to:Lore, Nature, Occult, Religion, Society, Streetwise

Would you allow it?

Got most of the basics done. Working on background

@Mark

Uncommon skills are learned during the game, in special circumstances. But once learned, you can use them normally.

Your alternate racial trait is fine.

ok, so I think the terminology of your skills posts is confusing me. "Common are chosen as normal". "Background skills".

I get 2 skill ranks/level as a witch (+1 for being a human).

So I choose 4 of your skills that I get an extra +3 (like a class skill) to if I put a rank into them.

Much like class skills, except that each player decides which four, representing their background/training.

Is that right?

Do we get to expand from those four ever?

Just trying to understand it simply. :)

So looks like we have:

Arak-haro, Human (Kushite) Male Witch (Gauntlet Witch)
(Doctor) Rok Daugadr, Aasimar (Agathion) Male White Necromancer
Tiadora Kalevra, Human (Perunalian) Female Magus (Eldritch Archer)
Vasek, Dragonkin Male Paladin (Veles)

OK I think I have the crunch finished for Thaneirziah Ilvalar. Just need to work on a background for her and purchase equipment for her.

Nightflier, what is the max starting gold for a Trickster? I could not find it listed in the document.

Oceanshieldwolf, that is the way I interpreted it.

Update!

So looks like we have:

Arak-haro, Human (Kushite) Male Witch (Gauntlet Witch)
(Doctor) Rok Daugadr, Aasimar (Agathion) Male White Necromancer
Thaneirziah Ilvalar, Tiefling Female Trickster
Tiadora Kalevra, Human (Perunalian) Female Magus (Eldritch Archer)
Vasek, Dragonkin Male Paladin (Veles)

I'm a bit swamped right now, but expect longer post later today.

Eric, use the same as the Rogue's

Oceanshieldwolf, that's it. You can gain more "class skills" with feats, alternate racial traits etc. Take note that these skills are more powerful, since they combine two or more existing skills.

I'm a bit swamped right now...

Me too. I tried looking through the feats but holy schniekies there were so many I just settled on a standby. I haven't been able to look through much of the world yet, so my backstory will need to,come out later.

I'm rarely a backstory kind of player - I prefer to keep things fairly blank and create the character through play - obviously this works much better with 1st level characters.

I guess my point is, and not knowing how nightflier feels - don't go overboard with it, and keep it nice and simple. I just got inspired and wrote way too much because my concept as I imagined it was too complex to convey in one paragraph. Although they may have been how it seemed at the time - pretty sure i could carve it down to a few sentences now,

Now I'm not the sort of player who thinks about party dynamics in terms of power or covering bases, but I do wonder whether I should swap out Arak-haro and make a dedicated melee bruiser to assist or support Vasek. Neither Arak-haro or Doc Rok or Thaneirziah seem like melee monkeys, and Tiadora looks to be the kind to steer clear of in-your-face damage.

Thoughts anyone?

True. And your assessment is correct, while I can use a longsword and carry one, in general I'll be trying my best to avoid face to face combat.

On a Tangent, nightflier for future reference, the Stabbing shot feat lists Elf as a prerequisite.

Given the history of Archery in Perunalia (info below) would you allow this feat for Perunalian archers as well?

Wow, that looks like a cool feat, and I see no reason it should be limited to elves. In fact I don't even think it should be a feat - in my games I'd just make that a combat option, like I do with Power Attack. ;)

That is a neat feat. The auto-pushback mechanic is weird though. It doesn't require a CMB check, and doesn't have a size limit. Odd that an elven archer can shove an Iron Golem with an arrow.

Eh, I'll stay as I am for the moment. I can always add a level of fighter or similar next level if we need the heft....

When do you think we will start nightflier?

Really the only thing missing is the "When you hit a creature your size or smaller " that's included in feats like Pushback.

@Tiadora

Sure. This works perfectly of Perunalia.

Guys, do you think you can finish your character by the beginning of next week?

I think I'm done. But them again I'm playing the human.

I'm pretty much finished. Just need to do equipment and an audit to make sure I have everything added up right.

Really the only thing missing is the "When you hit a creature your size or smaller " that's included in feats like Pushback.

That's pretty much what I was thinking. I hate feats that get robbed of use by common things like size though, so I'd add that quote, and also "if the creature is larger than you, instead of pushing it, you move 5' in a direction of your choice. This movement must be away from the creature and does not count against your movement for the round."

Of course, there's still the issue of Reach. Most large things are still going to attack you for using a bow even if you get a free way of getting 5' of distance. I guess you could immediately 5' adjust back to deal with Large creatures. Huge and larger creatures are still going to smack you for taking a shot.

Like Doomed Hero, I have finished my character except for purchasing equipment and working on the background.

Have you decided whether we already know one another, or are we complete strangers to each other?

I think I'm done. But them again I'm playing the human.

One of the humans. I may be a witch, but I'm not a monster! ;)

Not that you other guys are...monsters.

Ehrm...

Most huge creatures that are hitting you with reach would be outside of where the arrow stab would work anyway.

I'm about as done as I'm going to get. Need to do equipment probly just grab a paladins kit, a sword, and some armor.

You will all be a part og a caravan heading to Zobeck. It's up to you whether you know each other or not.

To Zobeck from where? I can change my backstory to say Arak-haro joined at any of the stops along the way...

Looks like it's stable for the longest period so far.

Yeah I think the site improvement work they are doing has stabilised...

OK, I'm here. Could you please post with your finished characters?

Arak is ready to go....apart from his morning star and gauntlet Arak has no equipment, but still has his coin pouch.

Arak has Influence, Occult, Society and Spellcraft as Class Skills - he has one rank in Influence, Occult and Society and none in Spellcraft.

@Nightflier - where did the caravan stop last? Arak would have arrived near that settlement after his hasty (and mystical) departure from the Southlands

Thaneirziah is also good to go, though she only has her armor, weapons, and a coin pouch as well.

I would imagine since she is travelling the farthest (from Bemmea), she would already be a part of the caravan.

The caravan travels during the year, starting from Bemea and then traveling through the Western Wastes to Seven Cities. From Valera it travels to Triolo and then to the Ruby Sea, passing through the countries between. Following the shores of Ruby Sea the caravan travels through the Rothenian Plains and reaches Vidim. From Vidim the caravan continues to Morgau and from there to Zobeck. After Zobeck, the caravan will finish its trip in Dorning, before starting the next circular trip.

Edit: Morgau is the last visited country.

Ok, all ready to go.

Tiadora's all ready. She'd have joined after leaving Perunalia to test/develop her skills in true Amazon fashion.

Arak is ready to go....apart from his morning star and gauntlet Arak has no equipment, but still has his coin pouch.

Arak has Influence, Occult, Society and Spellcraft as Class Skills - he has one rank in Influence, Occult and Society and none in Spellcraft.

@Nightflier - where did the caravan stop last? Arak would have arrived near that settlement after his hasty (and mystical) departure from the Southlands

Have you chosen a patron?

@all

Please choose your languages, since they play an important part in the setting. Not as in Midnight, but substantial nevertheless.

We have 4 PCs as of now. Vasek is unaccounted for. I'm gonna wait till Monday, and then start the game with the players at hand.

Except for languages and choice of patron for Arak, you are all good to go.