For OOC communication, shenanigans, snark, and malarkey. Skål!
lurking... whether I make the cut or not. :P
lurking... whether I make the cut or not. :P
OUT, BLAGGARD!
Oh, fine, I guess you can stay.
Ha! Now I enter legally!
Thanks for picking me, btw.
Aight, welcome aboard, kids. I am your Voice in the Sky/Queen of Doing Horrible Things to your PCs, etc.
Some of you, I've played with before. Hello again! To people I'm just meeting: Hi to you too!
I'm a California girl, pretty involved in my local PFS, and I work as a live-in caregiver, meaning I have a fair amount of time to stalk the boards, which has resulted in my being in far too many Play by Post games.
I really like PBP as a medium for the potential it gives for story/RP, which can be so much harder to do at a table for various reasons. I try to run narratively and to reward creative solutions and roleplay. I am of the philosophy when GMing that, much like in improv theatre, the GM should always strive to say "yes, and..." when a player asks if something is feasible.
My handling of the rules will try to reflect this as much as possible. As a for instance, if you provoke an attack of opportunity by performing a combat maneuver that you do not have the feat for, you do not suffer the usual Pathfinder penalty of having to subtract damage from the CMB check. This is a minor example, but I hope it conveys the sort of thing I'm talking about, because combat maneuvers are cool and cinematic and it's a shame to avoid using them because you've run the odds and are like 'ugh, well that won't work.'
I've been playing Pathfinder long enough that my tactical brain has really started to take over from my creative brain, which is unfortunate, but as far as GMing goes, I will try and fight that and hope that you guys can do the same.
Most of your characters will be natives of Hofn, the town of the setting (I think Rikka is the only exception); you will know of each other, even if you don't know each other well. Some general information on Hofn has been added to the campaign tab. If you want to do OOC discussion of further connections between your characters, please feel free!
Halla and Eysteinn are both thralls. If they have no other preference, I will pick NPCs for them to 'belong' to, but it's worth noting that even karls owned thralls-- farmers of relatively modest means would still have a thrall or two to work as a farmhand. So, if you're interested in building that connection between two PCs, you may certainly do so.
I doubt I have to spell this out, but the thralldom of the Norse/Ulfen society, while distasteful to our modern ideas of freedom (and rightly so), was not analogous to American slavery. This isn't to say thralls had it easy or that they were all happy with their lot, either, but the systematic and horrific abuses of American slavery are not the experience a thrall would have. Many thralls were only thralls for a set time period, to pay off a debt or a criminal sentence.
On a similar note of "I doubt I need to say anything about this, but": misogyny. By modern standards, Norse culture would also be incredibly misogynistic. There was no greater insult than to call a man 'womanly'; men were seen as forthright, honest, and honorable, while women were often perceived as manipulative, secretive, and unreliable. It's a fact of the setting.
That said, as a woman in real life, I'm not terribly interested in getting hit in the face with virulent misogyny every time I turn around, either. As I said in my original recruitment: this is fantasy. It's perfectly fine with me if you want your character to insult someone else with accusations of cowardice and toss in a 'you fight like a girl!' or the like, but let's not let it go too far beyond that, if that's cool with everyone. The Norse culture DID have women who were badass warriors, the supposed shieldmaidens, so there were definitely women of the time period who put the lie to the crap they were given and kicked ass. You'll meet at least one of them as an NPC.
....wow Jeez this is a really long post. Uh, I'm going to stop talking now and let people chat a bit, say hi, you know the drill.
As always, the main rule is just to have fun and don't be dicks!
Ha! Now I enter legally!
Thanks for picking me, btw.
YEAH YEAH YEAH whatever it's not like I like you or anything
YEAH YEAH YEAH whatever it's not like I like you or anything.
And now I know you are wise! :D I'd question your judgment if you were foolish enough to like me. I'm the people your mother warned you about.
Mostly my mother warned me about druggies. Are you a druggie? OUT, BLAGGARD
Dotting before I head to bed. Thanks for the selection! Hey, Rikka. *waves*
I am happy to act as a reserve, PM as and when you need a healer.
Cheers
Hey Joana!
And thanks, Eirik, I appreciate that. *thumbs up*
Hey Joana! Good to see you again. It looks like we'll finally get a chance to play together.
Many thanks for the selection! Posting to dot and to say I've read the campaign info.
Also, heads up, I'm relatively new to Pathfinder (though I've read a fair amount about it, now); some friends and I started playing this summer, though we only had about a dozen play sessions before they stopped. I got much more into it than they did, so here I am! Please let me know if I make any mistakes (rules or RP), need to format something differently, etc.
All right, with that disclaimer made, looking forward to starting! Thanks again!
Ok! I should be ready to go. One thing missing from my sheet.
more gp for me!
In light of the links you sent me, should I change Loki for Odin in my background? I'm prefectly ok with Grinmer being a woman (perhaps without people knowing, she disguises herself as an old man while being a crone, and lives outside the village, but rumors are around), and I think that the version of Odin in the article linked is perfect for my BG.
I'm relatively new to Pathfinder... Please let me know if I make any mistakes (rules or RP), need to format something differently, etc.
: evil grin :
Oh, we can help with that. There are a few golden rules:
1st Rule: "Split the party... everything will work out just fine"
2nd Rule: "Don't bother with analysis and knowledge checks - just charge"
We'll tell you the other rules as we go along.
:)
I'll see about getting her profile up and nudging her backstory into shape with some details that tie into the rest of the PCs, but today is my wedding anniversary so it probably won't be until later.
I'm relatively new to Pathfinder... Please let me know if I make any mistakes (rules or RP), need to format something differently, etc.: evil grin :
Oh, we can help with that. There are a few golden rules:
1st Rule: "Split the party... everything will work out just fine"
2nd Rule: "Don't bother with analysis and knowledge checks - just charge"We'll tell you the other rules as we go along.
:)
Split up and charge, got it. Good to know Pathfinder common sense is just the opposite of real life common sense. ;)
It makes total sense... for those of us who stand back, watch you do it, and learn from your fatal mistakes. :D
Well, as long as it's an educational experience it can't be all bad!
Many thanks for the selection! Posting to dot and to say I've read the campaign info.
Also, heads up, I'm relatively new to Pathfinder (though I've read a fair amount about it, now); some friends and I started playing this summer, though we only had about a dozen play sessions before they stopped. I got much more into it than they did, so here I am! Please let me know if I make any mistakes (rules or RP), need to format something differently, etc.
All right, with that disclaimer made, looking forward to starting! Thanks again!
You're my favorite kind of player! Those still fairly new to the game don't know what they can't do, yet. :P
You're also probably the only 'proper' Ulfen in the bunch, haha. Although you do focus on a bow, so you're not as Macho as you could be.... ;)
In light of the links you sent me, should I change Loki for Odin in my background? I'm prefectly ok with Grinmer being a woman (perhaps without people knowing, she disguises herself as an old man while being a crone, and lives outside the village, but rumors are around), and I think that the version of Odin in the article linked is perfect for my BG.
As I said, my stuff was only suggestions, so feel free to run with whatever you like. Though crazy shaman Odin is pretty fun. From a cultural perspective, it depends on whether Grinmer is known to be practicing witchcraft, I think:
If Grinmer is male or perceived/disguised as male; the reaction would be much harsher against Grinmer (some male practicioners of witchcraft were put to death!); but if Grinmer is openly female, then it's okay as far as the people are concerned, because women can practice witchcraft just fine. (Yay, double standards!)
The difficulty for Eysteinn comes when he, as a man, starts learning witchcraft.
I could see that he's secretly taking lessons from her for a while, and then it gets found out and there's a big outrage/dishonor to his family... his father disowns him as per your background, and he's told he must discontinue that and work off the shame as a thrall. Eysteinn might agree, but secretly be continuing his studies, that sort of thing.
Again, only suggestions-- just the most organic way I could see Eysteinn's situation developing.
Although you do focus on a bow, so you're not as Macho as you could be.... ;)
Ha! You haven't seen his longbow! It's shaped like a huge phallus. Thralls gets preggers just by looking at it.
*hack cough laugh*
you owe me a new keyboard
I'll see about getting her profile up and nudging her backstory into shape with some details that tie into the rest of the PCs, but today is my wedding anniversary so it probably won't be until later.
No rush, and happy anniversary!
Campaign tab has been updated with some NPCs of the village. These are here only if you guys want to build off them for flavor-- you're under no obligation to tie into them or reference them, they're just there if you read them and something sparks. Obviously, some of them came from you guys. ;)
Hey, sorry I'm late to the party! I've been out all day and had to create an alias for Kjell here when I saw I'd been accepted (thanks for that, by the way!)
I'm moving to check the campaign info now. As for character interactions, most of you probably know Kjell.
Most of what you know probably isn't very nice.
Hey, sorry I'm late to the party! I've been out all day and had to create an alias for Kjell here when I saw I'd been accepted (thanks for that, by the way!)
I'm moving to check the campaign info now. As for character interactions, most of you probably know Kjell.
Most of what you know probably isn't very nice.
Not to worry, I believe we still have Dagrun to join us, and it's the weekend anyway, everyone's always slow on the weekends. :P
Welcome! Build looks good, sir.
As I said, my stuff was only suggestions, so feel free to run with whatever you like. Though crazy shaman Odin is pretty fun. From a cultural perspective, it depends on whether Grinmer is known to be practicing witchcraft, I think:
If Grinmer is male or perceived/disguised as male; the reaction would be much harsher against Grinmer (some male practicioners of witchcraft were put to death!); but if Grinmer is openly female, then it's okay as far as the people are concerned, because women can practice witchcraft just fine. (Yay, double standards!)
The difficulty for Eysteinn comes when he, as a man, starts learning witchcraft.
I could see that he's secretly taking lessons from her for a while, and then it gets found out and there's a big outrage/dishonor to his family... his father disowns him as per your background, and he's told he must discontinue that and work off the shame as a thrall. Eysteinn might agree, but secretly be continuing his studies, that sort of thing.
Again, only suggestions-- just the most organic way I could see Eysteinn's situation developing.
That's great. I found an article on alcoholic beverages in Norse culture and found out that brewing was mostly a female occupation, so that settles it.
Grinmer is an old man who disguises himself as a woman to carry on his trade (that is, potion-based witchcraft and brewing), and a loyal follower of the trickster aspect of Odin (the article you linked says that even Loki mocked Odin for his feminine ways, so I feel like the Allfather is a better choice overall).
Eysteinn knows about the deception, but perhaps he underestimated the impact that him learning a womanish profession would have. He is still loyal to Grinmer for all he has taught him, so he doesn't out him to the village, getting the more blame on his shoulders.
Now he is still very apt at alchemy and brewing (with the extra money from the high Craft roll I'll start with several spirits in my belongings, from fine mead to staggeringly awful moonshine), and really doesn't differentiate from the two at all (both are feminine beverage-making practices). After all, while disgraceful, his profession is also very useful.
I don't really have an idea about who Eysteinn's master can be. In the BG I said an Inquisitor of Thor, that has the task of deeming him worthy of freedom, but I defer to you if you think this chain of events might lead him to be a thrall of someone else entirely.
Oh, that's clever, Grinder disguised to be able to practice seithr! I like it *thumbs up*
I will get back to you on thrallness, gonna crash for a few hours of sleep right now.
And yeah, that bit about loki giving Odin shit cracked me up, given many of Loki's own actions. ..
(Wow my phone really does not like the name Loki. We just got Lola, Louis, and look...)
Threw up a map of Hofn for those curious as to such things.
Just waiting for Dagrun! Once he's in we can do a little general touching base and then we'll be ready to go. I'm excited!
Most likely, you'll be a thrall to Hrolf himself, as he is the head priest of Tor in the village.
All right, I believe I have all the mechanics correct on Halla's profile. GM, for clarity, trait bonuses usually don't stack, so the +2 trait bonus to saves vs. fear and death from Reincarnated would overlap with the +1 bonus from Thrall (+2 total, rather than +2 +1 = +3 total on those particular rolls)?
In her backstory, I had her growing up doing field work on a farmstead. Would that put her too far outside the town proper? When she proved to have a talent at herbalism, she could have been gifted to Old Palli as an assistant, or she could have been sent into town to learn from him before returning to the outlying farm more valuable due to her training.
Being one of many thralls working on the farm, she probably belongs to a jarl's family. Maybe Thorgal Magnisson, in which case she'd have an acquaintance with Eysteinn, or Sven Audigr, or Hrolf Half-Hand himself? Someone wealthy enough to have both land and at least a dozen thralls to work it.
A thrall born dead who grows up babbling in a strange tongue and speaking to people no one else can see, most locals probably would believe her simply to be fey-touched, but Old Hilde might actually have known Maeve, a thrall taken on a raid in Varisia, from her child- or young-womanhood. (I haven't figured how many generations Halla is from Maeve: no closer than a great-grandmother, for certain.)
*thumbs up, Knute*
Yep, Halla/Joana, trait bonuses don't stack, alas, so you'd get the +2 rather than the +3 in that instance.
No, field work on a homestead is just fine. I dig the assistant-to-Palli idea a lot, as well as her belonging to Thorgal Magnisson, that creates some nice base connections.
I also really like the idea of tying in to Old Hilde as you mention. Hilde might not have the sharpest recollections of her, but that's a neat bit of continuity, so I'm all for that.
I'm excited, I think this is shaping up to be a great group of players and I really like everyone's stories so far! Hopefully Dagrun will chime in today.
...I'm kind of tempted to make Torgi (Dagrun's father) and Thorgal (Eysteinn's) brothers, haha, if both players are okay with that. Mostly because of the sibling conversations I imagine ensuing.
"Well, at least my son doesn't use a little kid's sword!"
"Well, at least MY son isn't consorting with witches!"
Hey, guys, I am flying out for an offsite company pow-wow today. I'll be gone through Thursday and expect to have little chance to post. Feel free to bot my character as needed. Sorry for the inconvenience just as we are getting this game off the ground.
Sorry for the holdup. Busy weekend, yadda yadda. Really excited for this. :)
...I'm kind of tempted to make Torgi (Dagrun's father) and Thorgal (Eysteinn's) brothers, haha, if both players are okay with that. Mostly because of the sibling conversations I imagine ensuing.
"Well, at least my son doesn't use a little kid's sword!"
"Well, at least MY son isn't consorting with witches!"
Yes please!
Also, it would make sense, small town, many people are related.
That would make me Dagrum's cousin, that's fun.
Windsplitter is a bastard sword. Any special quality about it I leave up to you.
Works for me, as well. I think it's a cool idea.
Love the fact you're the Fighter cousin with 11 Str and 18 Int and I'm the Alchemist cousin with 18 Str and 14 Int.
Yeah, I'm glad this seems to be the sort of game that will be friendly to that approach. I greatly prefer it to the "Fighterz must have 18 str or dont apply" types. :D This looks like a fun, eclectic group.
Alrighty, cousins it is!
Duly noted, Rikka-- I think I can work it in to the set-up easily enough that your character is a little late to the party (ha ha I'm so punny), but if I need to I'll run Rikka's intro moment.
And yes, as both GM and player, I'm definitely interested more in 'hey, let me try out this neat concept mechanically I had' rather than 'I'm playing an X, so I have to optimize this stat and this stat and this stat', etc.
Okay, I'm just finalizing some things in my introduction, but expect a gameplay post to be up within a few hours.
Gameplay is now open! Feel free to drop in and en-scene your character, either at the gate with the rest of the gawkers, or doing something else if you prefer.
If there's any questions or if something isn't clear, feel free to ask me.
It looks like I'll have internet access in the hotel at and least some opportunity to post at night, so I'll try to keep up.
Woot!
One thing I need clarified. Now that I'm a thrall of the goði, what are my duties? I mean, I expect not to be able to live my life by brewing and chemistrying around at my own rhythm, so what does Hrolf commands me to do in non-festive days?
Good question. You're a slightly out-of-the-norm thrall since Thorgal is a respected warrior and a friend of Hrolf's; in a sense, he's doing a favor to Thorgal by taking you as his thrall and supervising/hoping you shape up. So you probably have a little more leniency than the average thrall-- you've been allowed to keep that nice sword you own, for instance (although you probably wouldn't wear it in public except for special days, like today) -- because the end goal is they want you back in 'proper' Ulfen society.
I think he has you caring for weapons and gear-- keeping swords and axes sharpened, oiled, and polished, keeping leather items waxed, keeping chain-mail oiled, shields varnished, and generally serving as a sort of squire for any of the war-band who might snap their fingers and want their horses stabled, or assistance getting into or out of gear. The members of Hrolf's war-band are about twenty, so there's plenty to keep you busy in that regard.
You're strong as an ox, too, so generalized hauling/assistance with household tasks. You'd be drafted to help with harvests and such once a year, or any other big 'we need everybody' task.
Dagrun asked me about languages in PM, so let me toss out what I told him to anyone who has a high enough INT to learn other languages besides Skald, or wants to put points in Linguistics, or whatever:
Despite the remoteness of Hofn, there are several non-Skald languages that are reasonable second languages a Hofnian (Hofnite? Hoffer?) might pick up:
Elven, for obvious local reasons, and Sylvan and Dwarven relatedly;
Giant and Orc, as both those creatures have substantial populations;
Taldane (common), while not used daily in the region, is still known to be a big trade language 'down south', so Sven Audigr speaks it, and probably several other people;
Kellid is a language spoken by nomadic tribes that predate the Skald-speaking people and have been pushed largely north by them;
There are other 'northern' tongues that are within reason to have learned. If you want something weird like, I dunno, Thassilonian or Draconic or something, run it by me. I will make exceptions for likely anything that has a good reason for it, such as Halla's Varisian.
Oh, crud. Sorry I haven't posted, I forgot to be checking in here while it wasn't on my campaigns page. I'll post in gameplay shortly.
Sounds good! And I'm off to GM one of my RL games, so I'll post again later tonight!
Uh, other questions, all related!
1) We never clarified how taboo or dangerous is for Eysteinn to be discovered practicing witchcraft.
2) We never defined withcraft in the context of the Alchemist class. Can he make any potion/extract/mutagen at all, or does he have to do it in secret?
3) are the effect of the mutagen visible, or can they be effectively disguised as a morale boost, such as the berserkr rage?
I think that Eysteinn could be disguising his potion-making under the guise of his brewing profession. Brewing is traditionally feminine, but in times of need was done by men, so it's a borderline activity - nothing too damaging to his reputation.
Questions! Answers! On my phone, so pardon any typos.
1) I would say it is fairly taboo; he has been told that if he is found practicing, he will be outlawed from the village.
2) I would say in secret, though he might be able to pass some things off as harmless herbal brews-- "Oh, it's just a headache cure", that sort of thing?
3) mutagen effects can totally be passed off as rage because I like that whole idea, as well as swinging them as 'ale'
And yeah, I dig the brewing thing too. Probably some resignation regarding that from his family, "but at least it's not witchcraft, and he is good at it"
I have questions, too!
1. When selling our wares, how does rolling for the extra skills (bluff, diplomacy, and appraise) work? Do you roll for all those skills, and add their results to your craft/profession result to get the amount of money you make? Also, in Knute's case specifically, should some portion of the money go to his family instead of him?
2. Would you prefer we post a few hours' worth of activity at a time, or just one? Does it matter?