Welcome to the Reign of Winter campaign! please dot and delete in the gameplay thread, and use this thread to discuss the opening of the game.
Pre-Game
Take a moment to discuss your characters and find their place in the village of Heldren. For the purposes of this campaign, it is assumed that each of the PCs is a resident of Heldren. Whether that means you grew up in this small town, or if you have only lived here a few weeks on your way to other places is up to you.
Please discuss any pre-existing connections, relationships, or knowledge of each other your characters might have. remember that you have all lived in the same little town for some amount of time, but I don't expect you all to have big interwoven stories.
Posting rules
Please plan on posting AT LEAST 5 times a week. I would love to keep a fast pace on this game, because PbP is a slower medium by its nature. I will try to post at least once a day. if everyone has made a post since my last GM post I will do something to move the action forward. if we are waiting on a few posts, I will give reactions or answer questions but give time for everyone to have their say.
Once all but one PC has posted, that final PC has 24 hours to post or I will bot them. If we are in combat rounds, the botted action default will be to make an attack with the last weapon used. I will never bot a player to use any per day ability or other limited resources. If we are not in combat, your botted action will essentially be a variation of "Durian the Wanderer smiles and nods".
If you are going to miss posting due to any real life situation, that is perfectly ok. Real life issues happen. I'm sure I will have them come up as well over the course of the game. Please give us as much warning as you can, and I will happily bot you during your absence and will have your PC do anything you ask me to have them do.
Missing posts
If you do not post anything for a week without letting us know that you will be missing, I will consider your character gone. I will write them out in a suitably spectacular manner and we will move on. There were 27 applications for 10 spots in this game, so replacing a missing PC will not be a problem. I apologize if this sounds harsh, but many of the players in this game have said that in the past they have tried to play this AP and it fell apart. I would love to play this one for a good long time, and will try to keep things moving.
Game Style
In the end, I want you all to have fun. Please please please give me feedback on how things are going. I want to make this a rewarding and fun AP, but I know there are many ways to run a game.
Normally I am a very by-the-book GM. I like to stick to RAW as much as possible, and will play my creatures and NPCs by the rules as much as possible, and abide by what the dice roll.
I do like to tweak encounters as we go, either up or down in difficulty to match the party. if you feel like things have gotten too easy, let me know and I will try to keep things engaging and challenging.
This AP is fairly linear, as all APs tend to be. I am going to be taking steps to adjust the AP as written to avoid some of the worst of that, but it will still be there. I am happy to roll with the punches if you guys try unexpected solutions.
I would like to highly encourage interaction between PCs. talk in character, learn about each other, let your PC personalities show through. I have found this aspect lacking in some of my PbP, which is sad. this medium is awesome for RP if you want it to be. don't feel like you have to just post once a day and wait for a GM post before posting again. have conversations, come up with plans, try to figure out the back stories, etc.
Hopefully we will all have fun with this! I love this AP and am so excited to run it.
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Thanks for the selection! Looking forward to getting started!
Dotting, but also rolling my gold here.
All right. Time to adjust my purchases.
Edit: Done!
Shared Background: (i.e., what everyone knows about Letitia Frost)
Letitia Frost is the pale-skinned beauty who is apprenticed at Willowbark Apothecary. She's cold and aloof for the most part, "quiet" if the other villagers are being nice, and "frigid" if they're not.
She arrived in Heldren last summer, speaking nothing of her past although the rumors have it that she arrived at the same time as a band of mercenaries/adventurers with whom she might have been traveling. Since she clearly knows her way around an alchemist's lab, the lady Willowbark took her on and allowed her to stay in the crawl space in the attic above the shop in exchange for her help.
It's somewhat ironic that Letitia thawed out somewhat during this past winter. She became much more open, and would even smile when the wind was at its bitterest or when a fresh snow had turned everything into a glistening white. It was also around that time when a snowy owl started showing up and hanging around her. Even after the snows melted into spring, the white owl stuck around. Some villagers even say she can talk to it, and it will sometimes sit on her shoulder when she thinks no one's looking.
Just like any other village with a temple to Erastil, Heldren has its share of festivals and dances designed to get the young people coupled up and starting families of their own. Letitia has been dragged to a few of these, but always reluctantly and at the direction of Ms. Willowbark. Even when she attends, she stays aloof but watches the courtship rituals with great interest.
Hey there everyone! This is the character that I will be playing the game with. Baradim is a druid, capable of great melee skill and some ranged ability thanks to Studied Combat. He has lost the Wild Shaping ability but he gains Stalker Arts to improve his lethality. His animal companion has primary attacks and once he gets his advancement, it will be terribly dangerous as a flanker. He also still has his full spell-casting for buffing and combat support.
I am sure that Baradim has wandered into Heldren only a few weeks ago, communing with the spirits and ancestors that something is wrong. Anyone may have met Baradim beforehand, as he is a wandering druid. He is a bit surly, a bit strange of mind, but he is a good-natured sort and friendly. Snowpaw is a tiger that is soft, cuddly, and loves pet. He is also a murder machine when a fight occurs. In town, he has likely been seen as an oddity, coming into town occasionally for strange supplies or food for himself and Snowpaw when the hunting.
@Letitia - I don't know if Letitia and Baradim would know each other very well but perhaps he sought her out after encountering her strange and intelligent owl. He'd find it fascinating to encounter an animal that was not an animal. Lazlo would likely have strange thoughts about the druid; he's not just the nature-loving kind of druid but there is somewhat dangerous aura about him. If she shares that Lazlo is her familiar, he'll find that fascinating for sure.
Alrighty! I looked through everyone else's characters and I had some ideas about how I met them and what it could've been. These are just ideas so people can change them, deny them, what have you.
@Samuel - I think that Samuel and Baradim could've met when the druid first arrived at Heldren. Likely the townspeople would've found this coyote-pelt wearing, well-armed half-orc with a massive predator arriving in town to be a bit alarming. If he investigated him, he'd likely find Baradim meditating out in the woods and looking at the wellness of the plants there. Baradim is a nice, if odd, sorts and Snowpaw is almost uncomfortably friendly and cuddly to be around. Since then, he stays on the outskirts but has donated to the temple dedicated to the "Great Spirit Erastil".
@Alec - I think Baradim might've found the ranger while he was out hunting in the woods and watched him quietly for a time. If it is alright, perhaps Baradim can feel that great sadness coming from him and feels it is his "duty" to help guide his spirit right. He might even be a bit annoying in his wise but odd friendship but the druid has showed no signs of stopping.
@Greadra - Out of all the characters, this may be the only one Baradim has met before he arrived in Heldren. She comes from a wild people like him and though their origins are different, he can sense that power within her and that the Great Wolf has chosen her. If he knows of her spirit quest, he would have humbly asked for the honor to walk with her and be a guide. Maybe their journeys brought them here to Heldren because Baradim "has a feeling".
Let me know what you guys think!
Also @GM Red Sun, I must've missed that drawbacks were allowed. I was thinking of taking Scarred as my drawback. That seem okay?
@Letitia - I don't know if Letitia and Baradim would know each other very well but perhaps he sought her out after encountering her strange and intelligent owl. He'd find it fascinating to encounter an animal that was not an animal. Lazlo would likely have strange thoughts about the druid; he's not just the nature-loving kind of druid but there is somewhat dangerous aura about him. If she shares that Lazlo is her familiar, he'll find that fascinating for sure.
@Baradim, I like that a lot -- that the half-orc druid would find Lazlo more interesting than the human girl. :-)
Letitia wouldn't lie to him, but she'd be evasive with the full details. If he figures out that the snowy owl isn't a normal one of his species, she'll confirm that he's different and that they share a close connection. They both like the cold, she adds.
If her avoidance of telling the whole truth doesn't drive Baradim away, she'll ask what lands he comes from, and may point-blank ask if he's from the Land of the Linnorm Kings.
@Baradim - yes a drawback is allowed, and I'm fine with you taking that one.
I have added a loot sheet and a Google Slides link to the campaign description. The map slides can also be accessed from the link in my GM header to make it easier to jump to during the game.
Also in the slides, I have added a section to track relevant stats. I have the forum codes to do perception, initiative and saves listed out. I have started these with the stats found in each of your aliases, but it will be up to you to make sure that they are up to date if your stats change.
I'll remind you all when it is time to level up, but I'll ask each of you to update your own numbers on that slide as part of your level up process.
I've also added a post to the gameplay thread with some of the info from the module relating to the town of Heldren. if you want more info about the starting location, this has info about locations and NPCs in town. You can use that to craft your connections to the area
@GM Red Sun - sounds good and thank you. I can see that Baradim would be scarred from his time with the Shoanti. I took Auspicious Tattoo, gives a +1 Will Save. I decided that it is a tattoo upon his back of a Storm Roc, one of the sacred symbols of his tribe.
@Letitia - I am pretty certain that Baradim would figure out that the owl is at least the smartest owl he has ever laid eyes upon. He won't mind the avoidance, quite used to it and more than pleased to have someone who doesn't cringe away from him in the town. He'd likely tell her of the wide and varied lands of Varisia, where he has traveled from since. He knows of the Land of the Linnorm Kings but he has not visited there specifically but he knows their tongue and would try teaching her Skald if she'd like and didn't know.
Greetings all.
Alec has grown up in Heldren spending practically his entire life in and around the village. He would know of or have seen most people at some point over the years. I think most people would have thought of him as the loner, not very social, often unkept, polite enough for a brief conversation but not someone you'd want to stand down wind from.
@Letitia - Alec has probably been in the alchemist a few dozen times, mostly to sell ingredients or purchase home made remedies. In all likely hood, Alec may have a crush on Letitia but would be too shy to have express any feelings.
@Baradim - I think your proposed relationship would be perfect. Alec will need guidance and friendship in the coming months.
@Samuel - I'm sure Alec and Samuel would have literally crossed paths dozens, if not hundreds of times. Passing acquaintances with mutual respect for each other's abilities. They do things their own way, but get to the same goal.
@Greadra - We've possibly encountered each other once or twice, or one saw the other from a distance but didn't feel obligated to approach. You may be more of an outsider than Alec. This relationship will probably have to develop during game play.
For my own sake (and hopefully to the benefit of everyone else), I'm putting a little timeline here of Heldren and when each player appeared.
------> Present Day (start of the campaign)
------> One week ago -- Greadra arrives
------> Two to three weeks ago -- Baradim arrives
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------> One year ago -- Letitia arrives
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------> ~ Five? years ago -- Samuel begins patrolling area near Heldren
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------> ~Twenty to Thirty years ago -- Alec Fuornkiln born in Heldren
Does that look about right to everybody?
The porcelain-skinned girl lets out a breath when you say you're not from the Linnorm lands. Is there just a touch of relief in her eyes? Letita quirks her mouth into a little half-smile when you offer to teach her Skald. "Tack för erbjudandet, men det är ganska onödigt,*" she says with a lilt to her voice that shows she's known that tongue from a very early age.
*"Thank you for the offer, but it's quite unnecessary."
Lazlo hoots in a way that sounds altogether too much like a chuckle. "If you'll excuse me," she says softly, and returns to her task of applying the alchemical mixture to the tips of slender sticks to make tindertwigs for Ms. Willowbark's shop.
@Alec: that's interesting! From your perspective, Letitia's demeanor would have been cleanly professional. While you might get the sense that she's hiding a profound loneliness, she doesn't show it in her business dealings. However, since you would have been around her when she first arrived, you would likely have noticed a major shift in her emotional state that first winter since she arrived. She went from being skittish and shell-shocked to having much more confidence sometime during the coldest month of winter.
@Alec - Sounds good. I saw that he lives in the woods away from the town. Perhaps Baradim stays nearby and frequently invites himself over the last few days to say hello.
Thanks a lot for the opportunity, I have been looking to play both Reign of Winter and Samuel for four years now.
@Baradim: I particularly like the idea Samuel was charged to investigate the strange and menacing half-orc. Having found he is no danger to the community should have put a first stone towards respect and perhaps friendship.
@Alec: We sure are old friends, having grown up in the same place and similar circumstances. Is Alec also a member of the Border Wood sentinels or you do work alone?
@Letitia: Samuel needs alchemicals for his ammunition so he sure has met the new woman in the village. His sister was probably intrigued by her power, so maybe he will approach her to see if she has seen his sister Ariadna.
Samuel was born in Heldren, but he could have started patrolling 5 years ago. I am fine with that.
We should also come up with a way to cover our group's weaknesses. We lack a healer and a face.
Sorry Samuel! I was just guessing about when you might have started showing up in and around Heldren -- I didn't catch that you were also born and raised in Heldren. Then that's neat we've got two locals and a few transplants.
@Samuel: Letitia's in exile/hiding at this point, so she wouldn't be showing off any powers. She even downplays her owl familiar, instead just claiming that it's an unusually smart and friendly owl. That being said, I'm fine with there being a growing friendship and connection between her and Ariadna, especially given your and your sister's Irriseni heritage. Maybe they met and started becoming friends during the last winter.
* * *
We have a druid and a witch for healing -- not great. I can pick up the healing hex if it's really needed, and I can make potions quickly and cheaply, so there's that.
Your lack of a healer is definitely going to be one issue to overcome in this group. I usually like to have a dedicated healer in most parties, but there were not very many to choose from. Only one cleric in the whole lot, and the other divine casters were mostly melee-oriented warpriests or inquisitors.
You do have a full divine caster in a druid, plus a witch. Hopefully you guys are able to make that work!
I'll keep a lot of cure wounds prepared, at least one during these low levels. My first and immediate goal is to get a wand ASAP.
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Greadra is the newest arrival in town, and very much because she's a wanderer. She tries her best never to stay in one place for too long, always moving on in less than a month. She's been moving like this for a little over a year now, and is fairly young on her journey.
When she came in town, she came along woth a trade caravan, coming as a cheep bodygaurd. As she didn't really charge anything, the caravan was more than happy to take her along.
Only those of you who arived earlier than a year wouldn't have known her outside from town, as she began her sojurn at about that point. @Baradim: as a follower of the green faith, Greadra would see your deity as one if it's many facets, and be more than happy to treat you as kindred. She can speak Druidic and was trained by a druid from a young age, making her all the more friendly twards you.
@Everyone else: It's unlikely that Greadra knows you well, and probably only spoke with you briefly if at all. She camps out of town and only comes into town to help out with the farming or bringing game in for the local butcher. She hunts by throwing Spears at her target, and is an excellent tracker.
When she joins your group it's definitely gonna be because she hopes to fomd her journey to lead that way, and finding a druid along the path as well only strengthens that sentiment.
@Greadra - Certainly! Baradim's faith is a mixture of the Green Faith, ancestor worship, and spirits in general. She'd likely be the closest to his tribesman that he has seen in quite some time. I edited my post to include you leaving the tavern, if that is okay :)
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Nah, I'm fine with that, as I didnt know what to really do, the Hook I was given was a good one, but Greadra is definitely not the type of person to follow tales of strange animals. She makes note if them yes, but she would never go looking to harm any such creatures unless she was given a sign to.
Anyways, Thanks for hooking me into your post, it definitely helps :P
Seems we all are on at the same time :P
We can look into it later, for sure. Baradim will be very interested in strange animals appearing, he may even consider looking into it as part of the investigation into the bandit attacks.
Huzzah for close time zones! Most of my games have been unlucky in that way.
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I forgot to add more to.my physical description :P
Greadra is a big woman, 6'8", but that's already in the description. What I forgot to mention is that she has paled blue eyess, which she explains is rare in her tribe. So much so, only the Shaman had them as well. Her hair is dark grey, closer to black than white, but when she evokes her aspect the fur that emerges is white.
The reason she is so large is indeed because of the frost giant heritage. Although it isnt very obvious, save for the eye color and the lighter color of hair.
My idea is to have her wolf form be a white wolf :P
Nice! That'll be neat on down the road having a white wolf to go with our white witch and white owl. When it snows, no one will be able to spot us!
I'll put this here, since the other game I applied to had asked for a casting call: who we would see playing our character if this was a movie or tv show. I decided to go with Skyler Samuels from the show The Gifted.
Of course right now, her hair is dyed dark brown, but I figure that won't be her look forever.
That is going to be interesting yes.
I like to think gunpowder is still a rarity in the Inner Sea.
Samuel learned about it by an old dwarf that helped him and his sister after the lost of their parents.
But I am not fully settled about it, so please Red Sun, feel free to choose a different NPC or reason to be the knowledge of powder source for Samuel, whatever makes Best sense for you. I am open for him/her to be alive or dead.
I'm happy for you to keep you backstory as-is. I have only ever done campaigns where firearms are incredibly rare. you won't be running into so many gunslingers on Golarion, and I do enjoy playing up the novelty of a firearm in the setting. So expect some NPC reactions at some point.
Of course. Once you leave Golarion....
Is the sword a longsword?
Because Alec and Baradim happen to have already cold iron weapons and Geadra and Letitia are not trained in longsword I guess Samuel should pick the sword. It might see some use during the lower levels.
yes it is a cold iron longsword. not masterwork
I will pick the sword for now just to set things moving, but you can have it if you wish.
I think the mission is clear GM Red. No more questions here. I am just ready to go.
Stats-wise, I have thought about changing Samuel traits to a couple of Taldor ones. Mainly Disable Device and K. nature are well covered, so I just decided to focus on Bluff and Sense Motive to diversify the group skills. Please, let me know if there is any problem with the new traits.
Also applied the crafting bonus to starting wealth and bought some acid with that.
I fixed the stat changes in the Google slides.
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Honestly stealth is the only thing I'm less than capable in, With my armor penalty i wont be able to to effectively sneak outside of my wildshape (which is a dire-wolf) but if I strip I can :P
Other than that, I am by far the least skilled in the group. With only a survival backed by track and scent to boast about in that regard.
I don't mean to slow things up, but I wanted to first see if we could pool some resources to pick up a few more items that could be a great help.
I'll have my cauldron with me, so two hours and 25 gps will get us a potion of cure light wounds. I've already spent my starting gold so I've got a couple potions, and some alchemists fire.
I don't know if we can pool together to buy more, or more "reagents" so I can make stuff in the field.
GM, how do you want to rule me making potions while we're traveling? I see two ways to handle it: a) you hand wave the actual ingredients, assuming I am gathering the necessary components (herbs, bark, seeds, etc.) as we travel, and whenever I've got enough gold I can make another potion. It's basically me turning gold into potions, game-wise. Or b) whenever I get the gold, I have to wait to go to a town or seller and then spend to buy the ingredients. So on my inventory I might have 75 gp "spent" so I can later make three more 1st level potions whenever I have the time.
Obviously, I'd prefer the first way, because it lets us stay in the field/dungeon longer since I can take whatever gold we loot and immediately make potions. But I understand that stretches verisimilitude a bit.
We'd probably need to use potions for healing at least until we can afford a wand of cure light wounds.
Samuel will have the same problem for ammunition crafting.
Stocking some alchemist fire is a great idea Letitia thanks for raising that up.
I have 4 gp remaining I can give you for potion crafting.
I'm willing to contribute funds as we go.
Maybe instead of, or in addition to, we can make Survival checks to locate reagents similar to gathering food. Just a suggestion.
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I can contribute up to 29 GP, As as I have spent a majority of my gold on weapons and a few things to make using them easier. I could also convert a few of my weapons into obsidian, freeing up some gold. Half price is great trade for just the fragile quality. Plus obsidian magic weapons loose fragile, so any enchantments in the future will make the investment now worth it.
If we're pooling gold for potions of healing, I'll only take one thing of cold iron weapon blanch and will contribute 20gp to the creation of some healing. :)
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So crafting.
The gold to crafting issue has always felt a little goofy to me. It does seem like the rule is written that you have to buy things to make potions/bullets, so those things wouldn't be stuff you can just find laying around, especially in some of the wilderness environments you will be in.
Normally I would prefer that you have to buy ingredients when you're at a settlement, but I think we will be better off hand-waiving a lot of that for this particular campaign.
As you guys will find out, there are large chunks of this AP where it is really really hard to find a place to buy and sell things. I think it is an interesting challenge for this AP, but I don't want to make the issue even worse by making it so that you are unable to craft your needed potions and ammo for whole books of the AP.
long answer short, go ahead and convert gold to potions on the field, as long as you're able to spend the time/spell slots as required.
Also, speaking of tracking gold:
I have linked a loot spreadsheet in my header. It is a pretty standard loot sheet I stole from another PbP I'm a player in. If you guys have a better system you like better, feel free to change it.
The spreadsheet also has a page for each player to track individual gold. you can add your income and expenses on there to keep everything straight and see how much you should have available. I find that easier than trying to track it all in my alias profile.
If there are any other docs you guys would like me to make or link in the campaign info, just let me know.
That is a pretty damn neat loot sheet, I haven't used it before but I will now. I locked in myself as the Player 1 section and will keep track of purchases and loot there.
EDIT: I realize that there is not a token yet for Snowpaw. Please feel free to use this tiger to base the token on.
Sorry! I made tokens while looking at the characters page of the campaign, totally forgot to add a tiger. He's on the map now, right next to you
I spent the weekend at a gaming convention (sneaking off occasionally to post), and I'm beat. I'll post something tomorrow morning, hopefully.
And Greadra, I know what posting from a mobile device is like -- I do it for roughly 80% of my posts. Try rotating your device to the side and refresh the page. It should be full screen and not cut off some of the words. (At least, it works for me if I do that.)
Depending on your phone you might download Google Slides/Presentations. It works fine and you can modify your token position and any other feature of the map. I use it often when out of town.
Otherwise feel free to tell us where you want to move Greadra, I will try to keep your position updated.
I was having trouble seeing posts last night as well, with the right side cut off. refreshing didn't seem to do anything.
@Letitia - How big is your cauldron? is it something the others would notice you loading into the cart, or is it a small thing that you can keep in a sack? I'm just curious how hard she is trying to hide her nature from her companions for now.
Cauldron This larger version of an iron pot holds approximately 1 gallon—enough to fill the bellies of four hungry humans for one meal.
It weighs five pounds, so it's about the size of a milk jug. I think I could probably fit it inside a backpack pretty easily.