Welcome to the game, everyone. As you get your message, just go ahead and check in here and introduce yourselves to the group. We'll take two days for you guys to talk and arrange possible connections between your characters and finalize your backgrounds and characters. On Wednesday, I'll post the real starting post in the gameplay thread, and we'll get started for real.
Hello all! Very excited to be here! I'm Matthias, a little ratfolk apprentice librarian. I'm from Windsong Abbey but often travel to Sandpoint to help with errands. I like making friends but am very bad at it and stutter a lot.
Greetings all! Glad to have been invited along and look forward to some good RP together. I'm Jessalissa, or Jes for short, an inquisitive gnome studying up on ancient Thassilon. Have been living in Sandpoint for several years now, staying with Brodert Quink as his apprentice. She is very often caught up in her research with her nose in a book, but when not engaged by her studies she is very energetic and out going and enjoys the company of others.
Hello one and all! Thanks for the selection GM!
Hi Jes and Hollie!
Jes, would we perhaps have met in Quink's alchemy shop (if he has one)? Perhaps Matthias went there on an errand to buy some chemicals for restoring old books and he and Jes struck up a conversation about whatever she was reading at the time. Matthias might even have been able to lend her a book from the Abbey's library.
For those of you who have connections to Sandpoint, you will know the following about Hollie:
1) Hollie and her twin sister were raised by Father Tobyn.
2) Six years ago, she had a falling out with her sister and Father Tobyn due to her wanting to follow in the footsteps of her friend and role model Ameiko Kaijitsu as an adventurer. She went without their blessing and spent a year abroad as an adventurer. When the fire and their death happened, Hollie returned a short time later.
3) Hollie has been dedicating everything she can the past five years to the construction of the Cathedral. While not a true cleric, she is regarded as a priestess at the cathedral nonetheless.
4) Hollie can sometimes be seen in the company of a dragon the size of a Mastiff with gleaming metallic scales the color of Mithral. It's wings are large, but seem to be too weak to carry it aloft yet, so it generally keeps them tucked to its sides.
Matthias: Do you linger around in Sandpoint? How are you regarded generally by people of the more common races, being a ratfolk?
Jessalissa: 10 years Sandpoint, so you were here for about 4 years before Hollie would have left, and then the five she's been back. Paths cross at any point?
Shaedeen: How long have you lived in Sandpoint? I saw you spent most of your time in employ at the Feedbag. Hollie would more regularly frequent the Rusty Dragon to spend time with her friend Ameiko. And if you lead a seedier lifestyle, I wonder if our paths would have crossed prior to the campaign?
Gritz: Looks like you spend most of your time in the junkyard. I highly doubt our paths would have crossed but if you see a potential connection I'm all ears.
Don't forget about me! You can't have Hollie without her Eidolon! What good is a Dragon Rider without her Dragon!?
Gritz is here and happy to join! Gritz shall protect the shinies!
Hollie: Matthias does linger a bit in Sandpoint. He's friends with the local blacksmith and I wrote in his backstory that he talked about religious history with Father Tobyn's daughter before the fire.
For character connections, I know since Gritz is a goblin, he's not present in town proper... but folks might have seen him from time to time. Shaedeen in particular might have seen him digging through the trash of the Fatman's Feedbag before being discovered and running away late at night.
As for the others... Gritz believes that anything someone else makes is a masterful work of art, so he's good for self esteem, but he also tends to find things that HE thinks are beautiful and returns them to their owners thinking they've lost them.
So, probably Matthias has come into the library to find torn or old books laying on the doorstep. Jess might find poorly repaired glass bottles or vials on hers. And Hollie will probably find discarded or broken holy symbols or church decorations that have been thrown out on hers. And he'd leave things like broken plates or bent silverware on Shaedeen's doorstep. Which might make it a bit frustrating to throw things out. X)
@Matthias - A traveling librarian would be just the person Jes would befriend, probably would look forward to visits and checking out books.
@Hollie - No reason we couldn't have bumped into each other. Jes spends most of her time at the the Old Light or Quink's home. But also frequents the Rusty Dragon, Pillbug's Pantry and never misses a performance at the theater. While she's not a devout follower of Desna she is definitely looking forward to the opening of the new cathedral and would have likely helped in some way in the construction.
@Gritz - If you would frequent the dump, it could be possible that we would have met at some point, with her frequenting the Old Light which is really close by.
Hollie: Matthias does linger a bit in Sandpoint. He's friends with the local blacksmith and I wrote in his backstory that he talked about religious history with Father Tobyn's daughter before the fire.
That would have been Hollies non-identical twin sister.
@Hollie - No reason we couldn't have bumped into each other. Jes spends most of her time at the the Old Light or Quink's home. But also frequents the Rusty Dragon, Pillbug's Pantry and never misses a performance at the theater. While she's not a devout follower of Desna she is definitely looking forward to the opening of the new cathedral and would have likely helped in some way in the construction.
Then we probably have interacted a wee bit at the very least. You know she’s quite chummy with Ameiko, but spends most of her time either helping at the cathedral, the Rusty Dragon, or relaxing by the sea taking in the sun. As the cathedral has neared completion, her trips to the shore have been more frequent, where she is either walking with or lounging with her Dragon companion. She would go to the theater as well, though isn’t an avid follower of it.
Ratfolk in Sandpoint: Ratfolk generally carry a stigma, whether true or not, that they are trash divers, junk collectors, and thieves, and this carries even into Sandpoint. While people don't outright ban them or send them away, people keep a closer eye on their belongings and goods while they're around.
As for Matthias, however, he has received a reputation for his meek demeanor and position at the Abbey. While he has had a few encounters dealing with shiny things in the past, his lack of stealing anything worth too much has gained him at least equal footing with the regular races.
Thanks, GM! Totally spaced on responding to that part.
@Matthias - In that case, Hollie would treat you as if you were no different than anyone else in town, and overlook any racial nuances you may have. She probably seems a bit more emotional around you at times, easily surmised as being due to your friendship with her late sister.
Sounds great, Hollie! Matthias is probably friendly toward you but very unsure how to act around you. He really enjoyed his conversations with your late sister. Man this is awesome. I'm already feeling connected to your characters.
Haha Gritz that's brilliant.
@Matthias - Also, Quink wouldn't have a lab, but Jes does so if you hadn't gone to one of the other alchemists in town, she would have likely been your source for any chemicals to help out with books.
Being a gnome and, while not an outcast, an outsider in the town she is definitely receptive to other races and doesn't hold the standard biases. Of course, as long as they aren't attacking her.
@Jes: Sounds great! The Abbey has some really old books so Matthias would probably need all sorts of weird stuff all the time to help with that.
Gritz - it’s probably starting to get repetitive with some of the stuff you leave on her pillow, and she’d eventually probably try and figure out who was doing it.
Hey all! Seems I'm a little late to the party...but in truth I aced my Stealth check and have been lurking here the whole time! ;P
Shae's new in town, a former member of the all-female, almost-all-Sczarni gang called the Tower Girls in Magnimar. She's currently working at the Fatman's Feedbag under the watchful eye of her boss, the local Sczarni leader. As such, she's probably pretty much a mystery to the others (and them to her) at this point.
I like Grizt's two interaction ideas with Shae; in a similar manner, Hollie might've caught Shaedeen staring in awe at her eidolon (mithral dragon > the donkey rats the Tower Girls kept).
Cool, Shae! Matthias is probably pretty curious about what you're deal is but hasn't had the reason/courage to ask a somewhat scary person such a question.
Odds are, Gritz isn't really going to be known by anyone in town, though some folks MIGHT note that there seems to be one weird goblin who carries a glaive around the junkyard (I can't imagine many goblins carry those around.) Before things kick off, he'll probably be hiding under a cart or in a barrel before the attack.
More than likely, he'll stick out as the one goblin during the raid that is actually stabbing other goblins and trying to put out fires instead of start them. But it'll probably fall to everyone else to stick up for him, since I doubt the town will be very forgiving of a goblin after the rest of his kin just tried to burn the place down, so knowing that he means well might help make the case for him.
He would certainly recognize everyone else though. (Considering he keeps leaving trash on their doorsteps.) Matthias is "Fuzzy Evil Books Guy" (not because Matt himself is evil, but he works with books... which is brave, in his opinion. Those things steal your words!), Hollie is "Pretty Dragon Lady", Jess is "Shiny Glass Lady", and Shaedeen would be "Yummy Food Lady".
...he's not very good with names. It's a miracle he remembers Gubby's.
Sounds great! I think Matthias would very awkwardly try to stick up for Gritz in such a situation.
Gritz, so you're planning to go the melee reach controller route? This is my first time playing a brown fur transmuter and I'm looking for a melee buddy who would like some of those tasty "self only" arcane buffs cheated on to him. Beast shape, form of the dragon, long arm, etc. This would, of course, only be starting at level 9. But I can give you enhanced enlarge person and stuff like that until then, if that's up your alley.
Sounds great! I think Matthias would very awkwardly try to stick up for Gritz in such a situation.
Gritz, so you're planning to go the melee reach controller route? This is my first time playing a brown fur transmuter and I'm looking for a melee buddy who would like some of those tasty "self only" arcane buffs cheated on to him. Beast shape, form of the dragon, long arm, etc. This would, of course, only be starting at level 9. But I can give you enhanced enlarge person and stuff like that until then, if that's up your alley.
That is my goal, at least. It's my first real attempt at this as well, so any buffs are appreciated, and Gritz is a gluttonous little guy, so he'll readily down anything you hand him and tell him to drink. I know Gubby will grow to Medium size soon enough, so I might also look at splitting some time into doing some mounted combat as well... just cause it would be fun.
Until then, he could ride on Draxtherian's back! ...though I imagine neither Hollie nor Drax would be keen on that. X)
Draxtherian would most definitely object. Once trust with Gritz was established...Hollie may be convinced to let it happen. He needs practice carrying a rider to be ready for carrying her!
Shaedeen - That works. She’s used to getting looks when Drax is around. And other kinds of looks when he’s not.
GM - I figure Hollie has her own room in town here somewhere. Are you using the Cost of Living rules? If so, are you okay with me throwing 10 gp at it now and her currently have a private room at the Cathedral? I figure once coin starts rolling in she will buy her own house here in town, but for now she’s been tossing excess coin she has into the construction project.
As far as a deity, I figure Hollie reveres a healthy blend of Desna, Shelyn, and Abadar.
@Hollie: In honor of your connection with the late Father Tobyn, as well as your help in the construction of the cathedral, Father Zantus has allowed you to stay at his dwelling free of charge.
I'm preparing the intro and will have it promptly posted up tomorrow around this time, and we'll get started proper then. Any other questions about characters, backstories, or the initial setting/knowledge?
I actually have a good one that I didn't think of until now! Though perhaps I should keep it in spoilers... or perhaps PM to keep things that only Gritz should know on the DL.
I'm keeping it right now to the idea that Gritz has been sneaking into town for food and has caught wind of the party and seen the cathedral.
(According to the Wiki, the cathedral has stain glass windows that depict each of the major deities represented, one of which is Shelyn, which I am going to assume Gritz would recognize even at a glance.) At the moment, he is being relatively clever and guessing that the big party will draw goblin attention because he knows what his race is like.
But does Gritz actually KNOW the goblins are planning a raid? Is he even a little in on the plan? Or, I suppose the better question is, when the others ask him about what he knows, what can he say that he knows for sure?
While they haven't been given any orders or such, the restlessness among the Licktoads suggest some sort of activity is coming. Even Gritz, who has been preoccupied with his newfound ideals has caught a whiff of it. Gritz is then starting to connect the dots between that and the new cathedral, but doesn't have any proof or actual evidence to support this wild claim before just rushing off when the idea hits him.
As for the cathedral, Gritz would recognize his patron in the stained glass...though not fully understanding what the purpose of such a hut could be that this silly longshanks are building.
Also, I would like everyone to try and include important info in their headers so that it can be easily reached. Try to include class, level, hit points (both max and current), initiative bonus, perception, armor class (with touch and flat-footed), your saves, and also the basic weapon choice that you would probably use for AoO. To create this header, you use the Gender -> Classes/Levels -> Race on your profile page in that order. You'll be able to see it here under your alias' name. You can include other information as well that you might find helpful or frequently used.
For example:
How’s that?
Sounds great! I'll get my header ready today.
Gritz is all set!
Updated my header. Won't really be doing any AoO, so didn't include a weapon.
Okay. Looking good.
Ok I put up a header. I also don't have much I would do with an AoO so I just put the daze cantrip at there as that would be my go-to option if I were to be botted, which shouldn't be necessary but who knows? I do have to finally get my wisdom teeth out in a month.
A bit late, but this post was a rather long one. Let's get started.
Yay for the starting of the start! Been really looking forward to it.
I have this subtle feeling that this Daviren guy is not gonna trust Gritz very much. I can't put my finger on why, but something about him just suggests he's not the biggest goblin fan...
I have this subtle feeling that this Daviren guy is not gonna trust Gritz very much. I can't put my finger on why, but something about him just suggests he's not the biggest goblin fan...
Oh, I imagine he'll warm up to you...with a volley of flaming arrows! ;D
On knowledge checks: Knowledge checks can be made untrained if the DC is 10 or below. If a name is included in the spoiler for the knowledge check, then that person already knows it and does not need to roll. Knowledge checks above 10 can be made untrained by spending time asking questions and researching, requiring 1d4 hours to make the check once per day.
You know, I just realized that my inventory is absolutely barren. Don't even have how much money I would have left after my basic equipment.
Really ought to fix that...
Wonder where our GM has gone.
I'm gonna hope that they're still getting the initial battle resources ready. Maps, tokens, the like. I know that finding those things can take a little bit, but I'm always fine with running things in the theater of the mind until it's ready.
I'm really hoping for that, because I'm quite enjoying this one so far!
Yeah I hope our dear Goblin Overlord is doing alright.
For RotRL there are actually a lot of assets available online, but I suppose that could be the case. Just odd that they haven't chimed in at all. It's a shame because I've really been enjoying how this has been going so far as well.
On the plus side, we haven't really *started* the game proper, so if we don't hear back by next week maybe we should start looking for a replacement GM? I saw on one of their other aliases that they mentioned something IRL came up and they had to leave the game so not sure whether they will be returning or not.
I haven’t jumped to panic mode just yet. But I agree that we seem to have a strong group here, and don’t want to see it wasted before we get out of the gates. If we don’t hear something from them eventually I am on board with shopping for a new DM.
But I liked the way that our current goblinoid overlord was operating and am more than willing to give them a chance to tend to things IRL and return.
I'm still here and paying attention, though I'm definitely concerned about what's going on with our GM. It'd be a shame to lose him.
If we don't get any word for a while, then I'm ok with looking for a replacement GM, though I think it can be hard to find a good one.
Same here. I'm still eager to actually... meet the team, you know. :)
But I'm giving the GM Gob benefit of the doubt. It's not like something RL hasn't yanked my attention from everything for a few days, so I know fully how that goes. Until then, I can just sit and chill with my goblin dog and hang out. I was enjoying his style, so... hope nothing bad's happened!