The Barbarians are Coming! (Saxony 500 AD)

Game Master Brian Minhinnick

Oh man! I can't believe that whole time I didn't do the math on Ealdfric's damage. He did indeed win with the proper math, but since he was the big enough man to concede his mistake I'll let it stand as is. Sorry for missing that guys. It was a VERY close fight. I would have been happy had either one of you won. Had we done the math right Ealdfric would have killed Berengar with only 4 HPs left.

After a brief moment of adulation the crowd grows somber. Ealdric's family steps forward and removes his weapons and gear setting them at the feet of Berengar. "May you sacrifice these to Woden who has ensured your victory this day. You have killed the Undying." They remove his body, and Berengar is cheered by the rest of the newly united tribes.

Later that night there is a funeral pyre and everyone gathers to watch. Ealdfric died with honor in combat, and now he rests in Woden's hall. Drinking and fighting forever.

Thanks for all the thought and effort Tierce, I'll see you around the boards!
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Okay, back to using this as the OOC discussion thread. Looks like everyone except Ruhas has checked in. Once he does so I'll get the gameplay thread started. Feel free to talk tactics or whatever until then.

@ Ordric - As far as I'm concerned you can make a shield bash then stab with the spear. Not aware of any ruling that says you have to attack with primary hand first.

That fight was my first experience seeing some of these rules in action and in light of it, I think I'm going to make a modification to the healing surges rule. You can only use one per combat encounter, outside of combat you can use as many as you like. At a table, I don't think it would be an issue, but PBP combat takes long enough as is.

That was also a good intro to my style of running combat. I prefer everyone label combat posts as follows

Round: XX
Initiative: XX
HP: XX/XX
(Buffs/Temporary effects here)

I normally roll initiative for everyone, and block initiative for identical enemies/creatures.

Sounds good. Figured it was better to check now rather than in the middle of combat.

I'm in and yay Mounted Archery, means I don't have to worry about that later.

Was helping a friend move yesterday so didn't really have computer access.

So do we wanna talk tactics? We all seem to have pretty different builds, and it might good to get an idea of how best to coordinate.

Odalric is going to play up the charismatic leader role. His combat physical combat strength mainly comes out of his rage (base Str is only 14, so he'll need to rely on Rage in order to deliver solid damage), but I plan on picking up feats such as Dazzling Display to debuff enemies. I want to sort of dabble in the idea of the Bard class without actually playing a Bard as the low magic prohibits me from multi-classing, hitting on the warrior-skald type thing; I'll probably pick up ranks in Perform (Oratory) for flavor if nothing else.

While in a rage, Odalric will use his Knockdown ability, to greater effect once he gets a second attack and can trip someone and then deliver a blow while they are down. Rage powers will primarily be debuffs or versatile ones. In short, he'll be more skirmisher than bruiser, but offering some decent support.

No worries. I'll work on the opener for the gameplay thread and probably have it up later tonight.

Well, you've seen what Berengar can do. He's built for damage, but he needs to full attack to get the most out of it. He'll typically use the longspear first and then drop it once he's able to close. I want to play with the Skinchanger idea with him, though he'll never get to truly Wildshape.

Eldritch Claws are high on his list of feats, but he won't be able to get that for several levels. If Odalric is going to go Dazzling Display, it might work for Berengar to pick up Intimidating Glare and Terrifying Howl. Also looking at Elemental Rage line.

Yeah, most foes aren't gonna stand toe-to-toe with Berengar unless they have no choice. I woulda been running all over the ring taking your AOOs and letting my armor protect me from them :P While forcing you to move and make single attacks. Which means that's what the NPCs are gonna be doing as well.

Gameplay is live.

Ruhas prefers mounted combat, skirmishing while turning his foes into pin cushions. In Melee his horse can actually do quite some damage, especially since it ignores the damage reduction, being large and all.

I'd love to find a way to hobble opponents from range, but it seems there is no way to do that.

The Archer fighter archetype lets you pick some combat maneuvers that you can do with a bow at penalty...that's about all I can think of.

Yeah, I found that, but it won't be very interesting with less than 11 levels in it and that would be very, very detrimental to the mounted aspect of my character.

There are a few feats from 3.5 (Ranged Sunder, Ranged Disarm, Ranged Pin) that let you do a few of them... not sure if Jelani would let you take them, of course. Even if, there's no Ranged Trip that I know of which I'd guess it what you'd prefer.

@ Ruhas - You can have a net if you want.

Pinning or Tripping would both be fine, the main goal is hindering movement.

Thanks, but the problem with a net as that I'd still have to get really close. I think I'll just stick to Parthian Tactics if I have the opportunity.

Go post in gameplay :P

Sorry to hold up the gameplay posts - gotta full docket of stuff with the wife today. Will be able to post later tonight!

I'm busy today too. I'll catch up on posting later.

Here's a metal song called Saksenland. I believe the language is danish. Nothing to do with historical Saxons but kinda cool. If I'm not mistaken the footage is from the King Arthur movie.

Language of above video is Dutch as is obviously stated in the title x_x'

*Sigh* That is horrible. The fact that I'm Dutch probably makes it worse for me though.

Is it horribly racist or something? I don't speak Dutch only German and I didn't bother to translate it. Sorry for the mistake I'm an idiot sometimes. I used to live so close to Holland that I could get radio from Groningen but as an American it's hard for me to tell the difference between Dutch and Danish just from hearing them. Obviously I didn't read the video very well before posting.

-smacks forehead-

The song doesn't seem particularly racist. Here is a translation (at least supposedly).

Couldn't find any definitive info on Saxon oaths (although this site was moderately helpful), so I just based it off of what I found and winged it. If it's an odd one, that can probably be chalked up as a regional curiousity or something.

Oh no, it isn't racist. It's more that it sounds absolutely ridiculous :)

I'm actually not a big metal fan either, I just came across it in my searches for all things Saxon.

I'll whistle innocently over here as I am actually quite the metal listener (though as far as folk metal goes I will admit it is kind of dull).

I gotta say, this game is making me want to read Beowulf all over again.

Ja. Poor Ordric, I think he just got owned by a bare-faced, Frank-tainted thegn.

Just came across this one. I like it a little better musically, and while not all related the pictures are cool.

Good Isegrimm, the Saxons in England wrote Beowulf! It will give you great insight into their minds.

I will post something in the morning, I want to have the time to do it properly. Great roleplaying so far guys, keep up the good work.

I'm sure Ordric will get his shots in;-:

Also, thought I'd point out that Isegrimm would be much less provincial than the others. The Franks were heavily Romanized by this point and had a very Roman way of life. Their buildings were bigger, sometimes in stone etc. They just had a generally higher standard of material living.

Thought I'd get things livened up with a little old-fashioned Saxon boasting. Plus, Ordric deserves a chance to get his own back in ;-)

I used this a rough guide:

http://www.gradinggirl.com/archives/3015

I know it's Anglo-Saxon, but I figure such an awesome, manly practice would be a good inclusion to our rp.

No that's great. It's called the Cymbal if I remember correctly. It's an important practice in many of the Germanic cultures of the time. Anglo-Saxons at this point are just Saxons who sailed over to England to pillage and decided to stay. They don't develop a distinct flavor until later, and even then most of the stuff they do is the same.

Blarg, I'll try to get a post up for the feasting, but I'm swamped for the next 6 hours or so (until around 4 Pacific Time). If you want to move on, go for it--I can throw in Ordric's boast in the beginning of my next post.

No worries, I'll give it some time.

Totally awesome. Ordric!

Thankya! Sorry about the delay in posting--yesterday was one of THOSE days.

Everyone ready to move on? I'll probably post the next bit tonight when I get home from work (approx. 10-11 hours from now).

Yeah, let's go!

I'm ready. Berengar is passed out for the night, so he ain't doing much more.

Ready, unless something weird happens while riding around

Ja, ready to move on.

I wanna post a good long descriptive post of the morning events and rituals, but some stuff came up and I don't have time tonight. I'll make sure to get it up tomorrow. Sorry about the delay guys.

Here's a cool site about daily Germanic life. Amateur, but still interesting.

I know it was considered normal back then, but Ruhas doesn't like it. To him it's a waste of life and potential for a blessing he isn't entirely sure of (he hangs more towards the 'spirits are everywhere' pagansim than the wodan and cohorts version)

Understood. Ruhas is free to feel however he likes. If I take anything too far for you guys as players let me know, I can always tone down the gritty realism.

The grittier the better. Fear not for me.

Right! So I've started drinking a little early, and I feel like livening up the threads here (I already love this game). Here's kinda what I'm seeing, relationship-wise, for Isegrimm:

Ordric: Not-so-friendly rivalry so far. I'm thinking that this might eventually develop into a mutual respect with a "but-I-still-think-you're-an-SOB" sort of thing. I totally love the one-upsmanship that we seem to have established.

Odalric: Will probably look to him as a de facto leader, since he seems to have a lot of prestige and influence. Might lose respect for him if he shows that he lacks the "killer instinct" that Isegrimm believes in.

Berengar: Mixed feelings. He seems like a true Saxon, and a wise one at that, but Isegrimm thinks that his culture/fighting style is beneath a proper Saxon warrior - honestly, who uses their HANDS to fight? ;-) On the other hand, this guy seems to really "get" the harsh brutality of life. With the right bonding moments, I see these two becoming close buds (or as close as Ise gets with anyone, I guess).

Ruhas: Isegrimm will probably seem him as naive, if useful. He's already a bit of an outsider, considering his background, and he comes across as a touch idealistic. Isegrimm will probably try and look out for him, if only because he sees how much he can bring to the table. Lot of potential for a big/little brother style relationship, even though they're the same age.

Ruhas is more of a loner who actually dislikes being thegn, though he is a good and honest one. He mostly tries to emulate his grandfather, a man who has been a voice of reason among the thegn for far longer than anyone else. He actually aims to live longer than his grandfather did.

He on his turn sees everyone so far as dumb brutes and buffoons making them perfect fits for their role as thegn. Like I noted before, Ruhas would rather be at home with his family, learn his son how to ride and shoot a bow and to not be an idiot.

EDIT: Another thing, which hasn't come up yet, is his eye for business. The guy trades in horses, which, considering their worth, is a cutthroat market (sometimes literally I could imagine)

Sounds like you guys are getting into it. That's good, as soon as we get a reaction post from Odalric and Ordric we can move on to the Þing.

Angry post of Frank-hating incoming. *Shakes fist at Isegrimm*