
Terquem |
Wiscara would live in a house on the outer banks of the oxbow lake, not on the land bounded by the lake, and probably closer to the woods to the north (where the Maetaur live).
Again Woodbridge, proper, is one tenth of one square mile in size, this is the area of land bounded by the oxbow lake, and the land around the outer bank of the lake has been cleared to about a quarter mile in every direction to support new homes and fields as the village is growing. There are woods to the north west and south of the lake.
I hope I'm not confusing people by the use of an oxbow lake as a setting.

"Clothyard" Shaft |

Any settlement/defensive on the far side of the bridge? Maybe more open field space that way for farmers/grazers etc? A little wooden stockade or something for defense makes sense?
I will get the priest assistant up today. Maybe he has helped Wiscara assimilate into the community as part of outreach. Based on other discussion, the priest would likely be indigenous not Outsider which means assistant likely is also? Or would the Alodoans have sent a priest to this village to start cultural conversion?

Dieredon D'atarisian |

@Terquem: Sorry, I did not mean my descrption to place Dieredon outside of Woodbridge proper, and I do not see Dieredon as a loner-type. In fact, he will spend alot of his time at the Bread and Board offering his services as a Guide and Hunter, as well as scouting the area around the lake and in the Northern Forest. Feel free to place his house anywhere on the edge of the town itself but certainly within the bounded areae of Woodpridge proper. I have updated the backstory with a minor revision to make certain that his house is IN Woodbridge.
@Wiscara: I assume that the "Elf" in your backstoryt was me? If not, it very well could have been based upon the time that I spend exploring and hunting near to where you eventually settled.

Terquem |
A little clarification
Wiscara has lived in or near Woodbridge all of her life
Dieredon could have lived for as long as two years (not likely more than that) in Woodbridge
The Village of Woodbridge has been safe enough, located on the land bounded by the oxbow lake, with only one bridge accessing it, so, no there are no fortifications of any kind on the outer shore of the lake.
There are 31 residence buildings on the land bounded by the lake, and 18 residence buildings on the land on the other side of the lake, spread out in a semi circle (more like a large "C") that is about one quarter mile wide surrounding the lake.
The local priest, Mr. Panforey, lives in a house in the village, with his wife and children. He has an assistant ("Clothyard" shaft's Character)
The Alodoan's, so far, have not shown an interest in converting the local population to their religions. They have marginally interested in improving the living conditions in Woodbridge, but even that activity has slowed down lately.

"Clothyard" Shaft |

Here is my work on the Priest's apprentice - Brother Phineas (the Red). Background and Appearance included.
Let me know if you want any changes and I'll get him built in the Alias and pick out an appropriate Avatar.
I did change my mind about having Mithras the Lame God. He should be the Protector but still the main God of a frontier people who call on him to help keep them safe when it seems the other Gods only want to cause them trouble.
Male Human Cleric 1
LN Medium Humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +3
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+3 armor, +1 shield, +1 Dex)
hp 11 (1d8+3)
Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +6
Resist resistant touch (6/day)
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Offense
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Speed 20 ft.
Melee Dagger +1 (1d4+1/19-20/x2) and
Quarterstaff +0 (1d6+1/x2)
Ranged Light crossbow +1 (1d8/19-20/x2)
Spell-Like Abilities Bit of Luck (6/day), Resistant Touch (6/day)
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 1):
1 (2/day) Bless, Divine Favor, Sanctuary (DC 14)
0 (at will) Light, Detect Magic, Guidance
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Statistics
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Str 13, Dex 12, Con 16, Int 11, Wis 16, Cha 13
Base Atk +0; CMB +1; CMD 12
Feats Combat Casting, Extra Channel
Traits Ease of Faith, Focused Mind
Skills Acrobatics -2 (-6 jump), Climb -2, Diplomacy +2, Escape Artist -2, Fly -2, Heal +7, Knowledge (history) +4, Knowledge (religion) +4, Ride -2, Sense Motive +7, Stealth -2, Swim -2
Languages Common
SQ aura, cleric channel positive energy 1d6 (6/day) (dc 11), domains (luck, protection), spontaneous casting
Combat Gear Holy water, Oil (3); Other Gear Studded leather armor, Buckler, Crossbow bolts (40), Dagger, Light crossbow, Quarterstaff, Backpack (14 @ 21 lbs), Bedroll, Belt pouch (1 @ 0.16 lbs), Mithras, Hooded lantern, Mirror, Sack (empty), Scroll case (empty), Trail rations (5), Waterskin, 6 GP, 2 SP
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Special Abilities
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Aura (Ex) The Cleric has an aura corresponding to his deity's alignment.
Bit of Luck (6/day) (Sp) Target takes the higher of 2d20 for a d20 roll.
Cleric Channel Positive Energy 1d6 (6/day) (DC 11) (Su) Positive energy heals the living and harms the undead; negative has the reverse effect.
Cleric Domain (Luck) Granted Powers: You are infused with luck, and your mere presence can spread good fortune.
Cleric Domain (Protection) Granted Powers: Your faith is your greatest source of protection, and you can use that faith to defend others. In addition, you receive a +1 resistance bonus on saving throws. This bonus increases by 1 for every 5 levels you possess.
Combat Casting +4 to Concentration checks to cast while on the defensive.
Focused Mind +2 to Concentration checks
Resistant Touch (6/day) (Sp) May donate Protection Domain's Resistance bonus to ally by touch for 1 minute.
Spontaneous Casting The Cleric can convert stored spells into Cure or Inflict spells.
Phineas is still working on his priest skills and is relatively quick to distrust strangers like the Alodoans who have recently started coming around. He is also a little leery of the unusual races living outside Woodbridge - the Gymnaga and the Metaur since they are not of the Faith and look and act strangely. He is a bit xenophobic which is antithetical to Mithras the Lame God's teachings. He's obviously got a ways to go before Panforey is comfortable turning the flock over to him. Parishoners accept Phineas' faults with a mild exasperation. What else can they do?

Wiscara Gresham |

My idea was that she came to woodbridge after her mother died. She is 16-20 now. Perhaps she has been there a couple years and has a hut or something near the river. Working on reworking backstory a bit. It will be nearish woodbridge.
@Dieredon. Yea the elf in my backstory was you. Im thinking of changing it a little to say that you told me about woodbridge. And that's another reason I went there.

Wiscara Gresham |

What if her mother had gone to the gymnaga when driven away since she has known them a long time (she learnt to be a druid from them when she herself was younger) and Wiscara was born there. They returned to Woodbridge a few years later and she became the village healer/wisewoman or something similar. They have a hut on the edge of the town. I can adapt the rest of her current story to fit this parameters. What doyou think? She is still pretty young and learning from her mother. (Easy in character leveling also) but she is still self sufficient and a natural at surviving on her own with her companion. So she can and would leave Woodbridge for compelling reasons.

Dieredon D'atarisian |

@Wiscara: Dieredon has only been in Woodbridge for a few years at most, but that will have little impact upon our knowing eachother due to our residences in Woodbridge, or because of our propensity to venture into the surroundings due to our classes and occupations. We will just need to sync up the backgrounds once you settle on something. I would not be opposed to you showing Dieredon where the abandonned Hunter's shelter was when I arrived, or I could have told you about Woodbridge while on a trip to Castletown if you settle on arriving in Woodbridge after Dieredon's arrival.

Wiscara Gresham |

If the gm ok's it im going with my previous post. So she has been there since she was little. You could have come to Woodbridge and before choosing a place to live met me and my mother and we suggested the abandoned place to fix up, since no one really owned it or something I would be easy for you to buy.
Just a suggestion

Terquem |
I think it’s great that the two of you are working the details out, but I want to share some ideas I have about Woodbridge and some of the background that has already been put up.
First, no one would learn to be a Druid from the Gymnaga (there is a Gymnaga Druid, but she is a “problem” person in the Gymnaga community). Humans would learn to be Druids from the Maetaur (I’m thinking it was a minor oversight when you were trying to set up that history).
I don’t want to say that Wiscara’s mother wasn’t driven out of some village someplace, but it must be clear that it was not Woodbridge (I don’t think you are trying to say it was, I just want it to be clear it could not be). Woodbridge is supposed to be a setting that has a long history of peace and acceptance. They don’t drive people out.
Once we establish that her mother was driven away from someplace, we sort of have to establish where and what that place is, which makes the world bigger. And naturally the world is going to get bigger. So let’s not get into that just yet, but say that it was a village more than thirty miles to the north (Castletown is to the northwest, toward the coast).
But the village where Wiscara’s mother is from is due north, and was probably a stronghold of a local King or Warlord. Wiscara’s mother was driven out of that village seventeen years ago, and lived along the other river mentioned in the campaign background, the Worran River, which flows from the northeast to Lake Handemere and joins the Lorisaine at Castletown (the Lorisaine flows from the south).
Wiscara’s mother learned to be a Druid from a community of Maetaur that live in the north. And Wiscara was born there. When Wiscara was five, the Alodoans landed somewhere to the north and began driving the petty warlords and kings away from the west coast.
If the castle at Castletown was begun during a time when the “war” was over, but when there were still small groups of soldiers from the disbanded armies of the Urandoman Kings moving across the inland countryside harassing everyone they could find for food and anything else they could steal, and it was one of these soldiers that killed Wiscara’s mother, that would be about seven years ago, when Wiscara was nine years old. If the Maetaur chose to move further inland, away from these marauding soldiers, and put Wiscara in the care of Urandoman humans who knew of Woodbrige and could take her there safely, she would have arrived in Woodbridge, via Castletown, when she was almost ten.
So Wiscara now lives in Woodbridge. She has seen the castle at Castletown, but did not live in that town. She was brought to Woodbridge in the care of another Urandoman family. From the age of ten to the age of sixteen she probably lived with them for some time.
I can’t see a ten year old living alone in this setting, but I won’t force this on you. But his brings me to a very important subject.
I hope players will avoid creating background that describe their characters as being what they are for “several years” before the campaign begins, this, in my mind creates a disconnect that is difficult to explain, specifically, why is the character first level, if they have been a Druid, Priest apprentice, Ranger, Wizard’s apprentice, Rogue, or some other thing for several years?
So even though Wiscara was taught all about animals and growing things, and how to pray to Woodland Gods, she has never been “granted” spells, and did not know how to actually prepare Druid Spells, until very recently (the local Maetaur Druid finally acknowledge her talent and strength and introduced her to these mysteries after her sixteenth birthday).
The same is true for Brother Phineas he has helped the local priest, and been taught how to pray, but the Gods have not granted him spells, until only very recently. Probably because the Carpenter, Trevur Longplank fell from a ladder and broke his leg and Brother Phineas said a particularly heartfelt prayer for the man and his family, was granted access to first level spells so that he could help the poor man, and then that is when Phineas knew he was called to be a priest.

Wiscara Gresham |

Yea... my bad on getting the gymnaga maetaur mixed up sorry.
I wouldn't have a ten year old living on her own so I decided that her mum was still alive. I had her as died of natural means but she is only 40-50 so thought that's kinda silly. So if I go with moat of what you aaid but that he and her mum are together in Woodbridge now.
Another thought, would it have to be a maetaur druid that granted her druid powers or could it be her mother. Perhaps I can start off JUST having finished the ceremony, however long it might take, and she now has her companion.

"Red Beard" Runolf |

Very early progress on my Halfling, I ended up making him a fighter(Cad), but he'll likely end up taking levels in rogue, and maybe even the Halfling opportunist prestige class eventually.
Imagine him as supremely arrogant, reeking havoc across battlefields, slashing ankles, etc.
Check out this image from deviantart that inspired me to create 'Mighty Mosco'

Terquem |
It's in the discussion thread under the post about Halfings.
I am thinking about opening up the game thread tomorrow, and posting the information I've been promising about Clerics, Druids, and Witches, in the discussion thread as soon as I can.
I'm a little disappointed that there are not more players, but I suppose that is what happens when you convince yourself you have a really great idea, and it turns out it isn't that good of an idea after all.
Thank you to all the players who have worked so hard this far. Hopefully we will have an interesting adventure come up very soon for those interested players.

Joffrey the Mute |

@Terquem: Quit being so hard on yourself, it's a brilliant idea - just not everyone's cup of tea.
Like the town of Woodbridge itself, this campaign will naturally start with just a small, but hopefully dedicated group of individuals. From there it will have great potential for attracting new settlers and new players and growing into the campaign you want it to be.
Don't give up!

Gilthanis |

I am making a Human expert. Mother died while giving birth, father died while fishing off coast for extra food. A rare shark overturned boat and wiped out fishing crew of 3, including his father.
Grandfather and grandmother raised him. Grandfather always told stories of when he was younger, one was how he used to be a craftsman, arms and armor. Marcus Dale was always a prototypical boy, loved getting dirty, climbing trees and working with his hands. When he was 16, his grandfather got him a job with a local craftsman, learning how to make arms and armor, whether it be for the town or the occasional trip to a larger town to sell to reenforce the monetary capital to survive when tilling the land failed.
Take a gander and let me know what ya think and if going Expert is okay?

Terquem |
Having a Player Character Expert will really bring the village some credibility, but we may have to work on that background a bit. Woodbridge is 35 miles from the coast, a very great distance for this setting.
And if he began his life close to the ocean, then moved to Woodbridge (which is not impossible) then we'll need to create another village, one with an established fishing tradition.
So are his grandparents people of Woodbridge?

Gilthanis |

Mother died while giving birth to Marcus. Father was a local craftsman and sent his son and grandfather on an escape boat when the war set in. His father refused to have his son grow up in turmoil and strike of wartime. His grandfather, in his old age, passed away on the boat ride over.
Marcus Dale had lived in Woodbridge for about 6 months. He doesn't discuss his "past" life much. He got a job for a local smith, plying his trade to make a living, contribute to the community, and attempt to 'fit' in with the locals.
Better?

Wiscara Gresham |

@Terquem. So here it is updated. Not completely expanded, wondered what you thought of the idea that she is just now becoming a druid. I will change the ending to fit what is appropriate in the way of becoming a druid.
Wiscara was born to a single mother, Garelda, an ally of the Maetuar. She had learnt the ways of a druid from them when she was young and it was discovered she had natural talent and a way with the land. When a disease had spread through an army and almost killed the leader when they passed through they had taken her and accused her of cursing them. They would not believe she was not a witch, killed her companion and mistreated her, releasing her only when she caught the disease herself.
Less than a year later she had Wiscara and cared for her new daughter, father unknown, one of the soldiers who had mistreated her during her capture. They lived for several years with a group of Maetaur along the Worran, who had taken her in when she fled. Wiscara was a beautiful child and had a wonder for nature. A natural with animals. She could imitate any animal sound she heard for the first time perfectly. One day when she was on her own a sick and starving leopard attacked her. She screamed and ran but the animal pounced and brought her down, sinking its claws into her thigh. Her mother had heard her cries and luckily not been far away for the next instant a spear pierced the creatures chest killing it. She learned to defend herself after that and her mother showed her how to use several weapons including spear, dagger, mace and sling.
One day, she was preparing a soup for her mother when a lone Urandoman soldier appeared. He demanded sustenance and she gave him some of the soup. It was not enough and seeing this young girl alone with her reminded himself of how alone he was also, having fled a lost war, a deserter. He harassed and then attacked her, angered by her refusal of him. She received his dagger, meant for her neck, in her right arm at the same time her spear pierced his heart. She had never killed anything before and was shocked for hours before she moved again. they buried him, hoping no one would come here looking for him.
After this they left to go to Woodbridge, a place they heard was safer, especially now that the Urandoman warlords had been driven away by a new force in the land. Woodbridge accepted them quickly, though they only were able to purchase a small hut nearest the river, which was preferred by her mother anyway. She spent the rest of her time there, learning her mothers ways as well as making friends with other village children. She met a new elf one day, looking for information on the local plants and animals. He was new to the area and was also looking for a new home in the area. They quickly became friends and she would offer help whenever he was in the area.
Her mother says she is ready to become a druid and permission from the Maetaur elders. The ceremony begins now, a young, unaware cougar, suddenly hears her call.

Terquem |
Gilthanis, No worries, your back story can be whatever you want it to be, only thing we need to clear up now is what do you mean by "the boat ride over"?
Over from where?
If you aren't sure about what is going on in the land where Woodbridge is located, I can try to clear it up.
The "invasion" (keep in mind this is a nearly bloodless affair, the people who have come to this land are so vastly superior in arms, training, and numbers, that the local, petty, warlords, practically threw down their weapons and headed out of there as fast as their feet could carry them) began some time between 11 and 13 years ago. Most local, non soldier types, were not aware that an invasion was even taking place until large scale building projects began (like the castle at Castletown).

Dieredon D'atarisian |

Map Tool is something that I have certainly seen used. Also a print out of an AutoCad file, or even a hand drawing, could be PDFed and emailed to us, or added to the Campaign Tab. Just some thoughts. Someone more experienced with Maps on PbP needs to help out and weigh in here. I assume that we would all benefit from their use going forward. Sadly, I have no experience with their creation.
@Brother Phineas: Solid idea, there, and practically speaking, a very realistic concern.

Terquem |
The Game Thread is now open and active, please feel free to visit when you are able.
Recruitment is always open, and there is still a need for representation of the two races created for this setting that apparently no one so far is interested in, but it's all good, and new characters will always be welcome in Woodbridge.

Rocan |

@Terquem, I am still interested in this game, though it is a lot to read through.
If I'm gonna make a character it would probably be a Gymnaga Commoner (Low Class of course) that eventually develops into a ranger. I like the idea of growing into a character, therefore like to use commoner as a starting class. Being a hunter/fisherman as a first profession, he eventually develops better skills for tracking and hunting.
I do have a few questions about the Gymnaga, maybe I've missed some of the information already.
Their pantheon is like the Greek/Roman pantheon, I take it this is not exactly those gods but their equivalents right? So we'll have to give them names. Will we use mainly Woodbridge counterparts of the Gods that stayed on Olympus? Meaning about 12-13 gods.
Another question is whether the Gymnaga live in the same village as the humans or just close by, if they live in the same village how many gymnaga would there be? A dozen or a few more? What kind of houses do they use?
Also are there any naming conventions you have in mind for the Maetaur and Gymnaga races?

Terquem |
Rocan - no worries! yes it is a lot to read through, but the good news is you won't get left behind if you take time to read it.
The Gymnaga live in a reclaimed ruin (of unknown origin) that is on the western bank of the river just about a half mile south of the Village proper. They are less than 30 in number, five families, and they do consider themselves part of the Woodbridge community.
I'll put up some details of how they have reclaimed the ruin to be suitable to their use tomorrow.
As far as their religion is concerned, we probably only need to detail four or five Gods, to start, and the leader of the Gymnaga is a Cleric of the Chief Female God (who should be Lawful and Good).

Rocan |

Ok than I'll roll some stats and come up with gods and pantheon names tonight.
4d6 ⇒ (5, 6, 6, 3) = 20 that'd be 17
4d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 1, 4) = 11 that'd be 10
4d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 2, 5) = 13 that'd be 11
4d6 ⇒ (4, 4, 4, 6) = 18 that'd be 14
5d6 ⇒ (5, 5, 2, 3, 3) = 18 that'd be 13
5d6 ⇒ (1, 4, 1, 6, 6) = 18 that'd be 16
5d6 ⇒ (3, 3, 5, 4, 1) = 16 that'd be 12 (dropped)
Final stats: 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17, That looks fine to me.
Will write up my character tonight as well