The Darkest Day (Inactive)

Game Master JCServant

Angus, can you put that info in this thread for your background? Thanks! Looked good!!

Angus's background is rather simple.

standard childhood in foresty village

Magical energies manifested during late adolescence. He rapidly understood that these was innate to him and that he would be forever hunted by the Mage Guild.

He left everything he knew and started traveling, trying to stay mostly in low populated area. Eventually he learned to understand his abilities and his bond to animals.

Now he still travels around (and not running forward) masquerading as a traveling priest of:

Selvans Lesser God of the Hunt and Animals

Domain:Animal, Travel, Plant, Death
Alignment: Neutral

Selvans is a dualistic god of nature, a god of the animals but also of the hunt and nature's wrath, Selvans is a fickle deity. To kill or to be killed is his motto during his great hunts. god of the woods, who protected lost voyagers and punished those who abuse of hunting for pleasure. [2]

Looking good. I'll get these guys into HL this weekend, and hopefully we start first thing Mon morning. WHo else has some background info?

Toriel is the daughter of Aliel and Tandaer Ondovir. Her mother Aliel is a notable wizard and her father Tandaer is a druid. When she was still very young her mother took a position helping administrate a mages guild in a human city. While Toriel had some interest in magic and was a part of the school, most of her curiosity went to studying the humans she ended up growing up around and causing her magical studies to fall behind a bit.
(Thus why she is beginning with rogue class instead of wizard)
Toriel's father chose not to live in a human city though he has visited on occasion, being a druid he prefers to stay in forests or elven settlements.

Jarkralzak was born to a middle class family in one of the mighty Dwarven citadels. His father was a member of the local guard, and his mother worked as a "deep scout", travelling the forgotten underground roads and caves ensuring enemies were not massing in the dark to attack from below. A dangerous job, and not surprisingly, while trying to return from a particularly hazardous recon mission, she was killed. Stricken by the loss, Jarkralzak's father went into a deep depression, turning away from all that he held dear, and taking his only son with him. It was not long before the young dwarf was on his own, his father having been killed by orcs while travelling between citadels.
It was in this time of uncertainty that he began to hear The Voice. At first he thought he was going mad, but The Voice was gentle and caring. It helped him through the loss of his parents and led him to an almost forgotten clan on the outskirts of the citadel. Here he was taught about the Elder Gods and in particular the god Lore. Lore was a good god, concerned with bring Law and Order to the people. The ancient priest passed down a copy of the ancient manuscript that told of Lore and the other Elder Gods. Being fit, and having learned a small amount of weapon's skill from his parents, the clanhead decided to have him train as a warrior as well as receive religious tutoring. Jarkralzak would bring the word of Lore to all people. And for several years this was what he did, until the High King decided that his clan was heretical and had them disbanded; its members scattered to the winds.
Undaunted, Jarkralzak continued his training until he felt the god calling to him to enter the world and start spreading Law and Order among the people.

Wow...sounds good. Let's see if we can tighten up just a little...

Toriel, your mother would probably been in Silverfall, the human capital. As expected, the mage's guild branch there, which is their HQ, houses not only the largest spire and library, but also a full out university for accepted students to learn magic and earn their license. Your mother could have been anything from an admin to a professor to a researcher or librarian. The human's mage's guild has 10 archmagi who rule, with 3 being elves. This give the elven kingdom a controlling interest in the direction and use of magic in human lands. Conversely, the humans have 3 reps in the Elven high capital mage's guild. The Archmagi are very powerful wizards in their own right.

Jark.. The dwarves have had some bitter rivalries in the past with the drow. A number of decades ago, the dwarves delt a decisive blow to the drow army, leaving many of them dead. The rest retreated into further darkness. They've also had issues with rogue groups of dwarves who either worship or study magic, which they swore off after the great war.

Knowing how your character feels about magic will be integral to the campaign, especially since some of your traveling companions may be using it. Thoughts?

I think Jark will be a little more forgiving to magic users, simply because he knows what it is like to be persecuted. While he understands the need for control on this possibly dangerous power, he also realizes that not all law are lawful, and not all order is orderly.

Sounds good to me, makes a lot of sense that way that her father wouldn't be anywhere near there since her father is a druid.

Hello everyone, I am brand new to this forum, and only have a little bit of experience with pathfinder, but I have lots of experience with RP and complicated tabletop games. I plan on playing a master of styles monk.

Anyways, here is my character's background:

Shangruon was the runt of a half-orc family of five, deliberately spawned by the orc chieftain at the time in his campaign to create more cunning children who would be too weak to threaten his power. Because of his weakness Shangruon was often beaten up by his more brutish siblings, and quickly learned that fighting back was futile, he would only learn by watching how his brothers fought with each other.

By the age of maturity, Shangruon was well aware of his brethren's fighting styles, and would use their predictability against them in combat. Such behavior did not go unnoticed by his clever half-orc sister Meghra, the shaman's apprentice, who saw him as the most promising of the group. She confided in him a plot to murder the chieftain, their father, and take over as leaders of the tribe. His part in the coup would be to take out all of his brothers, the only ones smart enough to stop them, but Shangruon had no desire in authority and troubles that came with it and thus refused her. In the end Meghra betrayed him, personally telling him he was neither an orc, nor a man(male) as she rallied his three brothers to beat him up and drag him out into the wild to die alone.

Shangruon did not dislike the peace and quiet, and for a while all was well. However, he could not overcome the violence of the past, and preying upon the wild beasts of nature was not enough of a challenge to put his mind at rest. He eventually was discovered by a monk, who was sent to slay him by nearby fearful villagers, but instead chose to teach him the ways of living a balanced life in harmony within himself and with the world around him. For years Shangruon has lived this way in hermitage, secluding himself from a world that would not accept him in the first place. But now he again begins to feel unsettled, and wonders what is changing about the world.

So, as a little heads up, you can post more than once per 'posting session.' In fact, I encourage you to. The posting periods are a minimum during non combat, and a hard guideline during combat (I may resolve combat early if everyone's posted, but since it takes me a good 10-15 minutes, I tend to do them at set times when I have breaks at work). You'll find a lot of RP can helping during a normal posting period, especially during normal work hours of 9-6pm EST weekdays. Thanks!

Hello all!

Shallya of the Green is a halfling woman standing just under 3 feet tall and weighing about 30 lbs. She wears a sturdy travelers outfit, patched in many places and a suit of worn leather armor treated with wooden plates over vital areas. She also carries a wooden shield on her off arm. She sports a satchel across her shoulder and another pack at her belt.

Her left leg being lame, she walks, albeit quite slowly, with the aid of a very sturdy walking stick she can also wield fiercely in melee.

GM, how do you want to handle my Community Bond ability in PbP? Here is the description:

Spirit of Community (Ex): As a move action, you call upon the spirits of community. For the next round, you grant every ally within 30 feet a +1 competence bonus on a single skill check (of the ally's choice) that it makes before the end of this revelation's duration. Furthermore, allies within 30 feet can, as a free action, choose to forgo this bonus, and instead grant a single ally a +1 increase to its competence bonus granted by this ability (maximum +5). You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Charisma modifier. You must take this revelation at 1st level.

Do you want each person to post giving up their bonus to another or some other way?

Thanks!

It would take too long to do a consensus each time. I would say 3+CAH times day, you can either grant everyone a +1 bonus, or a single person a +5 bonus to a single skill check as a move action.

Np, that is how I figured it would work in a PbP, thanks!

Angus, if you need help with Handle Animal checks, let me know. I start with a +10 so can auto assist with Aid Another...

Jane the pet panther is a non combat animal...
But thanks for the offer

How will PC attacks of opportunity be handled? Are our characters assumed to make the first possible one they can, unless otherwise stated. Or do we have to specifically state whenever our characters plan to make one against a type of enemy action?

Admittedly, they do not come up often, especially in Pbp. I think I can count them on one hand in the other campaign. When they do, I'll usually call you to roll them, though I may still resolve the enemy action if I feel that no matter the outcome, they will get to do what they want to do.

I can do posting tomorrow morning, but then I am unavailable until Tuesday morning for posting.

Waits for updates all day... Realizes there's now another page

Hahahahahah! ;)

Tomorrow morning update may be a little late...but not much.

Angus, I don't mean to offend but could you look back and read previous posts and proofread your own before posting?

The robed person is female and has made no hint to knowing about the tower itself, just the portal.

i tend to disagree Toriel

---

The robed individual also looks up, the soft illumination of the runes doing little to help you see his or her face more clearly. A single word escapes its lips as a whisper.

...fascinating...

---

The hooded stranger stands close to Toriel as she goes through the papers. As Toriel shuffles through them, one catches the strangers eye. He or she immediately holds the paper down with a gloved hand, preventing you from moving the paper, if only for a moment.

A whisper... Could it be...?

The robed one withdraws.

----

Wait. You cannot go...at least not yet. If you do, there are two things that will take place. First, this portal leads to one of the outer edges of the elemental plane of fire. You would die from heat exposure almost immediately. Second, this portal is unstable, but is being held open by a force on the other side. You must find out what is keeping it open and stop it. If left, forced open, more than this floor will shake. Very land itself may be ripped asunder for miles around, including nearby cities. However, if you are successful, you would be trapped on that plane. I will help you on both issues.

----

Angus putting those 3 elements together assume a few things, hence his sentence.

And as for proofread i'll beg for leniency:

I post from my phone as i do travel a bit for work and therefore have no access to my spell checker and English isn't my native language at all

alright well gather your own theory on that but stop calling them a man... -.- his most recent post basically verified the person as a woman.

Do you know how hard it has been to keep my language neutral when it come to writing about the hooded stranger? Really, I had to write some of these things two or three times! Crazy!

For the next two weeks, my posting will be irregular at best, outside of a few days. I'll be on business trips, and between airports, meetings and time changes, it will be hard for me to nail posting times as regularly as before.

As a general rule of thumb, I expect everyone to check every four hours on the weekdays/day time hours (EST 8-6), and at least once on the weekend. If everyone adheres to this, we'll be able to keep this thing moving at a somewhat decent clip.

I'll remind everyone when I'm able to return to normal posting schedule.

Good luck on your trips...

to realize that angus is doing something more than just "talking" with his hands:

" an observer must make a Perception check opposed by your Sleight of Hand check to notice your spellcasting. Spellcraft checks made to identify any spell you cast that has somatic components take a –2 penalty."

and angus never offered anyone, he offered book that might be found in the tower's library toriel

Hmmm...I believe Toriel (elf) made those two rolls...no indication yet from NPC lady...I want to allow everyone a chance to react.

I don't understand your last sentence.

she indeed did make both roll.

She mentioned that she learned from us and our world trough a book she was able to obtain.

Angus reminded her that this planes is deadly to the "humans" and therefore is trying to apply the same logic: that our plane of existence would be deadly to her in the long run and that her magic might be different (the secret hope is that it doesn't work as well as she hopes).

Therefore the only thing of value he can think of to trade to her is to give the high priestess more books.

Salutations.

You all have survived the introduction to "The Darkest Day" campaign. There's more...lots more...as this was the prelude to what awaits.

With this chapter closed, you have now experienced how my play by post system works, including combat...and you have a small feel for the zany-ness and over the top stuff you can expect to see. It's corny, over the top, and serious all at the same time. Go figure!

My games are not for everyone. So, now is a good time to pause, and figure that out. What do you like or don't like? Is the world, combat system, pacing of posting, etc, a good fit for you? Most importantly, are you having fun?

Also, how did you enjoy interaction with others? Any RPG is only as fun as the player's interaction with each other, so I want to gauge this as well.

Because this may have critique, please email your thoughts to jcservant at cyberlightcomics dot com instead of posting them on here (unless they are just so overwhelmingly positive with no negatives that you feel may hurt someone's feelings in public).

To give you all time to do this, we'll slow postings down a bit today until I hear from everyone. Thanks!

I have no issues with the requirements of it and am enjoying it over all so far.

Same here...enjoying the game so far and looking forward to growing Jarkralzak (and maybe shortening his name...for friends only..lol)

My only concern is that my character might not work well in PBP, because most of the combat skills will involve retaliating to attacks of opportunity, retaliating to missed enemy attacks as immediate actions, and also being able to avoid attack as an immediate action.

a little frustration, being an arcane caster the first few levels if hard, but hey i chose it :)

i am not very familiar with hero points so far. I also like your simple battle system (i have used it before)

It's true, Sangruon, that certain builds just don't work so great in Pbp. I've found that anything that requires a lot of back and forth (including the simple act of deciding loot) can really slow things down. I would put a build that relies a lot on AoO's and chain attacks that interrupt in that camp. If you want to rebuild, now is the time.

Speaking of loot...I cannot remember if its in my house rules or not, but I'll detail out the Pbp rules for that...long story short, if you're familiar with how PFS handles it, that gives you a solid idea. These items you got here are the exception because they're part of the story line. :) You get to keep those.

Angus....I think your spells that you have don't really lend themselves very well to this world and/or combat. Charm person improves your diplomacy, which cannot be used, really, if a creature already has hostile intent. The healing deal heals too slowly to be useful in combat, as well as the obvious side effect.

I'm going to be in and out all through the next week. However, continue to work things out in RP. I will be getting online every chance I get to keep things moving as well.

I've t you an email two days ago and haven't seen a response

Taken care of.

I should be able to post, albeit a little earlier than normal. Again, may not be solid through this week.

I think in an effort to give Angus more to do that perhaps he should hold on to the wand of sleep for now... just a thought.

I have no problem with that

Is Shangruon gone for good??

Make sure to read the house rules pbp section. You don't get to hold on to most magical items after you leave a dungeon. They are basically insta sold and the gold split up. However, any party member can then buy items found, at cost, at any point moving forward.

This helps keep down very drawn out discussions about who gets what. Whlie that works fine in normal play, we found that in Pbp it really weighed things down.

With that being said, items specifically given to characters by the priestess are on your character sheets (such as Jark's new weapon or Toriel's scroll). One or more of those items may be story related and/or unique artifacts.

Shangruon is gone, for good, however, the player is not :)

Master of styles monk was a little too complicated for PBP, and my characters are almost always defined holistically by their combat style along with the story elements that support them/

It seemed at lot simpler for me to just bring out an alternate character idea rather than try to redefine or retcon an old one.

ah, good!! I was hoping we had not lost a player!!