The Dragon's Demand

Game Master New England Frost Giant

Please feel free to discuss your characters, away time, and ooc topics here. Thank you.

Hello? Hope I am in the right spot.

Hi all, I made my character a Mercenary by background. Given Taldors nobles have little conflicts periodically and there are always cities, towns or caravans (if business is slow) in need of guarding I can fit into just about ANY of your home towns or backgrounds as someone you met, hung out with and became friends with. This Mage is sufficiently martial that he'd have plenty in common with you including Barroom brawling and/or nights of drunken debauchery.

My character portrait is indicative of how I am... always spoiling for a fight but unfortunately bruised and battered by biting off more than I can chew.

GM Dragon: Are we going to have a chance at buying our own magic items and stuff or are we going to be 100% reliant on what the module provides? By level 3 I am hoping to secure a mithral mail shirt, if not earlier.

Oops. I may have jumped the gun here. Not sure from the other wizards posting which one got the gig.

Odinbjorn is a disgraced Ulfen Guard that recently took up the mantle of bodyguard for hire. He is a run of the mill Ulfen man, there is nearly nothing extraordinary about him. Pale blue eyes, blond hair, and beard that would make Chuck Norris envious (ok one awesome thing).

He enjoys fighting as a unit, especially in close proximity with his allies, in which he can issue them a myriad of AC benefits. He is devoted to his friends, because they were so hard to come by in the guard (His dad made some enemies).

He holds himself to a high standard, almost too high. Despite an average charisma, he sees himself as a great tactician and prefers giving orders in combat to make use of his skill set.

Sorry Wilhelm, Halvar is the starter wizard. If something should happen, I will post for a replacement. Sorry for the misdirection.

Osric is a hunter and local "protector" of his hometown in rural Taldor. He is convinced he was saved by the divine intervention of Erastil during a boar hunt several years ago, and seeks to serve him in the capacity of a ranger. As such, he is fiercly loyal to his family and community, and while he is always a little wary of strangers at first, he is quick to make friends with good people.

I'm working out Mala's background but think minor noble, spoiled and attractive. Struggles with the whole inner/outer beauty thing. She would probably be crushing on both Odinbjorn and Osric. Her martial skills are a bit on the light side, but she does have a way with words (spell focus enchantment).

No shields :( Bummer

All humans cool

Jadwiga and an Ulfen this could play out well.

One of the questions for the group is how much of Halvar's background people know IC and OOC.

Everyone would know that Halvar is a Kaer Magan Bloatmage.

That said those who have travelled with him awhile will know his last name is Frost and he does have a plethora of cold based spells.

This, of course, raises the essential question here of exactly how long our merry menagerie has been travelling together.

Mala: given Halvar appears to have deformed his body for power - presumably before meeting Mala - I can imagine that Mala may be disdainful of Halvar.
Of course Halvar will return the favour as he regards ensorcelling the minds of humanoids as ethically dubious at the best of times.
He will, however, likely be the only person to understand her claim to nobility. Expect him to be a complete gentleman.

Osric: Halvar has no desire at all to harm your family or community.

Odinbjorn: Rest assured that Halvar is a loyal man to his friends. The question of exactly how deep the friendship goes currently is worth bringing up in regards to how many of Halvar's secrets he has entrusted you with.

Not sure what you mean by "no shields". If you mean we have no-one to stand in the front line and soak up damage then I am delighted to inform you that Halvar is, in fact, quite capable of fulfilling this role should it be necessary.

Not himself, of course - by the thousand gods no - but quite capable of summoning simple creatures to "shield" the group for a round or two. This is especially true should they be given some additional support from their tactical leader.

I take it that Odinbjorn is in general the tactical leader of the group, and it is around him we cluster?

I do appologise, it appears that Halvar may be the slowest member of the group. I will endeavour to do what I can to fix that (assuming it holds true) at our next level.

I kinda thought the cavalier could hold up as a shield type, but if the need arises I could post for one. Lets see how this goes first.

I was thinking last night while I was working and am considering doing a 20 pt buy with the 2 traits if that is what PFS uses. That way you do have stronger characters and won't need to adjust them when this module concludes. Hopefully you continue on if I can find another adventure I think would work well with this one.
Give me some feedback on this please.

Halvar where did you find the Bloatmage Initiate feat?

@Halvar - I think the dynamic between Mala and Halvar could be very interesting. A constant test of her own inner/outer beauty struggle. Though she could very well view him as a kind of personal test from Shelyn.

@GM Dragon - If we play the module under 'campaign mode' rules for PFS that means we can play under whatever rules we like, we just earn the PFS Chronicle sheet at the conclusion of the module. That Chronicle sheet is applied to a legal PFS character for play (IE: not these ones). I play a lot of PFS so the 20 point buy/2 traits is second nature for me, but I was very interested in trying out a 15 point buy game. I tried to get my homebrew players to go for it a while back, but they didn't want to try/risk it. I would vote to keep the 15 point buy, but will happily follow the majority.

The bloatmage feat is from the City of Strangers book.

Ok. Lets see what the others think and thank you Mala. I was looking everywhere for that!

I like the 15/1. I can do 20/2 though. I haven't checked Halvar is PFS Legal though - as far as I know he is.
(Edit: looked through the list and looks okay)

Thanks Mala. Yes - the Bloatmages are from City of Strangers. I'm actually hoping to try out the prestige class... but that is a long, long way away.

Odinbjorn: Oh - Shields for Shield Wall. I doubt the Glaive cleric or the Archer ranger are going to be using shields. I suppose there's no reason Halvar can't perform shieldbearer duty - not like he's going to be hitting things in combat anyway, and if he needs to cast a spell he can remove it. If nothing else a tower shield might give him something to cower behind ;P
It is one of the teamwork feats that you can't share with your mount though.

I wanted to try out a 15pt build, I like the gritty realism and flaws. I wanted to get away from the 20pt power build game for a while. I vote
with Mala.

The shield part is in reference to my Teamwork feat, if someone is adjacent to me with a shield we all get awesome AC bonuses, I'll just pick up leadership/squire later if the GM allows it. We are not playing the avengers, we don't always get to pick who we adventure with, if there are no shields, there are no shields. My character was built from his background and I can grow into something different as the campaign progresses and dictates.

I'm with Mala and Odinbjorn - I'd like to see how the 15 point build works. Technically, we should all be able to do well - we all hit 16 or better in a key ability to start. We'll just need to rely on each other, like a real adventuring party. It seems to me the 20pt buy is mostly there in PFS because you never know your party's composition and may need to cover multiple roles.

I'm easy on points. Mild preference for 15.
Heavy wooden shield is 7gp, if we've been together for a while I'm happy to get one.

How long have we been together?
Sounds like Osric does not travel very much.
Could Mala and Halvar have met up with Odinbjorn in Oppara?
Why might they have decided to travel together? Mutual defence? Cleric/fighter/wizard does have a lot of breadth in what it can cope with.

Halvar and Odinbjorn both speak the same native language, that tends to bring people together especially in Taldor, where we could both mingle with the aristocracy (Ulfen Guard, and Irresen Dignitary) but never be fully embraced by them. If Mala is a noble, her father could have easily paid a wage to see that I looked after her (Bodyguard).

Mala seems to want the beauty and the beast dynamic going with Halvar, so that seems very interesting. Also of note, she specializes in Enchantment Magic, one of Halvar's opposition schools.

Why are we going to Belhaim? We could easily meet Osric when we get there.

Odinbjorn is an Order of the Dragon cavalier, so if we have been a group for even a week, he is completely commited to them. Especially if he is bound by honor or contract.

Another dynamic I see is that we are all good alignments, Odinbjorn is odd in the regard that he is a bit less lawful than the others, but he is an Ulfen Man afterall.

This is shaping up nicely, I think this is going to be a blast.

It is sounding really awesome.

I like the bodyguard angle and Odinbjorn and Halvar being friends by virtue of 'strangers in a strange land.' Still leaves us with why Belhaim. Could be a waypoint on the way elsewhere. Not sure what the module gives the GM for any hooks he might throw our way? One thing could be Mala is on a 'quest' to find/rescue some kind of art object

Another line of thinking could be what if Odinbjorn's disgrace has something to do with Mala? Either employed by her family, or another noble family 'friend.' Mala's crush on Odinbjorn is at the root of his loss of employment, so she chases after him wanting (in her childish way) to make things right.

I really like the potential dynamic with Halvar. There is a lot of room there for give and take.

I am going for a young, pretty, somewhat clueless girl who is used to getting what she wants. She has been surrounded by art and beauty her entire (short) life. She has a long way to go before she 'gets it' as far as what the Church of Shelyn is laying down. But ultimately she does have a good heart

Another line of thinking could be what if Odinbjorn's disgrace has something to do with Mala? Either employed by her family, or another noble family 'friend.' Mala's crush on Odinbjorn is at the root of his loss of employment, so she chases after him wanting (in her childish way) to make things right.

Perhaps your crush caused you to ask your father to pull some strings so I would have to stay on "Daughter duty" with the princess enabling you to get closer to me. Which had the adverse effect of me believing it was a grudge against my father and not the whimsy of a foolish woman that kept me from gaining a better station. When you heard that I was leaving the Ulfen Guard you felt responsible and had your father hire me.

aaaaahhhh how I miss backstory :)

I like what you guys are working up here! I had envisioned Osric as a local man, being from whatever town the adventure starts in. The GM says it's not acutally Belhaim.

I see him as one of the few locals with the chops to investigate a threat to the town, but he can't do it alone. He's also the kind of guy who has the thirst for a bit of adventure, but too strong a sense of duty to leave before this.

If Mala shows interest in him, he's probably going to act a little shy and awkward, being a rustic commoner. Nevertheless he would also be quite flattered.

Osric isn't the type to pass judgement too quickly, but it will likely take him a little time to warm up to everyone. He's a little stoic and guarded. He is used to being alone for long periods of time, and has seen too many bandits and shysters come through town to take strangers at face value.

Great ideas guys!

I love the idea that Mala was keeping Odinbjorn close and then one day he just exploded.

Odinbjorn - true. Actually Halvar could do a pretty good impersonation of an Ulfen-descended Taldorian if you like. The stranger in a strange land works well. Could Halvar have been a tutor (ideally a wizard tutor) hired for the daughter and meeting up with Odinbjorn there? I can see long nights one the daughter's "visits" with few other people to talk to helping cement the friendship. If Mala was one of the princess' friends then that's how they could meet up.

If we need a reason to leave - Halvar is being hunted by at least one Irrisen witch. If he thinks she has tracked him down he will want to bolt.

We just need a good road-side meeting with Osric at this point!

Perhaps Mala has forced them on a 'pilgrimage' as a pretext for Odinbjorn to have a chance to redeem himself and she can talk him up to her father?

Ok. So everyone is okay with the 15 pt buy so no changes.

You all start from Faldamont. I posted the start in the campaign info tab.

GM Dragon: When did you want to start?

I take it Osric was hired on in Faldamont as a local guide and we've spent five days in his company?

Ninja'd by Halvar! Congrats, sir! Hopefully my story below will sound reasonable.

So based on the campaign info it seems I may need to revise my background. It sounds like being from Belhaim itself is problematic, since part of the game appears to involve exploring the town. If I'm from Faldamont, why did I hire on as a caravan guard?

Bored with the local scene, and thought a quick jaunt couldn't hurt, perhaps?

Osric dearly loves his hometown of Faldamont, but has rarely had the opportunity to visit other places. One day he sees another caravan passing through. While at the tavern he hears the caravan is looking to hire on additional guards. He notices a few in the group, especially the fetching young noble-looking woman and her Ulfen friend. They seem to keep company with a rather heavyset gentleman.

He's more curious about these strangers than usual. They seem out of place. While Osric doesn't sense any malice on their behalf, he can't stop thinking about them. Why are they here, what's their story?

He decides to hire on with the caravan. A trip to Cassomir wasn't too far. He'd be home again soon enough. The caravan chief was only too happy to add his watchful eye and sturdy bow to the guard detail. Now Osric could finally meet those interesting folks, only he couldn't work up the courage to exchange more than a few words until the caravan was attacked. Now he has what seems like plenty of time for talking, at the Wise Piper.

Odin, it looks like you have 3 feats and can't figure out why. Once I figure out your character we can start earlier.

Odin, it looks like you have 3 feats and can't figure out why. Once I figure out your character we can start earlier.

Actually we can start now. You won't be using feats for a bit anyhow. Game on!

First Level Feat, Human Bonus Feat, and Tactician

FYI - At Gen Con this week, will do my best to keep up. I'm hoping to meet Mike Shel and tell him about my character :)

GM I am so used to playing society play, that I forgot all about armored kilts, would it be to late late to add one to my character?

If you have the gold, you may purchase it in town

Thanks GM, but I will pass after all, I do jot want to slow myself down to 20ft.

To speed things along, what do you think about me rolling these types of checks? I feel we can make up house rules as we encounter issues during our game, but don't know how it will affect PFS.

I'm game for it. Since we're already running the module in "campaign mode" we can use just about any house rules we agree on. Afterwards you can fill out the PFS chronicles and we'd apply them to a separate PFS-legal character.

I usually favor a GM rolling on my behalf when it will keep the gameflow going.

Sure - the only issue is if someone has a power they could use between the challenge being declared and the roll - eg guidance.

It will not affect PFS, the beauty of the new module system is that the GM can do whatever he wants. So roll away sir.

My feeling is that if you think making certain rolls speeds things along that's fine with me. As long as you are willing to retcon any possible mistakes I don't see a problem (IE: Roll a 14 on a DC 15 check and forgot some situational modifier or equipment bonus that would add +2 and make it a success...obviously a Roll of 3 on a DC 15 wouldn't matter :)

As the others have mentioned, the PFS Chronicle (which isn't even out yet) has no bearing on the way we are playing...it's just something nice we can take away at the end.

If there is any mistake on my part we will correct it immediately. Not a problem. If you put any active modifiers in your posts it would help. Copy, paste, adjust, send.

Ok

Mala, maybe your first use of skill points would be well used in climb! :)

Ugh. Seriously these dice aren't helping...

Thank you Mala for the web link. I was only using the DC in the module. I really haven't had much time to search rules due to my fast approaching move date, which is in 21 mins tomorrow. I can and will always count on you all as pathfinder gamers to help me with rules. Game updated.

Thanks GM Dragon! Hope your move goes well!

Good luck moving - see you when you have settled in :)

hope the move went well.

-Posted with Wayfinder

Move is done. Internet won't be repaired till Thursday or Friday. I want to use maps for our game.