The Khallan Civil War

Game Master FireclawDrake

A man by the name of Elrint Jobe has played some part in your involvement. He is a middle-ranking man in the newly formed Coraillan diplomatic service. He has asked you to attend a meeting at then Nethysian embassy, concerning the state of affairs between Coraillan and Nethysia.

Sis, how are we going to add this guy in our background? Maybe we're there to help him or something?

I had a thought that since Lysi is something of a street magician, he may have spotted you in the streets and noted that you were True Nethysians. True Nethys still holds the old capitol of the Nethysian Empire and thus, a great deal of political power. He may have co-opted you into attending the meeting to show off that he had true nethysian "allies", even if there were little kids.

Street magician sounds like something we could pull off, actually. Wish there were stats for rabbits now. I could pull 1d3 from a hat with summon minor monster(Ultimate Magic)...

Works for me. Especially if he promised us dinner. It's amazing how expensive food and lodging is in this city and that's an absolute shame as I've never seen so many different types of food being sold. Why, just this morning we passed street vendors selling three different kinds of meat pies, and that was just the meat pies, although between you and me I don't really trust meat pies, but I still eat them sometimes because well, they smell so good and it's kinda worth how sick they make you after.
*deep breath*
What were we talking about?

My character is mostly done.

I'm going to chance a roll for gold.

4d6 ⇒ (1, 3, 2, 4) = 10

When I saw this I immediately thought of Arry and Lysi....why do I get the feeling this is what her dreams look like? :P

Alright, couple things:

2d6 ⇒ (3, 5) = 8

80 gold to start with.

True Nethysian (Regional-True Nethys): You are potent in magic, and learned to use it well at the University in Nethys. You may choose one spell you are able to cast. You cast that spell as if you were one level higher. You do not need to choose the spell at first level. Spell Chosen: Phantom Steed

Inspired by Greatness: You met one of the Champions of Silval - Seleran Delar, Mortuus, "Door", Panul Sault, or Olfgar the Sandman. The encounter with them and their subsequent heroics at both the Battle of the Gods and against Chronarchus has shown you that even against the worst odds, one can still prevail. Seleran Delar's example in particular has inspired you to fight against the tyranny of Razgriz. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Will saves.

I'm assuming "Normal Trait" refers to those in the APG, so...

Focused Mind: Your childhood was either dominated by lessons of some sort (whether musical, academic, or other) or by a horrible home life that encouraged your ability to block out distractions and focus on the immediate task at hand. You gain a +2 trait bonus on concentration checks.

EDIT: Equipment is done! I'll wait for Sis before posting though.

Whoops. Knew I couldn't get through the whole process without screwing something up. Willl fix the traits in a bit. Playing catch-up a bit right now.

Awww. I forgot to post as Pravus. I'll have to train myself to catch that error.

Okay, it's fixed now.

Fireclaw, do you mind taking a look at Evengi now? I am planning to have him be a factor for Teradas Esq., a trader of fine goods from all points.

He has been living rather simply for the last year, and has become a friend and drinking companion of Eftil. He has watched the noctal become more morose over the last few weeks and is wondering what is going on.

Evengi has failed to make any useful contacts, has no connection to the old rebels and is hoping for some sort of change soon.

I'll tell you what, that noble class sorely needs two more skill points. Pravus needs a rank in Appraise, Sense Motive and K:Local. I can actually explain away lacking K:Local because he traveled around a lot, but I'd say that he needs Appraise and Sense Motive badly. Can I move the ranks in Escape Artist and Intimidate into Appraise and Sense Motive, and can I switch Constitution and Wisdom? I was originally going to have him act much stupider, but I can already see that without his traditional trusted sidekick, I'll have to play Pravus much smarter and independent, at least until he takes leadership.

Would switching your wisdom and constitution change anything? You get a -2 on wisdom as a Cinder. So you have an 11 on both stats. Can't switch the 11 and 9 and forget to apply the modifier.

Ah yes, I neglected the 'average man' rolls. Nevermind the stat swaps.

Looks good Evengi, only issue I have is that his "ancestral" home probably could not have been in Coraillan, which was conquered and taken from the Xoltian Empire about 35 years ago. It could, however, have been a reward to Evengi's parents for service during the conquest.

Oh, I like that! It also explains why Evengi's parents were killed. They were involved in the conquest...dad was a bit...brutal in his tactics.

To Evengi, the land that he grew up on is his and it belongs to him.

Am I cleared to jump into the game?

Yes! Off with ya!

Your name tag is showing Goblins. :P

Basically, the noble is all about talking. Can do stuff like deal "morale" (non-lethal) damage, add cha bonus to damage. They're really good at using the social skills (bluff, diplomacy, intimidate). It's under the OGC so I might put it up on the PFSRD. I'm finally home! Expect to see lots of updates within the next 3 days.

This class can knock you out by talking to you? And that is what Talk-down does? Pravus attacked my character for non-lethal damage with a skill check? This is a class you allowed in the game, GM Fireclaw?

No other class can deal non-lethal damage in that fashion that I know of. I would like to see this class. I'm not sure I want to be in game with a class like that. That will be rather annoying for him to be able to make a skill check and do damage at will with no save. Until I see this class, I'm going to withhold interacting in the game. I want to see the mechanics work with this class. I don't know that I want to be in a game with it. I'm not for example going to be in a game with a class that can deal damage at will by talking while the rest of us with abilities of a similar kind have limited uses per day.

Nice amount of work you put in. But if you're allowing side classes like this in the game without informing the players of what they are and giving advance notice of what they do, I don't much care for that.

I would find it rather not enjoyable to:
1. Receive no save against such an ability.

2. Have this able to knock me, a person with an extremely high will save and force of personality, unconcious by some other character talking to me. You may find that amusing GM Fireclaw for one of your characters, I would not.

This is why I avoid third party material and campaigns based on them. You get little surprises like ridiculous powers that can deal damage through a skill check with no save against one of your characters that certainly would not be at all affected by some other character insulting him. I'll see if you post this class so I can decide if I want to be in a campaign with said class.

Thanks for your time, GM Fireclaw.

Obviously, you're so horrified you faint.
But yeah...I don't plan on leaving, but I do think a skill check-to-damage class seems a bit...odd.
EDIT: By the way, Goblins, are you from the Agartha game? I seem to recall Fireclaw inviting a real-life friend or relative or the like, but now I can't seem it. >_>

Rodrick is being played by my brother, just so that's cleared up.

Concerning the Noble class: I personally do not think it's overpowered. I will endeavour to post it tonight when I'm not at work for all to read. Here is where the confusion happenned:

"Morale" damage is NOT non-lethal, I was oversimplifying in that post, because it acts like non-lethal in many ways. However, the literal worst way it could affect your character is that you wouldn't want to attack Pravus. Literally. Quoted the Morale Damage section below.

The Talk Down ability is an ability to defuse situations. It's intended to stop creatures attacking, so that a diplomatic solution can be reached. It requires a Diplomacy check.... Pravus clearly wasn't being diplomatic there, so I'm gonna rule that he didn't deal the damage.

I understand how the ability is supposed to work. What I'm not much going to deal with is no save and a skill check that can be beefed up with feats and the like. My character could care less about insults. If this damage keeps getting higher and higher and can be done like Channel (which has a save), why should I deal with that for a character I in no way envision being bothered by someone insulting him. He dealt with years of physical and mental torture. Some guy saying harsh words is going to bother someone who dealt with that? I think not.

I agree - see my edited post above xD.

I understand how the ability is supposed to work. What I'm not much going to deal with is no save and a skill check that can be beefed up with feats and the like. My character could care less about insults. If this damage keeps getting higher and higher and can be done like Channel (which has a save), why should I deal with that for a character I in no way envision being bothered by someone insulting him. He dealt with years of physical and mental torture. Some guy saying harsh words is going to bother someone who dealt with that? I think not.

Sorry, I meant to put a ";P" after that comment about fainting.

Morale damage is a bit less drastic. I think I agree with Fireclaw's decision--'Talk Down' is quite clearly an issue of diplomacy (the noun, not the skill), and unleashing a torrent of insults is closer to Bluff or Intimidate.

Thanks for the clarification, GM Fireclaw. I would still like to see more when you get the chance. Now I see Pravus misused the ability. I certainly wasn't attacking him and thus didn't need to be "talked down".

I appreciate your openness, GM Fireclaw. I don't mean to be a pain. But I'm careful what campaigns I jump into. I don't want to deal with surprises that completely destroy my character concept with rules.

If Pravus wants to have a battle of wits, great. We can do that with our words. As far as using character abilities to attack other characters because you have some ridiculous ability that allows you to simulate an attack from insults, that I'm not dealing with. That is nothing more than abuse of an ability by a player. The entire exchange wasn't even clever to begin with. Calling someone a sphincter is not my idea of a witty noble insult. I certainly couldn't at all picture Vandrake being cowed by an insult of that kind.

Yeah, I was trying to make Vandrake shut the hell up, not kill him or something. :)

Edit: Wow. I'm just trying to get a smile and a laugh, not have someone start accusing me of being a player who is abusing rules. Always assume I'm smiling and laughing when I post, and am trying to get others in on the fun with me, not take someone down a notch. Come come, can we not shake hands and be merry?

We'll get along fine. I don't want attacks launched at me that I don't know the rules for and that seem to give one character such an extreme advantage over another as to make role-playing pointless.

Your ability seems to be an at will abilty standard action with an easy DC to do the damage. I don't quite understand why GM Fireclaw wants so many of his encounters to be ended in such a fashion, but he is the GM. So it his choice. Your character appears to use Diplomacy to hit. His Diplomacy is +10 right now. There appears to be no defense against the attack other than not being able to hear or see you. A fighter with a 20 strength couldn't get a +10 to hit at first level using standard rules without charging. I'm not sure the DC for the Diplomacy check is higher than what most ACs would be. Seems overpowered to me.

I certainly won't much enjoy myself if I have to deal with such an ability when it affects how I want to roleplay my character without so much as a save. I could have countered with Intimidate considering the ease of use of that skill. I don't care for Intimidate mechanics either. I prefer to let each person speak and choose the manner of their character's interactions.

We'll see how it goes. My character is staying to hear what Elrint Jobe has to say. I may have no interest whatsoever in his mission and may go it alone. At the moment we are merely prisoners of circumstance waiting to see what GM Fireclaw has planned for a mission.

I agree that the ability (which until I had used it, I hadn't really looked it over) is a bit heavy; the use of a skill in such a manner is easily abused. I wish someone would create a good noble class; although I'm comfortable enough with the NPC Aristocrat class, I'd like more 'meat on the bones' so to speak, and this one is the only pathfinder 'talker' class I have found. People always suggest Bard or Rogue, but those always come with stuff I don't need and my character wouldn't know.

I feel like Rizzo Ratso suggesting it to the GM, but, I'd be more than happy to remove the talk down ability for 2 more skill points! Being a core component of the class, I think that 4 more skill points is fair, but I'll take two! (Feels all slimy now). Honestly, this is why some GMs don't allow the 3PP, because of the wheeling and dealing that occurs when trying to negotiate the class's abilities.

I'm sure GM Fireclaw will let the ability go for a while and see how it works. May be no problem at all. I'm the DM for most of our material world campaigns. I lean toward the conservative in class abilities. As long as it doesn't screw up my role-playing, I'm good with it. After reading the ability and getting clarification, I see what it is for. Will be interesting to see how much it affects combat.

Just as your character as humorous, my character takes himself very seriously. It would mess up the role-playing if he were that easy to cow into silence. He is a man that didn't go silent on threat of death. It would be real hard to role-play him as a man silenced by some rough language.

Don't worry about the ability yet: I recall that it is a language-based, mind-affecting ability. That is a HUGE detriment. We'll see how it is.

It looks like everyone is relatively done with the initial interaction... I'll give you guys a bit longer (till tonight) then off we'll go.

So, it's the big day! Who's ready for the "off we go"?

I'll only ask that people make bluff checks if someone uses sense motive on them. That sound fair to everyone?

I'll only ask that people make bluff checks if someone uses sense motive on them. That sound fair to everyone?

Seems fair. I can only see my guy worrying about such things if he feels he needs to.

I apologize for my slow posting rate, the new school semester has diminished my posting time somewhat. I hope that I'll get back into a rhythym soon.

If my posts ever seem fragmented, I'm probably posting from work and have run out of break time. Expect me to finish them that night. (This is the case with my most recent post).

Giving Kobold Cleaver a chance to post, but I believe he's having computer problems. I'll continue tonight without him.

I would've posted here, but this thread wasn't bookmarked on the computer I'm using now and I forgot. Sorry. :/
I deliberately didn't have Eftil introduce himself, by the way, because he didn't realise he was meant to and wouldn't know what to say.

Oh man, I see chaos happenning. Hopefully everyone is enjoying themselves thus far, and isn't minding the slow posting speed too terribly.

I'm very open to constructive criticisms about how I run my games. If you have a suggestion or thought, please let me know. We can always discuss things as a group.

So far, I'm having fun. I'll post constructive criticism if it occurs to me, but it hasn't so far.

Yep, it's a great game so far.

Weasels for the win!

So little time, so much to post. More to come later tonight.

*Dies laughing*

I love Pravus, he's such a moron!

Yeah, that post made me chuckle. :33

You just couldn't have him sit still a litlle bit longer, could you? Oh well, at least now Arry has something to distract him a bit.

It probably wouldn't have worked; Pravus's pants (call them what you like; I like Aladdin Pants, but I've also heard Harem Pants, Hammer Pants, Turkish Trousers and for a more realistic portrayal, Zouave or Sharovary) are bound at the bottom. Check my image of him and you'll see I'm not lying. That said...I suspect Pravus would have made many a joke about a large weasel in his pants, and now I wish he hadn't jumped up so quick.

"Wha! I..."

Pravus smiles and looks at one of the women at the far side of the table.

"I've got a weasel in my pants, and it wants to play. What? I'm not lying, come, see for yourself. I think you'll find it's quite large. Oh! OW! It's a biter baby, and seems to love large nuts in it's mouth. Oh ho! I like to hide things in that hole as well little fella. But I'm not really a fan of Richard Gere. Who wants to play a game of Whack the Weasel?"

*Dies laughing*

Hahaha. SO crude. Loving it.

Would you guys prefer if I do small posts consistenly (this is especially good if everyone's doing their own thing), or wait for everyone and do big posts (this makes sure everyone gets fair "play time")?

It doesn't matter to me, I just like the way the group dynamic seems to be going.

As do I, and there are good points to both ways of posting.

No preference.