Hello and welcome to the game! I'm excited to get started with all of you.
If you haven't already, finish up your character using the criteria below. Please let me know when you're ready for me to review your sheet. Also, if you use HeroLab, shoot me a PM with your .por file.
1. All characters begin at level three.
2. 20-point ability buy. There WILL be penalties for low ability points.
3. Non-evil alignments.
4. All Paizo-created races are acceptable, but core races are preferred. No custom or third-party races are allowed.
5. Paizo-created classes and archetypes only. No samurai, ninjas or summoners.
6. Two traits. You may pick a campaign trait from any of the APs that take place in Varisia (RotRL, CotCT, Second Darkness, Jade Regent and Shattered Star) or the traits in the city guides. Try to pick traits that align with your backstory, not just add to your character's stats (or figure out how to add stat-boosting traits into your backstory).
8. Level 3 starting gold. If you take a crafting profession, you may craft at 1/3 of the items' prices, but only if you've taken three skill points in that profession.
9. Max HP at level one, roll or 1/2 HD + 1 thereafter.
10. A super-secret bonus/penalty to be applied if your character is selected. (I'll post these shortly.)
In addition to this crunch, please PM me with the following information:
- What is your character's short-term goal (i.e. making a delivery, visiting family, getting a haircut, etc.)?
- What is your character's long-term motivation (i.e. revenge, falling in love, writing a sonnet, etc.)
- Where is your character currently coming from and where are they heading to?
Also, are any of you connected to one another? Or are you open to being connected? I'm fine with having all six of you being brought together by fate, but connected backstories are always fun.
Finally, as this is a sandbox-y, non-AP game, I'm going to have to ask for you to play nicely a bit. You all have your individual motivations and purposes, but I'm going to do my best to find ways to get you all to work together for common purposes - including fulfilling your individual goals. Please don't resist joining forces TOO much.
I'm sure there will be more, but this should get us started.
Thanks, everyone!
As promised, you each have a random character "flaw". These flaws aren't major, but help give a little flavor to your character. If you feel like your assigned flaw is too harsh or out of line with your character, let me know and we may adjust it.
In addition to your flaw, you will be receiving a bonus - these will be assigned after your characters are complete.
The Flaws
Cheap Drunk: Even a slight amount of alcohol, as much as half a cup of weak brew, leaves you impaired. You take a -4 to all Dexterity checks & Wisdom checks until you’ve rested for 8 hours.
Meek: You’re unable to assert yourself. You cannot succeed on any intimidate check with a DC higher than 10.
Bad Eye for Value: You always pay 10% more than market value when buying items from merchants. You always sell for 10% less than market value.
Day Dreamer: You cannot succeed on any reactive perception check with a DC higher than 10.
Weak Grip: Once per battle, if you miss with a melee attack your opponent may make attempt a disarm combat maneuver as a free action.
Medicine Dependent: You require a daily dose of medication to avoid the fatigued condition. After two days you gain the exhausted condition. You currently have 20 doses of this medicine.
I'll include all necessary information in a PM to you later, boss. The flaw fits a bit with my character actually as he's been weaning off the drink since The Shiv (namely for lack of it). I think it makes perfect sense that he'd be extra susceptible to it at this point.
Just wanted to post and let everyone know that I'm willing to tie my backstory together with anyone else. Parts of my backstory are easily open for characters to be inserted into. Were you one of my former crew who mutinied? Maybe you were on the ship that rescued me and mine from Smugglers Shiv? Perhaps I just met you along the way after returning to the mainland? My character's searching for his ship and the damned first mate who incited the mutiny against him. In addition, he's trying to build a new crew whilst he does. Maybe you've agreed to join my crew? Who knows? Just let me know if you have any ideas.
Hey glad to meet you all. I am open to sharing some backstory with other people, although I'm not sure how that would have come about, what with spending the last nine years as an inanimate object and all. I have spent the last year traveling, trying to chase down Fey rumors and lore, so we could have met during that time.
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Weak Grip is my favorite flaw because it means that a lot of opponents will be provoking attacks of opportunity by trying to engage it.
Bad Eye for Value is fine by me-- no voice means she can't haggle. Day Dreamer is really rough-- a person who is always surprised.
Who wants to be Zora's friend? I'd like to choose someone to be her 'long-term' pal and the recipient of her almost-guaranteed-to-be permanent telepathic bond. We could have run into eachother in Magnimar, Korvosa or anywhere across the Varisian frontier.
I like the idea of perhaps knowing Ragman since your backstory gives me a 'Scarecrow' vibe and Zora's a fine Dorothy, but I'm unsure of when to place it. I'm interested to know what Rag looks like-- I'm just imagining him like or close to this?
I'm thinking that Zora might have ran into Cale once when he was a pirate captain, he had an injured crewmate after a barroom brawl, and she was the mysterious healer on the docks. Long since parted ways but fate conspires to have us meet a second time. Or have you never been as north as you are now?
For Alonna, perhaps we crossed paths in Korvosa-- when Zora was helping the tiefling orphanage and Alonna was getting her first tastes of adventure. Maybe I helped you or you helped me in that fashion?
Hammas-- unsure. Jeyvara-- I think it's safe to say we probably have not met before, but depending on the circumstances, I may have heard of your 'rival.'
Unlike the rest of you who cleverly hid your backstories, mine is in my alias if you want to take a peek and think of how Zora might have met you in the recent now or distant past.
I think day dreamer works for me. I see it more as he's been staring at one spot in a field for a very long time, so being out, moving around with even what we would consider mild activity would probably be overwhelming to his senses.
And for the same reason I think he would make a good friend to Zora. A telepathic link would probably be a very attractive thing to have in a friend.
I think my character would be absolutely disfunctionally crazy. He has the life experience of a ten year old and the madness of someone who has been frozen in place for nine years. But I don't want to play him as crazy as that would make a person. The Thrush familiar gives a bonus to diplomacy, as well as sense motive and perception from the alertness feat, so I was thinking that translates into the idea that the thrush is kind of holding him together and maybe magically guiding him in his interactions with people. So it keeps his madness in check somewhat.
Yeah his appearance would be close to that. He's tall, emaciated and wearing poorly-fitting clothes patched from rags and old clothes. He has a wide brimmed hat with the top cut off and a bird's nest in it.
Perhaps we kept randomly running into each other in different towns on our separate missions, then finally discovering that we were both heading to Turtleback Ferry we decided to travel together. My first human friend!
Not much time to post, just wanted to pop in, everything will be updated this evening. Anyone else from Varisia is a good fit for Hammas, though I can see helping the Captain track down the first mate.
Hey, all. Just checking in. I'm pretty sure I already have everything in the alias done. I'll get the other things you asked for sent to you as soon as I can.
The drawback is fine, though I'd prefer it be flavored as more of a magical curse or something from some item she picked up when she was first starting out as sort of a "rookie mistake". More roleplaying potential than just "I'm sick". Gives her something else to work toward and gives her another reason to be so invested in knowledge and spellcraft.
Okay, my first PBP. Whew. Exciting. Everyone try to be patient with me, ok? I'm pretty dang new, but I've done a lot of reading. Also, not gonna lie, I dragged myself out of bed just to check the recruitment thread...
I'll PM you with my motivations when I've got them pinned down (should be soonish). I don't know if the flaw's a perfect fit, but it certainly isn't out of line for her - she's used to chucking bombs, not fighting in melee, so I'll put it in my profile.
I'm also happy for Alonna to be well-connected - anyone from Korvosa would be a natural fit, but she's also travelled with many adventurers in her short trips. If she doesn't know any member of the party, well, she's going to want to fix that pretty soon.
Castellus - I'm not sure how she might have known the Captain - she certainly hasn't spent any time on a ship, but I'm sure if met, she'd readily agree to a swashbuckling life of high adventure.
Hammas - I'm a little uncertain. You strike me as the solo wandering type, so do you have any ideas?
Zora - your suggestion certainly sounds plausible. I'm sure once Alonna had the taste of adventure, she'd be trying to help out anywhere she could. Helping an orphanage of tieflings? Yeah, why not! Need potions? Cough syrup? Plaster for casts? I can help with that!
Ragman - I can't see Alonna having met you already, but prepare to be questioned by her. Heavily and rapidly.
Jeyvara - maybe Alonna tagged along on a dungeon dive. She spent quite some time dropping in and out of various adventuring groups, so maybe she met you at some point along the way.
My profile should be fine to review; I'll just add in the drawback and a couple of adventuring items I forgot. If I can buy another wand, I'll probably do that.
Crap... just realized. Grenadier archetype removes the Brew Potion bonus feat, but I can't pick up the feat at 3rd level, because alchemists don't have caster levels. :/ GM, what's your ruling on this? An alchemist who can't make potions? Seems a bit off.
Yes you do. Alchemists count their levels in the class as their caster level for all CL requirements, such as dispelling and item creation. You can take Brew Potion at level 3.
Okay, awesome. Thanks for that, the wording in the book had me a bit confused. Yeah, you can't tell I'm new...
This is my first PBP as well Alonna.
Okay I think my profile is finalized.
Edit: Except that I can't seem to get HeroLab to charge me for my wand of mage armor.
There, that should be everything. Meek certainly isn't the flaw I would have thought of, but it fits her really well. Looking forward to playing with everyone.
Alonna, Hammas is definitively a wanderer, but dislikes being alone for too long. She's used to having people around. My guess is they met and connected over a shared interest in alchemy. Hammas has the Alchemical Knack trait and was probably looking for supplies and/or advice on how to get some of the trickier alchemical arrows to work properly. Whether this was before or after the sale of the shop I leave to you.
That could work. If Hammas has spent any time in Korvosa, it was probably before the sale of the shop - Alonna could have provided supplies, and maybe asked to tag along for a while out of wanderlust, heading back to town after a week or so. Does that sound likely?
Quite. Korvosa's a likely place for a village girl to wander. It is 'the city' after all, and who better to ask about arrows than an elf-kin? Their initial jaunt would like been along the lines of, 'Help me find X, and I'll show you how to use it.'
Yay! Hammas has a friend. ^_^
Hammas has a friend, and Alonna has a companion. It all works out!
(Also, I just gave my profile a quick edit, because I realized I could afford a mithril chain shirt which would be much better than studded leather armour >.> Edit - nope, 20 gp short. Damn it.)
Alrighty, I think I've got all the crunch and fluff worked out. I'll get additional pictures of my character and information added as I get to it. Work is hectic right now.
If DM's cool with it, I'll float ya 20.
Ok, so as I see it:
The good cap'n and Jeyvara are loners. Hammas and Alonna are traveling companions. Ragman and Zora are buddies. I'm good with that.
Please discuss amongst yourselves where you're coming from and where you're going. You can do that in this thread or via PMs - I care not. Just let me know when you've reached a consensus.
Jeyvara, I'm good with your flaw being a curse.
Also, tied to that, with time and intention, you can overcome your flaw, if you want. You won't lose the bonus (which hasn't yet been assigned), so some of you may want to pursue that.
I'm going to start going through the profiles now. I'll let you know what, if anything, I find.
Hammas and Alonna - I'm good with the float of 20 gold. But make sure you pay back your half-orc friend. You don't want to be indebted to a half-orc.
Oh, no, just consensus with your buddy. We'll work on building whatever consensus we can in-game.
Yes, because midge the meek is such an intimidating person.
I think Hammas wouldn't really think much of it. Big family without a lot of resources you learn to share, or go the opposite and never let anyone touch your stuff, seen 'em both.
So Alonna, we are traveling to Turtleback Ferry from Korvosa, and we most recently passed through X where we Y.
Zora, from what I understand you are coming from Magnimar to Turtleback? I am heading to Turtleback in the hopes of meeting with the gnomes of the forest, perhaps we should travel together? We both have an interest in healing, so I would think we would have met in a place of healing and became fast friends in the way that mute people and functioning lunatics often do.
Also, I still am unable to get HeroLab to charge me for my wand of mage armor. I'm going to go ahead and just deduct it on my alias and track it there.
Simultaneous posts!
Mister Ragman would definitely be up for further questing after his meeting with the gnomes, assuming the gnomes don't say "Oh hey yeah we know those two, they live on Main Street. Here's a magic feather that will allow you to turn them into living statues. Have a nice day."
He isn't solely focused on the Fey, he wants to build relationships with people and learn to fit in with society again, and he is looking for ways to hone his abilities as well.
When you're creating the wand, you have to click "Set" above the gold. Then it will charge you the right amount.
Also, a friendly reminder to all who use Hero Lab, please send me your .por files. I am lazy and this makes it much easier to review your builds.
So, tea with the gnomes, turtle soup at the ferry then on to Kaer Maga. Sounds good.
That would be great, Hammas. Thanks for the loan. You'll be paid back as soon as Alonna has the coin. :)
So, did Alonna sell her shop after travelling with Hammas and deciding to continue doing so? Or did we meet up unexpectedly at some point along the way to Turtleback Ferry?
How do handle telepathic communication? I mean from a formatting perspective. Use spoiler tags?
Ah! That was scary!
The first I think. Having met quite by accident during one of Alonna's jaunts, Hammas returned with her to Korvosa. Where Alonna decided the time was right to sell everything and embark on a life of permanent adventure. Since then, the two have traveled together. Alonna tutoring Hammas in the ways of alchemy, and Hammas lending Alonna her wilderness skills.
My best thought on why they would be headed to Turtleback ferry is to investigate rumors of treasure caches left over from the giant invasion several years ago.
Sounds good to me. Alonna got the taste of adventure and decided to pursue it with everything she had, having found a new friend, selling potions here and there along the way to help finance their expeditions, making interesting new arrows for Hammas to try out, which satisfied her need to tinker and create. And hey, what adventurer doesn't like treasure?
I like it Alonna.
Yes DM, give unto us our first loot!
Treasure is great! And yeah, bonuses would be nice. But I just remembered I didn't send the GM my motivations, d'oh! So I don't really have the right to request anything right now.
After looking at all of our stat blocks I have decided that our combat strategy should be to just keep healing ourselves until our enemies eventually collapse from exhaustion.
Like this, Rags? :P
Exactly like that! Okay cut that out and paste it into page one of our play book.
If anyone here hasn't read OOTS, please do so. I personally think everyone who's played D&D/Pathfinder should read it. It's funny if you don't play it, but genius if you do.
Yeah I'm glad you linked that because it made me realize they are still going on. I thought it ended years and years ago. I'm trying to find where I left off.
I know the artist had to take a break because of a hand injury (Elan even sings a song about it). But yeah, still going! Some 800 strips now, and it just seems to keep getting better.
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That seems a legitimate strategy. I was a bit taken aback when I saw myself listed as martial. I consider myself more "light martial" as I'm still squishy. The cheap drunk flaw fits given I've been on an island without rum for awhile. Interested to see the bonuses and get ourselves underway. I think Kaer Maga would be the kind of place I'd be traveling to. Plenty of recruits there, so Turtleback for me is a passing through kind of area.