Female Human Warlock 3 | HP 25/25 | AC 17 | Saving Throws - Str (+0), Dex (+6), Con (+2), Int (+1), Wis (+3), Cha (+6) | Passive Perc - 11 | Init +4 | Spell Slots - 2/2 |
It seems to work at my work, so I've asked to join.
Okay, well after a bit of playing around, and some quality feedback, it seems that staying here and sticking with the beast we know is a better choice than transferring to a beast we don't. So... Moving on. :)
So I am posting from work:
Apologies about not posting sooner, but I have been down internet wise for roughly a week, and will not have internet back up yet for a week or so.
This means that I haven't had internet for the last 4 days (as we had 4 days off at my work for the holiday).
It's been...an experience where I learned that I use the internet more than I thought I did.
With all of that being said, I will try to post from work as I can, but if I am in your game, please bot me as needed.
If I am running your game, please bear with me while I try to post when I can. Hopefully, sooner than better, but I want to be up front about this issue.
again, I apologize about the delay.
I must say, I'm a little disappointed. I thought for sure the list of "participating" businesses, possibly locate-able treasure, along with the inclusion of a sending stone and an amulet of proof against detection and location would get the ingenuity gears turning. Perhaps we're just dealing with holiday lag? If so, I completely understand that, and will wait patiently for whatever genius ideas you all have for using your new found items to get some much needed information from those you've been investigating.
At this point, I'm waiting on you all to move things along in a way that you think your investigations are best served. Essentially, I'm waiting for primers for week 3 investigations, whether those are still individual or more coordinated, is, as always, up to you. :) As far as I know there are more than enough "hooks" out there to latch onto. If you feel that is not the case, let me know. :)
You don't have to be a magic user to use magic items. Or to talk to people, like shop owners. I don't want to push anything yet, as I'm sure some people will have ideas. If, after the New Year's day holiday is over, you're still lacking inspiration, I'll offer some suggestions. :)
Female Human Warlock 3 | HP 25/25 | AC 17 | Saving Throws - Str (+0), Dex (+6), Con (+2), Int (+1), Wis (+3), Cha (+6) | Passive Perc - 11 | Init +4 | Spell Slots - 2/2 |
With the items we've gotten, the obvious ones are trying to use the stones to trick information out of folk and using the amulet for sneakiness. Since we know the Arcane side of things has problems it's probably a good idea for anyone doing some B&E on them to wear it.
I'd still like to track down a trustworthy Alchemist to get some information about the poison dart, too. If only so we can safely use it ourselves and get some antidote ready in case the bad folk use it a lot.
Quint will have his eye on the amulet, especially after he finds out about his name appearing on those documents, but if we're going to do anything with the sending stone, it should be worn in the short term by whoever is hanging on to that, for obvious reasons (I assume items in the possession of someone wearing it can't be targeted by spells like Locate Object, right?). I could take that job, but it seemed like more of a Jun/Nikeisha thing... or maybe Psalm.
I threw the poison dart thing out there in case somebody thought that knowing an alchemist fit their backstory (probably one of the same three). If nobody else wants that lead, I can take it, as well.
The drawings of houses seems like a tailor-made lead for Quint, I'm just not sure how to make use of it. If they are just prospective targets for the Shepherds, breaking in to steal stuff probably won't get us anywhere unless Quint plans to intentionally get discovered doing so by them. If, on the other hand, they have been targeted because they're owned by a rival cult, trying to do that might be a Very Bad Idea(TM). Quint will also want to see who else has been profiled. He might know some of them. He's been busy with the chest and its trap since he arrived, so someone will have to mention those papers to him.
There were 3 businesses listed, Arviel's Armaments, Heavenly Herbs, and Skiara's Sketchbook. The last two both sound like leads for Luna or Psalm... the last one could also be Nikeisha, maybe. The first one is probably Hack, or maybe Jun. Quint could also come up with an excuse to go to the first one, but there seems to be plenty for him to do already, especially if nobody else volunteers to follow up with the dart or the sending stone. Of course, if any of them seem worth it after being checked out, we could get some orphans watching them. By having them shift between locations on different days, we can keep them less conspicuous and also create the possibility that one of them will recognize the same people (who might otherwise go unnoticed) showing up at more than one location.
We should probably try to unload the gemstones before someone tries to locate them. Quint can certainly give advice on people who buy stolen goods, but (especially if we want to intentionally sell them to someone who is a little more loose-lipped) he should try to maintain his anonymity, and someone who was actually seen on the scene (probably Jun or Hack, or maybe both) should play the part of the seller. Whoever does it needs to be prepared to be approached or followed. They don't want to give away the rest of the group. Quint can help there by discreetly checking for anyone following them by mundane means. As for magical means... maybe it should be Jun, and he should wear the amulet? That would also mean that he should be the one handling the sending stone.
Any of those roles jump out at anyone? Anything I missed?
Yes, but you do have to have magic knowledge to study them. I'll be thinking on it. I would like suggestions from others if they are willing.
Actually, Luna, you're wrong there. In 5e anyone can spend a short rest studying a magic item and identify not only it's properties, but also how to activate it. That was one of the many things I found very welcoming about this current version of D&D. :) In fact, Psalm and Nikeisha didn't have to roll anything to identify them. Their rolls, if they were for anything, were for flavor, or perhaps to see if they could identify them more quickly. I just had Psalm and Nikeisha doing the identifying because I had previously narrated that they were the characters that picked them out of the loot mix.
DMG pg 136 under Identifying Magic Items wrote:
The identify spell is the fastest way to reveal an item's properties. Alternatively, a character can focus on one magic item during a short rest, while being in physical contact with the item. At the end of the rest, the character learns the item's properties, as well as how to use them. Potions are an exception; a little taste is enough to tell the taster what the potion does.
As you can see, not being a magic user or even having arcane knowledge doesn't prevent a character from using or learning about magic items. Potions are even easier. Just give it a taste, and you'll know immediately what it does. :) Gone are the days of waiting for the party caster to make a successful Spellcheck roll to figure out how to use the nice new shiny magic item the players got. :)
Edit: Quint's post popped in while I was previewing mine. Excellent ideas Quint. Those are just the kinds of things I was expecting would come out of this. As I mentioned, there are plenty of hooks, maybe too many hooks at this point! :)
Since you didn't give me much on any of those names, other than names, I'd be perfectly fine with you including any number of them as having their own personnel report among the documents. That way you can do some more imagining about who they are, and I'll have a nice concise bit of background and personality for my running NPC database. :) Two birds, one stone, as it were. ;) That also creates new hooks, as any person that the Shepherds were keeping tabs on might be very interested to know it. Just like Quint will be interested to know it, once he finds his own report. :) Possible allies with unique skill sets are always a plus. :D
Also, just wanted to mention, the very idea of taking a poison dart to an herbalist/alchemist whose shop is named "Heavenly Herbs" and is also uniquely separated on the tabulation sheet of a thieve's guild, and asking the proprietor to help you identify a poison, just sounds like magic waiting to happen. :)
Jun: "I'd like you to identify the properties of the poison on this dart for me."
Proprietor: "Why I never!"
Jun: Smiles and winks, "Rrrriiiiiiiiigggggghhhhhhhtttttt. But seriously..."
That actually could be the source of the poison, but they would never admit it, and asking there would just draw more of the wrong kind of attention to the person doing the asking.
Are we currently experiencing one of those situations where everyone is paralyzed by too many choices? I have a few options to give this campaign a push, but I don't want to do that without giving everyone every opportunity to set up their week 3 investigations.
If you are just unwinding from the holidays and need some time to settle back into normal routines, I totally understand, but I don't want to let too much idle time go by. I've seen campaigns die from little else.
Okay, so here's what I see as possible investigation primers for the next week, and I'm only putting these here to make sure that we are all on the same wavelength. I do not want to push things forward without all of your consent here. Obviously things have just become drastically more intense, more ominous, and more dangerous.
For Luna, a trip with Psalm to Skiara's Sketchbook. The purpose of said visit is to scope out the place, and to see why it might be on a "special" list of shops that the cultists have. Perhaps with a "friendly" interview with the shopowner if possible? If so, what, ultimately would you like to come away with from that? Other than just a more thorough knowledge of the business and identity of the owner? Anything specific? Also for Luna, a further investigation into the Order of the Fist Monastery, Byrthelm's conscripted monk fighting force and training compound. Of important note there, her repeated presence there is, by now, noticeable. It's possible she will have to join the monastery to get any more detailed and hidden information...
For Psalm, perhaps accompanied by Nikeisha, research into any elven citizens of the Republic, preferably living in Rydwyrna if at all possible, that might be old enough (at least 1500 years) to have been alive during the legendary Dragon War. Likewise, perhaps, seeing if they can get let into the higher levels of the Arcanium to do some more thorough research into Kraiula and or Aranon Ethalion.
For Jun, look into how Diamond Imports is handling the aftermath of the destructive battle that happened surrounding one of their shipments. Trying to further ingratiate himself into the business wherever possible, and even, again if possible, to get a face to face sit down meeting with either Aldaviel (female half-elf) the owner of Diamond Imports (if she's in town), or her Rydwyrna director Dúnorchel (female half-elf).
For Hack, see if there are any consequences for either himself or any of the other guards that were being paid to protect the shipment that got blown to kingdom come. Keeping an eye out for any possible insight into Brantar Hambuc-ham, and looking for opportunity to find out who his boss(es) are.
For Quint, put his street urchins on watching The Floating Kraken, as well as looking into all of the sites that were attacked during Enwelros' escape, searching for any connections the places might have with each other, with Diamond Imports, or with the cult at large.
Does that sound about right to everyone? Are there avenues I missed? Other areas or people some characters would want to investigate? Whenever you feel like you've got your heads wrapped around what your character would do for this upcoming third week of investigation, go ahead and post that primer in gameplay.
Of very important note for this week's investigations! Aldelday (Monday's equivalent on Iewiuf) is Ilsa 23, the national holiday Freedom Day, the celebration of the end of the Nine Years War with the Highland kingdom five short years ago. Usually there is a massive military parade embellished with magical accompaniment of light shows and illusions, music, and every Senator with their own entourage. I will leave it up to your active imaginations all the possible shenanigans a devious cult might think about pulling off during such an event.
Female Human Warlock 3 | HP 25/25 | AC 17 | Saving Throws - Str (+0), Dex (+6), Con (+2), Int (+1), Wis (+3), Cha (+6) | Passive Perc - 11 | Init +4 | Spell Slots - 2/2 |
I'm happy to help Psalm. Too fuzzy still to have much initiative.
I am posting this to all of my games, so apologies if you see this multiple times:
Unfortunately, I have some bad news.
A combination of work-related stuff has lead to me having to take some time off from the forums. I am, in all honesty, going to need to be gone for several months, as I am going to be travelling for extended periods of time (weeks or more) and I'll likely not have good access to the internet.
As I am not someone who would want to have you all sit and wait for me here, I am going to be withdrawing/closing all of my open forum games.
I want to thank everyone who I have had the pleasure to game with over the last couple of years here, as I have immensely enjoyed my time on the forums, and hopefully, once my work stabilizes, I will be able to rejoin the community.
Thank you again for your time and energy, and I am sorry that I won't be able to keep things moving forward in any of the games that I am running.
Well... That's a new wrinkle, but not game-breaking. In fact, it might just be able to be turned into a powerful story hook. Perhaps Jun Valanthe, the unspoken leader of this little rag-tag group, is about to go missing... That will put the heat on the investigation, won't it?!
I think the party is still perfectly viable without Jun at the helm. Though the vacuum left by the absence of his organizational and authoritative voice might cause a bit of interior struggle with the group, that could also be good.
Speaking of the rest of the party. Jun and Hack are the only two who have given me definitive week three investigation primers. There are some posts up from the rest of you that give inclinations about how you want to go about your week three investigations, but, as of yet, no solid "here it is!" posts. Are you waiting for something specific from me? Having trouble putting your ideas into words? Or were those previous posts supposed to be the complete primer for week three? If that's the case, just let me know, and I can do my best to cobble things together. Let me know!
Sorry to see you go Jun! Blessings on your new job duties!
I think we've probably all been waiting for one another to make one choice or another. I've also been super busy with work and had a nasty cold, so I've been watching the game, but not giving it as much thought as it needs at this stage. I'll try to get something up today.
For my part, I think I need to do something with the building blueprints, but I'm not sure what. Anything else you can tell me about what Quint sees as he inspects them?
There were some other leads that I said I might do something with if nobody else wanted them. I was partially waiting to see who would bite on what (using it as an excuse to procrastinate, anyway).
Quint! With that investigation roll, and considering you have the urchin background (so you know the city well), you realize, quite quickly actually, after taking a second to look at which buildings the Shepherds had plans for, that their are five buildings in total, and the locations of those buildings outline an almost perfect pentagon, with Castle Redwood at the center. One of the buildings that they have blueprints for is within a rock's throw of the Shepherd's compound that was burned to the ground.
Of course, Quint doesn't know this yet, but I'll tell you the player, the coordinated attack that happened to help with Enwelros' escape from prison, targeted buildings that were very close to those buildings whose blue prints are currently in your grubby mitts. ;)
Ok, that's something I can work with. I'll work on a post of investigations based on that information.
Also, since Jun is out, I'm going to assume that Quint is taking the amulet, and that he's also carrying the sending stone so that the amulet can prevent the stone from being located/scryed-upon (it does work that way, right? I could have sworn I already asked about that, but couldn't find it...)
Male Forest Gnome NG Hermit Druid of the Mountain Circle 3 AC 16 HP 22 Passive Perception 15 Init +2 Proficency Bonus +2 Spell Attack Modifier +5 Spell DC 13 Inspiration 1
Take care Jun. Save travels.
I am hoping that now that you have smashed the box open for us we can enjoy the freedom you modeled for us. I learned a lot about gaming from the last week or so of your posts.
Female High Elf NG Monk 3 Character Sheet | HP: 26/26 (3d8 + 3) | Defense:AC: 17 (10 + Dex(+ 4) + Wis(+ 3)) Saving Throws: Str. + 4, Dex. + 6 | Advantage vrs Charms, No magical sleep | Perception + 5, Passive + 15, DV 60 ft | Init. + 4, Spd 40 ft.Offense: Unarmed Strike + 6, 1d4 + 4 Ranged: + 6, 1d6 + 4, 80 ft./ 320 ft. | Ki points: 1/3 | Luna's Heritage
Um, I guess I didn't make it as an in-game post. I'm just not very good at these kind of things. I was quite clear that I was going to 'poke-around' the sketching shop, but I have no idea what to ask or do there. I also said I wanted to ask around at the Monastery, but that was for some info that Jun had asked about so ...
Sorry, Mended. I am enjoying the game, but I'm just no good at all this investigation stuff. I have not the imagination for it.
How's everybody feeling about the game? Still having fun? Still interested? We're getting danger close to some very interesting (and possibly world-altering) events here. If it feels a little "bleh" now, trust me when I tell you in the next couple of game weeks "bleh" will not be a word that describes what's happening in Rydwyrna... And that's all I'll say about that. :)
However, if people are just not enjoying the game, I do understand that. It's definitely not a hack-n-slash game, and I understand that having given this game the experimental shot, you may have realized you don't like games like this. I'll have no hard feelings if you just tell me that you're not really interested any more. Just let me know. :)
Female High Elf NG Monk 3 Character Sheet | HP: 26/26 (3d8 + 3) | Defense:AC: 17 (10 + Dex(+ 4) + Wis(+ 3)) Saving Throws: Str. + 4, Dex. + 6 | Advantage vrs Charms, No magical sleep | Perception + 5, Passive + 15, DV 60 ft | Init. + 4, Spd 40 ft.Offense: Unarmed Strike + 6, 1d4 + 4 Ranged: + 6, 1d6 + 4, 80 ft./ 320 ft. | Ki points: 1/3 | Luna's Heritage
Still having fun, just a bit ... slow? or not as exciting as I had hoped? But you did warn us it would be a heavy RP, and some situations, I the player, am just not so good at RP'g. Still would like to continue on, but at the same time if you ever feel my lack of RP'g is holding up the game or spoiling it for others, let me know. I won't be offended if I am asked to drop.
Still having fun. It's definitely been slow at times. Part of that is seasonal. The big slow downs have happened in all of the other games I'm in at the same time.
Some of it is also difficulty running this type of game in PBP format, though. Without the ability for quicker back-and-forth (both with the GM and with other players, all of whom keep different hours and have levels of commitment that vary over time, depending on their meatspace circumstances), it's difficult to do much RPing with characters you don't control. If you start it, there is the very real worry that it will delay events in the game by as much as a month, and even cause players who are not involved in it to drop out.
Long narrative posts are another option, but players traditionally don't control any characters other than their own, and you can only go so far writing those with only one character. You've given us some freedom to make up NPCs to interact with, but it's difficult to know how far we can go with that, and anything that consequential to the story still needs to go through the GM. With this many players, writing those also comes with the worry of overshadowing other players and hogging the spotlight (though it's been gratifying that some of my attempts at long narrative posts seem to have inspired other players to do the same).
Something I learned in the game that I've been running is that it's important to break up the long narrative stretches. Yes, the characters are working toward some long-term, high-stakes goal, but when it can take months or years of real time to accomplish on the forums what might happen in a few sessions around a table, it's important to throw in some shorter-term, lower stakes stuff (even if it's not connected to the main story) to keep everyone engaged and feeling like they're still winning (especially when some characters are built with more of a hack-and-slash focus than others).
Male Forest Gnome NG Hermit Druid of the Mountain Circle 3 AC 16 HP 22 Passive Perception 15 Init +2 Proficency Bonus +2 Spell Attack Modifier +5 Spell DC 13 Inspiration 1
I am enjoying it. Very much and certainly there are some things about to happen.
We are going to feel the loss of Jun pretty heavy. Quint is doing great but they are the both the heavy social/intrigue players. So a lot of that is hitting Quint now.
Bonus points for Hack stepping into a bruiser role for investigating rather than face smashing.
@Everyone, great to hear that people are still interested, even if a bit disconnected from their character in terms of being able to RP in certain situations.
@Quint, you bring up extremely salient points, and no I don't mean points like Thieve's Cant. :P This medium for an RP heavy, extended narrative game is absolutely not the best. I was hoping having Senator Akassa show up would actually provide one of those "lower stake" quick back and forth moments where players with time and energy could post quick snippets and get things moving forward more rapidly.
Speaking of... You'll remember I recently offered up the possibility of moving our game to a different site, but after our connected research we all determined that wasn't the greatest idea. There is another alternative to play online in a quite different, but no less inviting "play by post," venue. How many of you are familiar with the software application Discord? It is a software application that can be downloaded onto a computer'd desktop, or just run right out of any modern web browser. Last year I started hosting/DMing a live game on Discord once a week, and have found it to be a particularly excellent tool for playing D&D online. The only learning curve for people who are regular PbPers would be learning new codes for text formatting. As I said, though, I've been on Discord for a while and would be perfectly happy to help players with making the adjustment. The benefit of Discord is that unless people chose to ghost themselves, we would all know who was on when, and if quick back and forth RP's were necessary, we could do that. This also provides the great opportunity for me to RP back and forth with whomever is on whenever we're both on. In our current "I'm going here, you're going there" circumstances, that could be absolutely invaluable. I could even create separate chat rooms within the same single server for each character and any interactions they had separate from other characters could be taken care of in those "rooms." That benefit alone, for me, makes Discord a much more appealing medium for this kind of game.
As such, as I offered earlier, if people want to give Discord a look see, as an experiment to see if perhaps it is a better fit for our game, I'd appreciate it. I do realize that for some people the ability to use Discord at work would not be an option, and that could be the deciding factor. However, Discord does work on phones quite well, from what I hear. I personally don't use it there, as I like to have my fingers on a full qwerty keyboard when typing, but nonetheless, it is a viable option. As I offered before, if we decided to make the switch to Discord, I would pay every character in the form of a level up.
If you want to give Discord a try, after signing up, you can click on this invite link to go to a server I set up for our testing purposes. There you can play around with functionality. I'll be on Discord all afternoon today as I'll be running my weekly game, so I should be able to help out with questions. Here's the invite link to join the test server. Maybe see you there?
I'm not a fan of the idea of moving the game to discord--or, as I think of it, the newfangled, proprietary IRC (now who's the old guy?). We could definitely use it as an alternate, real-time discussion thread to allow us to run smaller questions by the GM to flesh-out narrative posts. We could even consider doing some real-time RP sessions there, which need not be the whole group together, but I would prefer to see those either developed into a narrative post, or at least summarized, back here in the gameplay thread.
Of course, I suppose if it's a scene that only one PC is involved in, the other characters might not know about it other than what that that character relates to them after the fact. We haven't been very good about having our characters fill the rest in on things that supposedly only one character knows (instead assuming that everyone has read the posts/spoilers that their character wasn't present for), but if we got better about that, it might make sense to do scenes that way (which would basically amount to doing the summary posts I mentioned in-character instead of as narrative).
Female Human Warlock 3 | HP 25/25 | AC 17 | Saving Throws - Str (+0), Dex (+6), Con (+2), Int (+1), Wis (+3), Cha (+6) | Passive Perc - 11 | Init +4 | Spell Slots - 2/2 |
Several of the games I'm in have started using it as a Discussion/Chat place, and I'd be down for that. I'm up for trying a game there too, at some point.
As the title says, this campaign will be using the 5e rules (full disclosure, it will be my first foray into DMing with these rules), Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual content only, with some extra exclusions because of the setting.
Speaking of the setting... As mentioned, this is a homebrew setting, somewhat fantasy cookie cutter, but with a few splashes of intrigue here and there. Name of the setting is Eafphqu, pronounced Ee-off-coo. All the particulars are navigable here at the Google site. Please let me know immediately if you have trouble accessing any of the material. I tried to make sure everything was available for public viewing, but I may have forgotten to click that button on a few things. Also on the topic of setting, it is my intent that the PCs chosen for the campaign will be a large part of fleshing out this world, and mapping its "history." Which is my way of saying the players in this campaign will take an active role in the continued creation and manipulation of the world of Eafphqu.
That goal is exactly why the title also makes clear that I'd like players who are ready, willing, and able to contribute to a deep and complex narrative. I’m hoping to get players with a mind for creative role-playing, and a desire to contribute to a long-running story. It is also why I desire to have players that are capable of posting on a very frequent basis, minimum of once a day, and then with time enough to post more than just a quick snippet of character action and requisite dice rolls. As I said, I want those ready and willing to partake of a grand narrative. Which is not me saying that the campaign is all about social interaction and nothing else. Certainly there will be combat, and sometimes, as it should, combat will be the very way that the narrative is fulfilled, but my imagining of the campaign is that even combat will be displayed creatively with flourishes of colorful writing.
Still here? Good.
First thing you'll need to do is familiarize yourself with the setting materials as it may (read: should) influence your character creation decisions. I'm looking for characters aligned along the neutral to good spectrum of the alignment grid. As I mentioned before, only PHB, DMG, and MM material allowed, with the extra exclusion that only PHB races are allowed, and even then no Dragonborn or Tiefling. As a friend recently put it, only "humans" with various degrees of ear-pointedness. :P
For stats you have options, all of which are laid out in the PHB. The three choices are: taking their standard array: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8; using the 27 point buy method (described in detail on page 13 of the PHB), remembering that if you use point buy, as the rules say:
PHB pg. 13 wrote:
Using this method, 15 is the highest ability score you can end up with, before applying racial increases. You can't have a score lower than 8.
Or, the third, and by my way of thinking the preferred, though don't let that sway your choice, method, rolling 4d6 and dropping the lowest. I personally like rolling for stats so much that I throw in the bonus of allowing you to roll three sets of six numbers (4d6, drop the lowest, eighteen times total, but each consecutive set of six represents its own array). Rolling does provide the bonus of the potential to have an ability score of 20 at character inception.
For starting gear you can either use their choices for starting equipment as listed under the class headings, or you can roll for starting wealth and purchase as desired. The starting wealth table is on page 143 of the PHB. If you choose to roll for wealth, you are obligated to stick with purchasing equipment with whatever amount of wealth you roll. Once you’ve rolled for starting wealth, that’s how you have to go, no take-backs.
We are starting at level one and following the character advancement table found on page 15 of the PHB. The campaign will most likely start in Rydwyrna, the capital city of the Republic of Byrthelm, though, depending on the makeup of the party, I might change that. Certainly, if the majority of the characters are members of one of the six Orders, Rydwyrna will be the primary choice for starting point.
It will be of utmost importance that character background, including ideals, bonds, and flaws, are not simply chosen at random, but are deliberate decisions by the player in order to create a character that will be both fun and interesting to role play. If there are choices you the player would like to make for any of those items that are not in the stock lists, just ask! I’m very open to creating new and different ideals, bonds, and flaws. I will, very much, be basing my final decisions for inclusion in the campaign on how fleshed out I think a character’s background is. Part of that process will include reading a background for the character written as a narrative. It doesn’t have to be a novella, but if it’s anything less than a well thought out paragraph, I won’t even give the character consideration. Like I said, heavy narrative focus. :)
It is my experience that a well displayed set of data in the Race, Class/Levels, and Gender portions of the alias profile make things run much more smoothly and easily for all participants. Therefore I will also be giving preferential treatment to submissions that have that done already. HOWEVER!! I do not want to stop people who are new to Play by Post from submitting. It is my strong desire to increase the number of participants in this great hobby, including the venue of play by post, so I strongly encourage and welcome those who have never participated in a play by post game before to apply. I will do my best to try and help in whatever way I can.
I'm hoping to find players that have the perseverance to stick with this for the long haul, keeping those that were recruited going strong for years to come. Of course, I'm also a pragmatist, and know that the best laid plans of mice and men...
I'm excited to hear from those that would like to participate. I will have quite a bit of downtime over the coming U.S. Thanksgiving holiday (four days), and will be checking back often to address any questions that might pop up. Hope to hear from you soon!
Note to the players of my currently running Pathfinder campaign that were so excited they couldn't wait to roll stats for this new venture: please include a link to the post in the previous thread where you rolled for stats. Thanks!
Array one? Too good? Is there such a thing? :P I'm fine with you using: 13,16,18,9,13,13 before racial bonuses. The nine provides a low enough number that it could create some interesting role play opportunity. As to rearranging, yes, you are allowed to assign the stat rolls into the stat of your choosing. Go to it!
I am definitely interested. Cole Hillman is one of my characters in the Crypt of the Everflame that I play with your PC, Adelenna Dusksong. Therefore, I imagine that you are familiar with my posting frequency and playing style.
I will be using the second (middle array). I am thinking of a rogue of some sort. I assume that the new Xathander's Guide to Everything cannot be used based on your reference to only the core books.
I totally forgot to say in the original post that if you roll for stats, you have to pick one of the arrays. No rolling, and then deciding to point-buy because you didn't like any of the arrays.
Second, Filios, welcome, glad to have you apply, and you are correct that anything outside of the PHB, DMG, and MM is not allowed. Thank you for asking.
I finished statting-out my rogue as a half-elf after you said no gnomes, and now I have to decide whether I want to go back. The half-elf version is probably mechanically stronger (as a rogue headed for Arcane Trickster who is also a solid party face), but I had more RP ideas for the gnome version, so I'll probably end up switching back to gnome, which will mostly weaken the party face aspect. I'll have to read the setting info before deciding. Decisions, decisions...
This is Filios. It took less time than I thought. Please accept Shenkt "Hack" Corchran, Male Human Barbarian (Outlander) for consideration. All information is found in his profile.
This is Filios. It took less time than I thought. Please accept Shenkt "Hack" Corchran, Male Human Barbarian (Outlander) for consideration. All information is found in his profile.
Wow, that was fast. I do have one question, your background story mentions Taldor. I'm guessing that was just a misnomer as you have several other mentions of actual setting places in your background. Did you mean Rydwyrna, the capital of the Republic of Byrthelm? Or did you mean Tindar, the "feudal China" themed island empire?
Hello, you mentioned in your opening post that you were open to players that were new to Play by Post, that would be me. :)
I have played/run 5e and Pathfinder campaigns via Roll20 using Skype and Discord for the past 2-3 years. I'm fluent in both 5e and Pathfinder, and am interested in jumping into a Play by Post campaign. I'm on the computer regularly for work and home, so posting multiple times throughout the day would not be an issue. While my schedule is too busy to allow for another "sit down" game, play by post would fit in quite nicely, and give me the chance to actually play (as I DM currently.)
I'm happy to roll stats, and put together a character prior to being accepted, but figured I'd introduce myself first and see if you'd consider me. Thanks!
Hello, you mentioned in your opening post that you were open to players that were new to Play by Post, that would be me. :)
I have played/run 5e and Pathfinder campaigns via Roll20 using Skype and Discord for the past 2-3 years. I'm fluent in both 5e and Pathfinder, and am interested in jumping into a Play by Post campaign. I'm on the computer regularly for work and home, so posting multiple times throughout the day would not be an issue. While my schedule is too busy to allow for another "sit down" game, play by post would fit in quite nicely, and give me the chance to actually play (as I DM currently.)
I'm happy to roll stats, and put together a character prior to being accepted, but figured I'd introduce myself first and see if you'd consider me. Thanks!
YES!! Welcome! Please, roll some dice and look for a seat at our digital "table." Glad to have you apply. Dice luck to you!
I've stared at these rolls for far too long, trying to figure which one I like the most :) I'll be going with the second set, and be putting together a Bard, which I should have together for you to look over soon. Thanks again!
Wow, there are some insanely low stats in those sets. A 4 on a 4d6 in the third! Of the three, I would have gone for the first, but it will be interesting to see how you roleplay the 5 and 6 stats in the second!
Stormstrider here Mended. You also know me as Dolok in your current "PBP for beginners" campaign. (And a few others from my campaign as well!) DEFINITELY interested, still need to read all your info here. I will read your info first and then work on a character concept and post asap.
Str (16) Dex (16) Con (16) Int (11) Wis (14) Cha (18)
Or...maybe a monk of some type?
Will think about it.
Do what you like of course, but I am almost certainly going with an elf Monk, just to let you know. Maybe we could be related somehow if you want? Though I plan to trace my lineage all the way back and include a distant relationship to a queen possibly.
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Mended? The maps section on your google site had no info currently. I just want to confirm that is correct.
Wow, there are some insanely low stats in those sets. A 4 on a 4d6 in the third! Of the three, I would have gone for the first, but it will be interesting to see how you roleplay the 5 and 6 stats in the second!
Yea, some rough rolls..... Hence why I just stared at em for so long XD
Str (16) Dex (16) Con (16) Int (11) Wis (14) Cha (18)
Or...maybe a monk of some type?
Will think about it.
Do what you like of course, but I am almost certainly going with an elf Monk, just to let you know. Maybe we could be related somehow if you want? Though I plan to trace my lineage all the way back and include a distant relationship to a queen possibly.
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Mended? The maps section on your google site had no info currently. I just want to confirm that is correct.
Heh, my other idea was a wood elf monk. But as that’s what you are going for there is no need to be twins. But more than happy to have our characters be related. Mind posting your backstory?
This sounds like exactly the kinda game I like. I wonder if my wife would like this one too...I'll send her a link and let her read, at least.
I've done lots of Play by Post, as my profile will attest. I've only got a limited amount of experience with 5th, but my wife plays quite often, so I can at least get advice.
Alright. Me and stormstrider roller identical stats. And I have an idea...if the GM allows it.
He rolls an elven monk.
I roll an elven barbarian. With this...
https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/3qklc3/5e_barbarian_path_ of_the_brawler_v30/
Fluff wise, my character would also be a “monk”, but if a very different stripe. He has replaced enlightenment with the love of fight and drink. To quote the pathfinder archetype...
Most monks lead lives of moderation and quiet contemplation. But the drunken master finds perfection through excess. Powered by strong wine, he uses his intoxication to reach a state where his ki is more potent, if somewhat fleeting. A drunken master has the following class features.
Would match whatever type of elf stormstrider picks.
Equipment: Armored Silks (Leather) -10, Katana (Rapier) -25, Wakizashi (Shortsword) -10, Cote (Shield) -10, Fine Clothes x2, 35 GP in trade Goods, 10 GP
Background: Guild Merchant
Personality Trait: A time for everything and everything in it's time.
Ideal: A rising tide floats all ships.
Bond: I pursue wealth to secure the hand of a daimyo's first daughter.
Flaw: I must maintain my reputation at all costs.
Backstory:
While Jun considers himself Tindaran, he was born in Tradebay City, to an Elven performer mother and a Samurai father who ran caravans from the city to all ports.
Jun's parents loved him and raised him to be a warrior, performer, and (what he best excelled at) a merchant. By the age of 10 he was running the books for his father, insuring that the bribes and taxes were all paid on time and that all money owed was collected. As Jun grew older, however, he decided that he wanted to be an adventurer. He left the business in the capable hands of his younger brother, who was a math genius, bid his parents farewell, and set off into the world to make his fortune.
Str 14 (2) Dex 19 (4) Con 11 (0) Wis 8 (-1) Int 17 (3) Cha 15 (2)
Attacks rapier +4 1d8+4 P
shortbow (range: 80/320) +4 1d6+4 P
2 daggers (range: 20/60) +4 1d4+4 P
Sneak attack +1d6
Darkvision 60ft
Natural Illusionist (minor illusion)
Speak with small beasts
Advantage on INT, WIS, CHA saves vs. magic
Expertise: Stealth, Perception (double prof bonus)
Sneak Attack +1d6
Thieves' Cant
City Secrets
Backstory (incomplete):
Quint's father was a tinker, and he travelled with him from town to town in an old wagon that had been repaired so many times that it if you parked it in front of a trash heap, it could go completely unnoticed. Quint's favorite part of that life was negotiating trades with people they met on the road, because it gave him the chance to meet new and interesting people and acquire new and interesting things.
One of his favorite items that he acquired in trade was a narrow dueling sword blade with a triangular base and elven markings. The hilt of the sword had been crushed and the blade broke near the base (raising doubts that it was actually of elven construction), but it was an interesting piece nonetheless. Quint's father noticed his interest in the item, and convinced the down-on-his-luck courtier who carried it to hand it over as payment for reshoeing his horse. Over the course of a few months, the pair forged a new hilt over the base of the blade, turning it into a small rapier.
Quint would play with the weapon, pretending to be this or that great hero that people told stories about. His favorites were those who blended swordplay with magic, and Quint dreamed of joining the Arcane Order when he was older. Quint had a bit of a knack for magic himself. At a very young age, he learned to create small illusions. When he played with his sword, he would create and subsequently vanquish illusory monsters like the ones in the stories. His sword always found its mark, at least when his wild red hair didn't get in his eyes.
His father didn't like the way he played with the sword. It was a real weapon, not a toy, and he was afraid that Quint might hurt himself. Quint would wander deeper and deeper into the woods so that he could play with his sword, free from his father's objections.
One day, when he was 9 years old, Quint was returning when he heard boisterous voices coming from camp. He picked up his pace, eager to meet the new people and trade. As he got closer, he got the feeling that something was amiss. He didn't hear his father's voice among those coming from around their fire. He approached from the other side of the wagon, and when he got close enough, he could see their possessions scattered around the ground around the wagon.
He saw something glint on the ground under the wagon. It was the tin that his father always kept in his pocket. He used the grease he kept inside for everything from lubricating the wagon's axles and other mechanisms that he was repairing to shaving and keeping his hair out of his face while he worked. When Quint crouched down to pick up the tin, he was startled by a bloody hand that shot out toward his. The face attached to it was pale from blood loss, and its eyes were wide. It was Quint's father.
"Run." He said, in a hoarse whisper that was all he could still muster. Quint stood perfectly still. "RUN!" his father repeated, coughing up blood. The voices at the fire fell silent, and Quint ran, more out of fear than obedience. He heard his father cry out, and heavy footsteps crashing through the bushes behind him but Quint didn't look back.
He ran and ran, until he didn't think he could run anymore, then he found a hollow log that he could just squeeze inside. Then he waited. He listened to the footsteps and muffled voices as they grew closer, and closer, until they eventually grew further away, but he didn't move or make a sound. Quint fell asleep in that hollow log, and didn't climb out until morning.
Quint searched, but he couldn't find his way back to camp. It was two days before he found his way back to the road. Or maybe it was a different road. He couldn't be sure. By the time he made it to the gates of Rydwyrna, he was half dead from walking, and sick from eating some bad berries. He knew eating strange berries wasn't safe, but by then he was too hungry to worry about such things.
Quick question: Are the variant human, eladrin and aasimar races allowed? The first is in the Player's Handbook and the other two are in the Dungeon Master's Guide, but since they are presented a little separately when compared to the other races, I thought it best to ask.
I consider Mended to be a friend of mine, and seeing there have been a few people asking about other races, I just thought I'd try to help out by pointing out something he said.
MendedWall12 wrote:
As I mentioned before, only PHB, DMG, and MM material allowed, with the extra exclusion that only PHB races are allowed, and even then no Dragonborn or Tiefling. As a friend recently put it, only "humans" with various degrees of ear-pointedness. :P
And in his other campaign when he was talking with us he also said no Aasimar. I know because otherwise I would most likely go with Aasimar.
I don't know his position on Eladrin though.
On a personal note directly from me (Mended has no knowledge of any part of this post yet, so if you have an issue with this post it's not his fault. It's me.): I am a DM in another PBP on here. I know how hard it gets when someone is asking for something to not give in and let them have it just to make everyone happy. Please don't make it harder on Mended by asking for something he has already said no to. Thank-you.
So, unless otherwise stated, the aasimar is not allowed. Cool. Cool cool cool.
Just waiting on the variant human (I am thinking it is allowed, but I prefer to hear from the GM about it...) and the eladrin then.
Also, just to clarify, but I am not asking to use something that the GM is not allowing per his (or her) character creation guidelines. Just a bit of clarification is all. Besides, I am still trying to decide whether I will be submitting something or not, given that my knowledge of 5th Edition is a bit limited. :-)
Wow! Super excited about all the interest. Thank you all. Some questions directed at me. First, yes Stormstrider, the maps tab is empty because I will most likely be filling that with "handout" maps during the course of the campaign. For example if a ranger sketches you a map to an ancient ruin in the forest, then I'd post that sketch map in that section of the Google site. The Google site allows me to keep everything lore-wise in one place, which also makes it easy for people to see and enjoy even if Paizo should be down. :D
Next, Sylphreni, I've been gaming since right around 1987, and I've NEVER seen rolls that bad. I will be very interested to see what you come up with, and, not to tip my hand or anything, but I think having to play a character with two such low stats could provide great opportunity for role play that stretches the norms. :D
Next, Pauljathome/F. Castor, yes, I think using the variant option for humans to up two ability scores, add another skill choice, and taking a feat would be fine by me.
Vrog, yes, Tindar is very much like a feudal Japan, I wanted some fluff/flavor like that in the world because I know a lot of people enjoy that sort of thing. It's not really my cup of tea, but I certainly understand why other people like it. Obviously, since I included it in the world building, I am very open to people playing around with that flavor. :)
Lastly, to those asking for things outside of the PHB, DMG, and MM, and or asking for races outside of the PHB, the answer will always be no. Not because I want to restrict your character choices, but because I don't have enough experience with the basic rules yet, and expanding beyond that would be a recipe for disaster in my opinion. So, no brawler path for monk, no Aasimar, no Eladrin, no Hobgoblin or Yuan-ti. Thanks for your intuitive advice about that topic Walker on the storms. :D
On the topic of races, I realized I never mentioned Drow, which is actually a playable subrace allowed in the PHB. I am not opposed to drow, and I do think there is a place for drow in Eafphqu, but if any one wanted to go that way it would absolutely create a situation where every surface race would immediately think you evil and want to burn you at the stake. Aldellion forbid you ever actually ran into a party of surface elves... Point being, picking drow would create all manner of opportunity for harrowing narrative, but it would also create intense difficulty for the party. Take that for what you will.
That said, I am very hopeful when I look at the characters submitted already. :D
Did I miss any questions? Keep up the good work all, looking forward to seeing everyone's submissions. As of now I have no deadline set for closing recruitment, and with the U.S. holiday happening this weekend, I plan on leaving it open well into next week, so those that those who don't check over the holiday will have a chance to check when they get back into their normal routines. Speaking of... Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
Hahahaha! Literal LOL!!! Thanks! I almost didn't catch it, I was like, whose Walker and what did he say that I didn't? So even better when i realized you meant me!
Is anyone else having trouble viewing things on the google site? I've heard that some of the pictures might not be showing up properly? Is anyone seeing broken icons? Just about every entry should be a split page with a document on the left and a picture on the right. The deities should all have two pictures, the left of a screenshot from Hero Lab that gives the particulars of the deity, and the right an image of their holy symbol.
Let me know if there's trouble. When I go to the site everything works fine, even if I'm not logged in to my profile, but that's obviously not the case for everybody? Please help me to make sure the site is complete and completely viewable for everyone. Thanks!
I love 5E and the game idea. I do with Xanathar's Guide to Everything was an option. I've been reading it and LOVE the character options, it has given me so many ideas. I will see what I can come up with the core though!
Is anyone else having trouble viewing things on the google site? I've heard that some of the pictures might not be showing up properly? Is anyone seeing broken icons? Just about every entry should be a split page with a document on the left and a picture on the right. The deities should all have two pictures, the left of a screenshot from Hero Lab that gives the particulars of the deity, and the right an image of their holy symbol.
Let me know if there's trouble. When I go to the site everything works fine, even if I'm not logged in to my profile, but that's obviously not the case for everybody? Please help me to make sure the site is complete and completely viewable for everyone. Thanks!
I see broken image icons on the embedded images, but it looks like clicking through to the full-size versions works.
Sorry about overlooking race info which was clearly stated, I read the setting info but just skimmed through the main post last night. Hopefully lack of ability to read isn't disqualifying. ;)
I had another question about custom backgrounds. The ones in the basic rules and PHB don't quite fit what I had in mind, and I was wondering if you are allowing others. I'd like to modify the Archeaologist background a bit using the customizing rules from PHB.
Here is the character, getting inventory together still. I had a question about languages, I would like her to be fluent in an ancient language of Iewiuf and wasnt really sure what would be appropriate there. Also, I made the PHB Sage background work, just switched out the skills.
Gomdebo Blackbuster
Hill dwarf Rogue
Story:
After being petrified by a medusa for 2000 years, Gomdebo has only recently been stone to fleshed by the Arcane Order. Struggling to piece back together her psyche, she tires of their historical inquiries and seeks to escape. She is fascinated by "modern" technology and has a knack for artifice and construction. However, her main motive is to piece together whatever became of her clan.
Stats/Profs:
12/12 hp, 13 AC 11.16.16.15.10.12Took 3rd array above
Dex save [Class], Int save [Class], History (Expertise) [Background], Investigation (Expertise) [Background], Thieve's Tools [Class], Stealth [Class], Persuasion [Class], Deception [Class], Mason's Tools [Race]
Feature: Researcher
When you attempt to learn or recall a piece of lore, if you do not know that information, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. Usually, this information comes from a library, scriptorium, university, or a sage or other learned person or creature. Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost inaccessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even a whole campaign.
Trait: I am horribly, horribly awkward in social situations.
Ideal: Beauty. What is beautiful points us beyond itself toward what is true.
Bond: I’ve been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question.
Flaw: I overlook obvious solutions in favor of complicated ones.
