For discussion!
Hmmm... I think I like the campaign name. :D Now I just have to come up with a character name... XD
And, you know, backstory and stats and stuff. I suppose those are important, too.
Sounds good. And druid animal? I spent hours on that...
Keep me updated with any questions or whatnot.
Want to make one for our reign of Winter game?
I'm actually thinking he'll go for a domain rather than an animal companion... there's a Scalykind subdomain on the animal domain, right?
Oh, and I was realizing I should start that discussion thread. So here it is!
I have at least come up with a name for him now, as you can see. I did have a couple of questions:
* What's the name of his naga patron? I was realizing I was going to have a lot of <Insert naga name here>'s if I wrote his backstory without knowing that. XD
* I was also thinking that nagaji last names (at least in Nagajor) might be based off of the name of the naga they serve. So I may try to come up with a last name for him based on his patron's name. Sound good?
How does 'Iskassala' sound? Seems 'snaky' enough.
I like the idea of last names almost serving like 'House' names. Very cool.
I am thinking of having her be a nag focused on increasing her own power through an usual method. Outside connections. Trade deals, mercenaries. Outside alliances. Unusual for the area but profitable. Also gives you an excuse to go to distant lands. Sound good?
Iskassala sounds good. I actually looked up some Indian names (Nagajor being sort of the equivalent of India/Southeast Asia) for Sevak--apparently Sevak means 'servant'. I imagine it's a popular name amongst nagaji. So his full name will be Sevak Iskassala'naj, which would mean something like "Servant of the Naga Iskassala".
I'd suggested his mistress be a Royal Naga, right? Is that still good with you?
And yes, that sounds perfect. Who knows, maybe it's unusual because most naga are afraid their servants will come back infected with foreign ideas about freedom? ;)
EDIT: Oh, do you think the naga and nagaji of Nagajor would have their own language? Nagaji normally get Draconic, but that doesn't seem very... naga-y to me. Should I do 1/2 + 1 (so 5) hit die for HP beyond 1st level?
Royal Naga would work although not in high favor due to strange exotic ideas.
For language, I can see them creating their own. The naga are very big into the whole 'we are the One true Race' thing. Just use Naga as the name for it.
Oh, of course not in high favor--the ones in high favor are boring to work for, after all, since they're just trying to hold on to what they have instead of reaching out for more.
And done for the language.
I like the backstory provided. The term 'Jungle-Watchers' needs work. We need something with a little flash. I'll ponder it.
Thanks! I was wanting to provide some reason for him to be personally attached to Iskassala--all the better to make loyalty conflicts in the future more interesting.
Yeah, Jungle-Watchers was just a quick stab at a 'this probably sounds cooler in Naga' name for them.
Sevak is about 75% done now--I need to equip him, and pick out spells and feats. Today has been a slow day at work--lots of long tests of my software without much input needed from me.
Looks cool! I have the first little...'adventure' thingy planned out. A simple request from your Lord and Master.
What do you think of 'The Living Eyes' or something for the Jungle-Watchers?
First post up.
Huzzah! And yes, Living Eyes sounds fine.
Oh, a couple other thoughts I had:
*I think it would be interesting if Sevak thinks he has to hide his Naga form from Iskassala when he develops it--you know, it seems like the sort of thing nagas might object to. But then some time something happens and his secret gets out, and she just says something like, "Oh, you thought you were hiding that? I was wondering why you weren't asking my advice yet." Or maybe she will be upset, but more about him hiding it. Or maybe some other reaction.
*For long-term plans, it would be neat if some of his higher-level 'treasure' was upgrades to his naga form--it seems like it'll get left in the dust by higher-level Wild Shapes pretty quickly, and I'd like to keep it an interesting option.
Okay, I think Sevak is all done now. I did take the Scalykind domain--I assume that's all right even though it's not on the usual Druid list? I think that's just because it's from a supplement.
One thing with the Scalykind domain... it grants an animal companion at 4th level (that has to be a snake). So he'll end up with an animal companion anyway, just a slightly weaker one. XD I was thinking, though, that since I didn't plan for him to start with an animal companion, maybe he can find his companion sometime during the course of this first adventure?
I'm assuming, in my most recent post, that there's one large 'main' structure here.
Enjoying things so far? Question, thoughts?
I think we'll work a snake into the adventure somehow...
Yep! No questions just far, just hoping Sevak isn't getting himself in over his head here... Definitely seems like he might wish he'd prepared Resist Energy this morning. :D
I wouldn't make it a instant death trap. It should be fun! You said you wanted abandoned places...
I know that you wouldn't kill me off unless I did something stupid... but Sevak doesn't know that, so he's rather nervous right now. :D I'm excited to see what you've come up with here.
Now, I'm debating here... it seems like, from Sevak's perspective, it would be more important now to bring news of what's happened here back to Iskassala's court quickly, so that sufficient forces to retake the temple could be mustered before it's completely removed from the plane (Sevak himself being rather certain that he alone is completely outmatched here). But to me as a player it feels like that's not the way things should play out--the PC is always the one who beats the bad guys and saves the day, after all. :D
So I'm kind of looking for a reason for him to feel like he has to risk continuing. I feel like he'd think bringing word back at this point supersedes his original mission. Thoughts?
Sevak should at least explore the rest of the monastery. And hey if you want to go back empty handed and be demoted, go for it. It'll make the political climb up harder if not impossible. You think the court will want to back you if you turn up and say, "Gee misters, it was really scary."?
Also, what if there are survivors somewhere trapped in the temple?
How many side passages has he left unexplored? I got the impression there were a lot of them but they were unimportant.
How many side passages has he left unexplored? I got the impression there were a lot of them but they were unimportant.
They generally were but at the very start, the closed door and the stairs going down.....All hide secrets.
I think some of my paranoia from playing lots of Rogue-likes has rubbed off on Sevak a bit. XD
Oh! Which reminds me--do you usually run things such that "Every challenge the PC can face he has a chance of beating", or do you go more for "There are things in the world the PC cannot face at present, and he should pay attention to the signs that indicate there's something too strong for him"? I know published adventures are generally the first, but I've seen more of the second with custom-made games.
Oh, you'll meet plenty of things that if you fight them, they'll eat you. Sometimes diplomacy will save you, sometimes running is the only option. never assume anything.
Speaking of which.....*goes to post in Gameplay*
That's about what I thought. And I'm thinking this creature is probably one of those things.
Sevak would like to somehow play the two sides off against each other... but he trusts each one about as far as he can throw this temple. XD
Enjoying things?
Things are very... tense. XD Which is certainly keeping it interesting. Hopefully Sevak isn't going to regret this.
Having to use your wits, instead of your fists is a change of pace!
It's funny how often negotiation is more nerve-wracking than battle.
Hopefully Sevak doesn't come to regret being so frank... though he's hoping that speaking in Naga should at least mean that anyone listening in won't understand, though I can certainly see these outsiders knowing it or knowing Comprehend Languages.
Wait... I just had a really cool idea of how to actually 'win' this... it only works if the Djinn is a Noble Djinn, though. If he can just convince the Djinn to grant him a wish, and then use it to banish them both... :D
I doubt he'll have the chance, especially since Sevak knows nothing about outsiders, but it was a cool thought.
Retcon made. It was still in the edit window, so I edited my post.
Hmmm... given his snake companion's unusual origins, might said companion turn out to be a bit unusual from a normal snake companion? Certainly the venom these snakes had was apparently different...
And now I need to come up with a good snake name... hm...
Anything unusual in mind? I'm willing to alter some stats and such if the idea is cool.
Well, the nausea venom is certainly an interesting idea. So that cool be cool to keep instead of the 1-Con-damage venom a venomous snake companion usually gets. It also seems like this snake may be a Tiny rather than a Small creature, but I was thinking that maybe when he does the whole druid-bond-ritual thing that might change. ;)
The other thing that would be kind of cool, and seems somewhat supported by the snake's reactions thus far, would be for it to be more clever than a normal snake. So Int 2 instead of 1.
Some other random thoughts on the snake:
* Given it's progenitor, it would make sense for it to keep growing larger over time, gaining multiple size categories instead of just one.
* On the other hand, the idea of a tiny snake that hides up Sevak's sleeves and then pops out to poison people is fun, too. so it could remain Tiny.
* Given its magical origins, it might be fun if it could do some random cantrip or something--obviously it wouldn't be smart enough to use it tactically, but it could be something funny for it to do instinctively.
* Messing around with its venom could be interesting, too--maybe it could develop multiple types of venom and randomly apply one when it bites?
Just throwing thoughts out there.
I have a PC who keeps a tiny snake because I had one too many pit pockets bother him. It has been effective so far!
I like the idea of one random cantrip. I'll spin the wheel and see what I come up with.
Having fun? tried not to have it 'hack and slash' but it seems to have gone that way...
Yeah, I'm having fun. Sevak did kind of pick a "buff-then-bash" set of spells for the day, so this is the kind of thing he's prepared for at present. :D I was hoping that toss would work, but eh, the dice can't always favor me. Hopefully poor Rasthiss won't get himself killed here.
I guess the problem here is, the only ways I can think of to solve the problem other than combat would probably have involved stealth or trickery... and Sevak isn't good at stealth, and trickery is always hard to pull off. :D
I have some fun plans for the next one...
Uh-oh, should I be worried about these plans now? :D
I really am going to laugh if Sevak could have just chucked a rock at the pattern from the doorway... but my sense of narrative demands the solution be more difficult than that. :D
Also, there seem to be some subtle clues here that the pattern is either false or protected somehow... and I'm paranoid.
Just because you are paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.
Indeed. :D
Now... hopefully these guys won't do quite so much damage as the guards downstairs did.
I should quit being so paranoid and just try to break the pattern. After all, what's the worst that could happen?
...
Oh, right. That. Yeah.
Funny thought--it would be amusing if Rasthiss the snake, while Sevak is desperately trying to survive against the Djinn, noticed some nice warm sand and slithered over to it to take a nap... and the Djinn was suddenly banished just as he was about to kill Sevak. XD