Venture Town: Imagine Anhk-Morpork crossed with Deadwood and seated atop Castle Greyhawk. It's a lawless city of graverobbers, theives and opportunists, all looking to exploit both the single largest source of treasure in the world, and those who risk their lives to retrieve it.
An Earthquake revealed a lost dwarven hall which was defeated in a war with the Underdark. A huge crack in the earth leads into this colossal and impossibly rich dungeon, the greatest in the world by several orders of magnitude. Slowly a boom town began to spring up around the crack to provide services to the newly rich adventurers emerging from the ruins. Soon Venture Town was home to the most expensive gambling halls, taverns, opium dens and brothels in the world, not to mention magic item dealers, loan sharks, insurance brokers, and many competing adventurer's guilds all waiting to drain the last rusty copper from the heroes as they leave town.
It's decades since the founding, the height of the Adventure Boom, and a mere fraction of the lost dwarven city has been explored and exploited. That's where you come in, with your weapons and big dreams.
The Deal: I'm looking for 4-6 players who can post at least once a day for a tongue-in-cheek game set in and around the biggest dungeon in the world and the city it spawned. Please post character concepts first for approval before making characters, a short pitch is fine but I want an idea of what kind of character you're going for. It would be cool if the character's backgrounds were interrelated in some way, but it's not going to be a requirement.
Character creation: 1st level (fast advancement), any core or featured races, and core or base classes, 2 traits, 4d6 drop lowest. I'm not defining the area around Venture Town, so your backstory can be anything even vaguely reasonable (if you've been dying to play the exiled high king of all halflingkind now is your chance).
Because wealth and treasure are major themes in the game I'm not sticking to the wealth by level tables. Play your cards right and you can get yourself pretty overpowered for your level, but at the same time there will be no charity hoards and many tricky people want your gold.
I'll bite...
= 15
= 11
= 14
= 12
= 16
= 16
Nice rolls (two 16s and a 15). What's your concept?
Still playing with it. I stated up an Aasimar Paladin but I'm not sure why he'd respond to an adventure hook of "Wow, look at all the shiny stuff!" :-). Would you mind if I inserted an rumored artifact of his faith somewhere down there?
Another possibility would be a Summoner if that would be better.
So 14, 16, 15, 15, 15, 14... WOO!
I'm certainly interested interested. I have been wanting to play a Dwarven Fighter with the Foehammer archetype. Either that, or a Human Rogue (Knife Master) that uses dual butter-fly knives and is sorta piratey and doesn't wear shoes.
Okay. I'll roll up some dice and see what inspires me...
16, 15, 14, 14, 10, 9... hmm. Not too shabby. Not entirely sure what to make, though... what do you think? :P
EDIT: You know what, this would make a pretty awesome fighter. I'll post again once I've worked out a story and concept.
I went ahead and crunched out the Knife Master rogue. I started thinking about it and got really into the idea! So here is Scotty the blade for your consideration.
Rolling some dice to see on what path they might lead.
16
14
14
16
13
15
Wholly molly that's a 40 pt buy...
This looks like fun - real potential for some larger than life characters, locations and plothooks. Gonzo adventurama!!! Nice one Charlemagne's Brain!!! Extra kudos for Ankh-Morpork.
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so thats 14 14 17 17 8 10
nice best die roll I ever had
need some time to look at races but I would probably be a drow anti-paladin. Have a backstory for it.
A background sketch: Marbrianna. A half-orc rogue. She came to Venture Town seeking a fortune. Her first delve was a disaster. Two-thirds of the party died when greed tore the party apart. Now she works at a brothel as a cleaning woman during the day and as a bouncer at night. Her goals still include gaining a fortune, but has realized that doesn't necessarily mean she has to go back into the dwarven vaults.
I'm happy to intertwine backgrounds with other characters.
15
11
12
12
15
16
What would you think of a Half-Orc Ranger with the Deep Walker Archetype and a Dire Bat animal companion?
11
17
17
18
15
12
...Holy s@~!. OK, gimme a second. This might be time for the traveling kung-fu master ...
besides the obvious dangoeon crawling what othere themes will there be?
The institutionalization of adventure is a major theme. Venture Town is a town built specifically to cater to adventurers and so they have institutions and laws and cultural quirks all related to adventuring. Instead of adventurers making up their own rules as they go along, we have a world of resurrection insurance and publicly trading adventuring companies. It's adventuring post-bankers.
Related to that is an element of light parody. The institutionalization of adventuring is naturally going to draw attention to the tropes of dungeoncrawling which will give the game a decent grounding in parody. Nothing overt or too goofy, but there will definitely be absurdist elements.
Other than that I'm going to tailor the game to the PCs. If obvious new themes arise they'll be incorporated into the game as much as possible. For the most part it's going to be a tongue-in-cheek mix of dungeoncrawling and urban adventure (the exact mix dictated by the choices of the players).
Just posting this first, I'm looking at everything else now and a second post will follow shortly.
Why, hello algar!
Okay, starting from the top, these are the people who got workable concepts in first. For those still interested: it might be worth lurking for a bit to see if anyone drops out, but I can only really handle six players.
Still playing with it. I stated up an Aasimar Paladin but I'm not sure why he'd respond to an adventure hook of "Wow, look at all the shiny stuff!" :-). Would you mind if I inserted an rumored artifact of his faith somewhere down there?
I was going to do that kind of stuff anyway, seed the dungeon with hooks and all that noise. I need to know more about the order to do so, though. Maybe it was founded by the diaspora of dwarves who fled the mountain hall after it's fall to the Underdark. Then basically every ancient artifact your order considers holy would be down in there somewhere, forget just one. On the other end there's also lots of horrible dark artifacts Man Was Not Meant To Trifle With(tm) that must be destroyed for the good of all.
The rest of the party aren't exactly a choir of angels so you're going to have to be a bit more of a laissez faire Paladin, not a "kill everyone whose alignment I don't like" Paladin.
I went ahead and crunched out the Knife Master rogue. I started thinking about it and got really into the idea! So here is Scotty the blade for your consideration.
Scotty looks cool. Who taught him Aquan? That sounds like a tale worth telling.
Ill take them as they fall. Hows a Dwarf Wizard - Historian sound. His bound item would be his dwarven battleaxe "Durzak" his only physical weapon beside a simple club. He does wear leather armor, so has a 10% arcane fail rate.
Dwarf historian sounds cool, very fitting, but the party might get more mileage out of a cleric than a wizard. It would also make your primary spellcasting stat look a lot nicer. Your call though.
Also it looks like you might have subtracted your racial bonuses from your stats, rather than adding them.
thinking of making a barbarian named Rog the Undying (orc not too bright). he solves most if not all of his problems with brute force and persistence. speaks with his axe when he's alone or under stress.
This could work, but make sure Rog can find stuff to do when there's nobody around to kill (not including "pick a fight").
need some time to look at races but I would probably be a drow anti-paladin. Have a backstory for it.
This is good stuff.
I now have a perverse desire to see a party in which a Paladin and an Anti-paladin have to work together. But they must never, ever touch. It makes sense within the setting too, if you signed onto the adventuring company without knowing who else was going to be a member you might be stuck riding out your contract. Especially if the Drow have a different word for Anti-Paladin and nobody figures it out for a while. Breaking a contract signed in good faith is a good way to erode the "lawful" end of your alignment away, so the 'din is stuck.
A background sketch: Marbrianna. A half-orc rogue. She came to Venture Town seeking a fortune. Her first delve was a disaster. Two-thirds of the party died when greed tore the party apart. Now she works at a brothel as a cleaning woman during the day and as a bouncer at night. Her goals still include gaining a fortune, but has realized that doesn't necessarily mean she has to go back into the dwarven vaults.
I like this backstory and, while you can never have too many rogues, you might consider a different class just for diversity's sake. How do you feel about Ninjas? "The orcish cleaning woman is, in reality, a Ninja".
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There's some good concepts here, although the team is a bit unbalanced at the moment (not that that's necessarily bad, specialization can be a great thing, although you'll probably want for healing at least). You guys might want decide what you want your party to be capable of and possibly tweak your characters a bit. Also this would be a good time to work out if your characters know one another and how. And, obviously, produce stats (those who read my message and waited :P).
I like the idea of your guys being contracted adventurers so that the paladin and anti-paladin have to play together, but I don't want to start you off with a handicap like owing someone a cut of your loot, so maybe you're a recently incorporated adventuring party, all shares held internally, and you've signed a contract saying as much which none of you can afford the penalties for breaking. In that case you'll need to pick a name, and Venture Town names tend towards the ostentatious. For example, the most well-known private security firm is a gnomish concern called Miraclous Wonders of Engineering and Magecraft Guardianship Enterprises.
Awesome! I am excited this campaign sounds really interesting. I love the idea of turning adventuring almost into a twisted theme park ;p
Scotty picked up Aquan when he was still sailing about with a band of pirates. After a robbery attempt went wrong, he had to bail out. His choices were stand and fight one of the military's finest naval crews, or let the fickle mistress the ocean decide his fate. Needless to say, he jumped into the churning waters.
He awoke to find himself marooned on a small island, seemingly the only soul there. That is until he found a small shrine that paid homage to a local water nymph named isadril. He spent a good several weeks in this island, luring and charming the nymph. The nymph ends up falling in love and doesn't want him to leave, but he finds a way to trick her into using her watery powers to provide him with escape. Broke, and without a ship or a crew, Scotty has headed to this venture town to get himself some riches again.
Almost done with my martial artist, but we're looking really heavy on melee ...maybe a healer would be better?
I know what I want...let's see if the dice comply....
Almost done with my martial artist, but we're looking really heavy on melee ...maybe a healer would be better?
Okay, because you have such ridiculous rolls that it would be almost cruel not to yet you play, I'll go with seven people and say you're in Digger. But if someone drops out that doesn't open up a slot, my ideal limit is still 6 people.
Yeah, a dedicated healer would be huge. You know what would be great with those stats? Mystic Theurge.
13, 15, 16, 14, 8, 11
I wanted to play the exiled king of Halflingkind. But it looks like recruitment is all but finished. I'll make a King anyway..who knows, he might find a way into the adventure somehow.
Okay seven is a ridiculous party size and there's a lot of interest, so instead what I'm going to do is run two games with two different parties that both take place in the same "instance" of Venture Town (if that makes sense). Like a spinoff series. So Ptolmaeus Arvenus is in with his ranger (if he likes), and I can take up to two more people who come up with concepts, and then I'll make two teams out of them (looking for balance and who would naturally get along). We might have to give up the beautiful dream of a paladin and an anti-paladin being on the same team but that's the price of progress.
I'll actually back out, thanks.
Almost done with my martial artist, but we're looking really heavy on melee ...maybe a healer would be better?Okay, because you have such ridiculous rolls that it would be almost cruel not to yet you play, I'll go with seven people and say you're in Digger. But if someone drops out that doesn't open up a slot, my ideal limit is still 6 people.
Yeah, a dedicated healer would be huge. You know what would be great with those stats? Mystic Theurge.
I've always wanted to ...oh, man ...yessssssss ...
Oh snap can we pick teams?? Can I be a captain???
Okay someone has dropped out already so we'll see how things go whether there is one party or two.
If we do have teams if people are friends and want to make sure they're teammates just let me know.
Two quick questions, DM, how much gold do we have to purchase starting equiptment, and would it be fine for Scotty's butterfly knives to qualify for his sneak blade class ability? The text doesn't specifically say butterfly knives, but it lists all other dagger like blades...
Oh I didn't mention this yet, I sort of just assumed it, but this is going to be a very sandboxy game. There's a big dungeon for you to root around in if you run out of things to do on your own, but I'm more of a "dangle a few hooks, see what people bite" style DM than a "this is what I have prepared for you" DM. So you need to be proactive, because the only adventure that's going to come looking for you is debt collectors.
Two quick questions, DM, how much gold do we have to purchase starting equiptment, and would it be fine for Scotty's butterfly knives to qualify for his sneak blade class ability? The text doesn't specifically say butterfly knives, but it lists all other dagger like blades...
You can roll for your class or take the average. Buy rope!
Sure Butterfly knives are fine for that ability, I go for logic over a strict reading of the text.
Still playing with it. I stated up an Aasimar Paladin but I'm not sure why he'd respond to an adventure hook of "Wow, look at all the shiny stuff!" :-). Would you mind if I inserted an rumored artifact of his faith somewhere down there?I was going to do that kind of stuff anyway, seed the dungeon with hooks and all that noise. I need to know more about the order to do so, though. Maybe it was founded by the diaspora of dwarves who fled the mountain hall after it's fall to the Underdark. Then basically every ancient artifact your order considers holy would be down in there somewhere, forget just one. On the other end there's also lots of horrible dark artifacts Man Was Not Meant To Trifle With(tm) that must be destroyed for the good of all.
The rest of the party aren't exactly a choir of angels so you're going to have to be a bit more of a laissez faire Paladin, not a "kill everyone whose alignment I don't like" Paladin.
No worries. I was intending to play a mission oriented character inspired by 'Sparhawk' from David Eddings series The Elenium.
You can see Garrett Carr's profile HERE
I'll get a background together later today if the crunch is all right.
Thanks!
Ok, 110 gp
Yeah Garret's stats look good.
well thank you for the adventuring info.
Still.count me interested.
As i am away for the rest of the weekend i ll wait untill i get home to post a build and rolls
I'm less interested in builds and rolls than I am an idea of the sort of character you intend to make. The fluff, so-to-speak. Not the entire backstory, just the elevator pitch.
OK, I've got my guy figured out. I mean, I've already played a "lucky stat rolls monk" before. I've never played a Cleric.
SOOOO ...here comes a weird one, a CN Cleric of Groeteus, with the Darkness/Night and Void/Dark Tapestry domains. He'll multiclass into a Starsoul Sorcerer on his way to Mystic Theurge. A happy nihilist readying Golarion for What Comes Next.
OK, I've got my guy figured out. I mean, I've already played a "lucky stat rolls monk" before. I've never played a Cleric.
SOOOO ...here comes a weird one, a CN Cleric of Groeteus, with the Darkness/Night and Void/Dark Tapestry domains. He'll multiclass into a Starsoul Sorcerer on his way to Mystic Theurge. A happy nihilist readying Golarion for What Comes Next.
Well, readying someplace or other for What Comes Next at any rate. If you say Groeteus is a deity on this plane then he is, but it's not supposed to be Golarion specifically. It's a nebulous undefined place for PCs to project whatever backstories they want onto. You could also be a cleric of Set or Cthulhu or some made up god if you want. At the same time you can stick with Groeteus if he fits the bill for you.
Oh, that's even better. He had the portfolio and domains I liked, but not the flavor. I GET TO INVENT A RELIGION!
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My sheet can be found here http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=697200
Go to mythweavers. Reworking the backstory a bit and reposting it soon. Question: How do you apply for this job I want to add it.
I've not played a ninja before. I'm not opposed to the idea. I just need to read more about the class. Also, I was thinking of a sorcerer but at second level taking bard (geisha). Let me ponder a bit more about this character.
Updated Garrett's profile with his background. I thought I'd alleviate the necessity of creating an actual artifact by making it a MacGuffin . You can add it in later if you need an adventure hook or leave it as a hopeless quest and bitter exile.
My sheet can be found here http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=697200
Go to mythweavers. Reworking the backstory a bit and reposting it soon. Question: How do you apply for this job I want to add it.
Well either a group of individuals come together and decide to incorporate into an adventuring party, or you're all members of an adventuring guild (The League of Gentlemen Delvers, The Graverobbers Guild, Heroes of Fortune, Golden Opportunity Expeditions, etc. etc.) who have been assigned to an adventuring party, or a wealthy backer in sponsoring your party and assembled an elite cadre of personal graverobbers.
Or a bunch of weirdos just go looking for treasure in a hole. You don't have to buy into the legal stuff (but you're looked down on by your peers if you don't).
I assume that you guys are going for independent but incorporated adventuring party, but that's up to the characters.
Can our adventuring corporation be called "the league of gentlemen looking for weird things in holes"? Or loglwtih, if you will.
Works for me! My Cleric of THE BEYOND is mostly statted up, just need to buy equipment and some finishing touches.