World's Largest Dungeon (Inactive)

Game Master 10gpGrapplingHook

Welcome brave heroes. Just opening the discussion thread for the World's Largest Dungeon. Will be looking through the characters and posting updates and questions here. Introduce yourselves (player and character) here!

I am a student at the College of Charleston. Been playing d&d and pathfinder for a long time now, both as a player and DM. I started running World's Largest Dungeon, and from the start, they just wanted something they knew they could finish before we left for college, so it was shut down.

Hi everyone. When i set out to create Willow i was aiming for a standard witch but seing the Hedge-witch archetype inspired me to recreate some kind of mystical medieval old midwife/soothsayer/general practitioner. So there she is as a 470 year old elven woman who takes care of Cleftwood.

Willow is old, even for an elf. At 470 years of age you can almost say that you've seen it all, Willow certainly believes she did. Her features show the signs of age. Lines have started to form on her weather worn skiné lines that look like the cracking of dried earth. Her hair once a vibrant green have turned the color of moss and even though she spends a great deal of time outdoors her skin remains the color of clay. She wears many layers of shirt to keep the cold away and a long woolen skirt, covered by a leather apron. Her long hair is usually set in a ball behind her hair with several long strands that reach near her lower back. She smells like moist dirt akin to good earth after a good rain.

My name is Olivier, i live in Quebec Canada and am a french Canadian. I am in my late 20's and am a high pressure welder. Been playing for 17 years and even forayed the red box (as a dm). I play RPGs of all kinds and boardgames and like going kayaking with my girlfriend as a means to stay relatively fit (still very doughy unfortunately)

backstory:

Local legend says that before Cleftwood was ever built there was a witch. A witch who had built a shack by a pond underneath the arms of a gigantic willow tree. The legend says that when the founders of Cleftwood came, she showed them where to build so their village could prosper. They say she was there when the first child of Cleftwood was born, that she acted as the midwife. They say that not a child was born without her being present. They say that when the first mayor's son was bit by a snake, that she is the one who saved his life. That she killed the snake and made a strange brew and made him drink it. They say that if you need fortune told, to ask the willow witch. When farmers need to know what to plant this year, Willow knows best, if your cow wont milk or your chicken wont lay, ask Willow. If you cough or you sneeze or your tooth aches, your back ails and your joints swell or just cant get rid of an itch, go see Willow. She wont take a coin, a penny or a shilling but if you want Willow's help you better bring a gift. Sometimes a ham, sometimes a pound of coffee grains or even a good story. They say many a great things about Wise old Willow but they never say her true name for she has never given it. But all know that Willow takes care of Cleftwood and she needs no one's help.

Willow has been known to spit on holy symbols and hiss at servants of the faiths. She likes to say that there are no gods and that all who claim to detain powers from above are charlatans and hoaxes. She swears often and tolerates no fools and yet she remains endearing. Willow helps because she can, she helps because its the right thing to do and if she dont help then she just knows they wont do things right.

Willow is going after Longtail before he starts infecting her precious Cleftwood with his lycanthropy, she knows she cant bring him down herself so she'll accept to work with those younglings that are going after him. Someone is going to need to patch them up if they run into trouble and she just knows that without her special touch things will just go badly.

[/spoiler]

This is Jicix, Willow's familiar, who will occasionally do things on its own (6int).

Jicix is probably one of the oldest goat alive in Golarion but, unlike her master, she ages gracefully or rather not at all. She looks like a perfectly fit and healthy nanny goat. Jicix is very useful to Willow, she is a source of food and a friend who listens (when you live by yourself for 300+ years you tend to talk to your pets). She even carries Willow's stuff for her in saddlebags. Jicix enjoys being milked in the morning while Willow communes for her spells

Enjoys being milked in the morning you say? Instantly made me think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2H-ZNfhxbs

Btw I dont think you need to keep track of Tricks, since the familiar has above 2 Int. It can do whatever you ask it to do, assuming it able.

Anyways, hullo folks, names Casper, hailing from the frigid northern land of Denmark (To be fair our summers are quite nice though). I guess you can say I am also in my late 20s, pushing 27. Ive worked many different jobs since graduating highschool almost 7 years ago, although currently unemployed (finance crisis yaaay). Right now im waiting to find out if ill be accepted for an interview with The Animation Workshop in Viborg, to hopefully get to attend their Computer Graphic Artist line, although competition for spots is high so im keeping my expectations low.

Ive played Dnd for almost 13 years or so, getting in on some ADnD for about a year before converting to 3.0. Ive mostly been stuck DMing since my group isnt to good with all the behind the scenes rules and my brain is like a sponge when it comes to rules for games I like (and like a sieve when it comes to remembering things in general). Thats not to say I dont enjoy DMing but after a while you want to be the player.

As for Thalrik

Thalrik strikes a tall, thin silhouette, standing at more than 6 feet in hight with only about 150 pounds to support it. While his elven features are rather subtle, being a second generation half-elf, his haughty facial expression and near regal posture could lead the less educated to believe him a full blooded elf. Being raised by an old elf in seclusion, Thalrik has learned little about common practices like lying so as to not hurt others feelings. He speaks his mind openly, assuming it is relevant to mention (he doesnt just walk up and say "hey you are fat" to a fat woman). Despite Evandriks best attempts to make him lighten up during their childhood, Thalrik has grown to be cold and distant, having little time for affection, although that is more a concious decision to supress it than a reflection of his deeper personality (kinda like Spock really)

Got her stats, and her background, fixed. Now I need to tie her up to the rest of the party... ¿Any ideas?
The first time people, specially Dwarves, see Magnitofera, they know this is one of the most beautiful Dwarven girl they have ever seen. And when she starts to talk to them, they can't believe she can be so charming too.

Magnitofera's family always wanted for her to become one of Torag 's chosen, a virgin shieldmaiden devoted to the community. All her life she was groomed and prepared for it, and she has, as a good dwarven daughter, always look for exceed the hopes of her family, clan and community.

The problem has been her childhood friends, Krieger and Ungrim.

The handsome and charismatic Krieger (Magna don' t realize she is even more charismatic than he is) has always caused feelings and ideas in her that are not adequate not correct, and she has always fought to have those feelings in check, trying to quell the flame that can destroy her chosen future... But even so she wasn't able, just before embarking with him on their first adventure, to take the chastity vows, making her family angry to her for the first time on her life...

But she has the help of Ungrim. He arrived on her life just in time, a refugee that arrived to town, an stranger as different to Krieger as possible, that have become a good friend and confident to her that has helped her keep her path of Piety and chastity. With him she feels safe and can talk about everything... Or can she? What are those feelings she sometimes have? Is Ungrim just a brother in the monastery, or he is something more? Does he want to help her in her path of service and solitude, or he has other reasons? Do she prefer for him to have other reasons, and feel herself as a wanted and coveted woman?

So when the chance to help her town came along, she took her stuff and volunteer for this dangerous mission, hoping to purge those feelings out of her by ways of service and penance.

About me, my name is Corsario, and I am from México. I have been playing Role Playing Games since last millenium, mostly DM'ing, but I love to have a good character and be a player. I tend to focus on the RP side of Role Playing Games, but left back the "teen-agnst drama" in my teens, very long way back ago.
My first language is not english, so I hope you can excuse a mistake or lack of understanding here and there.
Glad to be here with you, and hope we have a great game!

Im certainly not opposed to having ties to her, but not everyone in a party hammered together by a common cause need to know eachother already.

Also, this is just the power player in me talking, but you would be well served settling for 15 Charisma and upgrading it to 16 at level 4. Those 4 saved points could get you to 14 Str and Con, which will make quite a big difference, especially the Str since you are gonna be twohanding (I dont see a shield so assume the warhammer is for twohanding as well?)

Oh wow, i had forgotten that family guy episode. I laughed so hard.

Casper, how do you do that stat thing (in gray) underneath your avatar's name?

As for tying up background, Willow's background is very much tied to Cleftwood. As such anybody having grown in or around Cleftwood would at least know about her or Willow would know about you. She might have a wrong opinion about someone but thats something we'll just see as the story develop

Thalrik has a point about your stat array, its a good advice :-)

Lastly I have to say i'm impressed at the international bridge gapping we are doin here. North America, Central America, Eastern(?) Europe (im unsure exactly where Europe's eastern/western divide is).

Well all I know is League of Legends lumped Denmark with the West servers, but frankly I think we are East.

As for knowing Willow, in the back of my mind when I made the character, I imagined him not being local. His grandfather may know her though, and he may have told Thalrik of her once or twice. So I imagine its something like "Willow? Sounds familiar"

Also, as a point of curiosity, are our female characters females players? I hear its real tough playing the opposite gender (never dared try myself).

I usually stick to playing males but with the role i wanted Willow to have had, i couldnt see her being a man. This kind of selflessness and behavior dosnt lend itself easily (to me) from a man. I think since we are playing using the online medium that i will be easier for me to try to think as a woman since i will have more time to mull my thoughts over before declaring them.

Hi Thalrik!
Yes, I know, I am a terrible optimizer :P
About the background, yes your character seems to be far apart from all things human (and elven for that matter). Guess it comes handy if you don't want any possible hostage back home. Yes, I don't think Magna will know him from before.
Hi Willow!
About old lady Willow... Does she attend Dwarven births? In that case maybe Magna will know her from birth... ;)

As for being a woman, no, I am not, but my daughter says I play a lot of Female characters! :P

Once a few of the others check in, I will open the gameplay thread. Just to note:

I will not be using an application, but I will post a map of the dungeon, revealing rooms as they explored. For combat, I will post a picture of the room with player and enemy markers, and a coordinate system to indicate movement. After everyone posts for a given round or scenario, I will post a summation of the events, as well as any new information. For combat, I will have each player roll initiative to for each round and post their actions and what they would like to do in a round. I will do my best to allow every player to commit to their actions, and use initiative to determine striking order as opposed to turn order.

Example: Player A declares they want to charge Orc A and attack. He rolls an initiative of 10 for the round. Orc A also wants to charge and attack, and rolls a 15 initiative for the round. Rather than having Orc A charge Player A and player A can no longer charge and has to choose a new action, I will simple have them both charge and meet in the middle. Since Orc A had higher initiative, he strikes first. This way, everyone can commit to their actions and speed up combat.

If the initiative roll is forgotten for a round, no biggie, I will just roll it for you when I post the round summary.

Gyness has lived his entire life in a monestary. The high cleric has sent him here to aid the call. he is a rotund cleric and jovial but doesn't know much of the outside world thus why he was sent on this journey of self discovery.

I live in the US Midwest. have dabbled in rpgs from childhood but nothing consistent until I found PbP. I am older than the rest of you by almost double. And am very excited about play this. It is an epic journey. I have never played but have heard plenty about it and how wonderful it is.

So I guess I will see ya all in game.

I'm 29, I currently live in St. Louis, MO, and I work for a museum and as a human statue on the side. I have been playing rpgs since I was 13, and got into 3.x D&D when it came out. I switched to Pathfinder with their open playtest. Been DMing more than playing in real life, and playing pbp for a few years now. I even briefly GMd a few games.

With Evandrik, I want to develop a hard-@ss, grizzled dungeon delver. He disables traps, knows the terrain and history of dungeons, and kills monsters with his tremendous strength. This guy grew up killing undead and delving trap-laden ruins around his home with his father, and it comes naturally to him. When he outlived his human parents, he decided to track down his only known relative-his half-fiend oni grandfather who is rumored to be imprisoned in the World's Largest Dungeon...

His goal is to get rich while learning about his fiendish heritage. And he loves a good fight. He's a bit 2-dimensional, but simple is good and direct is his philosophy. He has nothing to hide, no pretenses, he's got a face only a mother could love, and he is blunt to a fault at times.

I like the idea of Evandrik and Thalrik being childhood friends. Both grew up with hermits for parents in a ruin-dotted forest, and the two were like peas in a pod. Evandrik identified with the half-elves' longevity and they did not begrudge him his mixed pedigree.

Thalrik- what is adulthood for half elves? I can make Evandrik a bit younger if needed, as I assumed he'd be 40ish.

Gyness has lived his entire life in a monestary. The high cleric has sent him here to aid the call. he is a rotund cleric and jovial but doesn't know much of the outside world thus why he was sent on this journey of self discovery.

Nice background, and even if he is an orphan and Magnitofera is a "family girl" they both are sheltered souls tasting the outside world for the first time, so I think they will hit off real nice. And Magnitofera sure can use some of the teachings of Gyness religion. ;)

Thalrik- what is adulthood for half elves? I can make Evandrik a bit younger if needed, as I assumed he'd be 40ish.

Half-elven lifespan is more similar to humans than elves, with adulthood setting in at age 20, and dying of old age usually at age 140ish, although they can go as far as almost 160.

Even if tieflings live longer, dont they still grow to adulthood at the same rate as their base race?

His goal is to get rich while learning about his fiendish heritage. And he loves a good fight. He's a bit 2-dimensional, but simple is good and direct is his philosophy. He has nothing to hide, no pretenses, he's got a face only a mother could love, and he is blunt to a fault at times.

A big fiendish CHA 5 tiefling? I am not sure Magnitofera will feel conftable around him at first, but with time and diplomacy I think he will fall for her charm ;)

Did some last minute changes to Thalrik, namely swapping Improved Initiative for Toughness, and using my favoured class bonus for a skill point for Knowledge (Planes). How I managed to make a character who knows he going into a planar prison, without getting that skill is beyond me!

I wanted Evandrik to outlive his parents. Maybe one died of illness and the other from undead? I'll make Evandrik 36 and say he was like an older cousin/brother figure to your much smarter half elf.

Hi Willow!
About old lady Willow... Does she attend Dwarven births? In that case maybe Magna will know her from birth... ;)

Willow doesnt discriminate child birth, she very well might have been there to deliver you

You could have the mother die of illness and the father of old age. This is a medieval setting after all, so old age death sets in far sooner than it does today. Most people dont live past 50 in such times, and men would often be alot older than the women they married.

The age difference was only historically true of nobility, usually. But yeah, that could work-and explain why they had no more children. Mother of 30, father of 50?

Now that we got the awkward presentation out of the way, let's all get along and show that we can make a great team.

Im liking the setup alot I must admit.

I like the set up so far. I hope Willow isn't too mean to the cleric. :)

Thalrik, did we set off together to explore or did we meet up later?

Did the rest of us know each other?

Im thinking Thalrik has tried to talk Evandrik out of going there, to meet some grandfather he has never met, likely getting himself killed in the attempt. But failing to do so he has decided to join him instead, hoping to change that fate. While he wanted to explore the world, he imagined it more as traveling, not adventuring. So hes had the adventuring life thrust upon him by his own sense of loyalty, even if he wont admit to it.

So far im seeing my connections as being Evandrik (childhood friend), Willow (Knows his grandfather. He has heard of her a few times but never met her himself)

The other three I cant really see him knowing in advance. Magnitofera and Gyness both grew up in isolated communities (dwarf hold and monestary) and Kowus seems to have been on the road too much.

Magnitofera and Gyness may know eachother through Ale though :) Maybe Gyness has visited the dwarven hold each year for several years to participate in a brewing competition? And in so doing met Magni? Maybe they talked about religion, discussing their beliefs with oneanother?

Im just throwing stuff out there.

Kowus I can imagine having run into any one of us during his travels, although knowing more than one of us seems unlikely (I mean what are the odds)

Looked up tiefling age category. Adulthood is 60, so I'm making Evandrik 56. He would have had a long childhood, the latter half spent in friendship with Thalrik, the first half alone except for his parents and his father's animal companion.

I wonder when they are physically adult. I mean even fullblooded elves look "adult" to humans between the age of 15-20.

Thinking I should change some gear. is it okay to do so. i am fine either way.

Im no authority on the matter but since we are still in town I should think you can.

Absolutely. You can change gear until we set out. And I'll allow spell/feat/skill changes until we get into the dungeon, just incase you feel your character going in a different direction.

updated equipment

Why is the shield bash -2?

shield bash is considered off hand.

Oh, yeah, I know, I just assumed if you were ever gonna use it, you wouldnt be two-weapon fighting with it.

Willow doesnt discriminate child birth, she very well might have been there to deliver you

Excellent!

Just incase you weren't aware Evandrik, the gameplay thread is now open =)

Maggie...

I like it, is a nice nickname for her... Magnitofera is too formal...

I bought two scrolls for Willow, can I add them to her spell list without a check or do I have to risk it? Will probably wait for a few levels if i risk losing them

May I exchange a trait (freedom fighter for heirloom weapon(glaive) ) ? I am afraid I won't find any slavers down there.

Evandrik showed up!

Excellent!

You got me worried for a second there... :P

I am really sorry. I missed the memo we had started.

No problem, really glad you joined us!

Do you know if there is a way to get thread update notifications? Like an email or cell alert when people post?

I have bookmarked the character campaigns(tab) page for easier post visibility, useful when you are enrolled in multiple games.

Another option is to use the good old RSS. There are three orange squares in the upper right corner of the game page which allow you to save the feeds in your RSS reader. After Google Reader had died I've been using Feedly.

That's a good idea. I have them bookmarked as well, and just run through each bookmark and check. I'll have to investigate this RSS reader...

I think the friction caused by the devout cleric and the atheistic witch makes for wonderful role play.

I like it very much. Now Gyness's Chaotic side may come out sooner or later, but we will ooops it did.

LOL

Haha, I would say so.

So for marching order, I got a lot of Front liners. Here is the order I have put you guys in, if you want to make any changes, just let me know =)

Front
Gyness
Magnitofera
Evandrik
Thalrik
Willow
Kowus
Rear

Where did this Rear fellow come from anyways

Good for me