The town of Sandpoint needs you! With the consecration of their new cathedral as the high point of the Swallowtail Festival, the citizens of Sandpoint hope to close the book on the Late Unpleasantness of five years ago. Little do they know that their troubles have only begun, as something terrible begins to boil up from below...
I'd like to take a party of 4-6 players through Rise of the Runelords: Anniversary Edition. For now let's say a commitment to Burnt Offerings, and then see where it goes from there. This will be my first foray into GMing, but I've been wanting to try running a game for years now.
- 20pt buy
- Roll starting gold or use average for your class
- We will be using background skills
- Your character should have two traits, with one being a campaign trait taken from either the RotRL anniversary edition Player's Guide or from James Jacob's 'Shadows Under Sandpoint' campaign (found in the APG, including Favored Son/Daughter, Black Sheep, and Outlander).
- You may take a third trait if you also take a drawback.
- No evil characters.
Barring another massive shutdown of the site, recruitment will go for two weeks, closing ~11:59PM EST on September 16th. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
I've heard of Rise of the Runelords, but never read it or played it, so I'd be fresh blood at the least. I'll take a look at the players campaign guide and get back to you with a submission.
Finished up a brief background and some personality traits.
There are people in life that like things orderly and neat. They live in this high society fantasy, acting as if the world outside of their rod iron gates does not exist. It doesn’t matter if they realize it or no, but the world they try and block out is realer to the rest of the world than what they think exist. Jed stands up, finishes off his scotch, collects “Bad Day,” and makes his way way out into the streets of Sandpoint.
Squinting his eyes, Jed pulls down his glasses. How long have I been in there? Its morning already? Spending the night drinking, and gambling in the Hagfish sure has lightened the coin purse. Luckily for me, I am quick with my fingers and can leave a table with a few extra coins... Flipping a coin between his fingers before sliding it back into his pocket.
Jedediah “Jed” Price is new to Sandpoint. Jed is a man of adventure and of an easy coin, especially when it is earned or taken from those living the posh life.
Jed is selfless to the underdog. If there is someone who is being oppressed he will do all he can to free them from it.
Jed can be quiet, but he is always taking in what is going on in his surroundings. Always keep track of his threats, and the best way out.
Jeds vices are gambling, and whisky. Both have brought him fame & fortune at times, but also wanted for his debt.
His prized possession is “Bad Day,” his musket. He found and has been tinkering on it for several years bringing it back to life. Jed has become a decent shot with it, but always takes time to practice his shot.
Alright, I really like what I'm seeing. Since it seems like the site has stabilized, fingers crossed, recruitment will run through Sunday the 16th. I'll post a more complete update of submissions this Sunday at the latest, but at a glance, quite a few divine casters, a handful of arcane casters, some scouts and faces, some ranged characters, but only one melee specialist so far.
I'm making a Ratfolk bloodrager, just have to finalize some things.
Well my divine caster druid is going to be a wildshape specialist, so combatish and he has an animal companion, while also being able to cast a selection of Druid spells
Which I'm sure is great when you get Wild Shape at level 6, a third of the way into book 2. I was just making an observation.
By the by, I didn't notice this until now, your base speed on your sheet is incorrect, Oreads have a base speed of 20ft.
@Rabscuttle, A ratfolk bloodrager would be excellent to work with! We could coordinate teamwork feats to take advantage of swarming. I'd be happy to modify backstory to pair us up if we both get selected and you'd like to.
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Which I'm sure is great when you get Wild Shape at level 6, a third of the way into book 2. I was just making an observation.By the by, I didn't notice this until now, your base speed on your sheet is incorrect, Oreads have a base speed of 20ft.
Your correct, this char was a human in it's last game application and I missed changing that bit.
I was just pointing it out to differentiate myself from the standard divine casters.
Ahhh. yes but Shamans get a Totem transformation at lvl 2 which allows me some use of natural attacks
I was talked into trying a Shifter for an ongoing game. Solid combatant before you gain Wild Shape (thanks to the two claw attacks), but then just seriously broken if you take Tiger. The dino form can't be much less capable.
At level 8, some of the baddies are finally solid enough to survive a good Power Attack Pounce.
The GM and I are both working to keep my character's AC down and even with a crafter in the party, we're avoiding an Amulet of Mighty Fists. There's just no need for one at this point.
My second form is Falcon. Really great for outside scouting and confined footing combats.
As long as you work with the GM to keep the game fun and engaging for everyone, Sifter rocks the Wild Shape combatant role in amazing ways. For more than I thought it would before I started working with the class.
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Hi SilverDreamer!
I was thinking about a Human Inquisitor (Monster Tactician) of either Desna or Sarenrae. I was leaning towards Sarenrae as a redeemer of sorts (whether with words or steel/claw is the question). He is traveling to Sandpoint to see the new Cathedral and to see how the town is faring these days following the Late Unpleasantness, if any spiritual guidance could be of use to the locals. It's also hard to turn down attending the Swallowtail Festival itself, who doesn't love some good food?
I kind of imagine him as the Neutral Good, more morally loose version of a Paladin of Sarenrae.
Anyways, mechanically I was curious:
I wanted to do the Dervish Dance bit and roll with a scimitar and a buckler, though there is always some debate about using Dervish Dance with a buckler. I was curious what your ruling would be on such a matter (slashing Grace has an FAQ that allows it to work with a Buckler, so you could say that it's in the same ballpark, if that matters)?
Dervish Dance
Cheers!
@DinosaursOnIce: I didn't even know there was a debate. I read it as being in the same court as precise strike, slashing grace, etc, ie you're good.
I agree, I didn't know there was a debate either. Thing is, I can't see that ruling as meeting the intent of the rule, whether you can argue for it meeting the letter of the rule or not.
Can't Dervish Dance with a weapon or shield in your off-hand, but you can Dervish Dance wielding a buckler on your off-arm?
I don't enjoy that kind of rules cheese play. Haven't in decades.
I'm out. Have fun.
Sorry to put you off.
And, actually, DinosaursOnIce? Gudada made a very good point, I actually looked more closely at Dervish Dance and Slashing Grace, and I've changed my mind. The two feats have different text, Dervish Dance says no weapons or shields. It doesn't work. Sorry.
Like I said, I'm a new GM, I've never done this before. If anybody's put off by that, feel free to retract your submission.
New GM's not the problem. Everybody starts new.
Rulings that consistently go with the most narrow and powerful reading of the letter of the rule (regardless of which side benefits) instead of what makes sense for the story are part of a style of play I don't enjoy.
Others do.
There's not a right or wrong way to play. But there are ways I enjoy more than others, and they won't be the same as everybody else's preferences.
The goal is to find a group where enough of everybody's preferences line up that everybody can have fun. If you remember that, then when you see something that you know puts you off, you can reduce the heartache of everyone involved.
The goal isn't for the characters (and thus players) to win. The goal is for the players (and GM) to work together to have fun. That entertainment is the win.
Edit: Don't read this wrong. I can cheese with the best of them. Gudada has some pretty aggressive Gouda in his make-up (Sleight-of-Hand of +13 without equipment). But I try to cheese to a story, to be good (and weak) where the character tells me they should, not where I have to in order to have the best mechanical advantage during combat.
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Sorry to put you off.
And, actually, DinosaursOnIce? Gudada made a very good point, I actually looked more closely at Dervish Dance and Slashing Grace, and I've changed my mind. The two feats have different text, Dervish Dance says no weapons or shields. It doesn't work. Sorry.
Heya, no problemo, that's why I asked! I shall reconsider, Slashing Grace or perhaps a Longspear instead. Thanks for considering it though!
There's not a right or wrong way to play. But there are ways I enjoy more than others, and they won't be the same as everybody else's preferences.The goal is to find a group where enough of everybody's preferences line up that everybody can have fun. If you remember that, then when you see something that you know puts you off, you can reduce the heartache of everyone involved.
The goal isn't for the characters (and thus players) to win. The goal is for the players (and GM) to work together to have fun. That entertainment is the win.
I agree with this, absolutely. And I totally agree with your ideas of optimizing to a concept/story. Which I argue is really what I was doing.
Edit: Don't read this wrong. I can cheese with the best of them. Gudada has some pretty aggressive Gouda in his make-up (Sleight-of-Hand of +13 without equipment). But I try to cheese to a story, to be good (and weak) where the character tells me they should, not where I have to in order to have the best mechanical advantage during combat.
I disagree with this though. At least within the context of implying that using a Buckler and Dervish Dance is super cheesy. Or optimal.
1) Sword and shield isn't generally considered very strong, I would argue I was just trying to raise a sub-optimal style up to be okay. Vs just using a reach weapon, combat reflexes, power attack, and going at it.
There are threads that debate the matter though, given the wording, but I'm not here to argue that. It's no biggie, and I certainly understand where one sees it as splitting hairs. And my point was really more in that power wise it wasn't much different from the FAQ. A bit better? Sure. But hardly cheesy.
Lastly, I disagree that it was a power grab, it was mostly flavor driven. A dexterous scimitar wielding Sarenrae worshiper is certainly par for the course. More so than your typical Longspear wielding divine caster at least. Sure, mechanics factored into it, summoning is feat heavy and Inquisitors are feat light, but the whole concept was born out of an interest in trying something a little different (but also workable) conceptually.
Regardless, I apologize for the whole matter (and to you too SilverDreamer if you happen to read this). I didn't mean to insult your sensibilities as a gamer, or to put the GM on the spot.
Basically, I don't think your goals in gaming and mine are that different here. I feel like this was just a misunderstanding.
I also don't think the GM was trying to cheese it either, I think they simply read the feat, thought "It's basically slashing grace" and went "okay". I guess I just don't understand where your issue is here. Perhaps we have differences (I don't necessarily think so) but that's unrelated to the game isn't it?
Cheers. ^_^
p.s. I hope you reconsider dropping out. Could be fun. I'd love to get a chance to see what Gudada is about if we both got in.
Hey, as promised, here's a level 1 goliath druid - to eventually take a bit of ranger down the line.
Half-orc (Ulfen) druid (goliath druid) 1 (Pathfinder Player Companion: Giant Hunter's Handbook 20, Ultimate Wilderness 187)
NG Medium humanoid (human, orc)
Init +3; Senses Perception +7 (+9 to not be surprised in a surprise round of combat, +8 vs. giant subtype creatures)
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Defense
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AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 17 (+4 armor, +2 Dex, +2 shield, +1 trait)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +6, Ref +4, Will +7
Defensive Abilities sacred tattoo[APG]
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee club +2 (1d6+2) or
. . shortspear +2 (1d6+2) or
. . spear +2 (1d8+3/×3)
Druid (Goliath Druid) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +4)
. . 1st—heightened awareness[ACG], shillelagh (DC 14)
. . 0 (at will)—create water, detect magic, guidance
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 8
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Additional Traits
Traits defender of the society, fate's favored, giant ambivalence, giant slayer, weapon training
Skills Acrobatics -3 (-7 to jump), Bluff -1 (+0 vs. giant subtype creatures), Diplomacy +3, Handle Animal +3, Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (nature) +5, Perception +7 (+9 to not be surprised in a surprise round of combat, +8 vs. giant subtype creatures), Sense Motive +4 (+5 vs. giant subtype creatures), Spellcraft +7, Survival +7; Racial Modifiers +2 Spellcraft
Languages Common, Druidic, Giant, Orc, Skald
SQ nature bond (elasmotherium [bodyguard] named Næsehorn), orc blood, primal bond, primal empathy, primal size, primal summons, shared vigilance, tribalistic, unlearned, wild empathy
Other Gear hide armor, heavy wooden shield, club, shortspear, spear, backpack, bedroll, canteen[UE], chalk (10), feed (per day) (2), grappling hook, holly and mistletoe, mess kit[UE], powder[APG] (10), silent piton[UW] (2), space rations (2), spell component pouch, sunrod (2), tindertwig (2), 1 gp, 4 sp
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Special Abilities
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Animal Companion Link (Ex) Handle or push Animal Companion faster, +4 to checks vs. them.
Orc Blood Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for any effect related to race.
Primal Bond (Ex) Can affect dinosaur/megafauna animal companion with enlarge person.
Primal Empathy (Ex) Your wild empathy only functions on creatures of size Large or lager.
Primal Size You can spontaneously cast enlarge person using a 1st level or higher spell slot.
Primal Summons Summon nature's ally lists include new options.
Sacred Tattoo +1 to all saves.
Shared Vigilance (Ex) Gain Alterness feat when adjacent to animal companion.
Tribalistic +2 to attack rolls and skill checks to aid another of your ethnicity.
Unlearned (Knowledge [religion]) You cannot attempt untrained checks with knowledge skills other than the one selected.
Wild Empathy +1 (Ex) Improve the attitude of an animal, as if using Diplomacy.
Naesehorn CR –
Elasmotherium (bodyguard) (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 6 312)
N Medium animal
Init +1; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +7
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+1 armor, +1 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 13 (2d8+4)
Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +3
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft.
Melee gore +4 (1d8+4)
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 17, Cha 3
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 15 (19 vs. trip)
Feats Combat Reflexes
Tricks Attack, Combat Riding, Come, Defend, Down, Guard, Heel, Track
Skills Acrobatics +1 (+5 to jump), Perception +7, Stealth +5
SQ combat riding, shared vigilance, track
Other Gear padded armor, saddlebags, silk rope (50 ft.)
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Special Abilities
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Combat Reflexes (2 AoO/round) Can make extra attacks of opportunity/rd, and even when flat-footed.
Combat Riding [Trick] The animal has been trained to bear a rider into combat.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Scent (Ex) Detect opponents within 15+ ft. by sense of smell.
Shared Vigilance (Ex) Gain Alterness feat when adjancent to master.
Track [Trick] The animal will track a scent.
Sven is a towering half-orc with long blond braided hair. He has pale, bluish skin, and green eyes. He wears a hodgepodge of traditional ulfen garb and druidic wear, with both in various states of patched disrepair.
Sven was born in the Nolands, to an Ulfen shieldmaiden that was exiled from the Land of the Linnorm Kings for reasons she would never discuss. He had a hard life, growing up between two worlds and never being accepted by either. His small village was under constant threat of attack from ulfen raids, giants, and even occasionally drow, but managed to get by with a mix of careful diplomacy and defenses. He fought with people in town, and was easy to anger, but managed to contribute in a positive way.
His mother trained him to learn traditional ulfen weapons with the hope that he would become a barbarian or ranger of reknown, but he had other ideas. He travelled outside of town and trained in shamanistic traditions from an old orc druid that lived nearby and who called on Sven secretly to train him. He appreciated nurturing of this potential connection, and decided to follow in the orc's footsteps - though perhaps focusing more on some of the primal magic that seemed to be bound to Varisia's heart.
Not long after his 16th birthday, the village was sacked and destroyed by a band of ogres and stone giants, with the only survivors being him and his mother, and only by the pity of a stone giant who knocked them out and whisked them south after Sven foolishly challenged the giant to "single combat."
Sven is now fascinated by giants, and has an abiding interest in giantkind. He does not know why the giant spared him nor his mother, but doubly exiled, they travelled south to a settlement outside of Riddleport, and away from the mountains. Along the way, Sven attracted the help of a large, furred rhinoceros that he named "Naesehorn" (which is Ulfen for rhinoceros). His mother had no interest in living near giantish communities, and told Sven to strike out to the south if he wanted to learn more about the history of Giants. She recommended that he join the Pathfinder society, which she was once a member of, as they had extensive libraries, and he was instructed to travel to Magnimar to do so.
Sven grew up with his mother's faith in Desna, and has a traveller's and explorer's wanderlust, as as a result. He loves travelling, exploring, and learning new stories, but is particularly fascinated by the lore of giants and their history in Varisia. He doesn't understand them well, but has a feeling he himself may have some giant blood.
He has recently travelled to Sandpoint for the dedication to the new cathedral.
He's a half orc with Ulfen heritage, which I think (?) is kosher with the rules (counts as a human, right?). Apparently half-orc is my favorite race, I always seem to want to make characters that are half-orcs.
Litejedi: Two things jump out at the moment. It's not well formatted on the SRD but Defender of the Society requires you to be a Fighter. And one of the items you have is 'space rations', it's literally astronaut food, you would never have access to that.
And maybe I'm just being picky but how in the world would an ulfen shieldmaiden from the Land of the Linnorm Kings have been a member of the Pathfinder Society? That seems really far fetched.
Gotcha, I can scrap both, I forgot about Defender of The Society (I have the sourcebook but fighter doesn’t come up as a prerequisite in HeroLab either). For some reason I thought space rations meant like, takes up less space, not “is for space” though the people of the stars source could’ve given that away if I had thought about it. Honestly he doesn’t even need them really, he can get along in the wild without rations.
As for the background, I envisioned her having led a complicated life, but for your purposes we could just as easily say that she knew of them and directed him to go down for that reason. It isn’t an integral part of the background. From reading what books I have read on the land and the Ulfen, it didn’t seem unprecedented. Pathfinders are everywhere, right?
This is Tif, Ratfolk aberrant Bloodrager, as played by Rabscuttle.
@Rabscuttle, A ratfolk bloodrager would be excellent to work with! We could coordinate teamwork feats to take advantage of swarming. I'd be happy to modify backstory to pair us up if we both get selected and you'd like to.
Yes, looks like we have the same campaign trait, so it'd be good to have been traveling together before. No objection to coordinating feats down the line, only have rough ideas for character progression at the moment.
Like I said, I'm a new GM, I've never done this before. If anybody's put off by that, feel free to retract your submission.
I'm not put off and I am still interested in the game. However, this interaction does bring up the fact that there are differences in playstyles - and there are more differences that are also worth thinking about. So a few observations to a new GM from a veteran if you don't mind.
As to rule interpretation, I personally err on the side of caution with regard to PC power when I am a player, and I try to ascertain the spirit of the rules (understanding that the authors are constrained by word counts and so are often not as precise in wording as they'd like to be). I think this was a fair question and reasonable to ask. But I have seen some PFS gamers trying to push very questionable PC-favoring interpretations.
You might also consider what sort of optimization level you are going for. I tend to favor a medium-low level of offensive optimization, and a medium level of defensive optimization, and a reasonably high level of smart play. I find rocket tag boring. I find one-round battles unsatisfying. I like seeing moves and counters. Some other players build for rocket tag.
I don't see combat and RP as separate things. Battles can include drama, cinematic moments, and character-defining decisions. What your character decides to do in a combat depends on their personality, not just what is the optimal way to end the fight. But for me as a player, combats make for better drama when they last several rounds. So I like to have enough defenses to last several rounds, and only rarely look to use save-or-dies. I know how to build a witch with a starting Slumber Hex DC of 19 (at-will) at 1st level, or maybe 20. I think that would make for a boring game.
Because I like multi-round combats, I often build characters with reasonable defense rather than glass cannons. This has come back to bite me when GMs who thought they were being nice had enemies target my characters 'because they could take it.' Sure, sometimes a tank will volunteer to be on the front line and be able to stop some hits. But deciding who gets targeted by, say, Finger of Death? Don't target the high-Con guy just because you're afraid of killing a PC. I've made that same mistake too as a GM. But now I see it's not 'nice.' Defense becomes worthless if the GM is going out of their way to avoid killing PCs. And so the glass cannons can opine "Well you know I wouldn't have invested in Con like you did because the best defense is a good offense" when really - a lot of their defense IME has been "GM mercy." So I would ask that you have the enemies act according to their intelligence and information. The enemies aren't just obstacles to be overcome - they are beings in the world with their own thoughts, motivations, and survival instincts (or lack thereof). They should be trying to win.
Again, I know the way I play is not the way everybody plays. Just trying to lay out what my style is and a few observations.
stuff
I don't mind at all, I appreciate your thoughts, and I will keep them in mind. I'm familiar with the methods of some to optimize characters, and I'm skeptical of it. My goal in my own character creation, mechanics-wise, is effective without pushing up against RAI, and I'll be keeping to that for picking the players for this game.
Complete
Calin Moonbreeze - Half-Elf Fighter - Melee
Kitchel - Ratfolk Inspired Blade/Empiricist
Valerica Tematea - Varisian Ranger - Archer
Jedediah 'Jed' Price - Human Musket Master
Wayland Egorius - Chelish Diviner
Enna - Dwarf Sorcerer
Edamm Osvett - Ustalavan Patient Ambusher - Scout
Vance Leroung - Chelish Transmuter
Trig Fanabarellalisa - Gnome Shaman
Deivon Jafi - Varisian Oracle
Arkon the Thunderer - Oread Saurian Shaman (Druid)
Sven Juttebar - Ulfen Half-Orc Goliath Druid
Tif - Ratfolk Bloodrager
Incomplete
Amren Slyblade - Halfling Knifemaster
Kazariel - Kitsune Cleric
And a good few have expressed interest. If your name should be on here and isn't, give me a shout.
Updated an old alias to reflect the change I mentioned. Still not sure what to take for a level 1 feat - it's totem beast for now but could change.
Lucino Gardener is ready to go except for his background skills, which I (Grimtongue) will get to when I get home. Equal parts amiable and anxious, the halfling has only just stumbled into Sandpoint merely an hour or so before the Swallowtail Festival begins. He somehow manages to appear both immaculate and dirty all at once.
Edit: Several questions for permissions from the GM. Do you mind the racial alternative traits that I took (Secretive Survivor, Dimdweller)? Do you mind that I took Shadowtongue as a language? And is my drawback (paranoid) acceptable? Thanks in advance.
@Lucino Gardener: Alternate racial traits are fine, paranoid is fine, tentative yes to Shadowtongue because it works as a flavor choice.
I'm not coming up with any ideas I really love and it looks like you have a lot of great applicants. So I am removing myself from the recruitment process. Thanks for running the game GM TheSilverDreamer, Good luck and good gaming everyone.
@Lucino Gardener: Alternate racial traits are fine, paranoid is fine, tentative yes to Shadowtongue because it works as a flavor choice.
Thank you very much for the response. :)
I'd like to throw my hat into the ring. I started a different RotRL campaign with this character but unfortunately the game ended nearly right after it began.
If there are any issues with the character, please let me know
This is the cleric I made for the campaign the avatar function isn't working for me atm so that's not the final product. Everything else is finished.
Fox is going to have to withdraw
Takes a shot of whiskey and waves over the barkeep, “I’ll have another one boss, waitin for this thing to get goin is killer...”
As a reminder, recruitment will be closing tomorrow, Sunday September 16th, at 11:59 PM. I'll be selecting the party and starting the game as soon as I can.
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Takes a shot of whiskey and waves over the barkeep, “I’ll have another one boss, waitin for this thing to get goin is killer...”
Edamm motions for Jedediah to pass the bottle.
Catching prey requires patience my friend and patience is a virtue. The problem is, we are in fact the prey and our predator is time. Edamm smiles widely. Well, at least we have something to battle the predator with. Ovatii!
Good luck to everyone! It looks like a good group to choose from.
Looks like it'll be a good crew no matter how it goes down. Good luck to all! Have fun picking, GM TheSilverDreamer!
Good luck everyone
Good luck everyone! :)
Irisa is in a rotrl game that seems to have completely stalled... We didn't even finish the first combat. I'll submit her for this. Maybe third time's the charm? She has been in another rotrl game that also died before it got off the ground.
Good luck to everyone who's hoping to jump in on this!
The GM of my other Rise of the Runelord game just gave notice that he won't have time to run it. Which means I'm completely free to join this one, if you'll have me.
There were a lot of fantastic characters submitted, and I've been wrestling over the choices. With that said, would
Edamm Osvett
Kitchel
Tif
Trig Fanabarellalisa
Valerica Tematea
Wayland Egorius
please report to the discussion thread.
Congrats those who made it in, have a good time!