For the discussion of discussions.
Hey Everyone!
Looking forward to playing RotRL with you all!
I'll probably be one of the squishy ranged/casters of the group ;-).
Background wise, Adarion grew up in Iadara in Kyonin but was assigned to Crying Leaf in the Mierani forest fairly recently, well by elven reckoning anyway. He discovered some of the ancient monuments left behind by the Thassilonian Empire while there and felt the power that was contained within them. Fascinated by this he began studying their origins, learning more about ancient Thassilon along the way. His studies eventually led him to Sandpoint, arriving about a week before the festival. He's staying at the Rusty Dragon Inn, planning on using it as a base of operations for his studies. The full background is in my alias if you're interested.
Adarion is pretty friendly and outgoing and would have no problem going up to random strangers in the inn to talk to them. Being relatively sequestered in mostly elven communities for most of his life would leave him curious about how the other races typically live.
If anyone else thinks that their PC might know of him or have met him I'm happy to work with you on their connection.
Thanks for choosing Khalbar! Look forward to running with you all.
KHalbar is a Shoanti barbarian whose young family was stolen by slavers and he is in search of them, leading him eventually to Sandpoint. Never leaving the Storval Plateau before, his eyes are opening to the way the rest of the world works as he arrives in Sandpoint. For example, he has never seen an elf before, nor the sea. So he presents an innocent's exposure to the world, trying to understand complex social and political interactions that just don't exist in the world he knows.
When raging, Khalbar will sing/chant Shoanti tribal songs, in a loud voice, which just adds flavor (no game effect) and hence the surname. Might not be the best for stealth as a result.
I expect to play him along the lines of the big hulking brute with a heart of gold trope. His Common speech will be very clipped ala "Hulk smash" but his internal voice will be detailed and his decisions will be to honor nature and do the right thing.
In my imagination, the Shoanti are not strong magicians. They have tribal magic like shamans and healers, but the incidence of wizards/witches/sorcerers is very limited, and if they exist at all, it usually not on friendly terms. As such, Khalbar has a strong distrust of arcane magic and those who cast it. Not impossible to overcome, but that's his starting position.
I plan to keep his build along the straight barbarian lines and provide tanking and muscle for the group, along with a modicum of outdoor skills (Survival, Know Nature) should that come into play.
Good day, all! This is a temporary version of my character - I will be reconfiguring him to start as a druid, and he will have a wooly rhino companion. Sven is a chaotic neutral druid with martial tendencies and an inclination towards helping people. That said, he has a temper and is likely to get into fights if challenged, and sees little need for most traditional types of mercy on the battlefield. He is a trapper and hunter and has come to Sandpoint for the dedication of the temple, as he is a strong devotee of Desna. The rest of the background is in the alias (and the background isn’t chhanging).
Sven will largely be a Goliath druid, and will have a little multiclassing mixed in. At some point, he will be semi-permanently enlarged, and will almost exclusively use a greatsword, along with the vital strike feat. He has sympathy for other monstrous creatures, as he has been on the receiving end of discrimination. He also hates abuse, indentured servitude, and confinement.
Howdy!
I am a civil servant, and so off on this day of mourning in the USA. I normally don't post until after work.
'Dada is a rogue. He doesn't see himself as a thief, but as a hunter. One of his responsibilities in a stereo-typical Varisian caravan is as a provider of things that the people in the caravan need. Just like a hunter, the goal is to meet or exceed the group needs without over-hunting the area and causing future shortages.
His public face for locals is entertainer. It is a role he's taken to with enthusiasm. Depending on how we start, you might or might not get a short description of a performance. It is loosely based on what you could expect to see from a one-man juggling show at a Ren Faire today. I spent quite a bit of starting character resources (1 trait and 2 feats) on giving him a far better Sleight-of-Hand (good for both juggling and picking pockets) than a normal 1st level rogue will achieve. Especially than you will see with a combat-focused build.
Gudada's life has been put on pause for multiple months, and he is just now ready to get back into things. If the group can find/build common cause quickly/easily enough, he should learn to see them as his new family. The group he needs to help provide for and protect.
Edit: For the record, I've got nothing against Gudada using ranged weapons. I just had to make decisions about where to spend money, and the lockpicks are closer to his main focus . . .. So I didn't have the money to START with any ranged weapons.
Edit2: Can't believe I forgot to include this, but, seriously, thank you for opening the doors wider than you planned and letting the 3 of us join you!
Hello all! Thank you for inviting me!
I'm reporting in from across the pond, meaning I'll be online either very late or during the morning stateside.
Bartholomew is a bastard child of the Valdemar family, sent to Sandpoint where, "at least he can't burn down all of Magnimar - or at least, not easily." A quiet (if somewhat chill and clinical) young man, Bartholomew spends his time helping out at the general store and experimenting with alchemical creations. He's eager to explore farther afield for more exciting and rare ingredients, but he knows he would not last long on his own and would jump at the chance to accompany more seasoned adventurers.
Mechanically, Bartholomew will be built as a ranged AoE debuffer who can pass out useful extracts to his allies before combat. He'll be an accurate (if not thrilling) translator and textbook (set up right now for standard alchemist knowledges, but could be tailored to fit party needs). He's also happy to craft alchemical tools if anyone asks, and his merchant experience could come in handy when we need to sell or buy things.
Full character information will be up shortly - have to make purchases and whatnot.
Welcome all! I will either be kicking things off this evening or tomorrow morning so be on the look out. Feel free to make any final adjustments to your characters in the meantime.
Hello all! I'm so glad to be playing this classic AP with everyone.
Nyx is a magic-obsessed, half-mad priest of a fully-mad diety (Nethys). Nyx just arrived in Sandpoint in time for the consecration of the new cathedral, drawn both by the news of the new cathedral as well as strange dreams and messages from his own deity.
Mechanically, he's support/debuffer. His rantings inspire courage like a bardic performance (Evangelist cleric archetype) and his channels harm and cause confusion (Madness variant channeling). Eventually, he'll take Envoy of Balance prestige class levels and channel both negative and positive, sometimes both at once!
GM, it looks like you're using Roll20 for maps. Do you want our Roll20 usernames?
Yes, please, or when you join the game simply type which characcter you are if your name is different from your character name.
My Roll20 user name is DM Doctor Evil. Right now, the link blocks me as having no access.
Gave a permission denied when I tried to follow the link, so, don't think I can join and then ID.
PM inbound.
Link should work now. Must have been since I removed some old players that it changed the link. Let me know if it is still acting up.
Don’t forget to update the loot sheet! I love that Dak is using the most fair method of loot distribution, the sheet he made is great.
I would also make a proposal - 5% of our liquid revenue from the sale of unwanted gear and golld, gems, art, etc should go to a party fund for wands of clw, spell components, and the like. Does anyone else think this is a good idea?
Good call. Yeah unless someone else wants to manage loot differently, that is just what I've always used.
Yeah, the loot sheet is great!
Yeah, a party fund for those kinds of things is a good idea IMO. As the loot sheet is set up now Sven, everyone gets an equal share of the loot and the party as a whole gets one too. It's roughly 14% each. If you'd all prefer a smaller amount goes to the party fund, I can try to adjust the loot sheet to match.
Sounds good here!
Speaking of party loot, Bartholomew has access to both Craft (alchemy) and Brew Potion. If folks want to commission something, would we want that to come out of personal or party funds?
An equal share for party is fine too. I just found that in a lot of APs, when I ran it as 10%, it was overflowing by level 7 or so. But that may have been more of a problem with the fact that I was the only one managing it at the time, and I didn’t want to make unilateral decisions about what to buy/not to buy.
When it comes to alchemical stuff - I always was of the opinion that defensive things (remedies) that are 50 go or less (preparatory antitoxin, antiplague, etc) should come from the party funds, as the party generally talks about when to use them. Same thing for ultility from alchemical tools. Alchemical weapons affect an individual’s combat actions more, so maybe the materials cost would come from the user. That’s the way I ran my alchemist in the past. My alchemist also had a stash of things he made for himself that he would use for the party in case of emergency as well (not everyone is going to go shopping for remedies that will save them).
That said, without the master alchemist feat, the time to make even the cheapest items might be prohibitive. And you can run your dude however you’d like. :)
And "Hi!" DM Doctor Evil. Don't think I forgot you. I hope there's not too much duplication in the first bit for you.
I thought I made a post about the loot distribution, but it should have shown up above my "Hi" post, and I don't see it . . .. Ah, well, start over, I guess.
I'm good with a party kitty. I'm also good with useful things being funded out of that kitty, whether they are happy sticks, or antitoxins, or tanglefoot bags, or whatever. As log as they are actually useful when purchased. If we already have 12 antitoxins in storage, more antitoxins aren't particularly useful.
As long as we are actively involved and in agreement, I'm even good with non-even loot distribution. If we take down a baddie and end up with a bunch of loot that can ramp up the power of our barbarian, or our arcane caster, or whomever, being too focused on forcing an even distribution can end up hurting the group. But it needs to be an agreed temporary focus, that we try to ensure shifts around the table, if you will. Even if we have to force a shift in one direction through cash resources in order to roughly balance things.
To note, the sheet does take into account when people claim loot and removes that from their distribution (it gets a little wonky if people go way into a deficit but we can work through that).
In any case, I don't imagine loot will be too much of an issue from what people have noted thus far.
And "Hi!" DM Doctor Evil. Don't think I forgot you. I hope there's not too much duplication in the first bit for you.
Hi yourself! Glad you are back in the game. Hope you can stay for the long term as Gudada is such a good character for this AP. While I've ran and played this before, the fun is in the interaction with new people, not just the game itself. Perhaps we'll get farther to story elements I am not familiar with. We shall see!
I agree. Split it how you want. Generally, there is more than enough to go around as we get to the middle levels anyway. I agree to have a party share or some sort of tax to buy communal items like CLW etc. God knows, Khalbar will need them, and if I understand it right, our mad cleric cannot channel to heal to start.
Mostly, Khal will need strength and durability enhancing items and buffs of whatever kind can be mustered.
Glad there seems to be agreement, whatever tack we take.
Are there any Knowledges we're missing? Bartholomew has some flexibility in terms of where he puts his skill ranks.
Right now, Bartholomew has studied Arcana, Dungeoneering, Engineering, and Nature.
Geography, local, and nature.
Adarion has Knowledge Planes and Arcana.
Re: loot distribution, I'm OK with a full share going to a party fund, or a smaller %; no strong preference. Re: crafted alchemical items, I'd say party funds where it makes sense and individual funds for individual requests. I know my scroll-scribing PCs in APs tend to stockpile situationally-useful scrolls using their own funds. This character can/will scribe scrolls as well (free feat from his domain, yay!); especially nice for a Cleric who has access to every spell on his list :) So like, I have several scrolls I already scribed myself using starting gold that will be used to heal/buff other party members. I'd say let's discuss using party funds for crafted items the same way we'd use them for anything else: on an item-by-item basis, yeah?
Nyx has a rank in Arcana (to use alongside Detect Magic) and has History, Nobles, Planes, and Religion as class skills. At 3 skills/level and an INT of 12, I don't expect to invest much in knowledge though.
Know: Local only, for 'Dada.
Looks like we're missing History, Nobility, and Religion ranks.
Trebled up in Arcana, doubled up in Local
None of those knowledges are class skills or make sense for Khalbar. He does have Nature, but imagine the Druid will quickly outclass him there.
To be fair, Arcana's not a bad one to have multiples of since it's used with detect magic. Bartholomew could invest in Religion and just dabble in History and Nobility - leaving Nature to Sven and Planes to Adarion.
Yeah, multiple detect magic attempts sound like a good plan. Adarion can also invest some background points into other knowledge skills as he levels. History, in particular, make sense as he's trying to study the Ancient Thassilonian Empire (including their history) and his Scholar of the Ancients trait gives it and arcane a +1 bonus.
I noticed I've selected appraise and craft(alchemy) as his background skills but Bart is better at and also has both so I could select history or nobility (or both) with his background skills instead.
His Arcane bloodline skill allows him to select any knowledge skill as a class skill so if there's a skill that nobody else has, I can select that instead of planes for his class skill (if GM Dak is okay with that). I selected planes as it seemed kind of thematic with the character but other skills would fit pretty well too.
@Adrian I'm ok with minor adjustments for right now.
@All Just to note, I'm here and watching, just letting the RP flow until I'm needed :D
Sorry for being away the past few days. Had a last-minute mini skiing trip with family and was not able to post. I'll get caught back up shortly.
GM, do you want me to wait until after the surprise round to take my turn, or to post my actions now with the understanding they'll happen after Gudada's?
You can go ahead and post if you like and I can adjust accordingly once Gudada takes his surprise round action.
looks like I didn't make it into initiative
We need a picture of an elasmotherium. Can I add my own tokens? I haven’t used roll20 much.
Added it.
Sorry, but, as advertised, I don't post from work, often. Just don't have the time.
Home now. Let's see . . ..
I am out of practice with Roll20, but now I can't control or move Khalbar's icon. Am I linked to that, how do I add name etc like the others have?
I just need to know your name that you use on Roll20, but your was pretty apparent so you should be set now.
As I'm sure you all are aware, the holiday's are quickly approaching. The holiday season generally brings a bit of slowness with posting from people as they travel and take time to themselves or with family. I will be around, with the possible exception of Christmas day, so as long as people are posting I will do the same, but if you plan to be away then I hope you enjoy your holiday.
If you do plan to be away, please let me know so that if needed I can bot you accordingly.
After the new year, I would like us all to do our best to re-commit to the minimum once per day posting so we can keep things moving strong!
I’m around, working most days, so I’ll keep postin’!
I should be around most days as well, so I should be able to post fairly regularly too.
I will be traveling 12/23-12/30 but should have time to check in now and then. Will give bot instructions for use as needed.
Just to note, since Kharlbar mentioned it in his last post, if you want to let me know the path you took while moving your token hold down the Q key while you are moving it square by square and then I can look back at the path you took. As it is now, I just see starting and ending position so I can guestimate, but thought I would let you know in case it interested you.
Nice, didn't know that.
Very cool, thanks.