Also,before we get too far ahead we should probably figure out the value of the loot we recovered and or sold so it can be split for purchases or upgrades.
I like this plan! :)
Agreed.
Also, yes new arcane caster, and like the others have said, I like our sneaky dynamic, so preferably that.
Alright, I'll start working on the recruitment for the new character. I think we'll take a little extra time to do this RP/Montage thing so that I can include them in the montage/etc.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Recruitment is up. You can check it out here. If you have any thoughts on specific candidates, please send them to me via PM.
Oh sugar, I didn't roll for HP, just took 1/2 +1. Let's see what the dice say about that...
An extra point!
Recruitment looks like it's off to a good start.
Dumb question; did anyone check Balin's gear for magic?
The cloak might be something good.
Oh yeah.
Lets see if I can roll above a 4 for once.
Ok, I'll happily take that.
Stopping by to say there was a death in the family tonight. I will not be available for a bit
Condolences on your loss.
Take as much time as needed.
:(
Sorry to hear that GM, take the time you need! We will be here waiting. I only ask that if you decide to drop the game, you let us know.
Awful news. So sorry for your loss, and please take care of yourself and the family.
Thank you. It was my sister-in-law. So I will be coming back, just super scarce for a bit. Speaking of which. Would you guys mind watching over the recruitment, answer qs as best you can, etc.. I give permission to close it off when we've got a few good characters, just make sure you give everyone who's dotted in at least 24 hours notice.
Thank you.
I'm so sorry for your loss. Take all the time you need, we'll be here when you get back.
I've been keeping an eye on the recruitment thread.
Seems to be a few good options popping up.
If anyone has any preferences or sees something that they hate, please speak up.
(PM's are fine with me if you don't want it read by everyone and their uncle.)
Any objections to giving everyone a submission closing notice soon? Make the cut off Saturday at midnight (whatever timezone, doesn't matter to me) so there is about a day and a half to get your submission together? Then we can send our thoughts to GM Taliesin for their final decision.
That sounds good to me. Looks like we've got quite a few already finished, and a bunch of others on their way.
I was thinking the same thing.
We've got 5 full characters submitted, and another 9 interested.
That's a good selection to sort through.
Maybe midnight Pacific time?
That's what GM went with for the first recruitment.
Works for me!
I've got a moment to copy and paste a small update in my threads. I expect to be able to return next Thursday or Friday.
Hooray! :D
Glad to hear, but obviously take as much time as you need.
Just to update folks, I'll make a formal "recruiting is closed" post after midnight PST.
Please take some time to review the submissions.
I'm assuming that GM would like us to PM him at some point with our input.
On a good note, we've got a few to choose from. On a bad note they all seem like decent concepts, so choosing one will be that much harder.
Recruitment post is formally closed for applications.
I've thanked all the applicants, and outlined the rough time frame GM gave about his return.
Thanks to a last minute completion, there are 10 characters to choose from, and most seem to be a reasonable fit story wise.
Please take some time to look then over so that we can offer GM some input for his decision.
Just to make it easier to sort through the thread:
Final Submissions:
Leira Fenix (Human Psychic)
Shess (Elf Psychic)
Talia Fierarus (Half-Elf Witch)
Brice LeVaughn (Aasimar Arcanist)
Oliver "Liv" Twisted (Half-Elf Sorcerer)
Krakt (Ratfolk Wizard)
Bellindara Aeru (Human Necromancer)
Kalamar (Dhampir Sorcerer)
Evan Cordant (Tiefling Rogue1/Wizard2 -> Arcane Trickster, eventually)
Florian Paran (Human Witch)
Rather than send my thoughts to all, mostly because they're not specific yet, I agree with what Silarsha sent us all.
As a side note, Psychic is a full caster. From what I've seen they're similarish to Sorcerers (Spontaneous casters) but with a different spell list (they don't technically count as arcane) and also casting works differently (no somatic or verbal components, only certain material components). But, yeah, it'd probably fit the role we're looking for.
I'll start looking through things and then do a pm to give thoughts on specific candidates.
Charmaine asked me in PM if If be willing to compile and send our suggestions to GM.
While I hadn't planned on it, I'm willing to do so if folks would prefer.
If you'd like me to do so, just PM me your top 1-3 picks and I'll tally them up and pass them on.
If you'd rather send your own, that's fine with me too.
I think Wednesday would be a good time to have our input to GM so that when he's back, it'll be waiting for him.
Also, thanks for the good catch Heverly, I posted the closing comment right after I woke up and have no idea how Thursday or Friday became Wednesday or Thursday there.
Thank you all for the support and in handling the recruitment thread. I'm going to work on catching up and reading through things. I should have a choice today sometime.
Welcome back.
I sent you some stuff via PM that should help you parse through all the submissions.
Looking forward to hearing your decision.
Welcome back GM! :D
Welcome back. Glad to see you again.
Alright, I've finally chosen our new players. Please welcome Brice and Florian to the group. I ended up choosing two players because this next little bit of the adventure can get a bit tough for a small groups. Tough's not bad, but a little extra in your corner isn't bad either. It'll honestly still be tough with 6 players I expect.
Once our two new players have checked in, we'll go over what we need to to get this game going again.
Thank you for the selection and I can't wait to get started with you all!
Hey everyone, excited to be here! Thanks for the selection and I'm very much looking forward to playing with you.
Welcome aboard! Glad to see you and excited to get moving on this.
Alright. Now that we've got you all here, I've got a few housekeeping things we've got to take care of. Number one is a discussion I had at the start of this game. You may have read it while waiting but just in case I'm going to quote what I said below (I liked the way I said it before, and if it ain't broke . . .):
"You are all villains, the worst of the worst, really, and what some of you have done is already beyond terrible. But it won't end there. There will probably be some pretty bad things you all get the chance to do in this game. But it needs to be fun villainy. I do not want to be chasing anybody off because something becomes too graphic, or despicable. Remember these are public boards, anyone can come and read what we write here.
Therefore we need to set some quick ground rules. I'm going to start with the first few, but I need to hear from you as well, because this effects everyone.
RULE #1: Keep it mostly PG-13-ish.
This doesn't mean you can't do terrible things. Lot's of terrible things happen in PG-13 movies, but they happen off screen. You can make your intent clear and then just fade to black, or focus on a splash of blood on the wall. Something like that.
Now there will be some descriptions (especially during combat) that may go a little beyond what you'd see in PG-13 movie, because it's not quite the same when it's in writing. That's why I added the "ish." Just try to keep it tasteful.
RULE #2: Respect the other players.
This is particularly in reference to other player's comfort. If anyone says for any reason, "Hey can we skip this part. I'm not comfortable with 'X'" Then it ends there. We skip ahead to something else, or rewind to before it happened and take a different route (depending on the situation) and we respect that. We're all here to have fun, and making other people uncomfortable is not part of that fun. I will not negotiate on this, anyone who gives another player grief or argues about something after another has said it's too far, will immediately be removed from the game.
RULE #3: Speak up if you're uncomfortable with the direction we're going.
I will do my best to keep it all tasteful, and be arbiter, but please speak up if you feel something is going too far. If you don't feel alright saying so in the discussion you are welcome to PM or email me and I can speak up for you."
We have already determined two hard boundaries.
1) No violence against children. (This should be easy for you as I just will not put child NPCs in the game to interact with).
2) No rape. On or off screen.
Are there any other boundaries that anyone would like to bring up at this time? Once again, you can PM these to me should you feel uncomfortable voicing it to the group. This invitation is open to more than just our new players if you have thought of something between now and the last time we had this talk.
As for your characters, you've each committed a terrible crime, been exposed and escaped with your life. Would either of you be opposed to your escape coming at the hands of Cardinal Thorn's minion?
I propose that she appears to you, names herself Tiadora, and gives you just the tool you would need to escape at the time. It's nothing spectacular, maybe a crowbar to get into the sewer grates or something like that, but it's the right tool at the right time (think Paycheck if you've seen or read it). With the tool you receive instructions to meet at your benefactor's home. Perhaps some of the level up that you've got could have come from such a journey.
If that is acceptable, we can have a small in character meeting to seal the deal.
Congrats you two.
Looking forward to playing with you.
With regards to the above boundaries of conduct I have no complaints or problems. The only child (ish) NPC I have related to Brice is his youngest sister (I didn't give her an age, but I had envisioned her as between 13 and 15) but if anything he would want to remove her from his family and protect her from those that might burn her for witchcraft, given it is likely that she has magical abilities.
The only addition I have as an uncomfortable zone is explicit torture, but if we are playing within the PG-13 guidance I should have no problems personally. (In character, Brice would view it as being beneath him in most cases, but would have no qualms letting others do so on his behalf.)
With regards to your proposed hook in, I could see that working. I envisioned him having an escape plan in place for contingencies already (hence getting away) but his getting tipped off that he needed to implement it now could have been Tiadora... and his blade could have vouched for her warning, encouraging him to flee. I don't see him as needing anything special to leave (except maybe a diversion, like a fire... so maybe a torch and a well placed hay stack?) but willing to call an audible on it if you are.
One last thing: Black Blades are sentient items. I'll be updating my sheet with its stats (including ego) but typically their personas are played by the GM. Just to give you the heads up on it. I can play its personality if you wish, but I think it in better taste if you do it.
No problems with the aforementioned boundaries, including Brice's. Florian might be the sort to engage in torture should it be necessary, but if something like that ever comes up it'll probably be best to let it be off screen or otherwise just implied. Would that be okay with everyone else?
Regarding the hook, that should work well enough assuming Tiadora or some other agent been observing Florian's cell and its activities. Florian's escape from Ghastenhall is rather sudden and unexpected, and while he may have already had some ideas of what to do, Florian wouldn't have had extensive preparation and contingencies set in place to facilitate his escape. Something to get into the sewers might be a good way out, plus perhaps a comment to go one way instead of the other?
I also just realized I have 140gp of leftover from character creation that I think goes away if I don't spend it. Anyone have any thoughts? :D
I also just realized I have 140gp of leftover from character creation that I think goes away if I don't spend it. Anyone have any thoughts? :D
Get some level one scrolls at 25gp each. Teach them to your familiar, so you have a few extra spells known?
I also just realized I have 140gp of leftover from character creation that I think goes away if I don't spend it. Anyone have any thoughts? :D
Can never go wrong with a small tent (10 GP for your own sleeping space protected from the elements) or a masterwork backpack (50 GP to treat your strength as one point higher when carrying its contents)... possibly a portable alchemist's lab (75 GP to have +1 to crafting potions and whatnot).
Welcome everyone! :D
Thank you all for the welcome, as well as your inputs during recruitment. Really am looking forward to running this with everyone... and I am glad that GM was able to take you too, Florian.
So looking over Brice I realized that I forgot two things: a physical description of the man, and I had missed that part of recruitment where GM had requested we suggest an additional trait that would be a fit for the character.
I have rectified the former... for the latter I will take a look and PM a recommendation to our GM.
Excellent.
Brice: A tip and torch would be perfect.
As for the black blade. I have no problems running the blade. Do you have any thoughts on the relationship you might have already developed with the blade? If not, I have no problems starting from scratch.
As for the third trait, I'm honestly going to be using it for inspiration. I've had a chance to see the others in action, so I have an idea of what they might need/want, but I didn't get that luxury with Brice and Florian.
Florian: That works great. I think that fits perfectly.
I would definitely recommend using up at least some of that gold, you'll get some important items when we start, but even then, you'll all be just a little bit behind on WBL (at least for now; there's some good opportunity to increase those riches in a bit).
Now, I believe we're all ready to continue then. I'll try to get things going later today, but it might be tomorrow before I get to it.
Some good ideas on gear, thanks! So here's what I think I'm going with:
A tent (10 gp)
A masterwork backpack (50 gp)
-selling back the regular one from the witch's kit gives me 2 gp
Three scrolls, one each for Vocal Alteration, Mount, and Obscuring Mist (75 gp)
Which leaves me with 7gp leftover. Assuming that's all okay, do you want me to have those scrolls and add the spells later, or can I just put them on my spell list now?
For the trait part, I'll admit I also completely missed the part about a fitting trait bonus for our characters. I'm also not quite sure what direction to go with that. Perhaps a bonus to initiative or something that boosts one of his social skills? He can Bluff and Intimidate okay, but no Diplomacy or Sense Motive. As I said, I'm honestly not sure.
I'll get a physical description added for Florian shortly.
With regards to the blade, I kinda had the thought that it started out as just his conduit for magic. Non-sentient, barely magical. After his older sister gets burned for witchcraft, though, is when it starts whispering to him. It started off slowly, a word or sentence here, a witty remark or observation there. But as his failed plot progresses it became more and more talkative... and two things became clear:
1) It is bent on revenge against his family and against the law/god of the land (with the exception of his younger sister... it is just silent on that topic).
2) It wants him to rule (if not the whole of Talingarde than at least the area he grew up in).
As such, he thinks that it might have become possessed by the spirit of his now deceased sister, and while the blade has not confirmed this it also has not denied it. Whether he is right in his thinking is another matter, of course, but he treats the sword as if she is within it... and mostly trusts "her" counsel as if it was the case.
Okay, things posted. It's not my ideal posts, normally I would like to try to leave a lot more room for interaction, but in this case, I felt pushing things forward faster would be better.