I am the worst; I've gotten a little progress made on my character but there's still a lot of work to be done with her. Worst case scenario I have 7 (!!!!) days off from work starting on Wednesday. Two of those I'll be out of town at a con but that should still hopefully give me plenty of time to get finished up and ready to rock!
*edit* So this isn't Golarion or maybe is some sort of alternate-universe Golarion?
*edit 2 electric boogaloo* Holy carp, I think I might actually have the seeds for a background, rooted in an old PbP game that died way too soon!
No, it's not Golarion. I think k you'll enjoy what I've come up with though. :)
The addition still has me crazy busy, but I will have a complete char ready in 8 days or less.
Okay, thanks for letting us know! I will have to finish up starting his BG :D
Hey, it's all okay in regards to the time delays. I know we're all busy, so it's not really a big deal if I have to wait a bit. I just don't want us to forget about this. :P
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Brief outline of the Kingdom of Talendar, where our adventure will be taking place.
The kingdom's borders reach from the coast of the Sebrin Sea to the south up to where the headwaters of the Damas River come from the Whitecap Mountains near the town of Roosem and the Eagle Pass in the north. To the west is the Damas River and the border towns that lie along it. To the east are the Whitecap Mountains where the iron, silver, and copper that fuel the kingdom's economy are mined.
Kingshaim
The capital of Talendar lies on the southern coast where the Talendar river empties into the sea. Most of the roads in Talendar connect the major towns and cities of the kingdom to Kingshaim. As a port city, Kingshaim is also a major hub of commerce among the cities on the the Sebrin Sea.
Widewaters
Straddling the Damas River, the city of Widewaters is almost as large as the capital and almost as important to the kingdom's commerce. The city is built around a massive, mile long bridge and the two market squares at its ends. The city is the only safe passage for many looking to reach the northern coast and the ports there. The city is practically run by the guilds that operate there.
Bellhaim
One of the rugged towns that sit in the shadows of the Whitecap Mountains, Bellhaim is semi-famous for being the site of several dragon attacks that were beaten back by Tula Bell. It lies on the southern edge of the Dragonfens
I'm working on a map, but I still need some practice drawing it. Anyway, hope this helps a little. I'll be providing some more information as I work on this.
Now we have a map! Done by yours truly. There's a lot of issues with it, but it'll work for now. I'm planning on doing a map for Widewaters and Bellhaim as well. Hopefully this will make my last post a little clearer.
Added the information about Talendar to the Campaign Info tab.
I left a lot of blank space, especially outside the kingdom, so that if you wanted, you could create a background for any kind of character that you would want to play. I wanted to provide space for all of you to put your own mark on this, so if we go beyond this module, we could have fun exploring other areas and everyone's backgrounds a bit more.
Want to play a zealot from a religious order that abhors uncivilized mages, like witches, sorcerers, and druids? Go for it. I'd be more than happy to help you with it.
Want to play a royal that has no chance of inheriting, so decides to go adventuring instead? Sure thing. Just try not to short circuit things by calling in the cavalry.
Want to play a ranger that belongs to a secret order of priests looking to seal away or destroy dangerous artifacts? Do it! I think that would be fun, actually.
Basically, this is me saying to go wild. I'll reign in anything that I feel is too game breaking.
Want to play a ranger that belongs to a secret order of priests looking to seal away or destroy dangerous artifacts? Do it! I think that would be fun, actually.
Actually I am quite intrigued by this secret order. Would it be easy to incorporate into his current background. What about the other PCs? would he be allowed to recruit others to his cause?
It shouldn't be difficult to incorporate such a thing into your character's background. Other PCs could be working for the same order alongside you, which would help tie you together. He would probably be allowed to recommend people for being approached by the order or encouraged to recruit others to help with specific tasks, but he wouldn't be the one inducting new initiates into the order, at least not until he had worked his way up some.
(Truth be told, I didn't have specifics in mind. I was just throwing out ideas to help y'all know that I'm willing to work with you on this. But hey, this awesome that you liked this one.)
So, I've got a few questions for you.
1. Are you looking for a religious or more secular order?
2. Do you see the order as being fundamentally righteous or more morally ambiguous, or perhaps even corrupt?
3. How would your character become a member? Were his parents members? Was he raised from birth for this task? Did he stumble across one of the order's members and help them out before the adventure began and was inducted into the order after proving his skills?
4. Does your character believe in what the order is doing?
I'm home from Save vs. Hunger but my brain is a bit fried from con drag so I'll try and get my character finished up tomorrow!
1. Are you looking for a religious or more secular order?
I would imagine a religious order makes the most sense especially if the gods sent prayers to their followers to follow these edicts.
2. Do you see the order as being fundamentally righteous or more morally ambiguous, or perhaps even corrupt? My first impression is the order definitely started off as righteous yet as they gathered these evil items together for safekeeping their influence would slowly begin to seep into the very fabric of of the moral fiber of the priests safeguarding them. (I am cribbing the idea behind the Banewarrens adventure, by Monte Cook here he he.)
3. How would your character become a member? Were his parents members? Was he raised from birth for this task? Did he stumble across one of the order's members and help them out before the adventure began and was inducted into the order after proving his skills? My background lends itself to he being recruited by a member of the order, who would induct him into its secrets after a period of testing. Perhaps this procedure also led to the slow corruption of this order.
4. Does your character believe in what the order is doing? That is a very good question. I think this is something I would allow to play out as the adventure unfolds and see what happens :)
Alrighty. Here's what I've got for ya.
One of several secret orders among the clergy of Raun Hadda, the god of secret knowledge, hidden places, and forgotten lore, the Order of the Vault of Veils seeks out dangerous artifacts to destroy or seal away. Many such artifacts date back to the Old Thaumic Kingdoms and were created as the mage-kings and their sages grew ever more mad in their drive to destroy their foes.
The order has three main branches, each with a specific purpose. The first is The Eye of Lore, which researches, divines the location of, and assigns seekers to retrieve the artifacts the order seeks. They are commonly known as the seers among the order. The second is The Veiled Hands, whose members are sent out to retrieve the artifacts. They are known as the seekers. The last is The Hidden Shield, who are responsible for the destruction of the artifacts or their keeping if they cannot be destroyed. They are known as the guardians.
The order's secrecy means that little is know about them. The seekers are the most visible, and those that know of the order are rarely aware of the other two branches. New inductees are often family of those already in the order with the exceptions being those that have proven their mettle and have been recommended for induction by an existing member. Often times this occurs when a seeker is aided by another and is impressed by their skill or their level-headedness.
In recent years there have been rumors about and scandals among those charged with guarding the artifacts and even leading the order involving debauched rituals and strange events or unbecoming behavior. While most of those involved have been fairly low in the hierarchy, some do worry if the elders of the order are becoming tainted by the artifacts they hold in the Vault of Veils while they await for the method to destroy them.
I'm home from Save vs. Hunger but my brain is a bit fried from con drag so I'll try and get my character finished up tomorrow!
Cool! looking forward to it. I just hope you're ready for me to ask some questions. Eric shouldn't get all the fun after all. :3
I'll try to be ready by this weekend
Woo. Glad to hear it. So that should be most of us ready, I think. Eric and Rowyn are both done for the most part, though Rowyn may need to work on his background some.
Sorry for the delay in getting this going. I hope that the wait's worth it though.
Not a problem DM; I apologize for taking so long to get my crap in order and get my character finished. Though as predicted I've got some other games that I think will be winding down soon so that'll free up more time for this one once we get started.
I'm ready to go. Just substitute whatever areas you'd think would be appropriate in your in-game world for the ones in Golarian as far as my background goes and I'll roll with it,
Fleshing out some details tonight. feel free to take a look and advise.
@Bellisar:
1. The biggest question is do you want to be from Talendar or somewhere else? This is your character and I would rather you come up with something that excites you than say this is where you're from.
2. What kind of a man was Fu? Did he have any foibles? How long ago did he move into the area? Why is he so far from home?
3. Instead of everything going to the authorities, what if it was a cousin that was jealous of you?
4. Do you follow any of the philosophies or religions that are tied to a number of martial arts? What made Fu decide to take you as his student?
@Durok:
1. Why the Lucky Drunk over a dwarven deity of ale?
2. Does your family hail from the Whitecap Mountains or a different range? Are their lands rich or poor in the ores and gems that dwarves so prize? Are they nobles?
3. How did you end up in Widewaters?
@Calli:
1. How did the sheriff react when you showed up to become a deputy?
2. Are there a lot of smugglers that come through Grundy?
3. What about Calli's family? How do they see all of this?
If the Whitecap mountains are not 'too dragony' for a sizeable dwarven settlement, then they will do fine. Durok's family is hard working and well respected (except for him) but not especially wealthy or noble.
Cayden Calean's love of travel combined with the youthful rebellious spirit in Durok led him to a non-traditional choice.
Wanting to see as much of the world as he can while in (what he presumes is temporary) exile led him to Widewaters, and the travel thus far has led him to a desire for companions.
The Whitecaps extend off the top of the map. The gap is where the pass is, so there's more to the range than just what's shown. There haven't been many dragons since the founding of Bellhaim, and even before that, it would have been possible to have a sizable dwarven settlement in the mountains.
Hello, folks.
I'm sorry to do this, but I'm going to withdraw from the game. I'd rather do this now so that you've got time to get a replacement for me pre-campaign than mid-campaign.
I sat down tonight with the intention of answering the questions that Salsa posed to me for fleshing out my character's backstory, but with the changes to the game world setting, I realized that I was going to have to scrap a lot of stuff I'd written in the backstory and personality for him. With that came another question: if it feels like work instead of fun just to re-flesh him to shoehorn him into the campaign world, am I going to have a good time playing him in a setting I'd not built him for? Realistic answer: probably not.
I appreciate what Salsa's done in terms of creating this new world and giving my character a chance to play in a new sandbox, but as someone who's experience is only one PFS scenario as a PbP player, I need more experience playing PbP in a familiar setting with a character built for that setting before I start expanding into creating and playing characters specifically made for homebrew campaigns.
I would rather withdraw and make my spot available for someone who'll really enjoy and appreciate what Salsa's worked hard in building and who will have fun exploring and adventuring in this new world he's created along with everyone else who's signed up to play. Thank you for the opportunity and I apologize for any delays my departure will cause in starting the campaign.
Sorry for not having replied to this before now, but I was at a loss for how to reply.
I'm sorry to see you go, Rowyn, and while I hope you'll reconsider, I completely understand. I want y'all to have fun and not feel like this is a chore, and if you're not having fun, then I've not done a good job. If you don't think you will have fun playing in this game, then please don't try and force yourself to.
All that said, I'm more than happy to work with you on this and I'm sorry that my decision to move things out of Golarion has made things more difficult for you. Keep in mind that there's plenty of blank space to put in a place that you think would fit the character. If you want something specific, we can plop it where it needs to be.
Also, I'd just like to point out that only the first question is specific to the setting. I would have been asking about the others even if I hadn't switched to a homebrew setting. If it's those questions causing you trouble, then don't worry about them. We can figure something out later or it can just be left at what you have. My point is, you can always just tell me you don't know or you aren't really interested in exploring those aspects of your character. This is fine and I'm not going to be upset if you want to explore some other facet of your character.
As for being new, my best advice is to jump in with both feet and don't be afraid to add something new. I did it when I first started playing and I've been having fun doing it ever since. Don't sweat not knowing what you're doing. There are times where even I'm not sure about what I'm doing in a setting.
I guess the short version of this is that I don't want to see you leave. I'm more than happy to help work through whatever I need to so you can have fun. If you do go, though, I understand why and wish you luck.
In any case, I appreciate you telling me this, and I am sorry for what part I played in making this not fun for you.
Thank you for understanding where I'm coming from, and I do appreciate your effort to get me to stay in, but I'd rather just go ahead, bow out now and give up my spot to someone before the campaign starts who will have a character that will fit in and that will have fun playing in a homebrew setting rather than forcing myself to stay in with a strong possibility of dropping out mid-campaign and wasting everyone's time.
Best of luck to all of you and safe journeys!
Alrighty. Good luck and safe journeys to you as well. I'm sorry to see you go, and I hope that we wind up in a group together someday. There will always be a spot open if you change your mind.
I'll mark you inactive so this won't be cluttering up your campaign tab.
I was already thinking about asking someone, and with Rowyn's departure, I guess it's a good thing I was. I've been talking to stormraven and he's said that he'd love to play. He's planning on building a sorceress, so it should be interesting to see what he comes up with as far as a background. Lady Ladile and I have played with him before, and while I can't speak for her, I've always enjoyed playing at the table with him.
Hi folks! Glad to be along for the ride and delighted at the invite. :)
FWIW, I've also played with Eric a few times as well.
Heya! This is sr again. This is the character I'm thinking might be good for the game. Of course, I've got to drop her down to 1st level. But if you're curious, you can see my rough idea for where she is going... heavily sorcerer with just a touch of uMonk to increase her survivability so I can play her as a bit more of an in-your-face caster.
I am flexible on my character, however. SO if there is some other class you guys would like me to play, let's chat about it.
Thanks!
Hey Stormraven! Long time no play he he. I can vouch for SR here he is an awesome player! (Also not a bad DM too as I recall :)
I love Senna's background and I also think it meshes well with Jeram's background too. It might take some convincing to get Senna to join on his quests though...but I think I can figure out a way he he.
...Also not a bad DM too as I recall :)
Jeez... ya slate-wipe an entire party in a truly horrible fashion and then bring them back to trick them into serving an evil god just once and your DM rating drops. *sob*
LOL! Good to play with you again, Eric.
We'll need to rework it some to be more appropriate for a 1st level character and fit with the setting, but it is definitely something I can work with. I've already got some ideas for Senna.
So, first thing, this isn't Golarion, so there's no Thassilon or Varisia. Thassilon is kind of a combination between ancient Rome and the myths of Atlantis and the Tower of Babel. It boils down to mages getting too full of themselves and falling because of their pride and decadence. We have a religious order that is seeking dangerous magical artifacts and references to the Old Thaumic Kingdoms as being the source of those artifacts, we we can definitely work that into Senna's background.
Varisians, as far as I can tell, are based off the Romani at least as far as being itinerant wanderers and having reputations as cheats and con men are concerned. There also seems to be hints of Judaism in there as well. I can definitely work with that.
Many centuries ago a warlord conquered and ruled the eastern realms. A champion of the common people, the warlord was hailed as a liberatoring hero in many places. The warlord, Damas Telwar, was crowned the King of kings and ruled his empire with a steady and just hand for many years. The Telwari Empire, his kingdom, lasted for centuries before the mage lords that ruled the provinces grew too hungry for power and the royal line of Telwar became too weak to counter them.
The Old Thaumic Kingdoms arose from the ashes of the Telwari Empire. They, and the Thaumic Kings that ruled them lasted for a few more centuries before the coming of the Reavers, fierce raiders that swept over the eastern realms and shattered the Old Thaumic Kingdoms leaving nothing but ruins in their wake.
Little else is known about this time, and only those that study the Telwari Empire and the Old Thaumic Kingdoms that arose from its collapse even know this much. Knowing how to read, write, and speak High Telwari, the language of the Empire and the Kingdoms, is the mark of a learned scholar and retainers with even a modicum of skill with the language are prized among the nobility of the eastern realms.
The history of the Sraelian people stretches back far past even the beginning of the Telwari Empire. Once, they lived in a majestic city, so the legends say, but in their pride and greed, they grew wicked and ignored the precipes of their gods. They were punished for their sins and exiled from their homeland. They wandered for many years in penance, never resting nor spending more than three days in any refuge. They helped those they could to atone for their wicked deeds, in the hopes of finding forgiveness from their gods.
Centuries passed and the Telwari Empire rose to power. Damas Telwar returned Sraeli to them and helped them rebuild. For a while, it seemed that peace and prosperity was theirs, but then the Telwari Empire broke apart. The Sraelians held off the Thaumic Kingdoms as long as they could, but in the end, they were overwhelmed and scattered to the far corners of the world as punishment for not yielding to the wicked Thaumic Kings. In one final act of cruelty, one of them cursed the Sraelians to never remember where their homeland lay and to wander in search of it for all time.
In the years since, the Sraelians have gained a reputation as greedy merchants, scandalous performers, and unscrupulous mages. They are often ostracized by the other peoples of the eastern realms for their wandering ways and their refusal to abandon their ancient beliefs and customs. One of these customs is the art of tattooing, said to be a gift from their god of runes, learning, secrets, and magic. Rumors abound about the abilities of these markings, from giving those who wear the marks strength and fiendish powers to stealing the souls of those who even glance at them.
So, what do you think? Any changes or suggestions?
...Also not a bad DM too as I recall :)Jeez... ya slate-wipe an entire party in a truly horrible fashion and then bring them back to trick them into serving an evil god just once and your DM rating drops. *sob*
LOL! Good to play with you again, Eric.
Okay, I've got to hear this story. Which campaign was it?
Okay, I've got to hear this story. Which campaign was it?...Also not a bad DM too as I recall :)Jeez... ya slate-wipe an entire party in a truly horrible fashion and then bring them back to trick them into serving an evil god just once and your DM rating drops. *sob*
LOL! Good to play with you again, Eric.
An old homebrew campaign stormraven ran, waaaay back in 2012. Still one of my most favorite campaigns eveah!
HERE is the link to it if you are interested in a good read :)
Thanks! 7000+ posts is going to be a good read.
Okay, I've got to hear this story. Which campaign was it?
This was my homespun campaign that ran on this board from like 2012 to 2014. You can check it out HERE. Sadly, at some point, Paizo gorked all of the links to various campaign highlights in the Campaign Info page. :(
EDIT - DOH, Eric beat me to it. Still the synopsis below might interest you.
In exchange, the spirit asks them to perform specific missions from time to time - McGuffin searches, etc. Anyhow, nearing the end of the campaign, they went after a very, VERY prepared necromancer in his lair while he was summoning an uber-baddie and fueling the magic with the life energy of a dozen local kids, so they were on the clock to rescue them. The PCs charged bravely into a metaphoric meatgrinder. The battle was a brutal slug-fest. As each hero died they appear in an extra-planar 'waiting room' with the spirit and watch the rest of the battle. As they are about to TPK, the Spirit says "I can change Fate once - give you another chance to win this fight. But once I do your Gods are gonna be onto me and I will never be able to help you again unless you recover an artifact for me and do a couple things with it'. The heroes agree and get bounced back to the battle. It's still a nasty slugfest but they win.
Some time later, they do an arduous quest and find the spirit's artifact and set it off. The magic is so powerful it shatters their amnesia. They fully recall their past lives where they were all villains - murderers, assassins, psychopaths, etc. They also recall their more immediate past... when they were held, reprogrammed, and given amnesia by the Aboleths under the direction of... the spirit who has been helping them. The artifact also brings more than just the spirit back into the world... it brings the whole pantheon she belongs to, older gods that were banished by the current Gods. And, yeah, they are evil and aquatic and they plan to retake the planet and sink the lands that the current Gods raised from the depths.
The spirit needed our heroes to be good initially to gain a local following and make it easier for the old gods to be accepted. With their old personalities restored, they had a choice to make... be the villains they were born as and side with the old gods as their military commanders OR choose their new lives and stand against the Gods they just released. And to make the end scene even more nasty, each PC had their own decision to make - so it could be a PvP slugfest.
Still one of my most favorite campaigns eveah!
That's a great compliment, thanks!
We'll need to rework it some to be more appropriate for a 1st level character and fit with the setting, but it is definitely something I can work with. I've already got some ideas for Senna.
So, first thing, this isn't Golarion...
Yep, I read that - just hadn't gotten around to changing my background and deets. I'm very happy with the Thaumic / Telwari / Sraelian re-skinning and changes. When I knock her down to 1st level, I'll scrub her background as well and get rid of the last paragraph with her on-going adventures - that was a DM request to explain how she got to 11th level.
Although, I think it would be cool if she could earn the Sister Scourge nickname at some later point in the campaign.
I don't have any plans to run another game in the near future but if I do, you've got a spot. It wouldn't be a true sandbox, more of a 'guided sandbox'. Out of curiosity, what character would you like to play?
Oh there will be opportunities, don't worry about that. :)
I'll hold off on bombarding you with questions until you've got Senna's background updated.
I don't have any plans to run another game in the near future but if I do, you've got a spot. It wouldn't be a true sandbox, more of a 'guided sandbox'. Out of curiosity, what character would you like to play?
That works. The character I have in mind is a young lorekeeper in training that is the last free member of a tribe that has storms and lightning as a big theme. This is the game she was in. Sadly the GM had to step away due to personal reasons, but I've missed playing her since then and hope that I'll be in a game where I can play her again.
Good to play with you again, Ladile!
I'm making one minor change with your approval. I'd like to change the name of Senna people from Sraelian to Sraelani, i.e.
"My people came from Sraeli. I'm Sraelian." becomes
"My people came from Sraeli. I'm Sraelani."
You OK with that?
Sorry for the post storm...
Senna's profile is entirely updated. Review and let me know if any of it doesn't work. I assumed that the Sraelani have a language so I went with the following nomenclature:
Homeland: Sraeli
People: Sraelani
Language: Sraelian
I further assumed that Senna would get that language free as part of a typical 'ethnic bonus' similar to Varisians. Feel free to correct me on that. :)
Oh, I like that change. I think using Hebrew for the language would be very appropriate.
Yes, you do still get the bonus language for your ethnicity. Speaking of languages, the common trade tongue for this area is Low Telwari. Part of me dislikes calling the common tongue common. It's just lazy to me.
I'll be working on getting this information compiled and in a format that's easy to navigate and read. Hopefully that will help me not contradict myself too much.
1. Why LN? My read of her is more LG. Not a big deal, just curious.
2. Would you consider Zarzanna unnecessarily cruel? Are there any obsessions she has that Senna may or may not have noticed?
3. Was the parting between Senna and Zarzanna an amicable one?
@Calli: No rush. Just get them answered when you can.
If the alignment system was a little more flexible, I'd call her LN with Good tendencies. She was heavily influenced by Zarzanna who is True Neutral. Senna also has a deep pragmatic streak, particularly in combat. Due to how her people have been oppressed, she lacks the idealism or belief in the innate 'rightness' of society's rules that seems part of the LG worldview. She follows her own set of rules. Where those rules coincide with society at large, great. But she'd have no issue breaking local laws when they conflict with her personal code.
Would you consider Zarzanna unnecessarily cruel? Are there any obsessions she has that Senna may or may not have noticed?
That's a complicated question. Zarzanna wasn't good 'mother material' to begin with. She thought she was doing the right thing raising Senna as she did, trying to over-prepare her for whatever she saw in the girl's future. Senna's perspective is that Zarzanna was ill-equipped to be a mother, did the best that she could, but (in Senna's judgement) Zarzanna went 'over the top' on some of the lessons. So some of the 'excesses' were unnecessary. 'Cruel' is maybe too strong a word.
I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 'obsessions'. Got an example? I would say that Zarzanna is driven by her visions and assumes that they are part of a 'set' future so she either tries to assist them coming true or stands by and watches regardless of her feelings about the events. She doesn't (so far as Senna knows) actively work against what her visions show her. So, for Zarzanna, there is a sense of 'fate' about what she sees.
Was the parting between Senna and Zarzanna an amicable one?
It wasn't hostile but it also wasn't a Hallmark moment with hugs, tears, or expressions of love. :) Senna isn't angry with Zarzanna. She understands intellectually what the old lady was trying to do and she is even grateful for much of it. But, her heart has maybe not fully gotten to the same place her intellect is at. So I would say that Senna cares about Zarzanna (and vice versa) but she also resents some of what happened and wishes that Zarzanna had been a bit more motherly.
I'll try to get skills and traits done tonight. And I need to pick a feat. Is there anything else I'm missing?
Oh, and languages to pick.
Okay, so just waiting on Calli and Durok to be finished up and Calli to answer some questions and we'll get this party started.
I'm ready to go?