DM-Camris' IRONFANG INVASION Chapter 1: Trail of the Hunted

Game Master Camris

Initial discussion thread.

Yarr, Pirate Rob here an honor to be chosen, I'll get my header properly setup tomorrow.

It's a pleasure to be selected! Looking forward to surviving the madness with everyone.

Glad to be here!

This is going to be epic.

Thanks for selecting me! I will get an alias put together later today.

I take it we'll be dealing with higher CR encounters to factor in the size of our party being double what the AP expects?

Super excited for this game! I will probably go for the Chanasardo Warden prestige class when it comes time for that. I might need to tweak a thing or two now to accommodate that if it's alright.

Anything else I should tweak to accommodate the party? Hard to imagine us missing a skillset with 8.

Hey all! Very excited for this game and honored for my PC to be selected among all the quality applicants! I’ll make sure everything is squared away on my end. As far as Durun’s Niche; he’s very much a blustery kind of guy. I haven’t decided if I’m going to go purely ranged attacks, or if I want to do the switch hitter option. I do know that I plan on picking up the utility talent that is basically Dazzling Display to help throw some deep ups out on the battlefield.

'allo everyone. Pleased to be here with you all. More of a skirmisher/flanker than the classic knightly cavalier, but looking forward to this... so is Sebastion The bestest good boy ever :)

Woof!

I'm here to help everyone hit the bad guys, while also trying to turn them into pincushions. ;)

You want flanks? I got flanks.

Not sure about my feat. Two weapon fighting is great for rogues, but I'm currently playing another two weapon rogue. We've got archery covered. Maybe all in on stealth or perception or something?

More archery can't hurt. I'm thinking everyone in the party should at least be able to switch-hit. Hopefully we'll have some chances to engage at a distance and make them come to us (the Luring Cavalier archetype is built on that). Arlen can share the Volley Fire feat to make us all more effective at hitting things.

I chose for my shared tactic to be Tactician.

That means I can share that feat with everyone within 30 feat of me for up to 3 rounds + the .5 a level rounds of level of cavalier.

And than means anyone who is in flanking gets a bonus +1d6 damage each melee attack :) it stacks with those tasty rogue sneak attacks too.

Couldnt afford a good bow, Got my trusty sling though. Its on the list of things to get dont worry.

Looks like we're pretty good with archery. I'll have Sor switch hit (ranged before melee, then flank times).

Arlen Ducote - Human Cavalier: Archer/Switch

Big John - Human Barbarian: assuming melee

Darry Swiftfoot - Halfling Cavalier (Order of the Paw): Mounted Melee

Durun "Ghosteye" - Human Kineticst: ranged

Elandra - LG Human Inquisitor: Archer/Switch/Spell support

Faerieth - Half-Elf Druid: Melee/Healing

Sor Zhehhalel - Elf Rogue: Melee/Switch

Yaron Oravar - Half-Orc Bard: Archery/Buffs

Decent array of skills, too.

Switching Sor's feat to Skill Focus: Stealth and switched skills from Knowledge Local to Disguise. Eventually he can go from silent assassin to disguised spy.

I can also focus more on melee as well if need be as as level. Being a Hydrokineticist I can really boost my AC to go tankish if we need to.

As I progress, I'll still be primary healer, but I'll also have an increasing number of combat/battlefield control spells. Especially once I pick up selective spell

I hope I wasn't insensitive in my rough list. I think this is a great party.

No worries Sor. its not entirely accurate about me being mounted melee *lawls* More like close ranged support. There will be an awful lot of throwing daggers I promise. But yeah still a frontliner. :)

So since Phaendar isn't that big a town, we come to the question, do any of us know each other before "the $#!+ goes down?"

Great question. I imagine i would be somewhat known. If not by name at least in existance? Cant imagine there are a lot of halflings cavaliers wh ride trained wolfdogs , dogolfs...canines into battle.

Natives would probably know my father, who came to town a couple of years ago. I'm just here to see him at the start of the AP -- though still Nirmathi - just from the northern border.

I'd say I likely have a very local reputation as an herbalist/healer who's cures are particularly effective, albeit sometimes less than enjoyable to consume

Arlen isn't necessarily known in Phaendar (unless the GM let's me change traits as above, in which case he's known for surviving being left for dead by robbers) but he's been in a few skirmishes and battles with the invaders. Maybe some of you know how from there

Durun would definitely be known by the locals; he’s the widower that lives on the outskirts whose wife and children were murdered by bandits a decade ago. Superstition is that he has some sort of power over the elements... specifically water and ice. He’s also known for as a fishmonger and maker of glassware.

If Durun makes glassware, there's a good chance Faerieth has come to him from time to time for vials etc for her concoctions.

I take it we'll be dealing with higher CR encounters to factor in the size of our party being double what the AP expects?

Yes, there are DM black arts to adjusting for larger parties while not ruining the fun.

"...do any of us know each other before "the $#!+ goes down?"

Since you asked...

I put the Town stats and a map hyperlink in the campaign section.

To kick off our game, I would like for each character to post a vignette of what you are doing at the festival here as the sun goes down and the serious trading segues into serious partying.
Be sure to feature what you look like and how you interact with friends (if any), acquaintances, and strangers at the festival.

Whatever you do, your character needs to end up at one of four locations after sunset.
Oreld’s Fine Shop;
the Phaendar Trading Company;
the Riverwood Shrine;
or the Taproot Inn.

Both Phaendar Trading Company and the Taproot Inn have Stables able to accommodate mounts and animal companions.

I would also like to have everyone have their hp/AC/saves at least on their character profile. It's very useful to me in speeding up combat.

If Durun makes glassware, there's a good chance Faerieth has come to him from time to time for vials etc for her concoctions.

Absolutely! I like that idea, Faerieth. I figure he will typically come into town to sell his catch of the day or his glassware in the markets each day. Or in the case of Faerieth I imagine he would allow her to come directly to his home as she seems very outdoorsy as well.

Does Faerieth live inside the town or near the outskirts like Durun?

I'd say outskirts given how much time she spends roaming the forest

Would Faerieth have a stand set up to sell her wares at the festival? I could see her and Durun setting up next to each other. To help complement our wares

Yeah, that seems pretty likely.

I should be able to get a post in for Arlen today.

While adding a Bot Me spoiler* to his profile, I wrote this sentence that I think will be helpful for y'all to see now:

For big fights, he will use his Tactician ability to share the Volley Fire Teamwork feat and dramatically improve the team's chances of hitting their targets at range, as well as removing cover. With Volley Fire active, even the non-ranged characters should have a decent chance of hitting so long as everyone focuses on the same 15ft. area of enemies.

For context:

You gain a +1 bonus on ranged attack rolls for each ally with this feat who made a ranged attack since the end of your last turn against a target within 15 feet of your target, to a maximum of +4. These allies don’t provide cover against your attacks.

I interpret that as meaning that melee characters that have the feat don't provide soft cover, which means it is great even when some of us are in melee.

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*Everyone should put a Bot Me spoiler in their profile. There *will* be times over the course of this AP that you won't be able to post. Tell us what your character will do in common situations so that we're never blocked for more than a day. :)

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GM, I just remembered that I need to stat up the Elk. Will try to to do that in the next two days.

Sor is a bit of a hermit, but the creepy elf with the veil has probably spawned rumors.

Elandra passed through town about 3 months ago, just after the last market festival. Likely most memorable was her overly fancy Taldane horse which she traded for a local mule and quite a bit of supplies.

So Arlen used to live outside of Phaendar. By himself, I think (haven't figured out if he had a family or anything with him) when he was attacked and robbed. His house was burned down and he was beaten and left for dead inside. He made his way out and became something of a legend for surviving and bouncing back. But he decided he couldn't stay and he left to join the defenses. He saw a few skirmishes, including one with the Ironfang where he got a dramatic scar across his face. So there are a number of ways other PCs might know him.

*Everyone should put a Bot Me spoiler in their profile. There *will* be times over the course of this AP that you won't be able to post. Tell us what your character will do in common situations so that we're never blocked for more than a day. :)

I second this. Very helpful.

We have just started posting peoples actions during the Festival.
Arlen, Darry and Elandra are done; Big John, Ghosteye, Faerieth, Sor and Yaron are up.

Wait, what just happened?

I believe we are explaining our day 1 activities and where we are currently located come nightfall. Preferred in 1 of those 4 spots. Darry for instance was just wandering the town looking/waiting for one of the triplets (or all) to arrive with their trading wagons. He ended up having a drink, smoke, and a bit of a gamble at the inn.

Not to be bold presumptuous or spoil things. My halfling hackles tell me he needs us at one of those four places for a reason. :)

Oh no, that I get.

Yeah, what Darry said.

What were you confused about Farieth?

I will be at a conference for work next week (M-F) with very limited time to post. There should be a Bot Me spoiler in my profile (please let me know ASAP if it is missing or empty) that you can use to bot me if any actions are waiting on me.

Hey all, very sorry at my delay. I just got a job offer Wednesday and then started Thursday, so I’m a little behind. Also, I’m visiting family this weekend, so good chance I won’t really have time to post until Monday.

Alright, as it stands right now the people that have posted their initial festival action with destination are:
Elandra: Taproot Inn—private room (mule in stable)
Arlen Ducote: Taproot Inn—common room (companion in stable)
Darry Swiftfoot: Taproot inn—common room (companion outside eating)
Yaron Oravar: Taproot Inn--common room
Sor Zhehhalel: Taproot Inn--common room

Posted but without destination:
Faerieth

Not posted:
Big John
Durun "Ghosteye"

I want everyone to have an initial post before pushing forward if possible, so I'm going to wait another day or three before kicking off the next scene.

The idea was that I'm right next to Oreld’s Fine Shop, as one of the possible locations to be. I figured things might play out better if we had a bit of variety to where we are when everything starts happening.

I’ll have a post up later this afternoon when I have a few mi it’s free around lunch!

You may want to PM Big John. I don't think he's posted since you made your selections