Omari Oparal |
Pregame connections!
Anyone have any ideas?
Omari is originally from one of the only human permitted settlements in Kyonin, and is himself a half elf orphan, raised by the church of Nethys. He could have met another character anywhere between Kyonin and Isger.
Party Comp
I should have a decent number of skills trained, but will probably be focusing on Arcana, Crafting, and Intimidate, Religion and Diplomacy. I plan to take a lot of the feats that help with identifying monsters/spells/etc. Most of my class feats will probably go towards sorcerer/wizard multiclass, although I intend to remain a primary melee character.
Little Lenna |
I'm reconsidering some choices in her build, but nothing big at this point. Lenna is a former 'slip', a halfling slave, from Cheliax. I need to firm up that part of her story, but she's unlikely to share much of it, even to a friend, so I have time. (And it leaves room for the GM to work, always a plus.)
How and when she got free is a matter of speculation. It's clear to anyone that gets close to her that she was mistreated at some point - she has a lot of scars, most of which appear to have been done deliberately so they could be hidden under her clothes, and she wears clothes that generally keep them out of sight. One scar on her face looks like it was a nasty wound, but more likely incidental - an animal's claw, perhaps - than intentional. Scars encircling both wrists that are harder for her to hide and she has obtained delicate tattoos (yet to be determined) that might draw attention to them, but actually obscure what they actually are, incorporating the scar tissue into the designs.
Her main schtick will be ranged attacks, but her abilities and skills should make her a decent rogue substitute in a pinch. She won't be winning any trivia contests, however. Anyone hunting or tracking game in the area could easily have made her acquaintance - she's not shy.
Varook Fist |
I think Varook just swooned!! I was toying with the idea of Varook having been a "pitfighter" for some Cheliaxian noble house...sent to fight other fighters, animals, monsters...whatever they could throw at him! Being extremely dexterous, he was a very popular act, but he finally "won" his freedom when another fighter took over the limelight (and bets), so he was allowed to purchase his freedom.
Having a connection with Lenna would make some sense, be it romantic, or platonic (like a protective older brother) would work I think. What do you think Lenna?? Maybe the same family owned both of you??
Aramil Wellys |
Pregame Connections
I can't see any options for Omari and Aramil. Aramil lived only in Magnimar until he decided to journey to Breachill to seek out his father, and I don't think Kyonin is on the way there.
Maybe he met Varook and/or Lenna on the way to Breachill?
Party Comp
As a bard, I have many skills trained, but I intend for my primary focuses to be on Performance and Occultism. Due to how skill increases work for my class (get an increase every odd numbered level), those will generally be my top two, with a third to be determined later, around level 11. I will probably base that choice on party composition, although I may just go with Crafting since I worship Shelyn if nothing else seems needed.
I'm also going to be taking those human ancestry feats that boost untrained skill checks, so I should be useful in all situations.
Little Lenna |
Having a connection with Lenna would make some sense, be it romantic, or platonic (like a protective older brother) would work I think. What do you think Lenna?? Maybe the same family owned both of you??
There's potential there. What if we knew each other as slaves in different houses at one point and then reconnected after we had both gained our freedom? I will have to consider the nature of the relationship - I think at this point, she would be flattered if someone was interested in her and she would flirt, but I don't think she's ready for anything deeper. Some yet-to-be-determined traumas might still be too fresh.
How's that sound?
Hugo Nervin |
On party comp, Hugo is on the "don't hit me" side of things and I'd say is primarily ranged damage and healing with a bit of utility. His build is done but I can tweak things if we feel the group is missing something.
For pre-game connections, Hugo is a weird introvert from Elidir. That said he could have easily met up with someone else on the way there since he'd be loathe to travel on his own.
Omari would make sense since Hugo would be drawn to someone like him, and also very fascinated in the dragon talk.
Omari Oparal |
Excellent. Coming from the northwest Omari definitely would have passed through Elidir on the way to Breechill.
Omari is definitely extroverted and outgoing. They are one of those nerd/jock hybrids that seems to get along with everyone. They will chew your ear off on the topics of dragons, magic, or combat.
Their appearance is very androgenous, with soft features, although one side of their body is fairly heavily scarred (its not the 50/50 scarring you see in most depictions of Nethys, more like a 25/75 scar to normal ratio).
At first glace you might mistake them for a heavy set wizard as their only weapon is a quarterstaff and they wear loose fitting robes over their heavy armor.
Varook Fist |
Sounds good Lenna..I will add their meeting in Varook's background. He too is scared from his treatment at the hands of his owners, so relates with Lenna well, and would definitely be very protective of her, with feelings that would grow if properly fed...but would always act as her protector regardless.
Hugo Nervin |
Awesome, that sounds great. If we think of Omari as the star quarterback and valedictorian that everyone gets along with, Hugo is the homeschooled kid from a family with a weird religion.
I'm still not settled on his appearance but I see him pallid and skinny with hunted eyes, however he keeps himself fastidiously cleand and is always wearing a stupidly overstuffed backpack he's about to collapse under. He keeps a familiar which is a rat that's had pigeon wings sewn onto it that usually lives in his coat.
That said looking at his sheet I was boosting his wisdom for medicine and I don't need to do that so going to adjust his stats.
Little Lenna |
She doesn't seem to have a lot of fear. More of a deep, simmering anger and resentment. I do like the idea that she has a confidante. Varook knows - literally better than anyone - that she shares very little and expects that it ends with whoever she's telling.
Something you know that no one else outside of Cheliax does is that Lenna actually escaped slavery multiple times. Each time, she was recaptured and punished, which is where her scars originated. Each time it happened, it steeled her resolve to escape again. He suspects, though she hasn't said so, that she was allowing herself to be recaptured. He hasn't figured out why she would do such a thing. When Ravounel seceded from the nation of Cheliax, she and the other slaves from her estate were freed. She promptly disappeared into the wilds for a month. When she returned, her attitude was much less harsh and she had a rough scar on the left side of her face. Most importantly, she actually smiled and laughed on occasion.
Do you think they are traveling together to the Call for Heroes? I could see the two of them - possibly with others, possibly alone - traveling together following their being freed. Now, they've decided to see what this Call is all about. Either way, I think they should have learned each other's tactics to an extent. Lenna's method is to pick a target and focus her attention - and often, many arrows - on it until it falls.
Aramil Wellys |
So, I'm thinking Aramil's route to Breachill would be by boat from Magnimar to Kintargo or Nisroch, then across Cheliax or Nidal to Isger.
I could have met up with Lenna and Varook on the road, if you two are interested in that.
Little Lenna |
So, I'm thinking Aramil's route to Breachill would be by boat from Magnimar to Kintargo or Nisroch, then across Cheliax or Nidal to Isger.
I could have met up with Lenna and Varook on the road, if you two are interested in that.
Lenna would not be averse to another companion on the road. But she defers to Varook as the self-designated protector of the duo, so it's up to him. I am thinking that they were semi-random in their travels and heard of the Call of Heroes, which gave them a destination in Breachill. Perhaps we learned of it when you joined us.
Varook Fist |
Raff, would you be ok to have a background tied into Varooks. He was a pitfighter as well, and so the two of you might have known each other...maybe even fought against each other...what do you think??
Varook Fist |
@Lenna - I was thinking that maybe we grew up together, then they were sold to separate houses. Years later at a fight, we recognized each other and from there we hatched a plan for me to start loosing and you to bet heavily on the other combatant, thus making the money for Varook to payoff his slavery. From there they could have travelled about a bit before hearing about the call for heroes at Breachill. Varook could have recognized an old fighting partner (Raff) and told him where they were going so he joined in. They then ran across Aramil on the road and he has been travelling with them for the last few days (or weeks depending on where we met, etc.)
That takes care of 4 Player Character meetings before the start of the adventure..lol
Little Lenna |
Well, Raff didn't sound excited about having a pregame connection, so there's that. I like the general idea of us traveling and finding other solo travelers that turn out to be members of the party, but I'm not sure I agree with the specifics of your tale for a number of reasons - more importantly, I don't think they are necessary. If our pregame connection is an important part of the story for the GM, I would rather leave it vauge on our part so Taban can get as specific as necessary for the story they want to tell.
Same general idea as what you've suggested, but with intentional wiggle room for the GM.
Raff |
I'm not averse to it. I just didn't think it would be very feasible. Varook proved me wrong.
Sure. We fought against each other a time or two. Perhaps it was Raff's last fight or Varook's last as a slave.
Aramil Wellys |
Sounds excellent to me. It gives us the opportunity to at least have met each other, but still allows us to discover things about each other's backgrounds.
Hugo Nervin |
He's the kind of conversationalist who says nothing and then starts ranting nervously. He likes talking about alchemy and is endlessly interested in dragons and particularly Dahak, mentioning that he's always felt that there's something important about Dahak and Breachhill so he needs to go to the town. Basically he sounds like a kinda crazy person with a lot of bombs, but also very polite and clearly terrified at the thought of upsetting Omari.
Anything Hugo would have learned from Omari?
Hugo Nervin |
Okay character tweaked (sorry for not being around yesterday chaos and bedlam and all that). Moved Hugo's wis boosts to str/con and realized I had too many feats - familiar is now gone.
Omari Oparal |
I think i covered most of it above. He was raised by the church of Nethys, but definitely isn't the shut in anti social type you would expect to see from a follower of Nethys. His scars are from the acid breath of a black dragon when he was a baby, he doesn't really bring them up, but will talk about them without reservation. He is fascinated with magic, but so far has only managed to manifest two spells, one a divine shout from Nethys, and the other a shield spell that he has practiced. His lack of skill in magic (compared to everyone else he grew up with) is the only thing that seems to truly embarrass him.
Little Lenna |
I'm still here. With the long holiday weekend in the US, I kind of expect some lag time between posts in my games. I don't know if that's pertinent here or not, but I'm not getting worried yet.
Aramil Wellys |
Yeah. Got the drywall and furring strips on two walls ripped down, then framed out the studs and hung the drywall to replace them, plus finished up the drywall on the upper foot or so of the room that the previous owners hadn't bothered finishing (the drywall just went up about 8 feet, and then they hung drop ceiling which we also ripped down).
Little Lenna |
Yeah. Got the drywall and furring strips on two walls ripped down, then framed out the studs and hung the drywall to replace them, plus finished up the drywall on the upper foot or so of the room that the previous owners hadn't bothered finishing (the drywall just went up about 8 feet, and then they hung drop ceiling which we also ripped down).
Nice! Sounds ambitious!
Hugo Nervin |
Good on you for getting on the renovations immediately. As I found out, if you sit on em you maayy not get around to it lol
And thanks for contacting the GM, Dax. Hope all is well.
Aramil Wellys |
Oh, we've lived there two and a half years - I just got to this part this year. I started it back in July, took a few months off, and then took a week off work last week to really get into it. Now I have to do the drywall seams, then I can maybe start painting.
Omari Oparal |
Its been over two weeks since the GM's last post. Do we want to wait and see if he shows back up, try and find a new GM, or just abandon the game at this point?
Aramil Wellys |
I PMed them. We'll see if they respond.
The campaign is fairly new, so letting it die wouldn't be bad. That said, if anyone is interested in sticking around, we can try to recruit a new GM.
Hugo Nervin |
Honestly, I may regret it because I just took on TWO fall of plaguestone games, but those are temporary and I am interested in running Age of Ashes. I could take over group willing, after enough time has passed.
Little Lenna |
I would be open to that, Hugo, and would be willing to wait for your slate to free up from your Plaguestone games if that helps. It would give Taban time to reply.
I hope Taban's absence isn't a sign of a problem. Not that I want to find out they blew off two tables they committed to, either, but I've seen people disappear from the boards and always wonder/worry about what happened.
Hugo Nervin |
Yeah - an adventure path is a multi-year commitment and although I'm eager to get going we're not in a rush. Let's give things a little long and let everyone chime in. If GM has been gone a month, I'll adopt the game.
If I do so, are we happy with the group we currently have? My ideal size is a five-person group so I'm cool with this. Hugo would of course just keep running and screaming and not come back, lol
Aramil Wellys |
Okay, sounds like we'll give it a couple more weeks, then Hugo will take over the game. I'm fine with that - should be good times. I'm here when everyone's ready.
GM SpiderBeard |
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Hugo here. I think its safe to say Taban isn't coming back anytime soon at this point. I'm going to email the admins and ask for control of the game. I'll keep you all posted but will hopefully resume gameplay this weekend ish.