Winds of Fate

Game Master Joy

Welcome to the discussion page for the Murder's Mark Module. Once everyone checks in we'll get the gameplay started.

For my posting times, I'm on Eastern Standard time and post at various times during daylight hours.

Dotting

Hello everybody!

GM, thanks for running the game.

I am also on EST. Pennsylvania, about 50 miles north of Philly. I am up early, around 2:45 am, during the week. On a good morning, I'll get a post in. Then around lunch time I can usually post, and I am usually free in the evening also.

Looking forward to a great game and playing with all of you.

Cheers!

Hi guys, nice to be on board - popping in with Raziel. Will start filling out the alias details.

I am in Europe by the way ;)

Hi everyone! Nice to meet you all, and thanks for running the game GM!

I also live in Europe, and tend to post in the afternoon.

All my in person games are currently canceled thanks to the stay at home order, so I figured starting a new one up on Paizo again would be a good idea. :)

Also, I'm about 60 miles south of Philly.

I'll be getting the Intro post up soon in the gameplay thread. It will introduce the carnival, some games of chance and other attractions.

If you have not read it yet, the adventure summary for Murder's Mark starts out with:

"While enjoying a traveling carnival, the PCs learn of a murder in the nearby town of Ilsurian. Having proven themselves by corralling a dangerous animal, they are recruited to act as independent investigators."

You can decide how long your characters have known each other. Some of you may go all the way back to childhood friends or some of you could have just met when you corralled the animal.

For story's sake, I'm going to say that you all had responded either individually or as a group (up to you all) to flyer the town of Ilsurian had put up regarding a bounty being offered for a dangerous wolf that had been decimating the stock of local farmers. Previous attempts to kill the wolf had resulted in the deaths of several hunters and trappers. When you all finally caught up to the wolf, you find out that the wolf was really a werewolf that had given up his human self and had gone feral. You all were successful in capturing the werewolf and took him back to the town where he was executed for his crimes.

Everyone recieves 25 gold pieces as your share of the bounty for the capture of the "wolf".

You may either spend it before game or save it for the games of chance.

So who'll know who, and in what relationship,
as remember Elves have much longer lives then the others.

With her backstory, Ghandy would have gotten into town recently. She is real interested in the circus and if this 'wolf' might delay the opening, she would take interest.

She would have signed up, but she could have taken interest in a certain elf that was also signing up. She is quite social, playful, and cordial.

Likewise, she could have taken an interest in Jasmine, if she saw her singing or dancing.

Yeah Jasmine would likely be singing for her supper at the local tavern.

Jasmine wouldn't mind learning how to get better with her Elven accent from Ghandy.

Sounds like we're besties already. :)

"And that Selkyon. A little rough around the edges, but sure seems confidant with that bow." Ghandy offers Jasmine a smile and a wink.

Selkyon has been living outside Kyonin for fifteen years or so, which really isn't much. Aside for spending a few years in Oppara, he's mostly been on the move, doing a few jobs as a mercenary, never staying in one place for too long. While in Oppara, he dated an artist (Vuldrani, a gnome; also a much more sociable person), which might work with either Jasmine or Ghandy's backstories. Selkyon isn't the best socially and doesn't make friends quickly, but they might have met before, even possibly got on well. How you want it to go (and how much you want to know about Selkyon or Vuldrani) is completely up to you! :)

I don't know the backstory of the other characters yet, but we might also make up something if you want our characters to have some sort of connection or relationship. Selkyon is supposedly staying at the place of a farmer in Ilsurian, the daughter of a half-elf mercenary that he befriended (shocking, I know) while on the job. We might work something from there.

He'd probably offer his help to track down the wolf spontaneously. He has been struggling to find his place in Ilsurian ever since he arrived, and he'd probably be relieved to take care of a problem that falls comfortably into his area of expertise.

Ghandy has never been to Kyonin, but her mother returned there as an advisor to the Queen. Since Ghandy left her home in Detmer, without notice, to travel, her mother could be worried and looking for her.

If Selkyon has or had any ties to the Queen, he could have gotten word to keep a look out for her.

Or Selkyon might have taken notice of two lovely ladies drinking and dancing in a tavern.

Hi guys! Happy to be here. How many are we?

I think it'll be about 7

Raziel is also a newly arrival in town, so after the wolf investigation it would make sense he would stick closer to his new acquaintances.

Not that he is very talkative, but it seems being close to them makes it easier to find new, interesting and lucrative endeavors :D

The gameplay thread is now attached with the intro.

Hey guys! Sorry, I completely lost the start of the gameplay. For whatever reason I didn't see this update here in discussion. I'll step out as the party seems sorted enough as it is. Have fun! GM, if you could, please remove me from the list of players. Cheers!

Why leave? :D

Hey GM, just letting you know I am enjoying the game and for the other players, I am enjoying our interactions and banter.

I am assuming at this point we lost another player in Jasmine. So we are down to three. GM, are you still thinking this to be a one-shot? If that is the case, I'm thinking we'll be fine with maybe some minor module modifications.

I would be down for more long-term if there is a chance for that. If this is a possibility, should we try to recruit another player?

Don't mean to speak out of turn, just wanted to offer suggestions.

Cheers!

It has been about a week and there is a chance for more modules after this one.

I'll pop another post in the recruitment thread and see what we can get.

Looks like we have a few applicants, does anyone have any opinions on any of them yet?

So we have:

Pelipe: Arcane Scroll Wizard (same player also made an alchemist)

a Babarian

and a Monk

I feel that we should have a tank, but adding a fifth with arcane abilities is not a bad idea. I have no issue with any of the characters, and when I checked out the players, they seem to be active and post regularly in the games they are already in.

Barbarian or Monk: This one is a coin flip for me. The Barbarian has always been a favored class for me, but the Monk's background with the carnival is a nice add.

I more or less pointed out the obvious. I think any of the players would make a fine edition.

Cheers!

Personally I would take all three of them.

I think we can use all their abilities in the group, and keeping in mind the usual attrition in PbP games, I think it would be advantageous to have more players.

I just wish one of them was a Bard :D

-----

If I had to choose just one, I would go with Ivar - I have played with Robert Henry before, and he is a very solid player, contributing with good RP and keeping the flow of the game going.

Maybe the wizard and barbarian then. To follow the module, no one in the party can actually be a member of the carnival since you need to be impartial, so the monk's backstory won't work.

Sounds good to me!

To be fair, I assume Brother_Guiness was probably not aware characters should not belong to the Carnival.

Agreed on Cúan and Robert Henry.

There is also the other wizard or alchemist. Both submitted by Smooshiebanana.

I have invited Pelipe and Ivar to the group. We'll just pause on the gameplay thread for a day to get them in here.

We are still just on the first day, I'm fine with doing the magic hand wave and saying they were here all along at the carnival with you all.

They slept in, then went to other shows. :)

very cool!

thanks for the invite, 'The Winds of Fate.'

Hey Edeldhur. good to be playing with you again.

Slept in and went to the other shows, Mioki? Good to be in another game with you. I though it was really cool that you put together that request for WoTR.

Anyway, I have been reading some of the adventure so far, I will get caught up in the morning.

TWoF do you see anything on Ivar that you want explained or changed before I post in the morning?

Welcome Ivar!

It will be nice to be in another game with you RH. Our barbarian / cleric roles are reversed. Beware, Ghandy is much more flirty than Azi is. :)

Greetings all, and thank you GM for the invite and acceptance. If there is anything I can do to custom tailor my character to the campaign, let me know. I am open. Even if you wished me to play a replacement bard, I have no qualms with that. I can easily switch classes.

As for connections:

It's possible that while the others rested, the obsessive nature of Pelipe won out. She stayed behind to question the farmers of the whole region and ensured no-one else was bitten or injured by the werewolf.

If there was such a beast or person, she would have them in quarantine for a duration under the town guard. While the other members of the party moved on to the carnival, she likely rested too while they were there at the start of the campaign, which would put her arriving about now.

Ivar, you are welcome to have Pelipe's back during that leg of her tale if you want--with plans to ultimately reconnect via request at the carnival.

Welcome aboard guys!

Good to play with you again Ivar - our last game felt a bit... Lackluster :P

No need to change into a bard Pelipe, I was only (kind of) joking - I am actually very curious on how a Scrollmaster Wizard plays out. Never seen one in action.

They are difficult at low levels, but higher levels, they are amazing. Since this is a low-level campaign, I myself am testing the waters. Mostly she will just be a wizard (enchantress), but on rare occasions, I may whip out a scroll blade or shield. It depends on how many funds we are getting in this to burn toward scrolls. :P

Welcome Ivar and Pelipe! :D

Sorry I've been a bit less responsive, I'm right in the middle of preparing for my university finals. I don't have the time to make long posts, but everything will be back to normal by the end of next week!

They are difficult at low levels, but higher levels, they are amazing. Since this is a low-level campaign, I myself am testing the waters. Mostly she will just be a wizard (enchantress), but on rare occasions, I may whip out a scroll blade or shield. It depends on how many funds we are getting in this to burn toward scrolls. :P

Well, low level scrolls are not very expensive - I am planning to get a good chunk of them as soon as I can myself ;)

Welcome Ivar and Pelipe! :D

Sorry I've been a bit less responsive, I'm right in the middle of preparing for my university finals. I don't have the time to make long posts, but everything will be back to normal by the end of next week!

Good luck with the finals Selkyon!

Welcome Ivar and Pelipe! :D

Sorry I've been a bit less responsive, I'm right in the middle of preparing for my university finals. I don't have the time to make long posts, but everything will be back to normal by the end of next week!

Eww, finals. I hope you do well with them!

Well, low level scrolls are not very expensive - I am planning to get a good chunk of them as soon as I can myself ;)

Agreed.

I've since updated my character sheet since we are all okay with me playing a wizard. I put some more description on there and finalized the equipment. I should be ready for roleplaying. :)

Welcome Pelipe!

Selkyon, good luck on those finals.

Glad to see everyone here and chatting. :)

Both of your sheets look okay to me so far. Let me know if you have an questions as you catch up reading what has happened already.

Selkyon, no worries, just do well on the finals. Over here, I get the fun of getting my kids set up to do their schooling via computer.

Thanks for the warm welcome, everyone.

excellent, TWoF, it seems that they are headed to the big top, I will have Ivar 'catch up' to them there, apologizing for being 'late'

Yeah, Raziel, that game was a little 'lackluster' but I invited myself back into it to play one of my favorite characters, so I can't complain. Speaking of one of my favorite characters, Ivar was one of my first, this will be his fourth ideration. His crunch has altered a little with every build but his personality has stayed the same. He was built with characters from 'The Vikings' 'Thirteenth Warrior' and 'Joe Abercrombie' books in mind. but I digress.

Hey Ghandy, Ivar likes flirty, though his perspective on such things may suprise you

yes, Selkyon, good luck! Actually I'm hoping you studied well and luck will not be needed. But sadly, speaking from experience, I know that is always not the case.

Pelipe, it seems that the event with the Werewolf was something we did before this started, and we are joining them at the carnival. I will not personally worry about that part of the 'back story' but if you want to tie Ivar in somewhere I will not dispute it.

will post in game shortly...

Pelipe, it seems that the event with the Werewolf was something we did before this started, and we are joining them at the carnival. I will not personally worry about that part of the 'back story' but if you want to tie Ivar in somewhere I will not dispute it.

Yeah, I'm aware. :) To me, it sounded like the werewolf attacked for some time. Chances that there were at least a couple of others infected could be possible. Farmers can be stubborn, so the frail wizard could always use a barbarian to help her. Anyways, as you said, that's all backstory. I just wanted to let you know where I was coming from in terms of what the two of us had been doing. You can feel free to intro any way you wish. I'm adaptable.

Ivar, if you like the Ulfen lands, you would have loved an in person campaign I was running. I transplanted Kingmaker to the Land of the Linnorm Kings and let it be a Tyrantmaker by opening up the alignment choices.

You two can post and meet up with the group as they are about to catch the last big top show of the day.

ninja'd by TWoF, so ignore question...

Cool, adaptable is always good :)

Ok, so your thinking we were "checking on" any potential sick folk and that's why we were late? I was planning on having Ivar show up late after spending an evening with a local, not at the inn with the rest.

I'm fine with doing the magic hand wave and saying they were here all along at the carnival with you all."

A lot has happened, monitor lizard lock picked, performer hired by red bearded person to distract crowed...

TWoF Would you prefer we walk in late explaining where we've been and ask what's been going on. Or just 'surface' having been here the whole time.

edit:I like the idea of northern characters, a 'kingmaker' in the north does sound interesting.

Ok will go post Ivar walking up to the team and ask what's going on.

Ok, so your thinking we were "checking on" any potential sick folk and that's why we were late? I was planning on having Ivar show up late after spending an evening with a local, not at the inn with the rest.

Hah, how about both? He could have helped her in the morning while the group headed to the carnival, and then in the afternoon and evening, he could have done whatever, or whomever, he wanted. :)

You two can post and meet up with the group as they are about to catch the last big top show of the day.

Sounds good. I'll work on one and post it here in a little.

Thank you everyone for your kind encouragements! :)

My finals are almost over... It was super hard, but I hope I did well!

I hope your exam went well Selkyon! Was that your last one?

I hope it did, thank you! :) It was the last one, but I still have an essay to finish for tomorrow, so I'm not quite over yet

Fried from work. Not feeling enough energy to play Ghandy tonight. Tomorrow, I believe will be a repeat of today. Will catch up on weekend.

Wasn't feeling too well over the weekend, but getting back to the posts now.

Make sure you are recovered WoF. All the best.