Cool, in that case Garret and Ketra know each other for sure, though maybe not with deep familiarity.
As for Sanduro, you would have had ample chance to meet Ketra if you did odd jobs for Maren Driscoll. Interestingly, since Sanduro is also a duskwalker and the race is supposed to be super rare, there's all the more reason that Ketra would have made an effort to get to know you. Is there a reason you would have shared for why you're in Roslar's Coffer?
Cool, in that case Garret and Ketra know each other for sure, though maybe not with deep familiarity.
As for Sanduro, you would have had ample chance to meet Ketra if you did odd jobs for Maren Driscoll. Interestingly, since Sanduro is also a duskwalker and the race is supposed to be super rare, there's all the more reason that Ketra would have made an effort to get to know you. Is there a reason you would have shared for why you're in Roslar's Coffer?
That's a good question. I expect Sanduro would have told Ketra the reason he left his family's traveling caravan and came to Roslar's Coffer (especially if she has a nosoi fledging familiar): he is there because although Zsofia remembers almost nothing about the events leading to her death, she is certain that whatever it was began in or near Roslar's Coffer.
(I apologize in advance if this leads the party into the territory of the red reaver.)
In town, Sanduro probably keeps the phantom in his shared consciousness state rather than allowing Zsofia to manifest and terrify the villagers. He would have introduced her to Ketra and possibly the other Driscolls (especially if they saw him call her forth to help him lift a heavy keg when he thought nobody was watching). I'm not sure who else he would have introduced her to - Zsofia isn't very subtle, so she isn't much help in his attempts to investigate her death.
Zsofia isn't exactly a secret, Sanduro just doesn't advertise her existence. The result is that while a few people know about the spirit bound to him, others among the townsfolk probably wonder about the sanity of the strange-looking Varisian who talks to -- and sometimes gets into heated arguments with -- himself.
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I haven't worked out the exact timeline, but Wallace could either have been posted at Roslar's Coffer very recently or for a few months now (whatever works best with the narrative, but I'm leaning towards more recent) as one of Lastwall's knights. From his Lawbringer trait, he is "part of a detachment of soldiers supported by Vigil." To that end, I could see him working with Octavius Black to help training the militia or Cpt. Rosalind Sunstone in managing the defenses of the border with Belkzen (or both!). If I had to choose one, it'd be with Octavius Black to help with training.
Cool, in that case Garret and Ketra know each other for sure, though maybe not with deep familiarity.
As for Sanduro, you would have had ample chance to meet Ketra if you did odd jobs for Maren Driscoll. Interestingly, since Sanduro is also a duskwalker and the race is supposed to be super rare, there's all the more reason that Ketra would have made an effort to get to know you. Is there a reason you would have shared for why you're in Roslar's Coffer?
Excellent. Garret would be especially interested in Ketra's acrobatic dancing, wondering if he could convince her to add fire-dancing to her repertoire. Garret has family in Roslar's Coffer, and has been local for about 2 years after having been gone for the previous 10 years. If you care to get to know him well enough, he may share about that time in his life, but it is not casually known about town.
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Excellent, I have received everyone's questionnaires and will need a bit more time to integrate them and finish my deep read of the first two books. Weekends are busy with IRL games so I won't have it dont until Sunday evening at the earliest.
I'm loving the various suggestions for having pre-existing character connections, keep it coming! We are firmly on course to start the campaign in the first week of August.
Sounds good, GM.
FWIW, I think I’m going to shift Sanduro’s alignment from true neutral to neutral good. It looks like all of the other PCs are good-aligned, and I don’t want to be the odd man out (especially if our paladin ends up with some class ability that helps good characters only!).
@Sanduro: OK, I'm gonna run with the idea that Ketra's heard the story regarding Zsofia. She's definitely offered to help investigate, or at least offered to introduce Sanduro to people who might have some ideas of where to investigate.
One thing I'm wondering about - you mentioned Sanduro looking like a "strange-looking Varisian". Is he disguised to not look like a duskwalker? Duskwalker skin tone at the very least should look different from what a Varisian would look like.
@Wallace: Sounds like Ketra might've stopped by to say hi, but you wouldn't have crossed paths with her too much, not unless you would have come to visit the Sagely Goat.
@Garret: I think we'll have some opportunities mid campaign to chat about backgrounds and have things get revealed to each others characters (especially if CW makes our backgrounds more important!).
Regarding non-good party members, I think most of the abilities (like auras) I'd get would still work, they just don't work for evil characters.
I've had some writer's block lately, so I've had more trouble than usual coming up with Silvia's backstory, but here's the broad strokes: she was a teenager in Roslar's Coffer when it was raided by the Twisted Nail, and was rescued by a Knight of Ozem. She enlisted in Lastwall's army to follow in her rescuer's footsteps, but found little solace in either military life or in the church of Iomedae. After a horrific battle against other Belkzen orcs, she left and returned to Roslar's Coffer.
Since returning, she's been obsessing over ways to protect the town, trading in her longbow for an amateur copy of the firearms she saw being wielded by some Mendevian crusaders on their way to the Worldwound. She spends most of her time tinkering with it, but also is a frequent customer to the Sagely Goat and to Captain Sunstone, who she served under some years back. She's charming and friendly, but won't talk about her time in the army and has a notoriously thin skin.
@Silvia,
Garret was raised in Roslar’s Coffer, so is there a good chance you might at least know of him from the time before the Twisted Nail occupation. He disappeared during the chaos back then and was gone for a decade, but has been in town for the past two years. Garret also has a bit of an obsession with wanting to defend the town (and particularly his parents) from any new incursions. He works for Captain Sunstone as an arcane adjunct to the militia, so any unusual or magical phenomenon will typically see him assigned to help the patrols investigate.
Silvia and Garret would make quite the pair! Silvia's tiefling traits are so subtle that she doesn't realize she isn't an ordinary human. I figure that they might have been discovered if it was a different town, but Roslar's Coffer has, not one, but two duskwalkers. Compared to that, a kid who gets followed around town by stray cats wouldn't draw much attention.
Silvia is in her mid 20s, so Garret is quite a bit older than her but they'd almost certainly have been at least acquainted when the town was attacked. She's returned to the town much more recently than him, probably in the last year or so.
Silvia and Garret would make quite the pair! Silvia's tiefling traits are so subtle that she doesn't realize she isn't an ordinary human. I figure that they might have been discovered if it was a different town, but Roslar's Coffer has, not one, but two duskwalkers. Compared to that, a kid who gets followed around town by stray cats wouldn't draw much attention.
Silvia is in her mid 20s, so Garret is quite a bit older than her but they'd almost certainly have been at least acquainted when the town was attacked. She's returned to the town much more recently than him, probably in the last year or so.
Ha! Garret is significantly older than he looks, given that he has planar blood he is personally unaware of as well (Aasimar having longer lifespans than Halflings, and Garret has the Halfling Scion--instead of Human Scion--feature, so he looks mostly like a Halfling as well). Garret is likewise reluctant to discuss the events surrounding the Twisted Nail invasion and he subsequent decade-long disappearance, so he would take Silvia's reticence to talk about her military service in stride.
@Sanduro: OK, I'm gonna run with the idea that Ketra's heard the story regarding Zsofia. She's definitely offered to help investigate, or at least offered to introduce Sanduro to people who might have some ideas of where to investigate.
One thing I'm wondering about - you mentioned Sanduro looking like a "strange-looking Varisian". Is he disguised to not look like a duskwalker? Duskwalker skin tone at the very least should look different from what a Varisian would look like.
Sounds good, Ketra. Re Sanduro's appearance - I may have said it in a different post, but yes, he has gray skin and white hair (may as well roll with the avatar I picked for him). I referred to him as a "strange-looking Varisian" from the villagers' point of view because along with his gray skin and white hair, Sanduro dresses like a Varisian, carries himself like a Varisian, has Varisian tattoos, and speaks Taldane with a thick Varisian accent because Varisian is his first language. He's not disguising himself - he is a Varisian, just not a Varisian who is entirely human.
Sounds good, Ketra. Re Sanduro's appearance - I may have said it in a different post, but yes, he has gray skin and white hair (may as well roll with the avatar I picked for him). I referred to him as a "strange-looking Varisian" from the villagers' point of view because along with his gray skin and white hair, Sanduro dresses like a Varisian, carries himself like a Varisian, has Varisian tattoos, and speaks Taldane with a thick Varisian accent because Varisian is his first language. He's not disguising himself - he is a Varisian, just not a Varisian who is entirely human.@Sanduro: OK, I'm gonna run with the idea that Ketra's heard the story regarding Zsofia. She's definitely offered to help investigate, or at least offered to introduce Sanduro to people who might have some ideas of where to investigate.
One thing I'm wondering about - you mentioned Sanduro looking like a "strange-looking Varisian". Is he disguised to not look like a duskwalker? Duskwalker skin tone at the very least should look different from what a Varisian would look like.
Gotcha, so he's a Varisian duskwalker. Considering the location of location and isolation of Roslar's Coffer, both traits are likely very notable for the locals.
I expect so, although I’m sure the duskwalker bit would get more attention. The player’s guide notes that Varisian caravans come through town now and then.
Now I have this vision of Sanduro walking into town for the first time, and everyone he approaches for information tells him to go to the Sagely Goat because they assume he's there to see Ketra.
Hello again!
I had the craziest weekend I've had in a long time, full of new experiences (most of them very enlightening but not exactly positive). The short version is: I did not get any TG work done over the weekend, but since I'll in self-quarantine for at least a few weeks so hopefully it shouldn't take too long to get caught up. Pretty much all of the remaining work needed is all my end so I'll get back to you soon!
Hello again!
I had the craziest weekend I've had in a long time, full of new experiences (most of them very enlightening but not exactly positive). The short version is: I did not get any TG work done over the weekend, but since I'll in self-quarantine for at least a few weeks so hopefully it shouldn't take too long to get caught up. Pretty much all of the remaining work needed is all my end so I'll get back to you soon!
That doesn’t sound good at all. Hope you’re well and stay that way!
Hey everyone! I've been working on integrating various secrets & subplots and making sure I've reasonably worked ahead for the maps. I can state with a high degree of confidence that we'll be able to get started Monday, August 3!
Please add in a token for your character on the Roslar's Coffer map page of the Roll20. Looking forward to this!
Hey everyone! I've been working on integrating various secrets & subplots and making sure I've reasonably worked ahead for the maps. I can state with a high degree of confidence that we'll be able to get started Monday, August 3!
Please add in a token for your character on the Roslar's Coffer map page of the Roll20. Looking forward to this!
Great! Umm, how do I add a picture to the map? Doesn't seem to work like Google Slides.
@CW: If you assign us characters, I'm fairly sure we can add a token that way. Otherwise we're out of luck.
An oversight by me! Should be fixed now :)
Ketra's in!
I believe I have an icon on the map now. Do you want us to attempt to port our characters to Roll20, or are we just using it for the map functionality?
I successfully placed my token in a random spot on the side and can’t move it - probably because I’m on my iPad. I’ll try to work with it over the next couple of days - I’ve only used Roll20 a few times, so I’ve never bothered to figure out how to make it work on a mobile device.
@Garret we'll keep the bulk of the gameplay & rolling here on the Paizo boards, and just use Roll20 for maps. I think I will also add a Google Slides folder for handouts and visual references, since I have manually move the players from slide to slide on Roll20.
You can also create handouts on roll20, which should go into everyone's journals when you show them to the players.
I don't want anyone to feel railroaded: there are many ways to resolve the situation here in Nine-Eaves, following the puzzles is just one. But Kishie is definitely limited in how much assistance he can provide to workaround solutions.