Good luck, and thank you for triggering my creativity, Yttras.
Always glad to do that :)
I've been playing around with an idea, but don't know that I have the time to commit to get something solid before the timeline. With that in mind, I'm going to bow out. I admittedly did get here a bit late. Good luck everyone and enjoy!
Been toying around with an idea for this campaign and bringing it together. Submission is below. Hope to see you all for a splendid expedition emboldened by the powers of luck and teamwork.
Mythweavers Sheet
Ryhor ended in Almas after looking for his Halfling friend Rukes Sowhaes a priest of Chaldira. Rukes and Ryhor had met about 3 years ago along the coastline, Ryhor himself came from a small fishing village a day’s travel from Riddleport. The village was of old blood that prided itself on self-sufficiency. They had a working relationship with the local Undine population off the coast which was part of the village’s success. The community never fished near their waters and provided goods from the land in exchange for knowledge of the best places to fish. Ryhor’s job had been sailing and navigation of the boats and left the fishing itself to others. That was how his village survived, relying on each other’s skills and talents. While living in this village, Ryhor learned of the order of the Eel, a group of dedicated individuals dedicated to openness to strangers and working collaboratively. To Ryhor, their villages collaboration with the Undine were the very reason for their success.
Had life gone as planned, Ryhor would have fully committed to becoming full-fledged Cavalier or stayed his life as a simple sailor. He was in the process of training up as a cavalier, working with some of the aquatic races. But life is funny like that, and fate had other plans for him. Ryhor had been hired by a priest of Chaldira, Rukes, who needed safe passage to a nearby island. Never one to turn another down, Ryhor agreed to the requested price without any argument. The boat trip itself went smoothly, and while on the island Ryhor got to see an ancient worship site of Chaldira.
What really caught Ryhor’s interest though were the tales of fate and fortune the halfling spun during their trip to the island and while on it. Ryhor had never been one for the gods previously, seeing them as facts of life but not particularly interesting. If here to worship any good it would have been Desna, for he desired to see the world and travel, much like many young folks do.
Rukes sensed the interest and requested that Ryhor travel with him for a while, see some of the world. Ryhor after some deliberation decided to and off, they went. The next few years of travel were interesting to Rukes, and constantly listening to Rukes excitement and enthusiasm for Chaldira brought a new sense of interest into the goddess of luck. He liked the idea of controlling his own fate and growing in a way beyond what life might have otherwise brought to him. They eventually went to the halfling community that Rukes was from, Southwest of Absalom where Ryhor received additional focused training. Ryhor wasn’t as interested in serving as a full priest as Rukes but soon found a suitable lifestyle serving as an Inquisitor.
Ryhor specialized in monster summoning as this lied with core beliefs he carried about teamwork and collaboration being the building blocks for all things great. He himself had never been exceptional at anything, but with the favor of fate and good allies, it didn’t matter, he could accomplish anything. Additionally, Ryhor never let go of the lessons he learned and maintains the edicts of the Order of the Eel to this day, exemplifying them both in words, deeds, and in combat.
As Ryhor stood in the Bountiful Venture Company's halls, he mused to himself, wondering if this wasn't one of Rukes jokes taken to extreme lengths. Having completed his training as a servant of Chaldira, and successfully stolen Rukes favorite pantaloons finally, they had been tasked together, and had run a few small missions for the church. They had originally been to head to Absalom, but Ruke had heard a rumor about some fanciful adventure that had to do with the ancient area of Azlant. This had struck Ruke’s interest as he believed that a previous member of his family may have come from there, and he saw it as an opportunity to help with some community building. Thus, Rukes went on ahead, while Ryhor agreed to help navigate a small family from one settlement to another, to better fortunes. Having concluded this, Ruke had told him to head towards Almas and meet up there in a small tavern that Rukes had spoken of meeting in.
When Ryhor finally arrived, he was unable to locate Ruke. After a few days of asking around he understood that a wave of settlers had already made way to establish what was to be called "Talmandor's Bounty". "No way, he wouldn't just go off and do something like that." Ryhor's dismay turned to laughter, causing a few to look at him funny. As he thought about it, it was certainly possible that his friend had arrived and done his best to join the trip. But it was impossible to know. Ryhor spent another couple of days asking around, confirming that there was at least one or more individuals who had set on the previous expedition who might have been Ruke.
Praying to Chaldira for guidance did not bring any direct answers, though he hadn't expected Chaldira to give up information so easily. He knew what he needed to do. A flip of the coin later and there he was applying and soon doing his best in his interview to convince them of all the merits for why he should join the crew. The interviewers were impressed by his overall health and positive disposition, years on a boat prior had kept him in good shape and hired him onto the crew.
As he walked onto this ship to take him to new lands. "This is certainly going to be interesting, if nothing else, he mused. If it's not Ruke's joke, then it will be mine." Truth was, as he had told those interviewing him, a thirst for adventure was never far from his heart, and the prospect of seeing these new lands, and discovering old secrets drew him rapidly in as soon as he realized the reality of it all. Hopefully Ruke would be waiting for him, but if not, he knew Ruke would understand, he had followed where fate had taken him, and let Fate decide. Chaldira would watch over them both, Ryhor new this in his heart, and thus let fear wash off him and excitement take hold. It was a perfect opportunity to help a new settlement and to offer his aid, and to learn and grow himself.
During the time on the Peregrine, Ryhor spent days conversing with the boats Navigator, Tyra Swain. He was curious about the mysterious skills they had navigating the ship and spent many afternoons trying to understand how she did what she did with the boat. It was certainly marvelous. Naturally, he took a great deal of interest and spent time conversing with the rest of the crew as well, swapping his small tales with their greater experience. Additionally, he spent a good deal of time trying to get to know as many amongst the ship as he could, and at least make basic acquaintances with what would become a new family of sorts, one born of many different peoples and histories. Truly extraordinary.
Find out if Ruke travelled to the island or not.
Help the community grow and show them the joy of Chaldira and a little harmless mischief along the way.
Explore the area and expand his own still limited knowledge.
Just a reminder for anyone who's still working on a character that today is the last day to submit!
If you do end up doing two tables, here is one possible idea:
One table could be "these are the people that the Bountiful Venture Company would most likely choose to be settlers for a new Andoran colony."
And another could be "these are PCs great for an aquatic adventure."
Having started this AP before, it definitely felt a little odd that there is this settlement that many Andorans are applying to be part of, and the Company just happens to pick an undine and a locathah. As if the Company knows that there is going to be a good deal of underwater exploration... which maybe they do?
Not completely immersion-breaking, but at least a bit odd. But maybe the Company does know that such abilities will be needed, so take or leave this idea as you see fit.
Oddly, parts of the internet were down for me last night. I managed to write up Ana's description and finish the character this morning despite that.
Oh jeez. Good luck to everyone and all, but I really hope I get picked.
edit: Oh, and I added known and prepared formulas after an utter blonde moment. Which is okay, because player is a blonde. Oh double jeez I forgot languages as well. Now I have to consult the player's guide and... ack.
If you do end up doing two tables, here is one possible idea:
One table could be "these are the people that the Bountiful Venture Company would most likely choose to be settlers for a new Andoran colony."
And another could be "these are PCs great for an aquatic adventure."
Having started this AP before, it definitely felt a little odd that there is this settlement that many Andorans are applying to be part of, and the Company just happens to pick an undine and a locathah. As if the Company knows that there is going to be a good deal of underwater exploration... which maybe they do?
Not completely immersion-breaking, but at least a bit odd. But maybe the Company does know that such abilities will be needed, so take or leave this idea as you see fit.
My character would qualify for the former in that case. Still, it won't be that game-breaking since Andoran's a pretty chill nation.
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If you do end up doing two tables, here is one possible idea:
One table could be "these are the people that the Bountiful Venture Company would most likely choose to be settlers for a new Andoran colony."
And another could be "these are PCs great for an aquatic adventure."
Having started this AP before, it definitely felt a little odd that there is this settlement that many Andorans are applying to be part of, and the Company just happens to pick an undine and a locathah. As if the Company knows that there is going to be a good deal of underwater exploration... which maybe they do?
Not completely immersion-breaking, but at least a bit odd. But maybe the Company does know that such abilities will be needed, so take or leave this idea as you see fit.
I think it would make for better gameplay to have a mix in each party. Some people who deal with water easily, and some who share the magical preparations.
Alright, here at the eleventh hour is my application for Li Shin!
He's a Warrior Poet Samurai from Po Li (so not Minkai, despite being a "samurai"). Left his homeland and can't return due to the stain of dishonor, so instead he has become an explorer. Mechanically, Order of the Waves will give him some facility with underwater movement and also reflects by his desire to explore, explore, explore. Aside from that one nod to undersea exploration, Shin is pretty much a skirmisher with a reach weapon with the option to use maneuvers such as trip.
Thanks for your consideration!
I'm sure Ana can swim like a rock. Or the Rock. I forget which.
AceofMoxen (Bethany Ramil)
Aldizog (Brother Jasper McLaren)
DinosaursOnIce (Ryhor Gale)
drbuzzard (Marvin Rogers)
Elloti (Captain Jack Harrow)
Gerald (Nininox Ambershale, XIV)
Herkmyr the Silly (Mordeki)
hustonj (Luimener)
infomatic (Rilem)
Ironperenti (Alexio Casara)
JonGarret (Shalluk)
KingHotTrash (Baern Holderhek)
Malinor (Imrik Farstrider)
mightypions (Alexandr Seregejevich Kerensky)
Mr. Minotaur (Kriznox Haab)
Mythicman19 (Karsten Monsen)
Nazard (Chatah "Rock" Dives Like Rock)
Patrickthekid (Lily Le)
rorek55 (Xander Reef)
Ruin Explorer (Trisk)
Skorn (Nikoder Ericson)
Solicitor (Tálan of Cormentyn)
Songdragon (Caroline Collingwood)
SqueezeMeNow (Anastasia Arma)
Stiehle (Sea Ranger)
Tazo (Li Shin)
Recruitment is now closed, and I think this list includes everybody who got a submission in. Please let me know if I missed you. As I said before, I'm hoping to have a player list out by the 23rd, with a gameplay post up by the start of January. I am also still debating whether to run two tables, so now is the time to make your voice heard there.
Most of us won't get chosen even if you run two tables of five. Do what would be more fun for you. With how common people ghosting on here can be it never hurts to have a list of backups.
I don't want to tell you what to do. Just want you to have fun.
Having run a fair number of games on here, I'll pipe in that I find 2 tables isn't that much more work than 1. This is based on the fact that you will need to modify the book encounters anyway (since we didn't build based on 15 point buy and teams of 4). Those modifications tend to be the longest part (until high level at least), and so doing more than 1 table ends up being an incremental increase in work rather than multiplicative.
Eventually high level combat gets a bit tricky, and is loaded with attacks to be typed up, but much of it can be copied and pasted.
Oh, and one other benefit of multiple tables is that when, inevitably, people vanish into the woodwork, you can consolidate tables instead of running new recruitment.
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Thank you for all the thoughts. My current calculation is roughly as follows:
Pros
-More people get to play :)
-I know the campaign already, so adjusting treasure and encounters will not be as difficult.
-That aforementioned experience was running two irl tables at the same time.
Cons
-Time posting and preparing (I don't want to just copy/paste NPC dialog)
-Time not spent on other projects
-Resultant possibility of burnout
Answer (so far)
Not sure yet. Keep tabs here, I've been looking through the submissions already, and may have a list (or two) posted by this weekend.
Yeah, NPC dialog other than box text has to be adjusted per table of course. I find that most modules are more combat heavy than dialog heavy.
The burnout is probably the biggest deal.
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My experience with several parallel tables is that eventually players disappear. And instead of re-recruit new players, the GM can just merge the remaining teams and continue with one table. Have seen this happen at least twice for games I played in.
Transferability would indeed be a major draw for 2 tables.
A fun thing we did once when we had 2 tables was a "chronicler" from Axis, who was getting increasingly confused about the contradictions between the respective accounts. We kept pretty good logs, and after both parties went through parts of the adventure, we gave the old logs to the other party and they had to make sense and write a chronicle out of it.
Was a real trip to read. The players were encouraged to write in character. One was a lawful neutral stolid Dwarfen Monk, and just commented everything the more chaotic party did with the catchphrase "FOR NO REASON!".
Example from WOTR:
"And then FOR NO REASON they pretended to be Baphomet cultists, making some use ventriloquism, a Baphomet statue and alter voice to bluff the cultists into believing that the Abyssal Bloodrager the chosen one, before being found out because the gnome illusionist got drunk and thought they were impersonating Deskari cultists, thus beating all the actual cultists into a bloody pulp and spending 3 hours smashing the Baphomet statue into pieces using the head cultists head as a maul,
FOR NO REASON!"
The whole chronicles things did fizzle out sadly, but it was a blast while it lasted.
I'll go ahead and withdraw my name from consideration. I've got enough on my plate already, actually!
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How many of us like to go back a read back through the campaign on a regular basis?
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reading back through is one thing that always amazes and amuses me.
Good luck everyone!
Onemoreday.Onemoreday.Onemoreday.Onemoreday.
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So after going over the many wonderful submissions for the campaign, I have decided that I will run two tables. Here are the players (and characters) chosen:
Table 1
Brother Jasper McLaren(Aldizog)
Nininox Ambershale, XIV (Gerald)
Alexandr Sergejevich Kerensky (Mightypion)
Li Shin (Tazo)
Anastasia Armat (SqueezeMeNow)
Table 2
Chaytah "Rock" Dives Like Rock (Nazard)
Caroline Collingwood (Songdragon)
Talan of Cormentyn (Solicitor)
Baern Holderhek (KingHotTrash)
Kriznox Haab (Mr. Nevets)
I will have an initial discussion post up in the next few days, and an initial gameplay post up by New Year's Day. There will be a Table 2 campaign up today or tomorrow. Congratulations to each of you, and thank you to everyone who submitted characters.
Awwww yeah! Thank you for having me.
Sad face.
Have lots of fun all. Keep me in mind if you need a replacement.
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Thanks for the invite!
replacement dubs if needed :) all have fun.
Back to the drawing board. Good luck and have fun!
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I appreciate the selection, GM! I’m stoked to play Nox again!
I’ve already reviewed our party and I really like the look of it.
Congrats to those selected and good luck next go round to the runners up.
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Happy to be aboard (literally).
Rock will happily get into melee with friend Baern while listening to Kriznox’s inspiring tales, and enjoying the magical support of the wise and gentle Caroline.
Talan will be very useful on this trip: ships should always come with spare anchors.
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I didn't see myself at first and was starting to question my ability to make STR characters after being turned dow- oh wait I made it! Then I started reading up on the rest of the party and realized I hadn't done background skills. Fixed that. I hope I am less scatter brained come campaign start, but am very excited!
Nox looks fun, and I hope we can both prove how valuable we are to the expedition! Reading more as I write!
Yaaaay, preliminary present! Thanks GM!
Mechanically, table 1 is:
A) A very stronk Alchemist, whose sunder ability may come in pretty handy in case something specific to another character happens.
B) A very dextrous warrior poet, whose great ability to trip and disarm people may come in pretty handy in case something specific to another character happens.
C) A very charismatic and quite cunning Sorceror, whose great ability to put people to sleep may come in very handy in case something specific to another character happens.
D) A cleric, who hopefully can do soemthing about preventing something specific happening to another character.
E) And me, an also pretty strong if doubt filled Bloodrager, skilled at fighting in water, who unfortunatly has a pretty bad willsave at -2 (although its +2 vs mind affecting that is also charm or compulsion). I am morbidly happy that most of the party has some way of locking me down should I get possessed/controlled/confused/whatevered and that we have someone with protection from evil :).
Also, we have not one but 2 butchering axes.
I will be doing a skill overview for the party once discussion is up.
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It's funny you mention will saves. Ragechemist here. ^_^'' Perhaps that is something we can work on together. Got some commissar vibes looking at your sheet.
I also noticed our party is pretty strong overall. I find it refreshing. Also, Brother Maclaren and her will need to discuss tinctures at some point. Having someone who can brew the primary component (alcohol) seems like a cost saver.
I'm also interested in our gnome Nox. I have yet to have the pleasure in pathfinder of partying with one outside the video games. Sorcerer is one of my favorite classes, and it looks like they have an interesting build in mind.
Li looks like an interesting fit, personality wise, and I can't wait to see how he bounces off everyone else in the party. How exactly that will play out I'm not certain.
In short, I am very excited with the DM selections for group one. Mechanically and RP wise.
Gameplay thread is up! I think I am going iron will into unimpeachable honor to improve will saves.
Will saves are definitely better than being reduced to a drooling heap on the ground.