Masks of the Living God: Price of Immortality

Game Master polyfrequencies

Welcome to Khuvaan (Mr Nevets), Median Vargidan (Zanbabe), Silvio Errico (Tazo), and Sledge Potterson (Kazmanaught)! I know that some of you may already know each other, but please feel free to start working out how your characters know each other and making any further adjustments. I am looking forward to the game!

Please dot (post once) in the gameplay thread and then delete that post so that the campaign begins to show up in your campaign tab.

Thanks for the pick, GM. :)

EDIT: Weird, I tried dot-and-delete in the gameplay thread, and the posting part apparently worked because the game is now on my campaign page, but the post isn't showing up so I can delete it. So, sorry in advance if it shows up later and is an eyesore.

Howdy everyone! Happy to be here, and excited to be playing with you all! I don't think I'm in a game with any of you, but I'm very sorry if I'm wrong!

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Edit: Such an upbeat post to such a miserable face...

In terms of how we know each other... in game, my father is Moltus Vargidan, a weird and kind of creepy sorcerer. My mother is Olmira Treesong, a druid who lives out in Fang Wood, and I apprentice to Braggar the Dwarf, a forgemaster/blacksmith in town.

How about you guys?

Hmmm, I can't seem to get it to register my post either. Well, it's something to bother the mods about tomorrow!

Likewise. Posted, but didn't show up.
Still, we're here! Thanks for the invite, Poly. Looking forward to this!

Hmmm. Seems we're a very 'ranged attack' focused group. Might have to pick up a shield or a second melee weapon for Khuvaan if he needs to do some tanking. lol

Khuvaan's mother is an orcish woman named Mhyris who is a herbalist who works in a nearby inn, and his father is/was an elven archer named Baelad Arrowsdale, infamous locally for leading his military company into an ambush near Lastwall. He is apprenticed to Arnama Lastrid, a no-nonsense human ranger who patrols the nearby forests.

First, thank you to our illustrious GM for the selection! I am extremely grateful, especially knowing that you made the extra effort to run two tables!

At the moment, Silvio's primary connections are to the following characters:

-Sir Dramott (male human paladin):
The people of Lastwall, the militaristic nation to the north, take it as their responsibility to keep the orcs of Belkzen in check. Unfortunately, their forces are spread thin, so they rely on a number of scouts close to the border of Belkzen to keep watch. Sir Dramott is one such scout. Although he has no authority here in town, he regularly reports to his commanders in Lastwall, informing them of any orc activity. Mayor Uptal is grateful for Sir Dramott’s assistance whenever trouble is brewing, but he is concerned about a military officer from a foreign land stationed in his town. The people of Kassen respect Sir Dramott, but they would rather he go home and leave them to their own devices. As a mentor, Sir Dramott is capable and wise, if a bit harsh. Unfortunately, all of his lessons deal with service to Lastwall, and his pupils are taught to think of such service as a high honor.

-Father Rantal Prasst (male human cleric of Erastil):
The small town of Kassen has only one temple and it is devoted primarily to Erastil, but Father Prasst allows those who worship other friendly gods to pray at the temple as well. While Father Prasst does not offer services in the names of these deities, there are small shrines to other gods set up in some of the alcoves, including Gozreh, Gorum, Shelyn, and Torag. Father Prasst is a kind and understanding man, but he is hard when it comes to the defense of the community. He is quite young, only 24, and many in the community do not put too much faith in his council, except in spiritual matters. He was trained as a soldier in Tamran, but he left after his first battle to become a priest, and refuses
to say why.

But! I also will be integrating at least this fellow:
Jimes “Short Change” Iggins: Those who frequent the Seven Silvers tavern know to count their coins before they leave the table, especially if they have been served by “Short Change,” the halfling waiter who has a propensity for giving less change than is due (although he insists the name is due to his short stature). Although Jimes is genuinely kind and helpful to all the locals, he just can’t help but end up with some of their possessions at the end of the night, be it a few coins or a loose dagger. Most of the townsfolk are quite aware of this and do not take too much offense if something goes missing. After all, they know where the missing goods went.

Going to update my background a bit to incorporate some discussion with GM Poly!

Silvio is a halfling who works as a shepherd. He has a sheepdog named Winter (who's statted as a wolf). He's a "warpriest" of Erastil; trained in martial arts by Sir Dramott the paladin and in matters of faith by Father Rantal Prasst. His most notable life event is that as a boy, his best friend Tolmir was killed by a boar while the two of them were in the woods. Given that it's a small town, I assume everyone knows of Tolmir's death, though they may or may not have paid attention to the fact that Silvio was with Tolmir.

Here are my initial thoughts on our connections.

-Khuvaan: If you're regularly patrolling the area, I'm sure Silvio would run into you and other rangers from time to time while he's herding sheep.
-Median: Silvio thinks you're a real hero for being so persistent in rescuing a lost boy, especially given his own history.
-Sledge: Silvio thinks you're not very heroic at all and need to be more like Median in how you magic. :P

Looking forward to questing with this bunch of misfits!

Thanks Silvio. I like being a hero. :)

Also, seems like any of you could have gone to the blacksmith (the higher quality one in town), where we could have met as well.

Khuvaan and I could have met in the forest (the Fang Wood) when I was going out there to visit my mom. If so, I probably would have sworn you to secrecy, because my dad doesn't know that I do that.

I think I like the idea of Khuvaan encountering the rest of the characters "away" from town, increasing his likelihood of enjoying their company. :)

Just the son of a potter, with il(de?)lusions of grandeur. He does make a variety of artworks, so it's possible he may have asked those of you who look interesting to work with him to make a sculpture? He keeps his interest in painting secret, as he finds the whole thing somewhat embarrassing. He's also apprenticed to the rather senile town wizard, but spends some time with the captain of the guards as well. He's rather quiet, and always has an expression on his face that makes it seem like he's looking down on people, so it's quite possible that none of you have really interacted with him much. Cordial, but cold, he's a young man struggling with conflicting parts of his identity. Neutral with evil tendencies, he's making an effort to better himself.

Khuvaan: Sledge recognizes the driving anger, and general bitterness that drives Khuvaan. He admires the drive of the man, and his skill at arms. It's possible that Sledge might have asked you to shoot at him as he tried to cast spells, or to close the distance between the two of you, as Sledge is keenly aware of how limited he is at range without relying on magic.

Median: Sledge might have a grudging respect for your father's methods of growing power. He thinks the idea is sound, but there have to be better ways about going about it. As far as you personally, he's simultaneously envious of the natural power that you have, and smug that he at least gets to choose what he is. He does respect that you at least study magic, as opposed to just relying on your natural gifts.

Solvo: Sledge knows the look of someone who carries a gnawing secret. In recent years, he's harbored a few himself. Still, the halfling's had that look on his face as long as Sledge can remember. Sledge finds this intriguing, and the connection to Tolmir's death has not gone unnoticed.

Sorry that Sledge is such a difficult personality, I'm trying to expand my repertoire, and most of my characters tend towards being high cha, easy going, types. I thought I'd try my hand at a more morally grey character.

GM, what's the verdict on Unnatural Presence? I'm happy to swap it out if you want, as long as I can swap a skill point around to invest in the new skill I'll probably pick up.

Also: I'd take any information on the artist who inspired Sledge to start painting!

If there's no objection from Poly, Silvio will have his "Clever Wordplay" trait apply to Handle Animal instead of Bluff. Mostly because Median is clearly the party face, though also because I would like to bolster Silvio's skills with animals.

Part of what I liked about this group is that, between the four of you, you know a lot of the movers and shakers in town without necessarily having significant overlap. And as Silvio said, your backgrounds make you misfits of a sort!

Part of what I like about the Elephant in the Room set is that it makes switch hitters more feasible from level 1. You all may be Dex-focused, but with the right weapon your accuracy won't drop in melee.

For Sledge, I mentioned Dimira, a member of the local woodcutter's guild who puts in some hours at the Seven Silvers Tavern. She would be an appropriate person to have inspired Sledge to start painting. I'll leave the details of that interaction to you!

As for the Unnatural Presence trait, I'm still open to it barring the fluff. Irreverent and Birthmark are more straightforward to incorporate, while Reincarnated gives some interesting potential hooks. I'll allow any of them, so it's your call!

I sent customer service a note about 9 hours ago. It's just recently 10am PT, so hopefully someone sees it and we can get up and running!

Silvio: Clever Wordplay --> Handle Animal is an interesting take on that trait, but sure, why not?

Ah, right Dimira, that part of the conversation slipped my mind!

I'm not dex based, I really wanted to move away from standard magus conventions, even though they're standard for a reason :) Likewise I see that Median doesn't have blood havoc, despite being a fire evoker, so we're all as you say, a little bit of misfits!

Thanks, GM Poly! I appreciate it the creative license.

Khuvaan--the fact that you have family connections to Lastwall is quite interesting to Silvio. Silvio is at a tipping point where he's seriously considering leaving town to adventure in Lastwall, something that Sir Dramott is encouraging. The journey we're about to begin will probably shape that decision. Hearing more about your story might do so also.

Khuvaan--the fact that you have family connections to Lastwall is quite interesting to Silvio. Silvio is at a tipping point where he's seriously considering leaving town to adventure in Lastwall, something that Sir Dramott is encouraging. The journey we're about to begin will probably shape that decision. Hearing more about your story might do so also.

THAT should be an interesting conversation, Silvio, considering Khuvaan's interesting ties to the place...but I'll save it til we do it in character. :D

Side Note:
Something you'd all be aware of is that Khuvaan has "humans" for his favored enemy. He doesn't hate them all on sight per se, but being half-orc and half-elven, he doesn't have an instictive bias towards humans, and frankly, the people who bullied and looked down on him most in his young life have been humans. Also, and more importantly, a good deal of his combat training with his mentor has been aimed at planning to fight bandits...who tend to be primarily human.

RE: Blood Havoc. Not sure why I would take that. Draconic already gives me +1 fire damage, and can't replace the Phoenix side, or can't use fire to heal. I think you are thinking of Median's father, all about power, not her. :)

Nah, favored enemy human is a great choice. Sledge would take it too if he had favored enemy.
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Blood havoc swaps out the first level sorcerer power, not the arcana, so it'd be +2 per die instead of +1. Claws are cool though!

I just read phoenix bloodline and that is so cool!

Re: Blood Havoc, oh, yeah, you're right. Different trade off. ... well, I'm more of a story girl than an optimize girl, and I guess that does sort of make you a misfit in this game sometimes. I'm okay with that. :)

Silvio... glad you like it. When I was looking through I was just thinking how cool it would be to breathe fire on someone and have it heal them rather than hurt them. :) Hopefully we get to a high enough level where I can do that. :) Although technically I am not sure it would work. The bloodline arcana says "any spell" so I don't know if it covers abilities, but I hope it does.

Kudos and many thanks to SmooshieBanana, at the other table, for unearthing an explanation of what I did wrong and how to fix it. This is a mild pain, but I'm going to create a new gameplay thread and then reattach this discussion thread there. I'll edit this with a link to the new gameplay thread ASAP. I will likely need to mark this campaign inactive and then we'll have to hide it. Maybe once the mods get around to it, they can just clear the dead thread. I'll just make sure in the transition that this batch of discussion doesn't get erased!

In the mean time, this story arc is planned to cover through level 7. But if we get there and want to keep going so fulfill the fire-breathing healing fantasy, we'll just have to see where we are and come up with some further shenanigans! But I'll point out...there's a spell for that.

Edit: That should have fixed it. I believe everything is linked up, but just in case: go here.

Ah, glad you found out what was up... and yes, there is a spell, but I think I also get an ability down the line, so just wasn't sure if it worked or not. :) We'll see. :)

Whew, made it to the new place. :)

* stumbles in * Hey!

Present!

So, are you guys going to have a side conversation, or should I stumble upon you on the way to my mom's and invite you to come too? ... We could cook the boar and make a feast of it if you want. Just would need to find a way to incorporate Silvio if we want to group up today.

I don't think we necessarily need to though, since we have a natural way to group up tomorrow... so just if you guys want to have a boar feast. :)

The Mayor is making his rounds. Feel free to find and interact with each other, but I'm happy for some organic interactions!

I didn't want to ask the mayor, but my starting GP wasn't enough to buy a bow... can we do some storyline stuff where I can borrow one until I have the money to buy one or something, or is that too cheaty?

1. Stumble away, Median. The interaction could be fun.
2. Maybe you could ask your mentor?

Too late to stumble just now, because I am already at my mom's place. Mentor won't work because my father likes me to use my magic exclusively... wants me to practice that and nothing else really, but yeah, it's okay. Maybe I'll buy a sling and do some David and Goliath action. :)

Slings are free!

You might find a bow at some point. Who's to say?

Also, If you all are interested, I have a Discord Server to promote chat outside of the game. No requirement to join, but it's a good way to ping each other.

Sorry for the absence, I will catch up!

Everything all good? We seem to have slowed down already

Yesterday was very busy, but I'm working on a response! Also waiting for Kuuvaan's response.

I also encourage you to join the Discord Server so that you can ping me if you're concerned.

Apologies. Had a run to the ER last evening with my 14 yr old daughter and her ingrown toenail/infected toe. (She hadn't told any of us about it. Nice surprise, huh?) Will post later this evening or first thing in the morning. Npc if needed before that.

Fun times. Hope all is okay with your daughter and that you're able to get some rest.

Thanks. She's fine, overall, just needs to see a podiatrist next week to cut the nail back from where it's dug in. For now she's soaking her foot and taking antibiotics. The big thing was the almost 4 wait and stress dealing with the ER. They were nice, but...

Yikes! I'm glad she's okay, but that sounds awful. I think we all need to deal with something like that growing up and hopefully it serves as an object lesson so that we get help before it gets that bad again. But whew. Best wishes to the whole family!

Can I just say, I just finished rereading the whole thread, and seriously, this is a GOOD story. Not just the overall backdrop, but the characters, both player and DM driven.

Kudos, Poly, on setting up a game that feels like a novel or a movie. And Bravo everyone else for creating characters that I, as a player and reader, want to root for!

In otherwords, I'm really enjoying this. :)

Well thank you so much, Khuvaan! I'm having a great time with you all as well: we have a great cast of players and characters, and you all are keeping me on my toes!

Oh good! I was worried that I made Sledge a little too gloomy and just... mean. I'm glad that he's at least fun to the players, if not the characters!

Honestly, I think Sledge is a great character so far.
Interesting, and has real depth to him. Well done.

Oh man, the Sledge scene . . .

*Eats popcorn*

DM, I want to retcon my exit of the bar scene if possible. I just thought of a way to include my weakness/drawback. I'm going to set the drink that he passed me on fire with the Spark cantrip. Since the rest of the group isn't there timeline-wise, maybe we could redo it still?

Sound like fun! Get that popcorn y'all.

* munches on popcorn * Need some swedish fish or junior mints!

"Go get 'em, Sledgie!"

I'm rooting for Gretchen, but not really to win... just to get out of that situation where she is unappreciated and to find something better.

>Tosses a packet of Swedish Fish to Khuvaan, and sets her chair to recline<

Busy family night. Will post tomorrow.