GM Spazmodeus presents Second Darkness

Game Master Spazmodeus

The discussion thread!

Welcome everyone!
Feel free to chat and if you want work out previous associations.
I have some additional reading and bookkeeping to do before starting.

Thank you for the invitation. I will get Morrolan up as an alias as soon as possible, but that might be a day.

Hello and thanks for the opportunity to play in this game with Kiley.

Thanks for running the game GM Spazmodeus, I really appreciate the opportunity I had sort of gotten attached to this iteration of Onnello.

Anything you need from us, or for us to do before we get started?

Hey All - echoing the thanks to our illustrious GM for giving some of us a 2nd tilt at this AP, looking forward to Mholg's journey :)

Kiley and Mholg already have an association. Would be interesting to see if we've all crossed paths or are aware of each other loosely?

So a little confession, when I was doing the list I saw Mholg and Kiley and just assumed they would be the first two picked. I was surprised when they weren't, I'm glad to see they're here.

And that I get to play with them :)

Hey everyone! Very excited ^_^

Welcome everyone. And thank you DM for performing this miracle.

So a little confession, when I was doing the list I saw Mholg and Kiley and just assumed they would be the first two picked. I was surprised when they weren't, I'm glad to see they're here.

And that I get to play with them :)

Cheers chief. Like I said at the time, was one of the strongest fields of PC concepts that I've seen for a while. Glad to be part of it and to play alongside so many creative minds.

Let's speed things up a bit. Is there any subjects anyone here would be uncomfortable with handling? I'm fairly open with things, but would rather not step into anything people would not want to do.

I'm ok with most subjects, if anything is going beyond an 'R' rating I'd rather it go to spoilers.

I very rarely play characters that are romantically involved with NPC's or other Characters, even building them like Onnello (who is wanting to find his wife) so I've an out not to. But I don't care if others want to, as long as it fits the character.

I am very anti PVP, even to where I don't like to roll skills against another player.

Is that the sort of thing your looking for Krystal?

I tend to be more of a “I’ll speak up if something happens” person than one with hard-and-fast rules. Things can be handled well or handled poorly and there’s nuance. If something does come up for me, I’ll usually be like “hey, this is crossing a boundary for me” and move on as soon as it’s handled.

All that said, I prefer to keep the transphobia to baddies, if at all. It’s exhausting enough irl without having to deal with it in my free time. I’m a big romantic irl, so romance between PCs is cool by me as long as both sides agree. I tend to include NPC love interests in character backstories to scratch the itch anyways. Briar is flirty but I know when to stop. She doesn’t flirt with men anyways unless she’s on-the-clock, so that takes out half the party anyways lol.

I also don’t like PvP and only roll bluff checks etc vs other characters if absolutely necessary.

Like Briar I tend to allow the role-play of the game to flow and trust the GM to gauge the group and their players. If necessary I'd likely flag it up, but in all my time here on the boards content's never been an issue.

Not a fan of PvP either. Have been known to Bluff a fellow party member in the fledging days of a group's inception - but only where my PCs are devious and testing the waters. Mholg is not the sharpest tool in the box, so that'll definitely not be an issue here :)

Sorry to hear that @Briar the Rose.

I try to avoid PvP unless it fits the character. Krystal isn't one to cause beef with others unless they [i]truly[i] cause offense. Being Chaotic Neutral shouldn't be a means go crazy with your character. She may look after herself above all, but she knows the benefits of not antagonizing people for the sake of it.

I admit I'm a romantic as well and often pair my characters with others if I feel it fits. Krystal plays on all the fences that meet her fancy, but moves on quickly.

Beyond the common sense stuff, I really don't have any issues with most subjects. If I do have a problem, I'll bring it up with the player in a PM. No sense in causing issues if I don't need to.

As for PC/NPC romance, probably not with this character. I don't mind if someone wants to pursue, but if I don't think Kiley would go for it, then she won't.

As for me, I'm a romantic. One of my favorite games here on the boards had an adorkable romance between to of the PCs and I loved every minute of it.

Nice discussion.

In general, we're all adults, I think :), so if anything makes one uncomfortable, please speak up.

This is a PG site, so even if we want to expore 18+ material we'd have to watch ourselves. Romance, flirting, innuendo is fine, but we'll just fade to black when appropriate.

Of course violence and evil and the description of such things can get problematic, but we'll work our way through it.

I'll work my way through backgrounds again, see if any questions arise.
One thing I do like to ask of my players, give me a number of NPCs that your character has encountered, from your background or not, Describe the who, what, when , where and why and/or how for each NPC. Not mandatory at all.

Hello World!

Careful GM Spazmodeus, remember what happened last time you asked me for a few NPCs. ;)

I'll think on it and see what I come up with. I'll get the list posted tomorrow.

I’ll work on a list with summaries for you!

Ditto on the NPC front.

I've got a few NPC's named in Onnello's backstory, but their not in 'list form' I'll try and get them in an organized list.

Here's Mholg's couple of NPCs - figured two was enough as there's a bunch of us :)

Lagrash/The Lash [Hobgoblin Ranger 4]: Capp within Clegg’s gang and Head Overseer at Zincher’s Arena. Nicknamed “The Lash” due to his predilection to use the scorpion whip, the leering hobgoblin is feared as a brutal taskmaster to slave and beast alike.

”You have heard the human saying Whip into shape yes? We hobgoblin have a similar one; Jevo’kk bal quilk, Jevo’kk bal mivoc. It means Scourge the skin. Scourge the spirit. I prefer ours. You won’t…”

Mholg’s Hook: Having been brought up within the Arena, Lagrash has been a tormentor of Mholg’s from childhood. The hob has a special hatred of “mongrels” and Mholg’s scarred skin bears the marks of the overseer’s ire.

Wheezer Vili [Dwarf Expert 3]: The former Gas-Forge worker suffers from both Carbauxine Lung and a dependency on Riddleport Tea (Flayleaf). The misbegotten dwarf now begs for his next fix, but still has the inside track on dwarven rumours and activities within the city.

: ”Spare a couple o’ coins for me next cuppa guv’nor? Tea ‘elps with me… (cough)… lungs… Janderhoff ye say? So ‘appens tea ‘elps with me (wheeze)… memory too…”

Mholg’s Hook: Met the old dwarf whilst Clegg was trying to muscle the Gas-Forges into a cut of profits. The crime-lord used labour strikes to try and squeeze the dwarves of their ore deliveries. When they brought in strike-breakers, Clegg learned of the plan through Wheezer, and Mholg was part of the “welcome committee” organised by Clegg for the dwarves. For some reason the brutish enforcer took a shine to the lunger and looks out for him when he can.

Of all of these, only The Ravens and “Broad Shoulders” were written with the assumption they will come up over the course of the campaign.

Sorrel and Gladiolus Vervain—Briar’s departed fathers, a noble couple from Magnimar. Gladiolus was a trans man so she is biologically related to both of them.

The Ravens—what Briar calls the three elves that murdered her fathers and attempted to murder her. Each has a tattoo of a raven in a different place: left-hand, right-hand, shoulder. She killed left-hand already.

(Feel free to come up with whatever makes most sense to you for how to fit them in, and why they murdered Briar’s family)

Shorafa Pamodae—Briar’s boss. Briar is currently tryibg to get in her good graces so she can find out more information about the other two men who killed her fathers.

Alois and Holly Vervain—Briar’s uncle and aunt, respectively, from Sorrel’s side of the family that turned her out on the street so they could inherit her fathers’ estate in Magnimar.

“Broad Shoulders”—Elven woman who Briar met five years ago and had an evening together. Briar confessed most of her backstory and quest for revenge, and the elven woman murdered her target for her and told her to abandon revenge.

(I purposefully left her vague so you have plenty of freedom to slot her in easily, GM, for maximum drama!)

Let me know if you want any more on any of them!

Okay, this is who I have for now.

I don't really have a plan to go over her parents, so that's up to you if you want to go over that.

This is the list of characters from his background.

NPC’s

Morrolan has some far estranged blood kin back in the Wind Clan; he’s up to great grandchildren (& mre) by now. However, he left the tribes after burying his wife (at 64), and realizing that he was going to end up burying his daughter’s children…He couldn’t take that.

In Riddleport, he’s made friends with the several members of the Order of Cyphers, especially a junior librarian Jassail Medorian. They share a love of reading and a respect for books. He also recognizes Elias Tammerhawk as head of the Order of Cyphers; it is at his direction Morrolan is nosing around the Gold Goblin. However, in no way can they be described as close.

He’s a semi-regular customer of Lavender Lil’s (once or twice a month), but recognizes it as hired companionship, no more.

If he has recognized enemies in Riddleport, it’s Ziphras’s gang. Before affiliating himself the Cyphermages (and thus getting access to the Cypher Lodge), Morrolan was staying in the cheapest part of town – Rotgut District. Although he’s never met Ziphras, Morrolan had to deal with a couple of attempts to shake him down; that was when he trained a street pup (Khaavren) as a guard.

We've got a great blend of personalities from different sides of the tracks (so-to-speak).

Looking forward to seeing how the group dynamic plays out :)

Yep, definitely excited to see where this goes ^_^

Indeed, so do I :)
Excellent work on the NPCs guys.

In case you were wondering, I always liked doing so for my own characters, help me more clearly realized their place in the world, made it come more alive in my head. hope it did so for you as well!

Plus, it gives me more tools in my GM toolbox to bring more verisimilitude to your experience....can never have enough verisimilitude !! :)

First post coming soon!

Yeah, I always like to give the GM NPCs to draw into the story for that reason!

More than happy to give some hooks to torture, I mean flesh out my characters with! :P

Family wise, my character doesn't have much, but I hope my NPCs give you ideas on what you can do for the AP.

Like I touched on above some interesting interweaving of histories and experiences from us all.

Looking at everyone's backgrounds I was trying to piece together any prior knowledge or relationships some of us may have had (even in passing).

Krystal and Briar have a connection via the House of the Silken Veil (albeit not at the same time period). They likely share acquaintances/friendships with workers and may also have clocked (or been made aware) of "new to town" Morrolan on his visits…

Kiley and Mholg have a partnership of sorts, wayward souls who recognise they are stronger together and can actually escape their current lives…

Onnello would potentially have come across all the Riddleport natives at some point, either in passing or by repute. Likewise the criminal element of the party will definitely have heard of the upright gendarme.

Curious to see what rest of you reckon - apologies if I've picked anything up wrong :)

I also talked with Onnello’s player and we determined Briar met his mother in prison. I speculated that Calistrians, with their focus on revenge, probably get thrown in jail regularly and the church probably organizes visits to support the incarcerated members and pass on their wisdom and expertise to the younger.

Hey, still here. Life's been a bit of a bear recently.

Anyway, here's some thoughts on ties Kiley might have to other PCs.

Mholg: Obviously she's the brains and charm to his brawn. They've known each other for a little while now and have been friends for almost as long.

Briar: Not much that I'm seeing here. While Briar's been in Riddleport for five years, I don't see her running in the same circles as Kiley. It's possible they recognize each other, but I don't think they'd really know more than a face and maybe a name.

Krystal: Same as with Briar. I don't see Krystal running in the same circles as Kiley. They might know each other's faces and maybe their names, but probably not much more than that.

Morrolan: How long has Morrolan been in Riddleport? I could see Kiley trying to pick his pocket when he just arrived.

Onnello: After Mholg, I think Onnello would know Kiley the best. I could see them running into each other a few times in the past. Depending on the circumstances of those meetings, I could see Kiley liking Onnello.

Onnello: After Mholg, I think Onnello would know Kiley the best. I could see them running into each other a few times in the past. Depending on the circumstances of those meetings, I could see Kiley liking Onnello.

Cool, if you had met Onnello you would have met his partner Seljak Kopile, Seljak was a paladin and a bit of a stick in the mud. Onnello is more relaxed (worships Chaldira Zuzaristan) so he's understands bending rules, just not taking advantage of people who are down and out. So he'd let a kid go for stealing an apple, or ignore someone's house getting TP'd. But would never take a bribe or look the other way while something hurtful was being done.

How long has Onnello been a gendarme? My read was three to four years ago, and Kiley would have been engaged in more dangerous scams and heists by then. She also would have had more than a few run-ins with thugs and guards on the take in that time since I don't imagine them taking kindly to a mouse sniffing around their turf.

Good question, he joined at 20, in my head he's 25, so five years ago. He grew up in Riddleport, so he knows how things are. Sniffing around wouldn't have bothered him. And he see's a difference between illegal and wrong.

Also, he was transferred around a lot until he ended up on third shift in the the Rotgut district. If he had seen her begging when they were children he would have given her food or a coin, having been on the street for a short time himself.

Later he may have seen her performing on the street. As an officer he's about helping people get out of 'the life' and catching the people pulling the strings. Don't get me wrong, he'll chase a thief. But if he get's the goods back, he's as likely to release them with a warning as arrest them.

Let me know how much you want him to know.

On the other hand, we could create backgrounds that give a 'local knowledge' for a 10,15 or 20 roll...

So for Onnello:
local knowledge 10: local kid who became a member of the gendarme on the worst shift in the worst place, he's either really bad at his job or upset the wrong people

local knowledge 15: to above info add, He's a nice guy, won't take bribes and gives a lot of warnings instead of arrests. He's really unpopular with the people who offer bribes and the people who take bribes. Has been transferred a lot because of it.

Local knowledge 20: to above info add, his long time partner was killed just a few months ago due to orders from Ziphras. Since then Onnello has gone out of his way to make his and his gangs life miserable.

Local Knowledge 25: to the above info add, Grew up with halfling tailors and is a worshiper of Chaldira Zuzaristan. The night his partner died, his wife left town. He's been depressed ever since.

That sort of thing. So if anyone wants your character to know these things, feel free to roll.

...

Morrolan: How long has Morrolan been in Riddleport? I could see Kiley trying to pick his pocket when he just arrived.

Morrolan's been in Riddleport for a lot longer than you'd think. As a middle aged aasimar, he's 152. He left the tribes at 67 (his wife was 64 as mentioned above). Although he's done a fair amount of bouncing around, he's been in Riddleport since before a youngling like you was born...

I like the knowledge local roll idea. I'll have to work on that tomorrow night or the next.

Kiley's been on the streets since she was about 5 or 6. She's about 16 or 17 now. She wouldn't have had a set place, I think. Just anywhere she was likely to make some money picking pockets or singing. There's a few NPCs that are tied to her that Onnello might have had a run in with.

I kind like the idea of Onnello catching Kiley after she'd picked a pocket and being surprised he wasn't trying to beat her half to death.

Kiley Sherrow wrote:

...

Morrolan: How long has Morrolan been in Riddleport? I could see Kiley trying to pick his pocket when he just arrived.

Morrolan's been in Riddleport for a lot longer than you'd think. As a middle aged aasimar, he's 152. He left the tribes at 67 (his wife was 64 as mentioned above). Although he's done a fair amount of bouncing around, he's been in Riddleport since before a youngling like you was born...

Ah, I see now. Yup, probably have been here longer than Kiley's been alive. She's 16-17ish. Morrolan may have seen her from time to time whenever she sang or was running from the gendarmes.

I like the knowledge local roll idea. I'll have to work on that tomorrow night or the next.

+1 am definitely doing something similar for Mholg as well - great idea Onnello :)

Onnello may have met one of my NPCs who works in the same group. I have another in the same employment as Briar. For the later it would be more likely that Krystal's name pops up.

I can do the knowledge check idea either later tonight or tomorrow.

Boy, glad I've been a bit delayed starting this!

You guys seem really engaged ; bodes well for our story!

we'll get started soon!

Going to be tomorrow before I get on the knowledge local spoilers.

Here's Mholg's local intel:

@Onnello: Let me know if you want to work out if and how we know each other. I've got a few ideas. I think you and Seljak would also know Alia and Naomi since they are around Kiley's age and also two of Knocmar's Mouses.

@Krystal: So here's an evil thought: What if Valenta's mother was Old Maid Hannah? I was pretty heavily implying that the old spinster is actually a hag in her write up. Just thought I'd bring it up as an idea for you to mull over.

Kiley, what say Onnello and Seljak first meet you while you three were pulling a pickpocket job. One of you the scout, one the distraction the third the actual pickpocket. Say a gnomes expensive watch. They could have seen the pickpocket then follow and catch all three of you. Onnello and Seljak would have argues about 'taking you in' eventually Seljak would have agreed that the prison Shoreleave was no place for children and they would have let you go. Onnello giving you stern warning about crime not being worth your life, then he'd return the watch to the gnome telling him he dropped it.

If that works, we just need to figure our when in the last five years.

knowledge (local) Mholg: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (5) + 5 = 10
knowledge (local) kiley: 1d20 + 5 ⇒ (13) + 5 = 18
tsk tsk tsk, you kids are playing with some bad people :)

So anyone else?

My turn.