Alright, so we're starting the discussion thread with an interesting topic:
How do your characters feel about one another after spending three years in the current location. A have made note of a few things that could factor into that. Kras'tak and Rabbit have both explained they plan to tend to the animals that Milana keeps at the inn. Siegfried and Jaxom both have crafts that put them in the smithy regularly. Alden's work on the farm means he is likely to spend less time with the rest of the group, but that certainly doesn't mean he is a stranger to anyone.
Jaxom is a survivor. Not much of a talker because of his younger years. Feel free to review the CS, and let me know if you catch any errors....
Rabbit asked Siegfried to make him some weapons, and although the dwarven smith was happy to oblige did point out the Jaxom had made good weapons, too, and that Siegfried's specialty at this point was armor. He would have been happy to make stuff for anyone else, too. Rabbit's skittish, but Siegfried doesn't mind, and doesn't press.
In happier days, he would have made comments about how dwarven smithing was inherently better than human smithing, that dwarves spend so much time learning their craft that a human couldn't possibly learn the nuances of good metal or stonework. But those were the old days. Now? Who cares? Everyone's going to die someday, and even your best creations will rust and be forgotten. Jaxom's a good talent anyway.
I'll want to take a look at Kras'tak and Alden's profiles, but if either of you are looking for a surly drinking partner prone to fits of melancholy, Siegfried is your dwarf!
Rabbit's eager to please and to be liked; he has probably tried to run a preemptively 'helpful' errand for any character in the campaign at some point unless they outright told him no. Fetching water for Jaxom or Siegfried's weapon/armor smithing? You betcha! Patching any tears or singed spots in anyone's clothing or cleaning it if soiled? Certainly!
Sounds like Rabbit has a 'tend to the animals' buddy in Kras'tak, so they've probably managed to talk a fair doing that, but I'll glance at Kras'tak's sheet once they post to see if there's any other ideas.
Since I see now tha Jaxom has craft: weapons, it is possible that Rabbit paid him to make a dagger at some point, and/or the crossbow-- I'd pitched such to Siefried without realizing he has armor instead ;) . But whichever didn't make it for me might well have trained me in how to use it, as Rabbit would have no idea how to even maintain a weapon, let alone shoot or stab, when he got to Passbog. Tutors accepted!
Basic personality is that Rabbit is pathologically very eager to try and prove he can contribute and be helpful, but any sign of annoyance or anger will indeed send him skittering out of sight. Tallfolk usually get called 'sir' or 'ma'am' as a default unless they've asked him not to do so. He is light on his feet and has a bad habit of 'sneaking up' on people, not out of malice, but in the model of 'I'll be right there if you need anything but being unnoticed til then'-- something his old 'mistress' expected, but which may creep other people out or just annoy them!
He loves animals a great deal and threats to animals or their welfare is one of the things that can get him to stand his ground and stand up to someone else. His rabbit, Mr. Whisper, is never very far from him, and has a lot more sass than he does. He is often making horrified apologies for things Mr. Whisper does.
Alden is a devoted follower of Erastil and his edicts. He believes that honest, hard work, with a focus on making things better for everyone is the best way to live. He spends a lot of time on the remaining farms in this shard, working with the remaining farmers to make sure crops are sown, raised and harvested, that livestock are fed, cows milked, and anything else to make sure everyone has food.
Alden often makes runs into town to drop off foodstuffs and to get replacement tools and implements needed to keep the farms going.
Alden is young, strong, and in many ways overly-idealistic. He is practical in his day-to-day living, but a bit naive in the face of the world's present reality.
He is a regular volunteer in the community militia, and will always show up for any muster. He also consistently volunteers for patrols, as his duties on the farms permit.
Anyone who has met him finds him friendly enough, though something about his demeanor makes ribald or crass humor come off awkward in his presence. Alden doesn't condemn the joke maker, but has a way of not acknowledging the joke or simply steering the conversation past it.
There is an underlying sadness to Alden, and anyone who truly knows him, or simply asks, will find that it has to do with his desire for a wife and family. He feels that he will never truly live up to Old Dead-Eye's expectations until he is properly wed to a woman of like mind, and they have succeeded in raising a fine crop of children.
Alden is a likable young man, but he also seems to be busy do something almost all the time. It is a rare occasion to see him in the tavern sitting and drinking, instead of dropping off supplies.
Shorthand Pop Culture references for Alden's personality/vibe:
Charles Ingles, from Little House on the Prairie
Willard, from Footloose
Adam Webber, from Blast from the Past
"Simple Man" by Lynyrd Skynyrd.
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While it took some time for Jaxom to be 'friends' with anyone, he felt an almost immediate liking to Rabbit. If Jaxom hadn't been raised by a soldier and taught to defend himself as soon as he was old/large enough to hold a weapon and learn.... Well, he wouldn't have survived. But if he had he might have been as skittish as the little halfling.
When asked to forge a dagger for Rabbit he frowned. It wasn't that he didn't see him using it. He'd just never made smaller sized weapons before. He took measurements of Rabbit's hands, then carved a couple of daggers from local hardwood, checking to see if they were sized right for the halfling's hands. They would be useful too for training so he also carved one for himself. Seeing how the man moved Jaxom figured he might also be good with thrown weapons. He decided against making several daggers though as they had to pay attention to local resources. There wasn't a local iron mine or anywhere they could get new steel.... So instead he again used local hard wood and created two darts, with steel tips of course.
Once he was done he presented Rabbit with the weapons, and discussed training. He had never trained a small man before, but did remember how his father had trained him. And maybe it would be good training for himself if he ever had a family.
Kras'tak is a diminutive white kobold who is rather ditsy and oblivious. She falls into most kobold stereotypes, though her skills lean more into carpentry and animal husbandry. She seems surprisingly well traveled and certainly comes from far away, and she'd have happily let Rabbit help her and spend time with him. A clear aptitude for magic, but struggles to control it from time to time and has certainly killed more than a few plants with frost.
Siegfried is probably quietly irritated by Alden. The dwarf used to be deeply devoted to Torag, but his faith has faltered mightily in the last 3 years to the point that he rarely feels that he receives any insight from his god at all anymore. So on one level he sees Alden's faith as naive. On another, he's almost jealous that the young man could be so naive, wishing that it was as easy for him to hew to his faith and its precepts in the absence of clear guidance.
It's hard to say exactly what Siegfried would make of Kras'tak. I suppose it depends on how open she's been.
Jaxom doesn't have much to say to Kras'tak. At least not at first. He'd never seen a creature.... No, a person like her before. But he doesn't consider curiosity to be a good reason to strike up a conversation. That was more likely to lead to insults, unintentional or otherwise. So at first he keeps his distance, polite but quiet.
If/when he notices her friendship with Rabbit? Then he's much more willing to open up, talk and be friendly.
Cool, cool. It might be useful to have separate Initiatives separated and specified in each post. I would definitely appreciate it.
Since the four of us at the farm are not engaged in combat, but Jaxom and a bunch of NPCs are (back in town proper)...and since you've established that we can't tell what's going on back in town...
What should we be doing? I'm a bit stymied.
We need some sort of alarm system to call for help from anywhere on this fragment of the world.
Also, since I'm the only PC at the town, I'd be fine playing the action out in Discord. ??
Sorry for leaving everyone hanging for a bit. This weekend was something else. It is very unlikely the away team makes it back to the fight proper, so I would be willing to work out combat with Jaxom and then move things forward. If the party wants to engage further with the Tooms that is an option.
There were actually a few layers toward the party being alerted to what was going on back at town. I didn't imagine a scenario where the goblins lit nothing on fire. They are inherently sneaky turds and somehow both groups failed not only to stealth in, but to set anything on fire. If the party had set up some kind of signal themselves that could have helped as well. Thankfully, there's more to come.
7 miles per hour in heavy armor isn't too shabby if I do say so myself, and Rabbit is pulling a mean 9 mph.
I also love how almost everyone canonically envisions goblins as being very effective rhymers.
Not sure about first edition, but I know it's canon in 2nd. There is even a racial thing where you can use them to mess with enemies. That and Owlcat wrote it as canon when they did a game based on the Kingmaker AP.
It appears goblin bards can also get extra rounds of bardic performance per level as a favored class bonus. They also have a feat where if you sing in goblin, then you will give all goblins the morale bonus to ALL saving throws.
It's fun to play a cantankerous bastard.
Setting a marching order sounds like a good idea, but we can probably hash it out OoC unless we want to turn jockeying for position into a scene.
Siegfried is pretty exclusively a melee combatant, while Alden and Jaxom seem melee-preferred with ranged options. My inclination is that Kras'tak and Rabbit are both range-preferred.
Jaxom and Kras'tak both have 30 ft movement speeds, while Alden, Rabbit, and Siegfried are 20 ft. Jaxom could potentially scout ahead if he wants to, while Kras'tak doesn't quite have the skills for it.
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Speaking of which, you should double-check your skill point allotment, Kras'tak. It looks like you have only put ranks in two skills (Handle Animal and Spellcraft), but you should have six total: 2 (base) + 2 (int) + 2 (background).
Also, you should get a +3 to your Stealth modifier for being small-sized.
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Anyway, I propose moving in a cross-formation when possible, as follows:
--J--
SRA
--K--
Which keeps the PC with the lowest AC well-protected while enabling the melee folks to move forward. Jaxom can scout ahead if needed and has the best Perception in the party by far.
A ducks-in-a-row marching order when we're worried about possible traps could probably be:
A
S
R
K
J
Jaxom is at the back to protect the squishies from rear problems, and can use his superior speed to get to the front faster if there are no problems behind. Alden's 17 flat-footed AC makes him one of the best candidates to potentially take a hit from a trap. Unfortunately, most of us have crap Perception, so we're not going to see things coming without Jaxom up front. But Jaxom's flat-footed AC is only 13, so he's 20% more likely to get hit by something than Alden and Siegfried.
Thoughts?
Sounds good to me.
For tracking though, I have no points in survival. Someone else will need to be tracking. I can stay in front with them....
Kras'tak is currently working on transferring their CS from another location and working out some more detail orientated things. Don't worry, we're tracking it. It's also a +4 to stealth for being smol. :3
I'm glad you've thought out the marching order so much. How much of an issue traps will or won't be could vary wildly. As was noticed earlier, Jaxom really could have helped the party on their little scouting trip to notice things, but then he also was a huge help back at the village proper. I felt genuinely bad that the party had so little chance to notice key details.
On the upside you did notice you were dealing with dummies. Kind of.
edit: Gonna sleep a few hours before work. Should be able to update tomorrow if everything is in order.
Sorry for delays and such, been a hell of a time for me lately. I usually post at work but work has made that difficult so working on fixing times and such for this and other games im in. Thanks for your patience with me i know how frustrating this is
I used to be able to post at work, but they fire-walled the site.... But now I work from home most days, so it's easy again! I'm dreading the order that I know is coming though, calling everyone back to the office. We're far more productive remote, but there are some managers that don't know how to manage us when they can't see us! The funny part of it is that I'm remote whether I'm home or in the office. I support sites all over the country so unless I fly to a site I am remote!
Thats pretty cool, im just a barista w. A lot of free time between customers lol
"just a barista"? I never say "just" about anyone's job/career. I'm not a people person so that kind of work isn't something that I could do, or would want to. Besides, I don't like being on my feet all day, especially standing in one place. I'm OK walking around, just not standing in place....
Here's to the baristas! Lift them high! I'll have a large espresso with cardamom and sweet cream please!
I'll just drink my water. Have to stay hydrated and keep to the diet.
You can roll for hit dice and take half if you roll less than that.
Hit point roll: 6 + 2 Con + 1 Favored Class = 9 additional hit points for a total of 22 max.
+1 BAB
+1 Fort Save
+1 Will Save
+1 rank to all skills
Lay on Hands, 5 times/day.
Divine Grace: add Cha bonus to all saving throws
Woo, a level up!
Levelin': +1 FCB +2 con
Rabbit level 2 summary:
BAB +1
Will +1
Skills gained or increased: Diplomacy, Kn Nature, Kn Planes, Spellcraft, UMD, Perform Sing (background skill), Craft Clothing (background skill)
New spells learned: Enlarge Person, Snowball, and I gained the Cackle hex
RP post coming in thread tomorrow.
Level 2 Snakebite Striker
+1 BAB
+1 to base Fort & Reflex saves
Bonus Combat feat: I don't remember, Are we using the feat tax rules? If we are, Improved Feint. If not, Combat Expertise.
Brawler's Flurry (two-weapon fighting)
And bump up 10 skill points.... Guess I better put some points in Bluff.
Good stuff gang. I'll be sure to look over sheets and move us forward. Getting killed at work, but should be able to keep things updated as we go.
Still got to update Rabbit's actual sheet on the boards, slightly complicated due to computer access right now, but I'll do it soon.
Kevan is here.
I read some of the posts, particularly the one about the joining of the shards. How big are these shards? A few miles across? Tens of miles? A few hundred yards? I caught the part about the fog surrounding each shard, kind of like classic Ravenloft. I assume you can't travel through the fog?
When the shards joined, I assume we on the other side can see the crazy blast of light as well?
A bit more information that hasn't been up on paizo yet:
Three years ago a dark, smokey sky covered the small town of Passbog. Thunder rolled constantly, but there was no wind and no rain. The smoke roiled, lancing down from the sky on the horizon. Forming a blanket over and blanketing the area completely. In your mind, in the minds of everyone present, came the concentrated thoughts of a mortal wizard. His name was Talenthanis. A man desperate for knowledge, and aiming to mirror the feat that propelled Nethys to godhood. Whatever he was encompassing the area in, he was covering the very world in as well. In the blur of his memories were flashes of failure and parralal research path, more failure, and then finally this moment. His triumph, albeit short lived. For as he worked this feat of near godly magic you felt his mind strain, fracture, and then break. The smokey substance covering the sky contracted and expanded as if his breath. Uneven and rapid. Then, in the loudest peal of thunder you had ever heard everything went white. The thoughts of the wizard were gone, but the smokey sky remained. Light filtered through. Clouds could be seen through the semi-tranluscent smoke above. The horzion was still blanketed in darkness, and any attempts to push through the edge was met with a feeling of undistelled terror. Causing one to convulse and flail simply to try and escape it. Attempting to ignore the fear, or perhaps being able to ignore it would result in walking into the smoke only to walk for what felt like miles without progress. Turning back to find only a few steps of distance had been traversed.
So it would seem Passbog became an isolated area. Dozens of large farmsteads cut off to a few acreages owned by a handful of families. The inn, the smithy, and the broken down mill the only major buildings in the center of this small village. A few acres of wood, passing into the Spring Bog, and the glenn that held the Vinton Spring were the only other areas that were encompassed in the new boundaries of the world. It wasn't long until the goblins of the bog, the Frogstump tribe, decided to try and take the area for themselves. They hit the farmsteads first. Catching the Ingell's farm at night and killing everyone. Only the fire of the homestead alerted the nearboring family, but despite the warning the Judds died as well. The remaining farmsteads gathered and made it to the inn. There they fortified the place as best they can and everyone gathered to make their stand. Farmer Thompson and his two boys, farmer Treydock, the inkeeper Milana and her husband Timothy, the blacksmith Fogril Honormail, and a passing hospitaler named Tel Beys all found what weapons and tools they could and prepared for the assault. The goblins came in an initial rush that was repelled with little pain on the side of Passwall. Only a slingstone found Thompson's shoulder, but he was still standing. Next came some probing and a few small skirmishes. All told a handful of goblins dies, but nothing of consequence other than a small fire came from it.
Then came the battle. The goblins rushed with all their number from every direction. They were clumsy fighters without anything more meaningful than clubs for the most part. Even when they overran an individual the damage they could do was limited, and the more capapable fighters of the village were able to turn the tide. But their numbers proved deadly. Farmer Thompson's younger son was the first to fall to grasping hands, and before he could be rescued by his brother his head was staved in. Then his brother fell in kind, and the boys father charged into the goblin ranks. Driving them clear out of the back door of the inn. He was not seen again. Next they managed to get past the main fighting and found Treydock's wife. He tried to save her and both perished. Things became truly desperate, and much of the remaining village ended up isolated in the carnage. Fighting individually against several goblins at once. When the morning came the few goblins left alive fled from a truly grusome scene. Cut apart and bludgeons bodies littering the inside of the inn and sprawled out the doors and even some windows. Half of the second floor was burnt to the ground, and the last casualty among the villagers had been Timothy. Saving his wife from the goblin leader armed with a spear.
The years since have been quiet. Only one farming family, the Tooms, still stand. Having taken in the daughter of farmer Thompson. Fogril still keeps the forge lit, busying himself with what tasks he can and running a self-made still in an attempt to pickle his memory of that night three years past. Milana has repaired the inn, and she keeps more livestock and a garden now. Even makes her own cheese. Tel Beys has taken to trying to repair the old mill, and divides her time between changing the timbers and trying to turn it into a properly fortified tower. It has been quiet, but lately there have been goblins caught snooping around the village again. Only one or two at a time, but they have been up to something.
TLDR- Something like 12 square acres. The fog is like touching nightmare fuel and even if you can stomach passing into it no progress is really made. Yes, occupants of both shards could see the joining.
Just to clarify, the tiwn Oparra is or is not in the shard Kevan found himself stuck in? Getting my feet under me before i jump.
Oppara is not in the confines of the shard. Not even a little bit. It's rural plain outside the city. Just the cottage, dirt road, and countryside.
A bit more information that hasn't been up on paizo yet:
** spoiler omitted **...
That should be twelve square miles. Pardon me.
I have his alias finished for the most part but I was hoping to have some input on Eochaidh's domain choice:
Domain Chosen: TBD. I'd like the party's input on what they think will help the most. I'll briefly list the current front runners.
Animal – Feather: The Perception bonus is nice but the main reasons are getting Fly and Fly (Mass) as domain spells.
War – Tactics: Giving one ally the ability to roll two dice for initiative 7 times per day along with Magic Weapon and Aid as domain spells.
Strength – Resolve: An awesome selection of domain spells starting with Bless at 1st level.
I have seen fly come in extremely handy and its a spell you don't normally get.
I have seen fly come in extremely handy and its a spell you don't normally get.
There are low APL appropriate flying creatures PCs can see early but the level Wizards get Fly is when flying encounters become more common. And you need to do one of the following:
1) Get one or more of yours flying2) Get the flying thing on the ground
3) Shoot it down
That's why I also included Strength (Resolve) due to getting Bless, Magic Vestment, Spell Immunity, and Heroes Feast on its spell list. The Resolve subdomain puts Heroes Feast in place of Stoneskin which druids get at 5th level instead of 6th for the domain.
It's a tough choice which is why I was hoping everyone (especially those with more PF experience than I have) would give their thoughts.
Strength (Resolve) sounds like it offers some great benefits.
It would pair well with Alden’s and Jaxom’s fighting abilities.
I agree with that, except that it doesn't really fit your background. Seems to me that if you are from a forest you would take the animal domain. But, I don't think I'd take the feather subdomain because you lose speak with animals. The gain to perception is nice, but not having to use a spell to speak with the animal companion that you will get is convenient. Your companion still has to be a dinosaur, right? There are a couple of good options, but keep in mind that the companion level is -3 so don't count on it as a fighter. Maybe a Dimorphodon as a scout?
As for the fly spell, we have a witch. Fly is on that list, although fly, mass is not.
Strength-Resolve would be better for the party.... But I usually focus on what works best for your character concept.
I agree with that, except that it doesn't really fit your background. Seems to me that if you are from a forest you would take the animal domain. But, I don't think I'd take the feather subdomain because you lose speak with animals. The gain to perception is nice, but not having to use a spell to speak with the animal companion that you will get is convenient. Your companion still has to be a dinosaur, right? There are a couple of good options, but keep in mind that the companion level is -3 so don't count on it as a fighter. Maybe a Dimorphodon as a scout?
As for the fly spell, we have a witch. Fly is on that list, although fly, mass is not.Strength-Resolve would be better for the party.... But I usually focus on what works best for your character concept.
Given that the animal companion must be a dinosaur, and the uncertainty of running across a dinosaur, I'm not going to worry about being able to speak with something I might never have. As far as background I can't find anything about dinosaurs in the Arthfell Forest; I've only read about them up in the Realm of the Mammoth Lords or in the Darklands.
There's always a balancing act between 'roleplaying' and 'rollplaying' and I'd like to maximize the benefit to the party.
Good point. And coming from 'barbarian' stock.... it fits too.
Welcome to the game!
I would suggest the Feather domain. For reasons. The group's previous Kobold spellcaster was going with wings and flight spells for the future.
I'm cooking and cleaning for Christmas so I won't be able to make a 'big' post until next Tuesday or Wednesday.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Merry Christmas to all! I remember four Christmas' ago when I had to assist Santa. He went to Magnimar but the majority of the houses didn't have chimneys. Because of the tight quarters they had gone to stove pipes and old Santy couldn't fit down those. Luckily, I was there and so we flew around all of Magnimar and he would give me his bag of holding and down the stove pipes I would go. I looked like a deep gnome by the time I was done but all the kiddies got their toys.
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Here's hoping for a better 2024!