Eclipsed Faith

Game Master bigrig107

More totally nefarious setup.

Before we all get started, I just want to have a sort of ‘session zero’ now that we have our final party. Usually, with AP’s, you understand the flavor and vibes of an adventure before you apply for it. I find that it’s less applicable to homebrew campaigns, and I wanted to talk to all of you as a group before I finalize certain parts of the story I’d like to tell alongside you.

To begin with, if you could give me 3 short term goals, 3 longer term goals, and 3 fears (even small annoyances) your character has that’ll help me get a feel for some of the things you might want to accomplish with your individual character arcs.

I’d also like to ask if, as a player not a character, there are any topics you’d like to just straight up avoid in terms of emotional happenings in the story. Obviously you can expect the most extreme topics to be avoided, but if any you have any specifics you’d like me to handle carefully or avoid altogether I’d like to know about them. Think children in danger, character corruption, etc. This is a cooperative endeavor, and I want to make sure everyone is comfortable with the story and its themes!

Hello hello everyone! Thanks for choosing Lisyil GM of the Moon!

I'll get the goals/fears posted this afternoon, or evening after work.

Of course! Glad to have you. I’ll have the gameplay post up later tonight introducing the basics and getting you started on the road to the Friendly Arm Inn.

I figured I’d give it the weekend to get acquainted with each other (or decide you knew each other ahead of time), and get the show on the road starting Monday. Next week is my vacation so I have plenty of time to get all the final details of the first arc settled, at least.

Thanks for selecting me and happy to be playing with you folks!

I'll give some thought to Shaggar's goals and fears. Off the top of my head...

Long-term Goals:
* Establish a community/clan for outcast (or de-brainwashed) gnolls and other 'monstrous' races that lives alongside 'normal' civilizations instead of warring with them.

To Explain: I prefer nuanced, shades-of-grey worlds instead of black/white worlds where 'all <insert monstrous race> are unremittingly evil - full stop'. I like the idea of possibly getting gored by an evil black unicorn or running into a LG Bugbear Paladin. If you are envisioning this as a solidly black/white campaign (or maybe Faerun is just built that way), I'm happy to play along and change this goal.

Short-term Goals:
* It's a humble 'goal' but Shaggar is still learning how to interact with normal people and not have them instantly reach for a weapon, so he'll be continuing that fish-out-of-water journey.

* Going along with his current long-term goal, Shaggar would like to demonstrate to certain monstrous 'foes' that there may be a different path for them. He's not going to try to redeem every enemy they encounter but if there's a hint that Monster X is open to not butchering each other, Shaggar is willing to try reason and/or mercy... even if it bites him in the ass several times.

Think children in danger, character corruption, etc. This is a cooperative endeavor, and I want to make sure everyone is comfortable with the story and its themes!

Outside of the topics generally considered 'horrendous'... anything goes as far as I'm concerned. I don't build pristine characters so I expect them to get abused by baddies and the world, show their flaws, make painful mistakes, become corrupted so they can attempt to redeem themselves, etc. I also don't expect every fight to be CR appropriate. I enjoy grim odds and a good knock-down-drag-out battle. In other words, bring it on. :)

If we're playing DOOM, I'm good if you set the difficulty to 'Hurt Me Plenty'. :D

In terms of backstory and character relationships, Kiley and Shaggar are already tied. Since we finished our characters so early in the recruitment process, we started playtesting them a bit and put them on the road (well, overland) to Baldur's Gate. If anyone would like to put themselves on the same route... the more the merrier!

Here was the route we were playtesting through (subject to GM approval of the course and the map we used, obviously)...

It would be a grand trek from The Sword in the southern reaches of Anauroch to Baldur’s Gate. In the Bedine encampment, sitting in his tent, Kiley and Shaggar debate the possible routes.

The northern route was likely safest. North to the Black Road then turn west. The trail between the Graypeak Mountains was littered with villages. They would just follow the river until it met the sea at the Sword Coast. Take the road south and eventually they would arrive… Baldur’s Gate. But it was a long, roundabout course - probably 3000 miles or more. And while Kiley could hide what she was, Shaggar could not. A well-traveled route meant patrols and watchmen… and that could mean trouble for a gnoll even with a ‘human’ companion.

The southern route was more dangerous, wild, and also far, far shorter. Head southwest across the trail-less lands. Avoid the serpent-folk of Najara and skirt the Battle of Bones, Skull Gorge, and the Hill of Lost Souls. Psshh… what’s in a name? Follow the River Reaching toward Elturgard and pass into that land through the hills nestled between the Forest of Wyrms and the Reaching Wood. From there, it was roads and trails to Baldur’s Gate. Elturgard carried its own set of risks for the pair… but it was just a 1700-mile journey instead of 3000 miles or more.

In the end, Shaggar’s trepidation of the more populated route and Kiley’s exuberance to see Baldur’s Gate sooner rather than later compelled them to take the southern route.

Feel free to check out the Pre-quel which had us in the over-zealous theocracy of Elturgard.

Hey, not much time for a post. I do want to thank you for accepting me and stormraven, and I'm looking forward to playing with everyone.

Thank you for the opportunity, very excited about this! There were lots of interesting characters and I think this has the making of a really fun party.

I'm always in favour of establishing character ties where it makes sense. I'll have a proper read through everyone's sheets and backgrounds but realistically from a quick look I don't think Ari's likely to have crossed paths with Kiley and Shaggar or Marith at this point. I could see see her having run into Lisyil though. @Lisyil - see what you think but I could potentially envisage her as a member of the travelling group Ari was part of the previous summer, looks like it could fit with her story. I also like the idea of the dynamic between an over-sharer and a guarded secret keeper.

@GM - can I ask what time of year it is in-game please?

In terms of red lines and topics for avoidance, I think I'm fine with most things. I accept bad things can happen but as long as it's not gratuitous and doesn't necessarily happen 'on screen' then I'm pretty easy. Ari's certainly taken her fair share of knocks in her short life so far.

A couple of vaguely practical bits: I'm based in the UK so not necessarily in posting sync with people in North America (5 hours ahead of east coast, 8 hours ahead of west coast). I've not found that it really matters in PBP but thought it was worth flagging. And it did mean I was very pleasantly surprised to check the thread and see a decision I wasn't anticipating before tomorrow morning! I'll try and get some goals and fears up before bed.

Also, how do you prefer to handle out of character/game stuff? In the discussion thread here, Discord etc? I'm easy with whatever is best for everyone.

Short-term goals:
- Make some money. With no funds or family to fall back on, there's an obvious practical need for basic necessities. If a job pays well (like this one) and allows her the opportunity to live better or not work for a while so she can do other things, so much the better.
- Find out more about the church of Selûne. Having grown up in an unusually monotheistic way, she has since learned more of the different deities of Faerûn and their worshippers and is intrigued to find out more first hand. There are certainly aspects of Selûne's portfolio (wanderers, seekers) that resonate with Ari.
- Take stock of her companions for this mission. Find out what they're like and whether she has any interest in getting to know them better. (I'm pretty confident the answer is going to be yes. =P )

Long-term goals:
- Find some people that she does want to get to know better. Actually being in a position where she might be able to take down some of her defensive mechanisms is tied up in this.
- Work through what she has learned, unlearned and relearned in order to establish who she is. In real-life parlance, Ari effectively grew up in a cult, has been through a fair amount of 'deprogramming', and certainly could use a good therapist!
- Come up with some long-term goals. She's not really focused that way she's young, free and determined to make the most of life. Right now she's more than happy to work, play and travel around. Where she might want to go longer term arguably depends on working through the first two points above.

Fears:
- (Surface level) That these people that she's travelling with are unpleasant and/or boring(!)
- (Deeper) That she does grow to like the people she's travelling with but they don't accept (less of a big deal, she's used to being judged on her appearance) or don't like (she's afraid of being rejected on a deeper level so this would be more personal and difficult) her.
- (General) Ari's not afraid of death as such, though she's going to prioritise not putting herself in positions where that might happen. She is more worried about being captured or enslaved.
- (Bonus) Please don't make me ride a stupid horse.

Also, I've been searching around and the first picture here (minus the owl) I think is a pretty good representation of how I envisage Ari's appearance.

No time for much now, but yeah I think Ari and Lisyil could be a good pairing.

@GM of the Moon

Appreciate the invitation and wanna quickly say hi to everyone else. Can't wait to start playing but won't be able to make a longer post or answer the Long-Term and Short-Term questions just right now. This upcoming weekend is kind of hectic for me so I'll probably only get to it Sunday.

Hope that's alright!

f you are envisioning this as a solidly black/white campaign

Yeah, you don't have to worry about that. I don't particularly like those 'always evil' tropes outside of very specific examples, and there will be plenty of opportunity for both redemption stories and viewing 'the fall to evil' as it were.

can I ask what time of year it is in-game please?

Of course! It is currently Uktar 25th, 5 days before the Feast of the Moon.

I accept bad things can happen but as long as it's not gratuitous and doesn't necessarily happen 'on screen' then I'm pretty easy

Yeah you don't have to worry about that at all. There will be dark themes and bad events will happen to good people, but I won't go out of my way to make you all uncomfortable. Just wanted to be sure there wasn't anything specific I needed to avoid is all.

@Everyone: don't worry about rushing, I won't start until everyone is ready, and I'll likely give you a bit to get used to each other before we truly begin.

Oh, I almost forgot! As far as out of character stuff goes, either here in the discussion thread is fine or I can create a discord server for us, whichever is easier and better for everyone.

I’ll leave it up to you guys!

Regarding things that I as a player would like to avoid, I'm generally good with anything that's within Paizo's guidelines. So far I haven't seen anything that I'm not comfortable with. Then again, I'm also the guy that had his character try to commit suicide, so take that for what you will.

If we do run into something that makes me feel uncomfortable, I'll let you know. :)

Long Term Goals:
- Find her siblings and see if they are alright.
- Convince Shaggar to run a tavern.
- Rebuild her parents' estate.

Short Term Goals:
- Coin! traveling has drained Kiley's purse, so finding something that pays is going to be a high priority.
- Clothes. While she appreciates what the Bedine have given her, she would really like to have something that is more her style and fits her better.
- Cooking. She wants to get better at cooking and learn how to fix some of the dishes the Bedine make as a thank you to Shaggar.

Fears:
- She is terrified of the undead. I wish Pathfinder had a phobia drawback, but I couldn't find one. Basically, if undead show up, she's more likely to fly than to fight.
- She is scared of losing someone else she cares about. How her parents and most of the people she knew died have left scars. Her fear of the undead is one of them, another is her fear of losing others. She worries about losing those she's close to, and that's why she has the overprotective drawback.
- She is scared of others learning about her inhuman heritage, and specifically that followers of her demonic ancestor will learn of her.

LOL! I’m flattered I made it into your goals, Kiley. :D

@GM: I’m good with chatting here or in Discord. I have no preference.

Marith, if you prefer to lone-wolf it to Baldur's Gate, no problem. But if you'd like to run into Kiley and Shaggar on the roads/trails east of the Gate (either in the less friendly lands of Elturgard or somewhere west of that), you are more than welcome. We're starting an outcast races travel society. There is safety in numbers especially for those races that aren't popular and don't exactly blend in. :)

Fears:

- She is terrified of the undead. I wish Pathfinder had a phobia drawback, but I couldn't find one. Basically, if undead show up, she's more likely to fly than to fight.

I knew there was entomophobe as one of the PCs in a game I'm in really does not like spiders. A bit of digging in case there was anything similar brought up spooked. If you applied that to be undead only - GM permitting - rather than outsiders or fey (I'm reading it as it means it applies to all three rather than pick one, which seem a bit weird-flavour-wise to me) that probably ticks that box for you nicely.

There's also phobia but I've got no experience with madnesses so I don't know how unbalancing or destabilising that might be from either a player or GM perspective.

It is currently Uktar 25th, 5 days before the Feast of the Moon.

Great, thank you. I'm going to tweak my background so it's the end of the year of her fun summer.

@Ari: I looked at spooked, but like you said, it reads like it's all three. The phobia madness is actually pretty close to how I would like this to work, so if the GM is okay with it, I'd like to use that. Maybe change the DC so that higher-level undead make it harder for her to hide her fear. I like the idea of the DC being 14 or 15 + the CR of the monster rounded down.

@Shaggar: Thanks. :) Kiley is more than happy to help Shaggar out, and she would love to see him succeed at his goals.

I'm fine with either altering Spooked to just be undead or using the phobia madness, whichever you think is better. I could see mindless undead being 14, and more intelligent undead being 15+ 1/2 CR or something like that.

I'm working on getting the intro post together for us to start on Monday, but don't feel rushed!

Let's go with the phobia madness. I think it fits what I had in mind better. Would this take place of a disadvantage? Overprotective fits, but I mainly picked it because I couldn't find the one that I really wanted.

Let's go with the phobia madness. I think it fits what I had in mind better. Would this take place of a disadvantage? Overprotective fits, but I mainly picked it because I couldn't find the one that I really wanted.

Yeah, you can take that in place of the drawback. No reason not to let you do that.

Thanks! This should be fun!

Stats have been updated and I've got an NPC section up now.

@Kiley - Glad you found something that works for you. =) Really like the NPC section too.

@Lisyil - I’ve been thinking about Lisyil and Ari and will PM you some thoughts when I’m less tired and hopefully more coherent.

I also started writing a ‘the night before’ introductory post for Ari but it got a bit out of hand length-wise. I’ll drop it in Gameplay once we get going as long as nobody minds.

Put it in a spoiler if you feel the need, that’s what I usually do for long writings.

I have family over tonight but I’ll get a “setting the scene” post up tomorrow for us!

@Kiley - Glad you found something that works for you. =) Really like the NPC section too.

Thanks! It's going to be fun if/when we run into some zombles. :)

I also started writing a ‘the night before’ introductory post for Ari but it got a bit out of hand length-wise. I’ll drop it in Gameplay once we get going as long as nobody minds.

Put it in a spoiler if you feel the need, that’s what I usually do for long writings.

I'm with the GM. And don't let the length keep you from posting. I'd love to read it. :)

I have family over tonight but I’ll get a “setting the scene” post up tomorrow for us!

Woo!

First gameplay post is up. It's a rather short intro, as it is more of an open start to an adventure that I have ever used. Feel free to write up as much roleplay with your meeting with the Sister as you wish, and then we shall do true introductions before we get the adventure on the road.

If you have any small business or questions or things you'd like to research before you meet up the next morning to start your journey, feel free to tell me and I'll answer them!

Well, it might be a bit. I wasn't expecting to have Kiley run into one of her siblings right off the bat. As far as they all know, Kiley died the same night her parents did. I hope you'll excuse me for not making that clear.

By the way, would Melodi know she's meeting with Kiley?

Oh! Apologies, I thought she knew Melodi was here. If it'd make it easy, we could just have her be away for now and it be a more generic Selûnite priestess and we can do the reunion after you return to the Gate after heading to the village.

I think that sounds like a much better way to handle it, with my understanding of what Kiley thinks. Apologies for the confusion!

I have also created a discord server for us all, to make communication faster and easier.

Here it is!

Oh! Apologies, I thought she knew Melodi was here. If it'd make it easy, we could just have her be away for now and it be a more generic Selûnite priestess and we can do the reunion after you return to the Gate after heading to the village.

I think that sounds like a much better way to handle it, with my understanding of what Kiley thinks. Apologies for the confusion!

It's all good. :)

I agree, this would work out better. At the very least, it'll give me a chance to nail Kiley down a bit better.

Kiley, do you want to talk with Thandor or just blaze through with a few quick summary posts? Maybe one is a "let's go surprise my sister!" post and then a <sad trombone> "she's out of town and now we're back at the same bridge" post.

I'm good with either option.

Lemme sleep on it. I'm a little too tired to think at the moment.

I believe we were going with the route that Kiley doesn't know about her sister still being alive, and will find out she is later.

So sorry for the mistake guys, I can't believe I made one so early. That's okay though, we'll get it figured out!

Shoot! I may have misinterpreted which part of your suggestion Kiley agreed to. OK, to keep the options open, I've changed my post to remove any mention of Melodi. Gives you guys the freedom to play through as you see fit.

I believe we were going with the route that Kiley doesn't know about her sister still being alive, and will find out she is later.

Er, other way around, actually. Melodi doesn't know that Kiley is alive. For that matter, no one in her family knows Kiley is alive. As far as Kiley knows, everyone else is okay, at least the Zhentarim never said anything about them going after her siblings or aunt and uncle. The thing is that's going to be an emotional event for Kiley, and probably whomever Kiley is seeing since it'll be like seeing a ghost.

Still, result is the same, we're not meeting Melodi but Thanador.

So sorry for the mistake guys, I can't believe I made one so early. That's okay though, we'll get it figured out!

It happens. Just ask Shaggar about the chase I tried to run. Calling it a mess would be a kindness.

Ooooooh, I understand now. Thanks for straightening that out! We’ll have her show up later sometime.

@GM: Sorry it took so long for me to finally get Marith’s long and short goals and fears out. Was busy over the weekend and had to get ready for some Halloween festivities. FYI I went over and edited my background for Marith a bit. Didn’t make that many changes and its basically the just the same except I changed her last name to an actual canon drow House and added some more detail. Hope that’s ok.

@Everyone Else: I’ve also been looking at everyone else’s backstories for possible prior connections. Great stuff! I agree that Marith may have met Kiley and Shagger on eastern road to Baldur’s Gate but I also think it would be best that they first met together at the city itself so we could do introductions in-game. That said, given just how old Marith is compared to everyone else, it might be possible for her to have seen Kiley in Waterdeep while she was a youngster and still a slave in the Zhentarim caravan. She might have been tried to help her though I figure its more likely that she tragically didn’t know the caravan was run by slavers. Either could work.

I also agree that Marith probably hasn’t met Ari since she’s never really been to Waterdeep and the same is probably true for Lisyil unfortunately. Still, in either case, we could probably think of a prior connection if we really wanted one though I didn’t think its absolutely necessary.

Long Term Goals:
- Redemption: To redeem herself in the eyes of her goddess and put her nightmares to rest. This goal is not so much a literal desire to have Eilistraee forgive her in person but a more psychological one. She wants to be able to forgive herself for being nearly breaking and giving into Lolth.
- Discovery: While most of her people still regrettably pay allegiance to Lolth and Menzoberranzan there are still many other drow communities on the surface and in the Underdark that do not. Marith yearns to visit these cultures and share the ways of Eilistraee if they don’t know them already.
- Sanctuary: Outside of the Dancing Haven in Waterdeep and the Promenade of the Dark Maiden in the Underdark, there are tragically few major temples to Eilistraee out in the world. Marith wants to remedy if she can and dreams of creating a new holy place sworn to Eilistraee where all races can find succor, grace, and faith.

Short Term Goals:
- Explore: She wants this time away from Waterdeep to explore the Sword Coast and perhaps beyond. She’s always been fascinated by different peoples and places but also sees experiencing the beauty of the world as a spiritual duty to Eilistraee as well.
- Training: The last big quest Marith was on ended with several of her friends killed and herself captured and tortured. Suffice to say, she very much does not want that to happen again and wants to redouble her bladework training and pick up new techniques. .
- Inspiration: Marith considers herself as much an artist as she is a cleric and a warrior of the Dark Maiden. As such, she wishes to hone her creative talents and believes that she can find inspiration on her mission.

Fears:
- Lolth: As a cleric of Eilistraee it pains her to admit it, but she fears the Queen of Spiders and her servants. The idea of once more being bound by Lolthite magic and made a plaything of the spider-worshippers is a fate she very much considers worse than death.
- Temptation: Related to the above is the fear that she may succumb to evil if we was ever again captured by Lolthites eager to convert her to their faith. Moreover, she fears that perhaps the Lolthites saw some darkness within her that she has yet to confront or understand.
- Bigotry: Despite her brave face, Marith knows bigotry well and has suffered its senseless cruelty many a time. While she steadfastly believes in her goddess’s edict to intermingle with the surface races so that many know not all drow are evil a part of fears that no amount of heroism or kindness will fully eliminate hate and fear.

Everything looks good to me, Marith. Having an established drow house would help should they come up sometime in the future!

Ugh, sorry it's taken me so long to get this done, it's been a very busy several days. It also turned out to be kinda hard. I prefer to not box myself in too much before gameplay starts and I get a feel for the other characters. Sometimes things done early have to be quietly forgotten or shunted aside because they turn out to be a mismatch for the group. It cn also make it hard to add or develop things going forward because of too much to keep track of.

Besides, Lisyil isn't meant to be a weighty or tragic character. She doesn't have much baggage and sshe's not particularly driven or troubled. She has her oddities, dislikes, and preferences, but she's mostly interested seeing new things and having some fun. Rather than adding much to what I wrote in her background and the 20 questions, I've put what was already there here in one place for convenience.

Short Term Goals:

1. Explore. This is very much the main purpose of Lisyil's current travels. She wants to see more of the world and experience new things. Given her rather restricted range of past experiences, some of these things can be surprising basic, like being in a large crowd, seeing a city, or interacting heavily with non-elves. She is curious about things so, while sometimes all the new can be a bit overwhelming, Lisyil is eager to learn whatever she can about what's outside of her home forest.

2. Make some friends and meet people. Pretty straightforward. While her social and conversation skills may skew a bit toward the odd given her isolated background, Lisyil likes getting to know new people.

3. Make her own decisions: While it wouldn't really be fair to describe her upbringing as oppressive, a small and uniform community doesn't leave much room for individual decisions.

Long Term Goals:

1. Grow as an arcane practitioner. Lisyil sees her arcane abilities as the most unique thing about herself. She wants to take it as far as she can.

2. Eventually find a place where she feels comfortable and can settle. Lisyil wouldn't state this explicitly as a goal, but if she found a place where she felt comfortable as a member of a community, it would be attractive to her. She might eventually put down roots there.

3. Start a family. Lisyil isn't particularly cosmopolitan. It's the circle of life she knows.

Fears:

1. Lisyil is afraid of the possibility of her mirror deceiving her or having some hidden agenda. She knows relatively little about it despite the length of time it has been in her possession. She sometimes wonders if is withholding information, possibly about its origin or purpose, because it doesn't want her to know.

2. While it isn't something she deeply fears, rejection, especially when she's trying to be friendly, can wound her badly.

3. Lack of light. This is less a fear than a reaction to something that is mildly physically debilitating to Lisyil. She dislikes very low light or darkness because she feels less well in it.

That’s okay, I understand! I didn’t want you to feel boxed in or held to these answers as strict guidelines, they’re just to help me get a more overall picture of who you are and how you might act.

What you wrote is perfectly fine, and I am grateful for your answers! Hopefully they will help both you and I as we start this journey.

Side note, hope you all are having a wonderful Halloween. It’s my favorite holiday!

Mine too!

I don’t know if you two use discord, Marith and Lisyil (if not, that’s perfectly fine), but I did make one for us. The link is here. Don’t feel obligated to join, just another resource for communication!

Very sorry it's taken me to long to get going. The game happened to start at a very bad time for me, hectic work and other things going on to eat up my time.

I will be traveling to visit my parents tomorrow through next Thursday. I'm thinking I should be able to post more or less daily though while I'm away.

That's perfectly fine, glad to have you!

Is everyone okay with using Roll20 for maps? I usually assume everyone is, but it's good to ask.

Here's the link for our game, feel free to give me some art you'd want me to use if it's different from your profile picture.

I'm good with Roll20... and I've added an icon to the game.

I'm good with the avatar I've got for now. Also good with Roll20.