This is the discussion thread for Forces of Nature. All OOC conversation, whether about the game or idle banter, should happen here.
No one should post in here until I begin the campaign. Thank you.
The following five folks should be checking in, please:
Violant: Krowys the Translator, LN Aphorite Pact Witch of Axis 17
Trawets: Lazur Anil, NG Human Empiricist Investigator 17
Storm Raven: Ariston, CG Aasimar Cleric of Varan 17
andreww: Mira the Obscure, N Human Wildblooded Sorcerer 17
Kazmanaught: Trer, CG half-elf invulnerable rager barbarian 17
In addition to posting here, you can post in the gameplay thread with a single word post and then immediately delete the post. That will dot the thread for you and make it list in your campaigns tab without having a weird placeholder taking up the gameplay.
We've got some housekeeping and chatting to do before the adventure begins proper.
When you check in, I ask the first thing you do is
1. Please clear out the "race" and "class" statblock fields in your profile (moving any relevant info to the text section), and then, in the “race” field of your profile, please insert the following information in this order: [[Race Archetype Class Level | hp ##/## | Init +#; Perc +# | AC ## (T## FF##) | CMD ## CMB +# | Fort +# Ref +# Will +# ([stuff like evasion and conditional save bonuses]) | Immunities ___, Resistances ___]]
If you need to you can add additional info on the class field. Please, as the game goes on, try to remember to post any ongoing effects (conditions, buff spells, debuffs, etc.) in the class field.
2. When you have a second, read my profile to review some of the stuff I do to keep things moving in PBP and, perhaps most importantly...
3. Discuss with each other if you either have only met recently or if you've worked with each other at length before. All of you are fairly itinerant characters, but indeed as that's what you have in common, you may have met in Rover circles or on diplomatic or scholarly missions. I can see the Translator, Lazur, and Mira perhaps being hired in particular to find and/or interpret something in an ancient ruin, with perhaps Trer joining to serve as a group body guard and Ariston as healer. Something like that. I am probably going to run a little "prologue" before the adventure proper to help you get to know one another IC but it would help to get a sense of how much you know each other and would like to know about each other.
Ariston delighted to be signing in!
Checking in. Will update Race after the Tyrant's Grasp session I'm in ends.
Gotcha, Krowys.
And yes, you may wish to review your character sheets and backgrounds and make any final tweaks you wish. Over the next couple days I may be PMing some of you about your characters.
Might I ask when we're projected to start? OR is that still unknown?
Anyways, glad to be here! Linguistics is my most beloved skill in 1e, glad to finally make it a character.
I am hoping lively discussion begins now in this thread amongst you players to discuss how you know each other and how well you know each other. If you decide you just want me to introduce you, I can do that, but I'd like to hear from everyone first.
And of course we need all the players to check in before we get started. :)
So don't go anywhere and please chat in discussion, but I am hoping we'll get stuff going in the gameplay thread no later than Friday. If that poses a problem (either too late or too soon) let me know. I did get us going sooner than I originally said (so some folks might be caught off guard).
PS: Complicating things is the fact that Archives of Nethys seems to have hard crashed yesterday and it's my primary online reference as I get my final starting notes together, so that's annoying.
Yeah I'm wondering how everyone else knows each other. Krowys probably doesn't have as tight-knit a relation as the other party members could have between each other, but he would presumably have written dictionaries and books on linguistics that people might recognize. Especially whoever it was who had the Skill Focus in Linguistics as well.
Was really fun wondering how I could maximize Linguistics and languages! Thanks for the opportunity of letting me pull this concept out of the back of my mind!
Howdy folks! Further posts to follow, and will get my race/class statblock stuff done ASAP!
Thank you for inviting me to play.
I would have worked with everyone here at some point I think. I do move around some even when home based somewhere. My most recent home being Haven I know there are many adventures there and most of you might have come through at some point.
I'll need to read everyone's backgrounds to see if I can come up with some specifics. I know I would have read books written by Krowys.
Thank you for inviting me to play.
I would have worked with everyone here at some point I think. I do move around some even when home based somewhere. My most recent home being Haven I know there are many adventures there and most of you might have come through at some point.
I'll need to read everyone's backgrounds to see if I can come up with some specifics. I know I would have read books written by Krowys.
Oh! You were the one I was thinking of. If you can't find a reason to have actually ran across Krowys, you probably would have heard his name while doing any kind of study on Linguistics, reading books or referencing multilingual dictionaries, and whatnot. Or you could have ran across him proper, I have no preference on which.
I'll start the ball rolling. Ariston is a do-gooder. If he hears about a catastrophe, outbreak, rampaging horde, or something like that... he's going to get involved. He doesn't work for cash. He also doesn't judge why others might get involved. As long as people are working towards the same goal (rescuing X town, etc.) he considers them allies and helps out. For a cleric, he is very non-judgmental and non-preachy. So, if in your backstory, your character got involved in stopping something horrible - whether that was for cash, glory, doing moral good, or a chance at stealing something valuable - you might have teamed up with Ariston on a mission or two.
Checking in, I will sort things out later tonight or tomorrow. I am based in the UK so my posting times may well be different to the rest of you. One thing our prepared casters might want to check is my list of spells known to decide if you want to overlap with them or not.
It doesn't look like our spells overlap much, so I'm fine with Krowys being a weird mix of damaging and healing spells along with his Hexes.
@ Mira: If you are watching the machinations of Firas' ruling class, Ariston might have gotten on your radar. He was approached to join a 'trade commission'. He saw it as their way of trying to get a high-powered 'pet' cleric to watch their trade routes. He declined and drew their ire which has caused him problems within his church.
On the spell front, the low-hanging fruits are:
* Mira/Krowys/Ari share Stormbolts.
* Mira/Ari share Planar Adaptation. I'm happy to swap that for something else if we figure out IC that we don't need a duplicate.
* Krowys/Ari share a lot of healing spells. I don't have a problem with that. We could be taking scads of damage and having a single healer can be a weakness.
As for spells, I haven't selected which spells are prepared, only those he knows, so some of the healing spells could be saved in exchange for more damaging spells, depending on the day. 2 healers sounds useful, I'll have to admit, we can absorb so much damage that could typically go to multiple front-liners, but between the two of us? We should be covered on that front.
For those of you with limited spell lists, you may of course wish to be sure you're covering the area you wish to cover. When I picked this group, my sense was each person had some of their own niche, with the overlap being useful areas like utility/buff/heal where it doesn't hurt to have some redundancy. If you want to adjust that's fine.
For prepared casters, there will be a very obviously signaled moment where you will have a chance to re-prepare spells (with the aid of some GM fiat) based on the task you will be asked to complete.
I think all of you have checked in at this point.
It sounds like all of you feel like you probably would have heard of each other, but weren't, necessarily, ever an adventuring party together. Yes? Or any other feelings on that?
I think what I am going to do is throw you in a brief prologue (mostly roleplay, no combat that I am planning) to sort of help you all get to know each other IC.
I'm not in a rush to start so you've still plenty of time to adjust your sheets as needed.
I think we would definitely know each other and various people may well have worked with each other from time to time. We may well have been brought together for this mission by the City rulers?
It sounds like all of you feel like you probably would have heard of each other, but weren't, necessarily, ever an adventuring party together. Yes? Or any other feelings on that?
I'm good with that - knowing of each other. It could also be that some of us have met each other in passing at one crisis or another. Perhaps we worked briefly together, so we recognize one another...
"Didn't you blast that band of armored trolls on the outskirts of Hereford? I was healing the wounded in their wake after they rampaged through Guthford before they headed in your direction."
It sounds like all of you feel like you probably would have heard of each other, but weren't, necessarily, ever an adventuring party together. Yes? Or any other feelings on that?I'm good with that - knowing of each other. It could also be that some of us have met each other in passing at one crisis or another. Perhaps we worked briefly together, so we recognize one another...
"Didn't you blast that band of armored trolls on the outskirts of Hereford? I was healing the wounded in their wake after they rampaged through Guthford before they headed in your direction."
Yeah, same here. Mostly because I can't think of any reason anyone would properly know Krowys, with the possible exception of Lazur. I always imagined that the group would know of each other, and then get to actually know each other in some sort of prologue as GMDQ said.
I was imagining my character as sort of a Conan the Barbarian/Groo sort in that they often do good acts, and don't go out of their way to be evil, but a lot of their personal life and goals involves finding cool things to fight, getting money and magical items, and doing what they want at any given time. As such, they certainly could have met Ariston.
Since Trer actively dislikes politics, and occasionally goes out of her way to cause problems for ruling class individuals regardless of their evilness, she probably would not be familiar with the
In terms of the Translator, Trer has sought out works of Neenian calligraphy in the past, and even has ranks in linguistics! Sure Mira has a bigger bonus to linguistics than I do, even putting only a rank or two into it, and Anil has 17 ranks in it, but it's the effort that counts, not the result, right? She's not stupid or anything, but we have 3 high int characters and she's got the lowest int/overall mental scores in the party.
I will say, whoever decides that they want to have being Trer's "Squishy friend" in their backstory first will probably end up with the ring of shield other that she carries, so I'll leave that there as an incentive.
I was imagining my character as sort of a Conan the Barbarian/Groo sort in that they often do good acts, and don't go out of their way to be evil, but a lot of their personal life and goals involves finding cool things to fight, getting money and magical items, and doing what they want at any given time. As such, they certainly could have met Ariston.
Since Trer actively dislikes politics, and occasionally goes out of her way to cause problems for ruling class individuals regardless of their evilness, she probably would not be familiar with the
In terms of the Translator, Trer has sought out works of Neenian calligraphy in the past, and even has ranks in linguistics! Sure Mira has a bigger bonus to linguistics than I do, even putting only a rank or two into it, and Anil has 17 ranks in it, but it's the effort that counts, not the result, right? She's not stupid or anything, but we have 3 high int characters and she's got the lowest int/overall mental scores in the party.
I will say, whoever decides that they want to have being Trer's "Squishy friend" in their backstory first will probably end up with the ring of shield other that she carries, so I'll leave that there as an incentive.
I'm in the same boat with a character that actively dislikes politics (views himself as a neutral party, especially when translating). I think that he could have possibly ran into Trer at some point when Trer was looking for calligraphy, and certainly fits the bill of being "squishy" for sure.
I just realized. Should I have a statblock for Liber (familiar)? The poor Arbiter presumably won't be much of a threat in combat, for what it's worth.
@Trer: One of my favorite things in your background was Trer doing calligraphy. :)
@Krowys: Yes, please either put a statblock in your profile for Liber, and/or create a separate alias for it. We may not see it very active in combat but we still need to know it's there (and where it might be hiding if it doesn't want to get into combat). :)
I don't think anyone else in this group has a familiar/companion/ally but if you do, please do the same.
I think we would definitely know each other and various people may well have worked with each other from time to time. We may well have been brought together for this mission by the City rulers?
That's definitely the case (you will be brought in by key folks in the city) but want folks to be on the same page with each other.
I think Lazur would have worked with everyone at least once. Lazur isn't the translator that Krowys but a forger. His day job that the public knows him for is doctor and midwife. That puts him in contact with all strata of a society and he then helps those he can.
I can't seem to find an Arbiter picture for the alias, so I shoved their statblock in Krowys's Sheet. I went with a Sage familiar since that seemed fitting. Between the two party members with 17 ranks in Linguistics, one of which has Xenoglossy, and a familiar with truespeech, we've got communication covered a few times over!
But yeah I'd imagine they're mostly a confidant, nowhere near a combat familiar whatsoever. Will definitely hide when it comes to combat, even with regeneration.
I'm going to go ahead and post the prologue in the main game thread. Much of the detail is my verbosity and not necessarily hints or foreshadows for anything (yet). While I hope to set up some connections for the main adventure, I want to make very clear this is NOT the main adventure and is just an opportunity for some roleplay and getting the ball rolling. Nothing you do here--well, almost nothing--will dramatically impact the main adventure itself but will, I hope, help me get a feel for how the party works together and allow your PCs to flesh themselves out a bit before we dive into utter disaster. :)
You still have time to adjust character sheets and backgrounds and I may take one last look over the weekend to be sure I've got the info I need.
@Ariston, I was looking at your prepped spells and I dont think Ironskin is from an allowed source. I think its Monster Codex.
Oh, I'll double-check that. Thanks!
Oh that really sucks! And barkskin isn't a cleric spell either...
On a related note, I'll need people to keep me hasted, since I can't use haste boots. I figured no one would be able to cast fly, since overland flight is available, and I wanted to be able to do stuff versus flying creatures, so I bought some winged boots. Result is that I will need some help hasting myself though.
Haste sadly isn't on the Witch list, nor does Axis grant it.
Spell list updated.
I have haste.
I <3 Haste.
I'm the luckiest 16th level barbarian, 1st level fighter in the world! I'll catch up with you in character in a few in game days. Not having teleport or tree stride or wind walk means I'm a bit slower than the rest of you to get places. :(
Alright, Krowys could have theoretically teleported, but likely just was in the right place at the right time.
I need to ask, would any of you ping Chaotic for Liber?
I would not. In fact, Mira has no auras visible at all.
I was just rereading the detect spells, and a constant detect chaos with 17 character levels would mean chaotic characters ping as Chaotic. I may be wrong, but I think as an Aphorite and an Arbiter, I think their aura may be Overwhelming? Unsure how that works, but if so that's hilarious.
Ariston is CG. Pingy pingy!
As a cleric <10th level, my ping is 'Overwhelming'. Y'all better put on some sunglasses before casting Detect near me! ;P
And Trer! She's only moderate chaos and good auras though. And unless the aura you're scanning is 34th level, you won't get stunned by it, so that's something...
Yeah Liber is going to keep their distance from Ariston, I imagine. That's the main reason I asked, just in case there are any other overwhelming auras (especially those of a chaotic nature). Nobody's stunned, I just forgot that Liber's HD is scanned as mine for both the aura and getting stunned!
Gosh you all have been busy in one day! I will catch up tonight and tomorrow.
I'm the luckiest 16th level barbarian, 1st level fighter in the world! I'll catch up with you in character in a few in game days. Not having teleport or tree stride or wind walk means I'm a bit slower than the rest of you to get places. :(
The scene begins after you all get there, no matter how long that takes.
I should also mention there's a big permanent teleport circle in San Elspet that you all would likely have tokens (gifted from various grateful communities you have helped) that connects to all capital cities on the continent (except the one in Sheenosek is closed).
A quick mechanics question. Do you consider that elementals have the necessary appendages to cast spells with a somatic component?
A quick mechanics question. Do you consider that elementals have the necessary appendages to cast spells with a somatic component?
Could you provide a more specific example of what you are thinking of that this would be an issue?
So all of this so far is phenomenal.
I've responded to Mira's inquiries; if I missed anyone else's please alert me.
My response may trigger further advancement, but please feel free to continue/finish your other conversations as needed.
I've got a busy day tomorrow and Sunday so I may not post much over the weekend, but I will check in as I can.
A quick mechanics question. Do you consider that elementals have the necessary appendages to cast spells with a somatic component?Could you provide a more specific example of what you are thinking of that this would be an issue?
I may sometimes want to take the form of a small elemental. I have Greater Shapechanger's Gift which lets me do this for a very long time. I just wanted to check if I could still provide somatic components in elemental form as otherwise I cannot cast most spells.
I believe RAW, elementals can do somatic components with elemental body, and eschew materials lets you ignore the fact that normally your component pouch would meld. Of course, like all things it all comes down to the GM! But you've got a strong case :)