DM Salsa Presents - Rise of the Runelords (Inactive)

Game Master AdamWarnock

Mandatory first post to create the thread.

Welcome!

I hope you all are as excited as I am about getting this rolling.

Since I've asked all of you these questions, it's only far that I answer them myself.

1. What time zone are you in?
Central Standard/Daylight Time (Alabama for the curious)

2. How long have you been playing TTRPGs?
I've been interested since high school and before, but I only got started in April of 2011. I started playing PBP that same year as well. I've played PF1e, a SF1e game, GURPS, Savage Worlds, Fate, Dungeon World, Monster of the Week, and more than I can easily list here.

3. What's your favorite part about playing TTRPGs?
Character stories and interactions. I love banter between characters and seeing how their relationships change over the course of the game.

4. What do you expect from this game?
A lot of work. :P

In all seriousness, I expect that this game will be a lot of fun. I've played with some of you before and those that I haven't seem to be pretty good players.

5. What do I expect out of you?
Be kind, be courteous, and be understanding. If there's a problem, please bring it up sooner rather than later. If something's not working, let me know and I'll do my best to resolve the issue. Most of all, I want y'all to have fun. If y'all are having fun, then I've done my job as a DM.

6. What can you expect out of me?
I'll do my best to be honest and consistent. I'm not going to leave you hanging and wondering where I went. If I need a break, I'll let you know. I want to see this through to the end, but I also know that is a big ask, so I'm going to be taking this one step at a time. As long as y'all are excited about the game and posting, I'm going to keep this running.

7. (If you don't want this to be public, PM me the answer to this one and just note that you did so.) Beyond the obvious (generally stuff already prohibited by Paizo's forum rules,) what are your redlines? Are there any topics, themes, or imagery that you absolutely do not want to see in the game?
There's not much beyond what's already forbidden by Paizo's rules that I am really concerned about.

That said, I do want to cover some of the things so that you know what to expect, and so I know if there are certain things that I need to avoid.

1. Dreams and nightmares are a bit of a theme that I've added in the past when I ran this years ago. I'd like to do that again, and I'll be probing into your character's fears. This is going to be subject to the other things below, but if that's something that you'd rather not happen, I can take that out.

2. I won't be showing any sexual violence, though there is at least one part of the AP where it will be alluded to. I made some pretty big mistakes in the past related to this, so I want to avoid those this time.

3. I'm not going to be overly graphic in my descriptions. I'll do enough that I think the point gets across, but I'm not going to describe every bit of gore and viscera. That said, I won't be shying away from describing a bloody scene.

4. If things get intimate, they fade to black. I think we're all adults here, so no need to get explicit when our imaginations can probably fill in the blanks.

I think that's pretty much it for that.

So with that out of the way, here's the plan.

I'm going to give y'all a week to work out if you want to have known each other and make any adjustments that you want to. I'm going to be using that time to refresh myself on some things and prep for the first part of the AP. I'll also be asking some questions and work on getting to know your characters more as well as double-checking that the crunch is all good.

I do have a couple of questions for everyone right now, though.

1. How long has your character been in Sandpoint?

2. Where is your character staying?

3. Do you have any preferences on maps? Roll20, Google slides, etc.

4. Do you have any character art that you'd like for me to use for your token/avatar? I have the Paizo campaign tools addon, so I'd like to use that rather than the avatars we get limited to.

5. Do you want a chance to get into character, or do you want me to throw you all in the deep end?

Other than that, introduce yourselves and get to know each other. I'm looking forward to playing with all of you. :D

OjWoj "Scrapknee" Viskalai reporting for duty (And I think I cleaned out the extra O I kept alternatively using)

Now for some answers/comments

1. Dreams and nightmares are a bit of a theme that I've added in the past when I ran this years ago. I'd like to do that again, and I'll be probing into your character's fears. This is going to be subject to the other things below, but if that's something that you'd rather not happen, I can take that out.

I'm good with it. I think OjWoj's/Scrapeknee's fears involve being torn between two heritages, and accepted by neither. There might be a minor fear of falling, but oddly, as he already plummeted in his back story, I don't think so. In some ways, he wants to please everyone, and of course, fears he'll please no one.

2. I won't be showing any sexual violence, though there is at least one part of the AP where it will be alluded to. I made some pretty big mistakes in the past related to this, so I want to avoid those this time.

Noted!

3. I'm not going to be overly graphic in my descriptions. I'll do enough that I think the point gets across, but I'm not going to describe every bit of gore and viscera. That said, I won't be shying away from describing a bloody scene.

I trust you to thread the needle there as needed. I'll try to follow suit in finding a balance if Scrapeknee pulls off something awesome but violent too.

4. If things get intimate, they fade to black. I think we're all adults here, so no need to get explicit when our imaginations can probably fill in the blanks.

Scrapeknee might get a severe crush on this or that NPC, or might not, but either way I don't see him as chasing women. With his bad leg, he'd never catch one ;)

1. How long has your character been in Sandpoint?

He first visited when he was seven and his mother brought him by. She died sometime before he turned ten and he was raised in Sandpoint since by his Uncles (Sheriff Belor Hemlock and Inkeeper Garridan Viskalai) so, at least 8 and a half years.

2. Where is your character staying?

The White Deer Inn and Tavern.

3. Do you have any preferences on maps? Roll20, Google slides, etc.

I tend to find a way to miss a link or oversize and avatar no matter what's picked so I hate all options equally ;) I leave it up to you and the others.

4. Do you have any character art that you'd like for me to use for your token/avatar? I have the Paizo campaign tools addon, so I'd like to use that rather than the avatars we get limited to.

Unfortunately, finding a male Shoanti Oracle with Stars in a background or the like is proving difficult. I'm not crazy about his current Avatar but so far it seems to be the best for him. I'm no artist and I know some would, understandably, prefer no AI created art.

5. Do you want a chance to get into character, or do you want me to throw you all in the deep end?

I am not always patient so I'm tempted to say throw us all in, but I can certainly see us wanting to at least suss out who knows who in the group before we start it formally. I would suggest we have a limit on time or posts leading up to the intro if we go that route? However this is not a hill I'm willing to die on, so I'll go with the group!

Woohoo!!! Sorry, very excited.

I need to create her profile, and pick a profile pic (which is the only part of character creation I dislike). I will also work on answering the questions (OH, I'm from Alabama as well).

Really? What part? I live in Prattville.

(No sense hiding it since Alabama and Adam Warnock are probably enough to let you find out where I live.)

Hi! Thanks for picking my character! Glad to meet you all!

I'll answer the questions properly in my morning

Hey hi hello! Really excited to be picked, this party looks like it should be a fun time. I'll have to put some finishing touches on Lita's equips and get her crunch into this profile, and she'll be good to go.

It's also not in the questions, but I love the idea of working in the dreams and nightmares, that's always something that's really fun to explore. My longrunning PF1e game had a segment of the party all having a series of shared nightmares meant to target an individual party member, and it's one of my favorite moments from that game.

Ha, I understand that completely. We're a decent bit away from each other. I'm up in Huntsville.

Hello Ythiel and Lita!

Yeah, that's a bit of a trek. It's also a lot more city than I'm comfortable with.

Also, hello to everyone! Looks like we're still missing Dare Ashborn, The Not So Honorable Willie, and OjWoj (though I have heard from him, he just hasn't checked in here yet.)

Yeah, that's a bit of a trek. It's also a lot more city than I'm comfortable with.

Also, hello to everyone! Looks like we're still missing Dare Ashborn, The Not So Honorable Willie, and OjWoj (though I have heard from him, he just hasn't checked in here yet.)

Actually, he has ;) OjWoj is Scrapeknee's 'baby name' so to speak, Little Hawk. He's gone by Scrapeknee more since his Oracle Origin and lame leg. Sorry for the confusion!

Derp, I'm a dummy. I should have scrolled up further than I did. Sorry about that.

So, we're missing Willie and Dare.

Speaking of Dare, is it DEHR like I dare your or DAH-REH?

Montgomery is right next door to you (or at least google tells me since I've only ever passed Prattville, never been) which is rather big. Huntsville doesn't seem as big, though I think we are now.

So profile is together, need to do status line, and here are some questions.

Also Lita, the artwork you created is stunning. Excellent work!

Yup, it's about ten to fifteen minutes by either I-65 or US-31. There's the Alabama River either way, so there's always going to be a buffer between Montgomery and Prattville.

As for size, Montgomery's been getting smaller and Huntsville's been getting bigger. I actually looked it up, and if memory serves Huntsville is the biggest city in Alabama by population. I got curious about that whole spat about the district lines and the bottom line I came to was while the map they came up with is a gerrymandered mess, what the courts were asking for with two majority black districts wasn't workable either. The only reason the Birmingham Metro is the largest is because it's like five cities in a trenchcoat.

Also, hello to everyone! Looks like we're still missing Dare Ashborn, The Not So Honorable Willie...

Checking in, chief. A hearty hello to fellow players and a thank-you to Salsa for the pick. Didn't entirely expect to be here, but glad for it. Especially with such good company! I've just gone through everyone's characters and they made for good reading. Great stuff, people.

As for the questions...

1. How long has your character been in Sandpoint?
No more than a few days, I imagine. And he's already getting bored.

2. Where is your character staying?
Given the real-world aristocracy's practice of accommodating their own, I was speculating whether the Deverins were hosting their distant cousin. If so, it's a good thing he's only been in town a few days; Willie is not a good house guest. I realize having a PC living with what may be major NPCs might offer some challenges, though, so if the GM prefers, Willie is simply staying at an inn. And if the White Deer is the most luxurious of these, then that is the only place for Willie. Maybe Cailyn, Scrapeknee and he bump into each other there.

3. Do you have any preferences on maps? Roll20, Google slides, etc.
Simple is often better and it doesn't get more simple than Google slides. Not opposed to roll20, though.

4. Do you have any character art that you'd like for me to use for your token/avatar? I have the Paizo campaign tools addon, so I'd like to use that rather than the avatars we get limited to.
I'm going to echo Cailyn and say that regardless of character art, the forum avatars become my primary image of PCs as these are what we primarily see. As such I have no issue just using Willie's profile pic for any token. I did, however, take the time to fish up a higher resolution version of said picture.

5. Do you want a chance to get into character, or do you want me to throw you all in the deep end?
A few posts of interplay sounds swell if I've understood this right. Just so long as we don't extend this too much. A running start tends to do these games good.

Oh, and lest I forget, that is some super character artwork, Lita!

1. How long has your character been in Sandpoint? Five days, give or take. He arrived early not to miss the Festival - and he took some time to be a tourist explore the town already.

2. Where is your character staying? In one of the cheapest inns in town, because he can't afford better.

3. Do you have any preferences on maps? Roll20, Google slides, etc. No.

4. Do you have any character art that you'd like for me to use for your token/avatar? I have the Paizo campaign tools addon, so I'd like to use that rather than the avatars we get limited to. No. Since I can't draw anything better than stick figures, I'm afraid you'd have to extract a clear picture of Conrad's looks from my head :')

5. Do you want a chance to get into character, or do you want me to throw you all in the deep end? Either is fine; I've played Conrad a few months ago, I expect it won't be too difficult to find his voice again.

I also really like the idea of working with dreams :) I don't expect Conrad to know many people since he's a newcomer to Sandpoint, but maybe he's bumped into someone already. He's very unused to non-humans, and might initially be wary of a Tiefling or a Half-Orc, though!

PS: I'm not a big fan of Discord, and will probably rely exclusively on the Discussion Thread.

Nice artwork, Lita!

Tweaks:

- I found that Conrad's stats didn't add up to a 20 pt buy. Corrected:
Strength 16 (5); Dex 14 (5); Con 16 (10); Int 10; Wis 12 (2); Cha 8 (+2)

_ I thought we could get either 2 Traits or 3 with a Drawback; since 3 traits is mandatory, I crossed out Conrad's Drawback.

Well anyone staying at the White Deer Inn and Tavern, and it looks like at least two will, will definitely see Scrapeknee around. And even those who don't might because he works (And lives) at the inn AND does some patrols on horseback with the militia. A busy fellow to be sure.

Those that lived in Sandpoint 4 years ago would know him for his amazing and spectacular fall off the top of the Deverin Manor! Look, he had to try, it was a double dare! It's how he got his nickname and his injury Which never did fully recover, but as he SHOULD be dead, he's not complaining and most think he's lucky.

Hi all, sorry I'm late! Was working late yesterday. Very much looking forward to joining you.

And it is Dare like "I double dog Dare you." She may have once had a longer name like Darya or Darla or Darina but that got lost in the orphanage's records when it burned.

I'm going to give y'all a week to work out if you want to have known each other and make any adjustments that you want to. I'm going to be using that time to refresh myself on some things and prep for the first part of the AP.

Dare is from Magnimar and is a low-level Sczarni thug--but kind of trying to start a new life. She would be fairly new to Sandpoint but happy to discuss if we've met recently and/or might have met on the road, perhaps on a caravan to Sandpoint.

1. How long has your character been in Sandpoint?

Probably no more than a few weeks at most.

2. Where is your character staying?

As Jubrayl Vhiski is her contact here, she'd stay whereever he'd recommend. I don't think the Fatman's Feedbag takes lodgers, so unless you suggest otherwise, probably the Rusty Dragon.

3. Do you have any preferences on maps? Roll20, Google slides, etc.

Google Draw or anything that I don't have to create an account to see.

4. Do you have any character art that you'd like for me to use for your token/avatar? I have the Paizo campaign tools addon, so I'd like to use that rather than the avatars we get limited to.

I don't have strong feelings about it, but you can use her Hero Forge token if you want.

5. Do you want a chance to get into character, or do you want me to throw you all in the deep end?

Personally I prefer a chance to have a chance for us to gel a bit, as combat can slow things down so much in PBP. The momentum loss RP-wise at the very start of the game can make it harder for folks to gel later. This said, I don't have strong feelings about it and as Dare isn't necessarily very fuzzy wuzzy, she might actually get along with people better if she sees them willing to take a hit for them first. :)

she sees them willing to take a hit for them first. :)

That's supposed to say "if they see her willing to take a hit for them." (Slip of the tongue?)

So we have five of us arriving between a couple of weeks and the day of. So any of us could have ended up traveling together.

And three of us from Magnimar.

Cailyn and Willie might have known each other from there. Cailyn enjoyed staying at home with a book more than any of the nightlife Willie's background mentioned. But as members of one of the noble families (and it turns out the same age), they probably attended a function or dozen together through the years.

It is possible that Willie's nighttime activities would run more toward something the Sczarni could be involved in. And knows Dare, at least in passing.

Also is there anything we need to shift around? Any holes we are lacking? Just asking cause I'm in a game where we are fighting a gelatinous cube and none of us have knowledge dungeoneering so we have no idea what the heck this thing is and how to kill it.

Cailyn and Willie being familiar with each other makes perfect sense, yeah, even if he only knows her as a "frightful bore" and she him as a twit of the highest order. Heck, if it fits your image of the Vandervales, the two might even be distantly related given how noble families tend to intermarry.

As for Dare, I don't think Willie's nightlife ever brushed up against Magnimar's underworld per se. Beyond the occasional venture to seedier taverns, he's really pretty sheltered. How about Dare and Scrapeknee? She's been in town a week or two. Given the former's colorful past and the latter's affiliation with the local militia, they may have had a run-in. I can imagine Scrapeknee's colleagues warning him to at least keep a watchful eye on the newcomer when possible.

Also, yes - only too happy to swap around some points to account for gaps in the party's skills. Pumping Willie's Arcana, for example, seems a waste when Cailyn and even Scrapeknee do this better than him!

If Willie ventured to the cheap inn Conrad is staying at, the barbarian would probably remember his face.

And definitely think he's a twit.

Also is there anything we need to shift around? Any holes we are lacking? Just asking cause I'm in a game where we are fighting a gelatinous cube and none of us have knowledge dungeoneering so we have no idea what the heck this thing is and how to kill it.

Also works if everyone with the right Knowledge skill rolls a 1 :P

I did not invest in any Knowledge skills, given Conrad's background. I can switch one of his class skills for Knowledge (nature) though, if needed. It would make enough sense for his character without making it OOC.

Oh, I like that. Distant cousins who do not see each other as Awesome, but nothing so negative they truly dislike each other.

Cailyn is sitting on local, arcane, history right now. She is a massive reader so any knowledge skill can make sense for her... just ran out of points.

Also it is not a big deal if we don't have every skill covered, I was just curious what everyone's thoughts were. Especially with Conrad's excellent point about always the chance for flubbing

In Magnimar, Dare was blamed for an orphanage fire so it's possible Willie and Cailyn if they've heard of her they have the wrong idea. Which could cause tension but also create an opportunity for conversation and redemption, etc.

I could also easily have been on the same caravan coming in from Magnimar (I don't need to have been here a few weeks, I just figure she's been here long enough to get some of her bearings and maybe make a contact or two). I think she certainly could have run into Conrad at an inn and Scrapeknee as she was getting to know the town and looking for work.

I wasn't the one who asked for skills, but I have decent bonuses in
Intimidate, Lore (Evocations), Knowledge Local, and Spellcraft. I also have an art background skill I will be surprised if I get a chance to make use of, but you never know. Hoping to drop some ranks in Knowledge Planes and/or Arcana if it suits and makes sense eventually.

I don't think we need to have every skill covered but it can be useful.

I'm actually glad folks started asking about Knowledge skill areas. Because Hero Lab did me dirty and I didn't quite catch on until those came up.

See, the main rules for heaven mystery say "Class Skills: An oracle with the heavens mystery adds Fly, Knowledge (arcana), Perception, and Survival to her list of class skills."

BUT, I took the Stargazer Archetype, as I thought it sounded neater and fit Scrapeknee better.

And by that, it says "A stargazer adds Knowledge (nature), Perception, and Survival to her list of class skills. These replace the additional class skills from her mystery."

So I lose Fly and Knowledge Arcana and gain Knowledge Nature. Admitedly 3 class skills are not as good as 4, but we could use a knowledge nature type so I'll monkey with Hero lab and swap Arcana for Nature if the GM permits , and drop fly.

@Scrapeknee: Sounds good to me. I'll permit it. ;)

@Cailyn and Willie: Both of y'all are 24, right? I was thinking about throwing in a couple of PCs of mine in as NPCs that you'd both recognize if not be acquainted with, Lady Josephina Annabella Whitehall, the heiress to the Whitehall family and the Whitehall Mercantile Company, and Tera Flinders, the middle daughter of the Flinders family who are heavily involved with many of the businesses in Magnimar as accountants and landlords. They're several years young, 17-18 years old.

If y'all think that might be a problem, I can just leave them out. I don't have any firm plans for them at the moment.

@Conrad and Dare: So I've been thinking about where y'all could stay. There's officially only two inns in Sandpoint, The White Deer and The Rusty Dragon. I have, however, played in several games where the Fatman's Feedbag also had rooms for rent, which isn't too much of a stretch. I think it'd also make sense for there to be relatively cheap and rough lodgings for itinerate workers, like sailors, to rent out when they are between jobs. If y'all are okay with it, I'm happy to have you both stay at the Fatman's Feedbag as the cheapest place in town.

Change from Arcana to Nature made! Thanks.

@Cailyn: Woo, third cousins.

@Salsa: Perfectly fine with me. Are you just asking in advance for some future plans, or do you intend to have these be present in Sandpoint for whatever reason?

And it seems like we have a fair coverage of skills as is, although - as you say - we shouldn't be overly concerned about this. The faults of a party are often every bit as fun as their strengths. Love the Art (woodburning) by the way, Dare. Very fitting.

I completely agree, writing failures can be more entertaining than writing successes! And flawless characters are boring anyway...

No problem with staying at Fatman's Feedbag, or with the NPCs.

Dare: I think that makes it likely that Conrad and Dare would have at least seen each other a couple of times while staying at the inn. It can be just in passing, or maybe they already have first impressions about the other.

Based on Dare's looks, I'd say it's likely that Conrad would initially misjudge her as a trouble-maker and be wary of her -in no small part because he hasn't met many half-orcs. But he strongly believes in leaving people alone if they're just minding their business and generally vibing.

What could completely turn his opinion around would be witnessing Dare doing something really virtuous and/or artistic. If you think Dare would be the type to make her affiliation with Sarenrae and her passion for woodburning very obvious while staying at the inn, they might begin the AP on a good start!

As far as Tera and Jo are concerned, they'd be in Sandpoint for the Swallowtail Festival. I have some ideas about how to tie them into other parts of the AP.

Perfectly fine with NPCs joining us and knowing Cailyn. More cousins are always welcome. I will switch Cailyn to coming in on the same caravan as Dare, just to have a minor connection. And she would have talked to Scrapknee several times, since she's probably only started leaving the inn the last couple of days (there was a book she had to finish).

Okay, I've gotten Lita's equipment finished and her statblock set up in this profile (hopefully, please let me know if there's anything obvious I'm missing!) so she should be all set to go!

As far as connections, I was assuming Lita would arrive day-of, but I'm also happy to put her in a caravan with any combination of other PCs who might want to have been traveling with her a few days. If that's the case, then she's staying at the Rusty Dragon instead of trying to get a place in the church, and during the trip, she would have kept mostly to herself, though she likes to make herself useful, and would have offered to help carry things, or cook, or tend to any animals in the caravan.

Also @Scrapeknee: Lita's a good 7 years older than Scrapeknee, so they probably wouldn't have a ton of social overlap, but they were both raised in Sandpoint, so I feel like they'd probably at least recognize each other. If you want him to have heard any of the rumors that are mentioned in her backstory, I think that sounds like a fun place for their interactions to start.

Thanks everyone for the nice comments on my art, there will almost definitely be more.

Perfectly fine with NPCs joining us and knowing Cailyn. More cousins are always welcome. I will switch Cailyn to coming in on the same caravan as Dare, just to have a minor connection. And she would have talked to Scrapknee several times, since she's probably only started leaving the inn the last couple of days (there was a book she had to finish).

Good to have a connection. Scrapeknee's uncle Garridan Viskalai has the nicer inn , but , if I read things right, is not a likable guy. Bit of a grump and all that. Fortunately, Scrapeknee can do damage control there as he helps out. He's an affable young man. As long as folks don't show a bias against Shoanti, OjWoj/Scrapknee is rather welcoming and even happy to help.

Ironicly, they might have something in common in feeling the demands of their respective heritages.

Also @Scrapeknee: Lita's a good 7 years older than Scrapeknee, so they probably wouldn't have a ton of social overlap, but they were both raised in Sandpoint, so I feel like they'd probably at least recognize each other. If you want him to have heard any of the rumors that are mentioned in her backstory, I think that sounds like a fun place for their interactions to start.

I think, with him at 18, I might playing the 'kid' of the group, which is amusing to me as I didn't plan it that way but I think it can lead to some fun interactions.

If it makes you feel any better, OjWoj, Cailyn probably looks 18, since she is a half-elf and grows slower.

Cailyn will come in with Dare, a few weeks ago. She would have been chatty as normal until she learned Dare's name, connecting it to the fire she had heard about.

Then she would have been still polite but standing off more, avoiding her a bit. And since Cailyn has no skill at hiding anything well, Dare could have easily noticed and figured out why.

If you are okay with that.

Fine with me to stay at the Fatman's Feedbag if that suits the setup.

Dare: I think that makes it likely that Conrad and Dare would have at least seen each other a couple of times while staying at the inn. It can be just in passing, or maybe they already have first impressions about the other.

Based on Dare's looks, I'd say it's likely that Conrad would initially misjudge her as a trouble-maker

She is shocked, shocked, I say.

and be wary of her -in no small part because he hasn't met many half-orcs. But he strongly believes in leaving people alone if they're just minding their business and generally vibing.

She generally would be minding her own business.

What could completely turn his opinion around would be witnessing Dare doing something really virtuous and/or artistic. If you think Dare would be the type to make her affiliation with Sarenrae and her passion for woodburning very obvious while staying at the inn, they might begin the AP on a good start!

She is not overtly demonstrative of her faith, but now that I think of it, she may well find a quiet corner or spot outside to do some woodburning in hopes of selling some trinkets at the Swallowtail Festival for cash. Which he would certainly notice going in and out.

@GM-Salsa: Is it okay if I add some artisan's tools (pyrography) to her equipment? She's got the money for it (even if she'll be fairly cash poor afterward).

Cailyn will come in with Dare, a few weeks ago. She would have been chatty as normal until she learned Dare's name, connecting it to the fire she had heard about.

Then she would have been still polite but standing off more, avoiding her a bit. And since Cailyn has no skill at hiding anything well, Dare could have easily noticed and figured out why.

If you are okay with that.

Dare would at first largely let the young woman chatter on and listen, as she would try not to annoy/pick a fight with someone who doesn't just turn from her based on appearances.

When Cailyn suddenly grows cold, Dare clenches her fists, the air around her heats up a bit--and then she just slouches, mutters, "This is why I was trying to get away from f$!&ing Magnimar," and walks away and avoids Cailyn for the rest of the trip.

@Dare: Yup, that's a-okay with me.

Awesome, added to her character sheet. I'm assuming the tools would include metal styluses (styli?) of different sizes, some slow burning candles (to heat the tips of the styluses), a pencil and measuring tools, and some small wooden tokens of different sizes and shapes.

Also, @Cailyn: In case it is not clear, I expect this avoidance only to mean opportunity to clear things up later. :)

:) A happy day that will be!

Awesome, added to her character sheet. I'm assuming the tools would include metal styluses (styli?) of different sizes, some slow burning candles (to heat the tips of the styluses), a pencil and measuring tools, and some small wooden tokens of different sizes and shapes.

I think a small oil burner might work better than a candle, but that's just me. That list sounds good.

Makes sense!

Dare would have definitely noticed Conrad shooting wary glances in her direction if they found themselves in the same room, but he kept his distance.

She probably would have overheard, at some point, that he's mostly interested in the Cathedral, and might even have heard him ask for directions about where to find Shelynites. He wears no holy symbol and definitely does not have the look of a fellow artist, so whatever interest he has in Shelyn is, to put it tactfully, unclear. He doesn't look super comfortable with asking what he's looking for aloud, either.

Whether they have had the opportunity to know each other a bit is up to you, but if Conrad did catch Dare woodburning, he would seem very interested in her work, and keen to ask her questions about how exactly she does it, and whether or not she's a professional artist. He would be very disappointed to hear that she's not worshipping Shelyn.

If they had the opportunity to have a genuine conversation, Dare would soon learn that Conrad is a recently converted Shelynite on some kind of pilgrimage to witness the dedication of the Cathedral, and that he's hoping to find work among followers of Shelyn -though his hopes don't seem super high considering his limited skills. He's a bit reluctant to talk about the details of why exactly he converted, except to say that he used to be "good for nothing". He has never been to Magnimar, nor does he appear to know anything about it, save that it's a major Varisian city.

EDIT: Do you guys want me to swap one of my skills for Knowledge (nature)?

From gaps in the party's skills to overlaps, there's something I noted earlier. Lita's archetype, Holy Tactician, is fantastic, one of its most fantastical features being handing out bonuses to allies for attacking the same target. No work like teamwork!

Except said bonus is partly a competence bonus, the same type handed out by the Bard's ubiquitous inspire courage, and unless I'm missing something (always a possibility) these don't stack.

Seems an awful shame to essentially waste entire class features, even if I'm not sure how to resolve this.

EDIT: Do you guys want me to swap one of my skills for Knowledge (nature)?

Just got it for Scrapeknee, but up to you

From gaps in the party's skills to overlaps, there's something I noted earlier. Lita's archetype, Holy Tactician, is fantastic, one of its most fantastical features being handing out bonuses to allies for attacking the same target. No work like teamwork!

Except said bonus is partly a competence bonus, the same type handed out by the Bard's ubiquitous inspire courage, and unless I'm missing something (always a possibility) these don't stack.

Seems an awful shame to essentially waste entire class features, even if I'm not sure how to resolve this.

Eh, I'm not sure it's a huge problem. The holy tactician's ability triggers under a certain set of circumstances (paladin has to successfully strike an evil creature), whereas bard can activate at any time and can also (eventually) switch to other songs or stop as a free action--and only has so many uses. It might be slightly cheesy, but can indeed even see bard activates inspire courage, this helps pally successfully hit evil foe, then bard stops performing as pally's ability takes over, which allows bard to save uses for the future and/or until pally's effect ends.

Maybe you want to take an archetype that gives you more diversity in songs (arcane duelist perhaps? So you can sometimes enhance your weapon instead of inspire when pally has us covered?) But even if you stay as you are I think you could synergize your buffs rather than feel at odds.

@Conrad: since we are getting this detailed, should we just rp it out?

Eta sorry for all the edits, cut and paste is doing weird tjings on my phone

Oh, that's a really good point, Willie, I always forget the inspire courage bonuses aren't all morale. Hmm, my bonuses are only 1/day for 1 round at a time until level 4, so I'm definitely not complaining about doubling up, if only for the sake of our resources. Saving rounds of perform isn't that much of an issue with lingering performance and especially not at higher levels, but for right now, Weal's Champion is going to be held onto for whatever seems like it's going to be the hardest fight that day.

In my experience as well, inspire courage is good enough that the rest of the cool situational performances in a bard's kit can kind of get left by the wayside, so I think if we coordinate well on who is granting what when, having a little redundancy should open us up to some strategies we might not have gone for otherwise. That's the hope, anyways!

Alrighty, looks like we have some interesting stuff going on and not just with background/RP stuff.

Just a heads up that I plan on kicking things off Sunday or Monday, depends on how quickly I can get stuff together this weekend. I'm planning on starting the day of the festival. That said, if y'all want to play some stuff out, I think I'll set up some opportunities for all of you and y'all can get rolling in Gameplay. Does that sound alright?

Also, this is how I'm understanding things.

Places you are staying:
White Deer: Cailyn and Scrapeknee
Rusty Dragon: Lita
Fatman's Feedbag: Dare and Conrad
Deverin Manor: Willie (and fast wearing out his welcome)

How Long have you've been in Sandpoint:
Scrapeknee: 10+ Years
Lita: Raised in Sandpoint, only been back 1 week after being gone for 5 years.
Conrad: 1 week?
Cailyn: 1 week
Willie: 1 week
Dare: 1 week

Cailyn, Dare, and Willie all arrived as part of the same caravan. I'm going to say that was also the same caravan that Joanna and Tera were a part of. (The two NPCs I mentioned adding.)

Did I get everything, or did I get something wrong?

Looks great!

Looks good to me!

Fair points, Dare and Lita. I'm not particularly practiced with Bards (nor Paladins for that matter) and may just be worrying about nothing. Looking forward to making it all come together.

And yeah, sounds good, Salsa.

Re: Bonus stacking - I wouldn't worry too much about it. I try to stick to the rules, but I'm not a huge stickler for them, if that makes sense. I'd rather tell a fun story.

@Everyone: I know Dare suggested playing out something with Conrad, is there anyone else that would like to do something like that before we officially start?