The Sands of Akiton by GM Quirk

Game Master Quirk, Private Eye

This is the beginning of discussion for THE SANDS OF AKITON. Lets start by introducing ourselves as players, with a follow up post about where you are as far as a character right now.

I'll be making several posts later, including one with a proposed timeline for getting things underway.

Hi, everyone. I am Drake. Happy to be invited to be part of the campaign.

I first started playing D&D in the late 80's. I watched the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon when it first aired. :) I have created stats for their iconic weapons a few times over the years - yet never got around to running a game based around the weapons.

As for Kala Jayne, I am still filling out her Pathbuilder sheet and also decided on some of the spells she will get instead of 'depending on what happens during gameplay' - which add to her concept.

i.e. for the two 1st level spells she will be swapping out (due to the original spells being retrained as higher level versions will replace them as the spell level they are taken at to become signature spells - when her connection spells become both viable AND functional signature spells)...

Heal and Pummeling Rubble will remain part of her signature spells (when her 1st and 2nd level connection spells become signature spells) via swapping them out for other 1st level spells at the character levels that she learns them as heightened versions (and continue being signature spells)

The first-level spells she will gain as part of swapping out Heal and Pummeling Rubble from her 1st-level spells:

Enhance Weapon (for the crunch)

and

Grease (for her character concept).

GM Quirk: Thanks for using the free archetype variant rule. It helps capture many character concepts better.

Have you considered whether or not we are using any of the following variant rules?

Ancestry Paragon (start with 2 ancestry feats at 1st level and gain one at every odd-numbered character level) (instead of 1 at 1st level and one every 4 levels above 1st level)

Gradual Ability Boosts (gain a single ability/attribue boost at each level (except 6th, 11th and 16th level) Each ability/attribute can only be increased once per group of 5 character levels, so there is still the same ability/attribute score 'cap' in each bracket of 5 character levels. I personally prefer this one as it is 'slow and steady' gains as opposed to a 'power-up' to two thirds of your ability scores all at the same time).

I played Yoromishtali and Cidribvoot in previous games. I remember watching the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon on Saturday mornings too. I've been playing pbp on the Paizo boards since...2012 I think. In Starfinder 1E, I didn't play many casters. I'm not very confident in my knowledge of spells and how to use them. I'm trying to grow as a player by choosing a caster for this game. This will be my first Starfinder 2E game, so thank you GM Quirk for organizing and managing this.

I don't know the name of the ysoki character yet. I do know he will be a scientist witchwarper. Paradox: anomaly. Anchor: Focal Point. Cantrips: Adhere, Daze, Frostbite...and one other one I'm not sure about. Granted spell from his paradox: Stumble. Rank 1 Spells: Enfeeble and Sleep with Shifting Surge being his granted spell. His character sheet may be up today, but probably tomorrow.

Welcome aboard, Drake.

Supersuperlative, here. I've been part of this - and a few spin-offs - for quite some time now.

I had a similar introduction to the D&D world through the cartoon. My path was a little different from there, though. Choose Your Own Adventure books and the Sierra Quest games (King's Quest, Space Quest, Quest for Glory), Dragon's Lance (and other fantasy) book series, before discovering the fantastic Baldur's Gate series, which in turn ked to my many, many year love affair with Neverwinter Nights and my introduction to the 3.5 ruleset used within.

I began consuming many of setting materials for use within my NWN games but it was only about 13 years ago that I first played an actual TTRPG session (of Pathfinder). I've run a few games for students groups at my work over the years, but most of my playing experience has been via PbP, and almost exclusively Starfinder.

Joining in as a previous player (T'sorkel). This will be my first time playing SF2e. I'm a regular player of PF2e, and always enjoyed the Starfinder setting, but was never a high volume Starfinder player.

Since we're sharing our TTPRG histories, I remember the D&D cartoon and the Sierra games too. But I've enjoyed tactical strategy games, and my path to TTRPGs was actually through a combo of early MTG and civil war miniature wargaming. As a break during a summer "history camp" of commanding miniature battles of Vicksburg, Shiloh, Chickamauga, and Fredericksburg, one of our professors offered us something new. Instead of commanding whole armies, we did a scenario in which we were each just lieutenants/NCOs in a company that was tasked to secure a road. Suddenly we were role-playing, and of course our company got ambushed.

For this game, I'm planning an Android Soldier, Three-5. He's going to be a bored hired security guard for the mine, but a bit of a vid junkie too. Yes, I'll be channeling some Murderbot in this, but hopefully Three find a life of their own.

GM Quirk: Thanks for using the free archetype variant rule. It helps capture many character concepts better.

Have you considered whether or not we are using any of the following variant rules?

Ancestry Paragon (start with 2 ancestry feats at 1st level and gain one at every odd-numbered character level) (instead of 1 at 1st level and one every 4 levels above 1st level)

Gradual Ability Boosts (gain a single ability/attribue boost at each level (except 6th, 11th and 16th level) Each ability/attribute can only be increased once per group of 5 character levels, so there is still the same ability/attribute score 'cap' in each bracket of 5 character levels. I personally prefer this one as it is 'slow and steady' gains as opposed to a 'power-up' to two thirds of your ability scores all at the same time).

I think I would prefer to not use these other optional rules. I think the opportunity to choose free archetype is sufficient to add some choices. While I like these other two optional rules, I think it may be a bit over the top to include them.

Just realizing now that not all of you may have heard that I would like to use the "Free Archetype" optional rule. It basically adds a feat to your character on even levels that you would not normally have access to. I think it will add some variation to your characters.

If anyone would prefer not to use this, I may offer the option of adding some skills to your character instead.

In any case, there is no benefit for Free Archetype until second level. We don't need to worry about it just yet.

I'm enjoying reading all of your gamer origin stories! I also remember watching the D&D cartoon when it was first out, but not often. I was already a little too old for Saturday morning cartoons in 1983, and I would have been busy with both some sports (middle school football and basketball) and a little job I had cleaning my Dad's office for $10 a week (money I would often spend on new D&D modules or games like Car Wars, Ogre, or other affordable games).

I started playing D&D about two years before all of this--really my first hobby game. I had an older cousin who liked playing the game, and often my Dad would politely listen to him go on about it. My Mom, never known for making good choices for his Christmas or birthday gifts, bought him the old Basic set. It went into a closet and was forgotten about until my buddy happened upon it--it was like a glowing artifact that changed me in much the same way as seeing the cantina scene in Star Wars for the first time did.

The rest is history.

So here is the character sheet. Finished except for the equipment and history. Anyone can look at this nameless character. If you see a mistake, please tell me.

GMQ & Squanch

@tomtesserae:

Only mistake I noticed was:

- Unarmed Jaws Strike. It should be +5 (not +2), as you are trained in unarmed attacks from witchwarper, our character level is part of our proficiency bonus, and your Jaws strike has the finesse trait.

- Ysoki Scrapper heritage: For players who are not aware already: Pathbuilder cannot include Lost Omens specific-names (due to legal reasons), so they rename certain feats (and possibly names of other things). Scrapper Ysoki heritage on Pathbuilder is Akitonian Ysoki heritage from Starfinder Player Core.

- Skills are good (as your heritage gives you the Quick Repair skill feat instead of a free trained skill slot - for already gaining Crafting from your ancestry feat/background).

Hey everyone, Bombadil here, I'm happy to join the campaign! The gamer origin stories are great. My deep dive into RPGs started with my Commodore 64 and Bard's Tale and Ultima 3. About the same time my buddy got the D&D red box set and 40+ years later RPGs are still one of my prime hobbies. My sci-fi appreciation started with seeing Star Wars in the theatre back in 1977. Blade Runner, The Thing, and Firefly would also have big impacts years later.

This will be my first foray into the Starfinder 2e system. If anyone has recommendations for a character builder application I'd much appreciate it. I saw Hephaistos mentioned. HeroLab has been my goto since acquiring a license back at PaizoCon 2 or 3 I think it was, but it seems Starfinder isn't available for the classic version.

Just taking a moment to take stock of the seven PC's that find themselves in The Hollow.

First, our two newest players:
1. Kala Jayne, ikeshti mystic
2, Bickle, ysoki operative

Now, our existing five players:
3. (name forthcoming), ysoki witchwarper
4. Three-5, android soldier
5. Rion Lershock, human (Hylki) operative
6. Llyfr, ysoki mystic
7. (Name forthcoming), Ikeshti mechanic

Nobody is locked into any of this, not yet.

I just wanted to see what everything looked like.

Lots of magic. Lots of ysoki. A nice range of classes and abilities despite there being two mystics and two operatives.

HERE'S AN ASSIGNMENT for Rion and the three ysoki: Do you suppose your character would have a familial connection to the founders of Azurite Hollow? Rion could be a descendent of Sehver Bova, or in some way part of that clan.

The ysoki could similarly be related to Aha! Redwarren (yes, Aha! is his name).

Both of these founders died 50 years ago, so you probably didn't know them.

Being part of the founding clans wouldn't really give you any advantages (though theoretically you would have some ownership stake in the mines), but it would be a handy device to drive adventures.

"The Redwarrens, they're my cousins!" said every ysoki. If only Bickle could prove it, maybe a mystic or a scholar could help?

@Bickle: Welcome fellow new player, Bombadil.

As for character sheet generators, I find Pathbuilder 2E (which now includes Starfinder 2E) is a great application. When I first started using it a few years ago, the mobile version included the browswer premimum-only options, such as pets (animal companions/eidolons/familiars) and specific character options (such as Dual-Classed PCs, Free Archetype, Ancestry Paragon, Gradual Ability Boosts, Proficiency without level, Stamina variant rules).

What I do for my online players who do not have a premium account is save a copy of their character on my account, then generate a share copy link with the appropriate player at the start of online sessions.

I am happy to do that for anyone who likes the Pathbuilder sheet layout and does not have a premium account to save a copy of your character to my account for you. I am not sure if using the free version you can generate a 'share copy of character' link - if you can, I suggest doing that and posting the link in your character profile, so you can update the link as needed.

Pathbuilder browser version

Thanks for the Starbuilder suggestion, here's my first attempt at a Starfinder 2e character: Bickle

Any advice and suggestions are welcome. I probably missed a bunch of synergy type things, and basic necessary things as well, but I tried to lean into the dex based things and piloting as his main skill.

If after the first few weeks of adventures go by you think maybe you missed a synergy, or you have buyer's remorse on a feat or other choice, I'm 100% comfortable with any of you making change during downtime.

A few notes on my timeline as we get started.

THIS WEEKEND I will open the gameplay thread.

Though I'm not planning on starting proper adventuring right away, I do plan on giving you all writing prompt that will both introduce your character AND help flesh out your new home of Azurite Hollow.

Next week I'll be enjoying myself at a local in-person game convention. I'll be both running and playing lots of Dungeons and Dragons at the Winter Fantasy game convention that happens to take place in my home town.

The following week you'll hear about some trouble in the mines...whatever will you do?

HERE'S AN ASSIGNMENT for Rion and the three ysoki: Do you suppose your character would have a familial connection to the founders of Azurite Hollow? Rion could be a descendent of Sehver Bova, or in some way part of that clan...
Being part of the founding clans wouldn't really give you any advantages (though theoretically you would have some ownership stake in the mines), but it would be a handy device to drive adventures.

I hadn't seen Rion as being directly connected to the mining operations.

Perhaps he's descended from one of Sehver's siblings or maybe the youngest child descended from a 3rd or 4th child, etc, so that there's a less direct connection, but still enough to leads to awkward pressure for legal/political/financial favours on occasion (going both ways).

I'm still writing up the backstory post, but the short pitch is that he was a detective/sheriff and while working a case involving some crime syndicate, they had his family killed in retaliation. The case ended up being dismissed and the syndicate continued without any consequence. Rion turned in his badge and has gone freelance and is out for justice.

Here is my nameless ysoki's background from the point of view of his alternate reality brother. I haven't done a character like this before, but it was fun.

Eureka Day: I LOVE IT.

It is now canon for this campaign.

Here is my nameless ysoki's background from the point of view of his alternate reality brother. I haven't done a character like this before, but it was fun.

** spoiler omitted **...

Enjoyable read. Looks like you came up with a name for your nameless ysoki by the time you ended it, Detch.

With Detch and Petchi being a couple of the given names in your character's family, here are some suggestions for your alternate reality-swapped brother:

I am not familiar with ysoko to know if an -i suffix is a feminine version of a name for ysoki. Add an -i at the end of the following suggestions if you like.

For players unfamiliar with the original Quantum Leap series, I used the two lead actors' surnames (as well as the narrator's) as source for the following name suggestions.

Still hoping to get gameplay open before my convention later this week. Perhaps Monday night.

Hope you have a great time at the convention.

Indeed! Have a blast :)

You all have your first assignment in gameplay. Please take a gander and make a post at your leisure over the next five days or so.

I will be playing LOTS of Dungeons and Dragons at this convention. 12 sessions! I'm running four of the 12 sessions. It's for the official Legends of Greyhawk organized play system.

I find that the stories and adventures for D&D organized play are stronger than Pathfinder or Starfinder Society, but the presentation is MUCH better for Pathfinder/Starfinder Society. So...I'm ambivalent. I'm just happy to have a few days off to play D&D. I have a new first level character--A dwarven ranger named Bertram Chaindropper. With any luck, he'll be fifth level by Sunday.

I add a picture collage of Kala Jayne to slides.

Too tired to type up vignette now, but I have chosen a location for Kala Jayne's first gameplay scene...

the southeast area of grass above the cliff...she will be staring off towards home, knowing it is no longer there, or at least not like it was...

I am letting the seeds grow with which NPC(s) she is going to have a scene with....think it will be some of the town's children who ask her what's see looking at....and possibly some of their parents...

Have fun at the convention!

What's our credit limit? Or should we just outfit our characters with some basics? Armor is expensive.

I totally missed all this happening in the discussion thread, and I've been wondering why recruitment went silent. Sometimes I'm just not too bright. I'll catch up asap.

One question on skill points. Can I choose a skill more than once to boost it to expert or even master? There's rules about species, background, and class not stacking -- you get a free skill choice if there's overlap, but nothing about doubling up existing free choices.

ET, I think creation wealth is 150 credits.

I will type up Kala Jayne's vignette today (might not be until this evening sometime).

I will work with it occuring before she goes to bar and meets Sandy (and her 'audition scene' occurs in gameplay). I will copy and paste that scene into gameplay after I post her cliff-top vignette scene (which will include one of the parents suggesting to her she shold go to the local tavern (where there should be no chance of further unintentionally frightening any of the children of the town).

Did I just give a spoiler of her cliff-top scene? :)

@therealthom: No, you cannot. At certain levels we get skill increases, and the maxixmum proficiency ranks go up to the next highest tier at certain levels, as follows:

1st level: max proficiency rank: Trained

3rd level: increases to Expert

7th level: increases to Master

15th level: increases to Legendary

Yes, 150 credits is how many credits 1st level PCs start with.

Me as a player. I first played out of the 'blue box' in high school, but mine had the full color dragon picture on the cover. I was introduced to the game by We quickly graduated to AD&D. Everything was totally homebrewed, especially the super dungeon our first DM created. Campaign lethality was high. You had to know when to run away or grovel. At first PvP was allowed, balanced by 'tribunals' where we could toss a player's character out of the group for egregious offenses. I was the newest player in the group, and behind everyone in levels. I've had younger people tell me that it sounds dreadful, but that was the most sustained fun I've had with RPGs.

Didn't find a group in college, work, family .... Curiosity and plans to run a game for my son, prompted me to look into DnD again just in time to buy 3.0 books and watch the game flip to 3.5. The game with my son didn't work out -- I was a very rusty DM, too focused on my story visions, and didn't make it as fun as I should have by giving him real agency. Thus ended my face to face gaming.

Somehow I found the Paizo boards and played a couple homebrew games here in 3.5. Cheered the rebellion against 4.0. Dropped very satisfiedly into Pathfinder. I've played and DM'd quite a bit on these boards. Had a DM meltdown and had to drop all three games I was running. It was just too much. So I really appreciate GMQ, because it is a lot of effort running a game.

I didn't like Starfinder when it came out. But over time my Pathfinder games withered, PF2 didn't appeal, and I found myself playing, and liking, Starfinder more and more. The idea of learning a new system with SF2 was also unappetizing. I had resigned myself to just finishing out the SF campaigns I'm running when GMQ offered this game.

The previous campaign run by GMQ was great, and the players were top notch. ENough so that I even bought the players handbook for SF2.

Pathfinder, the 'true' evolution of D&D 3.5. At-will cantrips and the much better combat manuevers rules set. First-level Wizards no longer 'useless' after casting only one first-level spell and (three?) cantrips, and wanting to 'rest for the night' before lunch time.

I had a 'longer' day today than anticipated...I will try to get Kala Jayne's vignette typed up tomorrow.

Just want to say hello to everyone. I had a GREAT convention last week/over the weekend. 12 sessions of D&D, most great games. I also ran some terrific games with lots of smiles.

I'll be getting things truly underway soon. Need to figure out who hasn't dotted in yet!

Thanks to Kala Jayne's name suggestions, I changed some of his siblings' names...and chose Tatch for the name of my ysoki witchwarper. It was close to Datch and Batch. The siblings in both realities are listed in the profile.

I'm working on my gameplay post. In the center of the villlage I imagine a statue of Aha! and Sehver Bova holding a sample of ore together. It looks like a plaza to me. If that's not what you intended for that, GM Quirk, I'll change location. The pond looks promising too.

Also is the ! in Aha!'s name a tongue click or some other vocalization? There are some languages on Earth that use a symbol for clicks.

I'll dive back into this tonight. Our campus game convention, MastodonCon, ate my life last week. Once that wrapped Satuday, my wife and I ran away for a quick overnight to visit our oldest.

Now I'm back, refreshed, and ready to go!

I updated (sigils glowing and geared up) HF mini of Kala Jayne

I made a token for Kala Jayne and place it on the southeast bluff.

I'm still working on the Gameplay post.

Bickle I noticed our avatars look really similar, so I'll switch mine soon.

nah, keep it, there's only like 5 ratfolk to select from anyways

We will begin in ernest with "Trouble in the Mines" tomorrow night.

I'll get a post up sometime today. Really.

I'm still working on the Gameplay post.

Bickle I noticed our avatars look really similar, so I'll switch mine soon.

Will ... not ... make ... the ... joke ... I would .. have ... 20 ... years ..ago.

Make the joke!! Make the joke!!! Hehehehehehe

Hi, all!

I'm Janosian, aka prize.rabbit on Discord and John in real life. I'm a refugee from the previous game where I ran Lilly, our emotionally unsettled doctor. (In her defense, she wasn't emotionally unsettled before things started going awry, but she definitely migrated there over time.)

I fell in love with games as a kid. Being an only child, board games were my escape tool. I often played 4-handed Monopoly by myself, but that didn't go well sometimes... the third player would cheat and it really pissed me off. But such are the things one does as a bored only child before we knew what "autism" was and nobody understood about "being on the spectrum" beyond observations like "that kid ain't exactly right, if you know what I mean."

Avalon Hill war games were my jam for a long time because I loved reading about WW2 and both my dad and my great uncle served back then. (PanzerBlitz! Panzer Leader! Luftwaffe!! I got into D&D in high school through my friends. They started playing this crazy new game that didn't use a board but had bizarre dice. And yes, I said "new game" because high school was the late 1970s.

In college, I branched out into AD&D, Gamma World, Top Secret, and a bunch of other RPGs, plus early modern board games like Empire Builder from Mayfair and the Avalon Hill business games.

Gaming took a multi-year pause after college, but started back up during the mid and late 1990s. I went to Origins and Gen Con for the first time around 1998, rediscovered my people, and never looked back.

These days I regularly play Starfinder and Starfinder 2e (mostly online), and I'm learning Pathfinder 2e. GM Q and I are part of a local gaming group. (In fact, we're meeting this Sunday... gotta make that salad!) I also run the monthly tabletop board game group at one of our local universities.

GM Q and I are part of the volunteer team that makes Paizo's organized play events happen at Gen Con, so if you're going to the convention, let us know so we can set aside some time to meet face to face!! (I'm known as "The Prize Rabbit" there.)

AND we are underway! Please check out the gameplay thread. Whatever will you do?

Sorry for the silence. I started a new position and it's been eating up a lot of my mental space.

Is the L7 Bar the same as Llyfr's Hollow's Chance?

I'll get a post up tomorrow. I didn't really set up any connections to anyone except Llyfr, but let's say everyone recognizes Three-5 as one of the security guards.

All's good, Tim! I'm catching up as well... we're approaching midterms, plus I picked up a sizeable extra project. Wheeee!

Congrats on the new gig! May I be nosy and ask what you're doing?

Is the L7 Bar the same as Llyfr's Hollow's Chance?

They're different places.

I imagine L7 as the classic bar/pub/cantina atmosphere with drinks, limited bar food options, a mix of booths and bar seating, and the Akiton equivalent of pool tables.

@GM Q, care to weigh in with your vision of L7?

Hollow's Chance is an extension of Llyfr's drive to build community and help people. It's part cyber cafe with infosphere terminals people can use and part bar/restaurant with good food options and basic drink offerings. And, of course, there's her makeshift health clinic in the back room, plus her "office" and research space. Her home is in the cellar, to get away from the heat and the lights.

Does that help?

All's good, Tim! I'm catching up as well... we're approaching midterms, plus I picked up a sizeable extra project. Wheeee!

Congrats on the new gig! May I be nosy and ask what you're doing?

Enchanter Tim wrote:

Is the L7 Bar the same as Llyfr's Hollow's Chance?

They're different places.

I imagine L7 as the classic bar/pub/cantina atmosphere with drinks, limited bar food options, a mix of booths and bar seating, and the Akiton equivalent of pool tables.

@GM Q, care to weigh in with your vision of L7?

Hollow's Chance is an extension of Llyfr's drive to build community and help people. It's part cyber cafe with infosphere terminals people can use and part bar/restaurant with good food options and basic drink offerings. And, of course, there's her makeshift health clinic in the back room, plus her "office" and research space. Her home is in the cellar, to get away from the heat and the lights.

Does that help?

This is perfect.

I would say that with the permanent population, travelers, and itinerant visitors there is plenty of room both Hollow's Chance and the L7 to thrive.

Of course there may be a good-natured rivalry at times. They might have their own teams in the annual Azurite Hollow Solar Regatta.

Adding Hollow's Chance to the map.

The cave was also currently home to one of the longest tenured residents of the canyon, a reclusive contemplative the Beggars called the Watcher because it spent large periods of time basking on the cave's ledge. Stories swirled around the hermit and what might be in that cave. A half-crazed hermit who could walk unseen while stalking their next meal amongst the Beggars below ; a retired space pirate living off a hoard of treasure ; a disgraced academic who's secret shame drove them away from friends and family, but who continued advanced technological research in the depths of the cave, a mystic sentinel over the entrance to the core of Akiton.

Whoever the contemplative was, there were stories about two different groups that tried to breach the cave, but were found the next morning at the foot of the cliff with strange burns and jellied bones.

:D

TV announcer, "Was Voss Vertassh leading a double life? Is the hermit involved in why Voss Vertassh removed himself from Kala Jayne's mystic bond? Tune in same Aki-channel, same Aki-time, every Aki-week to find out!"