I decided to start my own PbP, so I'm gonna withdraw Avery from the running. Thanks for the opportunity and good luck all!
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My submission should be pretty much done, except for finalizing the animal companion. Check my profile for everything. Is it okay to assume that the animal companion begins with the maximum amount of tricks, since I have had possibly years to train it? Avery is a Kellid tribeswoman who fights with a horse animal companion, has minor divine magic and a bunch of nature-related skills.
Should I just throw the crunch together and submit? Or do you want us to write down the story elements as well? I have my character pretty well in mind, but it'll take longer to put the pen to work on all the story material. Crunch would be quicker to do. How do you prefer it?
Dotting for interest. Will probably build a melee divine 4-lvl or 6-lvl caster of some kind. Posting with an alias that was part of a previous Kingmaker a few years back that died quickly. Will probably do something along the same lines as this alias, but this is not my actual submission yet.
I for one have pretty much given up and moved on.
Avery recoils from the thundering stone at her feet, grimacing as it assaults her ears and stumbling back a few steps. When she gets a chance to act, she'll try again to pinpoint the source of the movement. Eyes of the hawk!
Avery approaches the wagon warily, and makes a thorough search of it for any clues.
:D :D I will frolic among the squirrels.
It's like, I have the sky and the forest. Possessions are but a burden. The soul rests when it is naked. Signed, Avery Starr and her hippie commune.
Holy crap 250gp for some veggies? Those have got to be some damn chocolate bacon and unicorn sparkles tasting veggies. :D :D :D
I suggest splitting up temporarily. I'm not sure anybody, even Avery, wants to do executions in this rush, and we can't just leave them alone with the Levetons. Maybe some should stay to watch the prisoners while others chase down Happs and then return to rejoin. I doubt it will take all six of us to defeat him if we do catch up.
As one person who has admittedly been feeling a little uncomfortable but tried to grit teeth and quietly bear it, I'm glad to hear that the issue has been recognized. Apology fully accepted and hopefully things will gel better from now on.
I'm good with cashing it all in. Just give me my share in gold and I'm good.
Avery will make haste following the tracks, moving as fast as she can without losing the trail. She doesn't give the others much time to prepare, too concerned about where the bandit might get off to. A couple of minutes to gather their gear at best, but if preparations take more than three or four minutes, then Avery will head off into the woods on her own if need be. She'd rather take her chances with the bandit alone than run the risk of losing him. I'm coming for you, scum.
Avery: Your profile isn't as detailed as it needs to be. I need a sheet or a statblock, please. I will comply as soon as I have a few hours to pull things together. Not ignoring you.
"I might be able to do something on that count, master dwarf", Avery says, and starts to look around for any tracks or telltale signs for what direction Happs might have escaped in. Eyes of the Hawk! she thinks to herself as she opens her mind to the surroundings, eyes widening, ears raising, nostrils flaring.
dividing up the loot but I wanted to know if I should do that in character or here on the discussion board? Some of my thinking on the subject is a bit meta. I would suggest altering your thinking to be less meta. Right now I have OOC knowledge about other characters from looking at their sheets, but Numalar doesn't have this information. I'm not sure if you want everyone to list all their tricks in character or if we can just go ahead and take it as read? Or you could just have the characters not know each others' tricks. A big part of the fun is the whole learning to know each other. We don't need to be a perfectly running engine from day one. Otherwise there'll never be any satisfaction when we do start to gel.
Avery will definitely join in on searching and binding the prisoners, as she is very very uncomfortable with the idea of leaving them alive, and if that is how things must be, then at the very least she will do her damndest to make sure they are as secure as humanly possible. She will spend forever searching them and the fact that she's patting them down and running her hands over them for long minutes might encourage the bandits to make some rude comments and sexual insinuations. If they do that, then Avery will grimace and try to rein in her temper.
After the search, she'll also Take 20 on whatever skill is appropriate for binding the prisoners, unless someone else seems to know what they're doing, in which case she'll happily let them do better. The Kellid woman is steaming on the inside and looking for any excuse to vent her anger, and therefore when one of the bandits speaks rudely to Numalar, Avery will ball up her fist, and try to smash it squarely into the bandit's face. Not because she's in any way fond of Numalar -- they've barely spent half a day together and she doesn't warm up to people that quickly -- but because she a red roiling ball of rage and it won't take much to set her off.
Works for me.
"Be at ease, Master Leveton. My first priority is the security of the innocent, and I pledge to you that I will not allow these monsters to harm you or yours while I draw breath."
Fair enough, "take with us" instead of "set free" then. Avery's choice order remains unchanged.
We really need to come to a decision. I call for a vote. Everyone, put these three options: Kill
Under the three following headings: Favor:
As an example, here are Avery's choices: Favor: Kill
"Compromising one of the ones you mentioned", Avery simply says. "Kill them, release them, or take them to Restov. Unless anyone has other proposals, I suggest we take a vote between those three choices to end this deadlock."
"I for one have no intention of traveling all the way back to Restov. My job is here, and I intend to do it. If you bar me from doing it to these bandits, then I will accept that and simply find more. But if someone really wants to take them to Restov then let them do so. I will have no part of it."
"Your point is well taken, Master Leveton, and I offer our deepest apologies", Avery bows to the man. "You are absolutely right, of course. This is your home and whom you have here is completely within your power to choose."
"Remember this problem the next time you consider making promises", Avery mutters. "Before we know it, we'll have to feed fifty prisoners and we'll have a full-time job as jailors instead of explorers."
It makes for good RP. No sense trying to rush through everything. ;) Very agreed.
"You do realize that if reinforcements arrive, and we've kept these guys alive, then we'll be a few quick slashes of rope from having to fight *two* groups at once?" Avery raises her hands defensively. "I know, I know. I'm resigned to the fact that you want to let them live. I'm just saying."
"I agree with the elf-witch on this much --" The appellation given Ansha is said in a matter-of-fact tone rather than an insulting one, though that doesn't necessarily mean it can't be construed in an insulting manner, depending on what sort of words one is used to. "-- sending them to Restov is as good as an execution. They won't feel bound by any of our promises, and will be as unlikely as me to believe any apologies. Of course, if one were so inclined, we could say that *we* kept our word as *we* spared their lives, and it will be others doing the executing, though I don't expect that line of reasoning to fly with any of you." Avery moves over to Oleg, and lays a hand onto the man's shoulder if he allows it, though she will withdraw it if he seems uncomfortable. "I know that these things are difficult to speak of, but it would help us if you could go into any amount of detail regarding these bandits, what they have done on their previous visits, and possibly what you may have heard of their activities elsewhere, if anything."
There's a pretty massive difference between Robin Hood bandits in the wood who disarm and knock unconscious their opponents, take their money but leave their victims alive, and ISIS bandits who drag people out of their homes for sadistic beheadings. We really need to know where on the spectrum these guys lie. If they're on the softer end of the scale then Avery could definitely be persuaded to temper her own approach, but on the other hand, if they have a really monstrous history, it'll be tough to convince her to let them live. We really need more info.
"She'll come looking, probably burn this place to the ground. And sooner than you think. Heheheh."
"You're right, master gnome, that it is a dangerous path to tread. I do take this with all due seriousness. But hear me now!" The Kellid woman spreads her arms to speak. "Ladies! Gentlemen! We were chartered to be the law in these lands. The problems of these lands are to rest on our shoulders, and ours alone. Restov wants no part of the Stolen Lands, that is why they sent intermediaries. Being in charge means sometimes making difficult choices. I ask all of you to look inside yourselves and ask yourselves -- are you ready to be the law in these lands, even knowing the difficult choices that may bring? It will not be an easy task, to be sure. And it will require people who are dedicated to it. There can be no half measures in taming a land. When you go to sleep tonight, ask yourselves this: if a criminal you have given clemency kills afterwards, can you live with it? Knowing that you could have stopped it. For whether that criminal goes free is in our hands, and our hands alone. There is no other authority to pass responsibility onto." Avery takes another step forward. "Ladies and gentlemen! I am not asking you to be bloodthirsty, cruel or merciless. But I do ask you to consider the full ramifications of any decision to let proven career criminals walk free, including what they will do for the entirety of the rest of their lives thereafter. It is true what you say, master gnome", she motions to Numalar, "that being unnecessarily bloodthirsty will be a black mark on our reputations. But so, too, will being too lenient only attract more lawlessness to these lands. We do not have the luxury of saying, 'well, the militia should police the lands better', or that, 'the local lord should recruit more troops'. We are those militias. We are those local lords. And responsibility stops here!" she points to the ground at her feet. "When deciding the fates of these villains, and all of the ones to come, remember that though excessive mercilessness can be a weakness, so can excessive mercy be as well." With that, she shuts up for a while, letting others voice their concerns for a change.
"They are criminals, and they should not walk free simply because we don't want to be encumbered with them, thumbs or not", Avery says firmly. "I've seen men with nothing but hooks for hands terrorize women and children. I've seen ears and fingers bitten off. There are martial arts that will turn your feet into deadly weapons. I'm not going to stand for letting rapists and murderers walk." "As for repentance, that can be seen in actions, not in pathetic pleading once you've been overpowered. Anyone will say anything that's necessary to save their mangy skins in defeat. The lack of their repentance can be seen in their having continued their so-called profession. I will believe a bandit has truly repented their past when they have walked away from it without having been beaten first. I would not necessarily pursue someone who had left this group three weeks ago. But this group of bastards chose to keep doing evil up until they met their match, and now they're just insincerely sniveling. If repenting once you're caught was enough, no bandit would ever be executed, they would all just say a few sorries and be done with it." She shakes her head firmly. "I'm sorry, I don't buy your 'repentant banditry' argument. Not in the least."
"I doubt they would keep their lives, master dwarf", Avery says neutrally, and pulls out the charter all of the group have been given. "The punishment for unrepentant banditry remains, as always, execution by sword or rope", she reads from the paper, then rolls it back up and stores it in her pouch once more. "'As always'. Bandits are executed. Always. If you want to send them back, that's what will happen to them. If you truly want to spare their lives -- and I emphasize that we have not yet even interviewed people to find out whether they are fair or vile -- then keeping them here is the strongest option. And that means we'll have to split our forces to leave a jailor here, or risk them escaping." She shakes her head a little. "There are no easy answers in the frontier, I regret to tell you. But I would recommend that we, at the very least, get Oleg and Svetlana's testimonies first as to what these specific individuals have done, before fretting over the decision. For all we know, they might be so vile that none of you will want to spare their lives after we hear all."
I think that was an IC assumption by Numalar. He could be wrong.
Bards are proficient with Shortbows... does that include composite shortbows? Yes it does. For purposes of Weapon Proficiency, Weapon Focus, and similar feats, a composite shortbow is treated as if it were a shortbow.
Grabbing a sling at some point would be fine.
Avery will help out in securing the prisoners, and will stay mostly quiet until that has been accomplished and the bandits have been stored away securely somewhere -- perhaps the pits at the north end of the trading post? After that, she will make sure she is out of hearing range of the bandits and will speak to the other arresting group members, as well as Oleg and Svetlana if they are nearby. "Now we face the real problem", Avery then chimes in after the bandits have been secured. "With the lack of legal infrastructure in these wild lands, we must now become judge, jury and if need be, executioner. First we must ascertain which crimes these bandits are guilty of, then determine what the appropriate punishment should be, and perhaps most difficultly, enact that punishment." As to Numalar's words, Avery nods in sympathetic understanding, but says, "One surrender does not negate a lifetime of wickedness, alas. If these men have been raping, pillaging and murdering tens, perhaps hundreds of people over the years, then I am not sure they deserve leniency just because they surrender once. Oleg and Svetlana's testimonies will now play a key role, including what they may have heard of these bandits' activities beyond this trading post. We might also want to contact any surrounding farms that have been hit and request testimonies." "Having said that, we should also be mindful of the passage of time. The longer we spend on this process, the longer the other bandits will have to become certain of their mates' defeat and to prepare nasty surprises for us."
Taking a step out of the stables, Avery regards the bandits warily, her scimitar brandished at the ready. Nobody else has said the exact words yet, so she will, perhaps implying that she has some sort of professional background. "You are under arrest. We are authorized representatives of the law. The charge is banditry." She narrows her eyes and takes another step forward. "Come quietly, or there will be...trouble."
For my part, welcome, Smiling DM.
I'm fine with waiting however long. I can wait six months and still hop back on without missing a beat. Not that I expect you to wait that long, but my point is don't worry about me.
PM GM PM? Heh. <- easily amused
I'm sure we won't need to optimize everything to survive the very first encounter of an AP. :)
I'm gonna be on the ground instead of roof, and will wait inside the stables which should be a good vantage point to listen in. I will go into melee rather than ranged. Otherwise looks good.
Avery will help with the manual labor of hauling the ladders and tarpaulins, but once all of that is done, she will retire somewhere to sleep for the night. If Oleg and Svetlana can provide lodgings she will gladly make use of them, but if there aren't enough beds for all six party members, Avery will also be happy to volunteer to sleep in the stables on top of some hay bales. Once either in a room or in the stables, she will remove her weapons and armor, and make sure to stash them within arm's reach, after which she will start to cautiously rig some obstacles between the entrance and her chosen place to sleep, such as rearranging chairs or rakes to break any potential rapid approach. "Good night", she simply says if there is anyone preparing for bed in the same quarters with her.
Updated, thanks.
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