Will it be a problem that I will be Level 3 by then? And do we want to hand pick the rest of the group? Do we want this to be all Legacy Races or be open to others if they are awesome players?
I vote that we let Hmm make all the hard decisions like the above as a sign of appreciation for her starting this whole thing. *nods*
I have a We Be Goblins PbP that will be wrapping up by the end of PbP Gameday; if people are serious about arranging a game together I can start organizing it.
Awesome! Maybe Tech and Brobdingnagian will end up in a pbp together someday.
Heh, maybe so. If they do, I'll have to finish a song for the occasion:
Tech lived alone far apart from his kind
His life as empty as the Gap within his mind
He helped out some androids as a Mechanic
Is he an outlaw or just bad with Organics?
He's Tech, he's Tech, he's Tech
He has shaggy hair
He's Tech, he's Tech, he's Tech
Has a mask to wear
Did somebody say “Filk?” Thanks for providing a challenge, it was pretty inspiring :D
Why do you want to play this character?
Brobdingnagian was my first Play By Post character and he never fails to elicit a smile. While I love how varied and interesting the Core Starfinder races are, Ysoki just don’t quite capture the natural sheer pint-sized *joy* that halflings possess.
Who is this character?
Halfling / TBD / Icon (I haven’t quite finalized how I would crunch him, between Envoy, Mystic, and Operative or some mix thereof that adequately captures “Space Bard.”)
A curly-haired halfling in a green and brown second-skin vaults up onto a stool at the bar beside you in the Lorespire Complex. ”Hiya, name’s Brobdingnagian, which means ‘marked by great size.’” He pauses a moment. ”I know, I know. Halfling and ‘great size’ don’t usually match. Though I’ll have you know that height isn’t the only measure of stature.” He flashes a guileless grin. ”There’s fame as well! Being able to stand tall amongst your peers and rising above where your limitations might have otherwise left you at. That’s partly why I want to join the Starfinder Society, and who knows? Maybe someone like me could become the First Seeker someday and give even the littlest among us someone to look up to. Metaphorically speaking.”
He orders up a glass of some synth-ahol and takes a drink before setting it on the bar. ”Beyond that, though… there’s just so many amazing places to explore and exciting things to learn. I’m sure if I wanted to, I could find a safe cushy job captaining a liner, like my Dad. Or maybe even break into the music business and swim in credits. But those both sound so… boring…” He raises his hands helplessly, sighing. ”Have you ever had that feeling, a hunger, like you’d missed Second Breakfast? But the only thing that fills it is new experiences? That’s how I feel. And for some reason, being exposed to mind-numbing terror has always inspired my best songs!”
”So, what do you think? Do I have a shot?” He grins hopefully.
Beyond the above personality, despite his irrepressible nature he has a coping mechanism of singing situationally appropriate song parodies!
Other Information.
Given that PbP is the best format to come up with songs, I’m sure he’d be in PbP sometime, one way or another.
From the soft dawn of morning
'Til the Sun sheds its last light
While a single Starfinder remains
We stand prepared to fight
Though morale has fallen down
And the times are tough alright
The sound of all our laughter soars
Around the world tonight
Fighting hard, blending spell, tech, and steel
We adventure and explore
Our daring pilots steer the helm
And land on distant shores
From the Outer Planes to the Hell’s Domain
We seek and boldly go
Leaving behind all comfort of what we know
So now we fly, yeah we’re free
We’re defenders of the galaxy
On towards the unexplored
Our quest carries on!
Far beyond the Sun’s light
Far into the dark night
Fear has no place at all in hearts or souls!
So far away; won’t wait for the day
For our lives to be wasted and gone
We bear the scars of friends lost in the Scoured Stars
Through a trial forged by flame we journey on
<Guitar Solo>
Now a new day is dawning
And our spaceships fill the sky
We raise our heads to the heavens above
With wonder in our eyes
Racing back through the void’s darkest night
Resolve burns within my heart
We’re banished from our time and Golarian
To a life beyond the stars
From our darkest dreams lurk evil beings
Jealous of our light
And with their defeat we’ll all be free tonight
And so we Drift through a sea
That redefines reality
From the home-base of our Station
Into the Great Beyond
Safe inside we’ll never find
The destiny of our own kind
Day after day our mission must go on!
So far away; won’t wait for the day
For our lives to be wasted and gone
We bear the scars of friends lost in the Scoured Stars
Through a trial forged by flame we journey on
<Another Guitar Solo>
Woah, woah, whoaoah.
Woah, woah, whoaoah!
<Gratuitously Unnecessary Guitar Solo>
And still we stand proud with blood on our hands
We fight so hard so that we can understand
I’ll solve the mystery of the Gap if I possibly can
For knowledge of every man
So far away; won’t wait for the day
For our lives to be wasted and gone
We bear the scars of friends lost in the Scoured Stars
Through a trial forged by flame we journey on
Seconding Starglim, a majority of that information is only relevant if you do play-by-post. As an example, click on my profile for what your character appears like on the messageboards for online play.
Brob chuckles. "Probably getting all hot and sweaty I suppose... He snaps his fingers. "That reminds me, you know how you mentioned venture-captains getting caught in a closet? Well, have you heard of Arliss Hall? It’s the building that Venture Captains stay in while in the Lodge here in Absalom. I’ve heard it literally always has room for any Venture Captain that would stay there. Like, the House rearranges itself.
Well, word from some of my new friends is that there are so many Venture Captains all here at once and the House has changed so much that some have gotten lost wandering the hallways! Imagine that, Venture Captains getting lost in the Lodge?!?”
Sensing that perhaps Nella had lost the relevance to the conversation, he adds, "There actually *was* an attractive young female venture captain that got caught in a pretty compromising situation with a Pathfinder Agent... the Venture-Captain claimed that the Hall just folded around them and got them both trapped together. I'm not sure how much stock I put in that explanation, though I really can't elaborate further myself. A gentleman never tells." He gives a big wink as they both reach the Sleuthing Competition.
Brob seems delighted. "And then you cast Bless right as I sang 'Thank you for Blessing me...' that was literally magical timing." He grins at Jillia and Markus, "Glad that we get to see each other under less Minotaur situations. I tell you, it was incredibly disheartening to find that they don't actually say, 'Moo.'"
Finally turning to Smiley and Kharg, he chuckles. "It's lucky that we meet such worthy friends!" His smile wavers only a fraction as he signs. "Sadly, though, it looks like I'm going to be competing against you guys... I got Table 226. Well guess I won’t be competing against *all* of you, I’m skipping the Weight Lifting, myself” he amends, glancing at his relatively tiny arms, ”but I have a perfect song for the occasion planned for the Storytelling! So, maybe after all the Competition, no one will notice if I sneak over to your Table during the Banquet? Definitely not so that I can grab an extra dessert." He grins. "Although I suppose the point of the Grand Convocation is to meet new people..."
He pauses a moment, probably the first time he really took a breath after his nearly non-stop series of greetings. "Though, uh, have you guys noticed anything funny around here? Funny in the 'odd' sense, not in the Ulfen dancing sort of way." Clearly thinking better of it, he shakes his head. "Ah, never mind. I suppose it's nothing..."
Clearly something is on Brob’s mind, anyone can make a DC 20 Bluff, Diplomacy, or Intimidate check to try and get him to say more. Each success opens the following:
First Success:
“Well, I don’t know how your Confirmation went Smiley and Kharg, but we all had an almost overwhelming number of new Pathfinder recruits itching to become full Field Agents. In fact, the way I hear it, there haven’t been this many people completing their Confirmation since the infamous Plane-touched Summer of 4713. Really, I wonder what sort of party resulted in so many tieflings and aasimars… but back to the point. With the Society’s success at Nerosyan and liberating the sky citadel Jormurdun, there are more Pathfinder recruits than there have been in years. The Quadrangle is packed with prospective Pathfinders that are greener than the Emerald Spires.
Second Success:
”Have you heard of Arliss Hall? It’s the building that Venture Captains stay in while in the Lodge here in Absalom and I’ve heard it literally always has room for any Venture Captain that would stay there. Like, the House rearranges itself. Well, word from some of my new friends is that there are so many Venture Captains all here at once and the House has changed so much that some have gotten lost wandering the hallways! Imagine that, Venture Captains getting lost in the Lodge?!?”
Third Success:
”The Decemvirate has really spared no expense on this year’s Grand Convocation and trying to bring in as many Pathfinders as possible to be here. They’ve even paid for Teleport costs for some of the more far-reaching Lodges to attend. They say it’s ‘an effort to demonstrate their appreciation to field agents, repair any frayed relationships, and celebrate a successful year.’ I say there has to be something big about to happen that they need so many Pathfinders all in one place. Something secret. So keep your ears open, maybe you’ll find out something more during the Competition!”
Additionally please continue with any greetings or discussion you might have amongst the group, we'll move to the Competitions tomorrow
Brob thumbs through his mental notes a moment and replies, "We were able to find parables of the Farmer, the Fisherman, the Hunter, and the scholar. There were rituals to Aroden there... but none of us wanted to disturb the gillman's own ritual to see what they did."
Brob snaps his fingers. "Speaking of rituals, we destroyed what remained of a necromancer's plot to raise gillman undead. Hopefully those lost souls will have peace now."
"Oh, and finally, minotaurs really don't go 'Moo', and appear oblivious to verbal insults"
I'm actually thinking of trying my hand at running a PbP game at some point soon, perhaps First Steps 1, after I get a couple of IRL things in order. This has been a lot of fun.
Now, on to preparing The Waking Rune for this afternoon...
Yeah. That's the one thing about this fight; it's really hard on melee with low movement speeds. It's almost better to fight the minotaur at the beginning (when you don't need to charge across the river) if that's the case.
I honestly wasn't sure if that last attack was needed, but there was still a chance he could have killed someone with a gore crit, so I opted for my reroll and apparently flashy finish ;)
Brob lets loose a shortbow shot of his own to try and distract the minotaur as he triumphantly, Inspiringly sings
"By my furry feet, this bull we'll soon defeat
And Confirm the faith the Masters have placed in all of us
We've shown our halfing fight, Sheyln's dance, Milani's might
Now let's carry on to victory with this chorus!"
Brob, sensing that the tide of battle had started to turn, resumed his "inspirational" singing (while attempting to open up charge / firing lanes if needed):
"-From a halfling half your size that out-manned you"
Wait, is that *Jilia* in this case?
Standard action to restart Inspire Courage, and a move
Glancing at all the action that's happening at the other side of the river, Brob takes a deep breath and runs up to the river edge, trying to hop across.
Acrobatics:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (18) + 4 = 22I assume that makes it, will retcon if it doesn't for some reason
Unable to both Inspire Courage and cast a spell at the same time, Brob opts to cast Grease on the minotaur's axe DC 14 Reflex save, or the Minotaur drops his weapon and has to make a save each round they wield it, no effect if they make the save
Somatic Components for Grease:
Since you won't leave in peace
Let's see how you handle Grease
It's 'The Way' I'm told to make things hard to hold
I hope the rest the group draws near
'Cause things will soon hurt I fear
For our heroes, quite the beauties, brave and, bold
Brobdingnagian continues his mockery of the minotaur:
"I'll bet you tell me too
That your favorite word is 'Moo'
And the zoo is where you go on dates with other cattle
Or perhaps you're a gelded steer
Which from here it would appear
You should go back to chewing cud and leave this battle"
Welcome back! Good timing; I decided to check to see if you were back while on my lunch break.
Janira having a lower initiative than the Minotaur is... unfortunate... Hopefully I can distract it, though sadly too far away to actually Fascinate it (though that Will save is iffy anyway.)
If only I had a giant red cape to swirl (red hiding the blood better)
"Foul servant of Lamashtu", eh? That's pretty good, but it'll never rhyme...
Brobdingnagian, emerging out of the cave and taking in Janira's state, without hesitation makes a bold (if potentially foolhardy) jaunt forward and starts shouting across the clearing:
"Come at me you giant cow,
Come over here and fight me now!
Show me you're than just some perversion of Lamashtu!
Or remember that this day that you ran like Hells away
From a halfling half your size that has out-manned you!"
Brobdingnagian looks downcast at the gillman, "I'm sorry, it appears that the pilgrimage has been more dangerous to your kind than expected. We destroyed their unlife, but we weren't sure what the proper method of bringing their remains to rest are for your people..."
"Geez, this place was kinda a Gillmen death-trap. Glad we stumbled into it, as much as it hurt. Hopefully Uori will know what to do with the remains... so we can get back to exploring the caves!"
Brobdingnagian's insatiable curiosity makes him wonder what the other tunnels are hiding, though a side-trip wouldn't hurt.
Brobdingnagian winces at the wound he received. Not too deep, but that could have been a lot worse... He remarks, "I think I kind of liked wolves more" before he starts to survey the remains, including a Detect Magic.
Knowledge Religion:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (6) + 7 = 13 Seeing if I know anything about Gillmen funeral rites. Apparently not
Brob pulls out his vial of Holy Water he got from Janira, and flings it at the remaining skeleton
Holy Water! vs Touch AC:1d20 + 4 + 1 - 4 ⇒ (11) + 4 + 1 - 4 = 12 Damage!:2d4 ⇒ (3, 4) = 7
Spooky Gillmen Skeletons:
"I'm so sorry, skeletons
You're so misunderstood
You only want to end our lives
(but I don't think you should)"
As the Scholar hadn't been done, Brobdingnagian scribbles on a piece of paper, glances around, and places it in the miniature city.
Message:
Don't You Know? You never split the party
Clerics in the back to keep those fighters hale and hearty
The wizard in the middle, where he can shed some light
And you never let that damn thief out of sight...
Today I ran my... 13th(?) session for GMing the Confirmation for a group of new players (two new to PFS, one completely new to RPGs.) They decided to fight the minotaur and nearly had a couple of deaths (a crit almost outright killed one of them) then the blood thirsty murder-hobos-in-training were contemplating killing the gillman when he wouldn't initially respond to them. Good times.
"Huh. Two unrelated holy sites? Interesting. If the journey is so perilous, why make the trip? Does the pure spring water have some healing or religious significance?"
Brobdingnagian tries to keep the questions cheerful and curious, as opposed to an interrogation.
Run this multiple times, but checking out profiles, it looks like I'm the only one that has skills in Diplomacy. Outside of being the Face, anyone that wants to direct the action, go for it.
I'll grab a torch from the wall before marching on
After the gillman emerges from the water, Brobdingnagian looks around at the rest of the group puzzled for a moment, then goes a bit further into the cave to examine the miniature city a closer. Not immediately hostile is a good sign...
He adopts a conversational tone as he gets closer to the gillman (assuming he doesn't immediately attack) with open hands as he says, "Heya, I'm Brobdingnagian and these are my friends. The Pathfinder Society set us here from Absalom to find out what you gillmen are doing here in this cave." He nods at the miniature city, "Though it looks like you've got your own Absalom here... is that why you come here?"
Am I the only one with a rank in Diplomacy? I figured with the Charisma modifiers in this group, I'd be rolling assists ;) If someone wants to take point in discussions you can and this is an assist, otherwise I'll roll the Diplomacy and have everyone else assist.
In case Brob is the Diplomancer:
Diplomacy:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (9) + 7 = 16
Brob looks back to the group, hoping to gain some support from them.
"Probably more of Aroden's teachings, as useful as that is in this situation. It's a shame there aren't more of them that have survived; one might have bee could have shed new life on 'The Beggar' and instead shown that it was intended to be 'The Short Person.'
Overall, definitely interesting, but doesn't solve our gillmen mystery."
Brobdingnagian investigates the blue burning torches to see if they're recently lit.
Knowledge History (+2 from speaking Azlanti):1d20 + 3 + 2 ⇒ (19) + 3 + 2 = 24 Knowledge Religion (+2 from speaking Azlanti):1d20 + 7 + 2 ⇒ (17) + 7 + 2 = 26 Linquistics (+2 from speaking Azlanti):1d20 + 6 + 2 ⇒ (3) + 6 + 2 = 11 Earning my keep as a bard... I can try a Perception check later if needed, but figure I'll give some other people a chance.
Brobdingnagian looks around. "That cloak looks magic, we should probably go down and get it." Glancing at Boris' rope, he continues, "I can try to go down and grab it using the rope if nobody else wants to... want to tie it off on that beam, or just have someone hold it? Just be ready in case there are any snakes or scorpions under it!"
Jilia probably has a slightly better modifier, but Brob can probably get down pretty easy with a take 10 and a +4 untrained modifier for a 14
When we retrieve it:
"I'll give it a once over; might want to save that Identify scroll." Spellcraft to identify:1d20 + 6 ⇒ (9) + 6 = 15 "Nope, I got nothing. Anyone else care to try?"
Perception looking around the pit:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (5) + 4 = 9
Brobdingnagian studies the bottom of the pit, checking around with Detect Magic. "These *usually* have something covering them.""I shoulda been an acrobat. I shoulda learned to jump and climb..."
Finishing up his muttering Brob smirks and says "Somebody dealt with the bad wolf so the bad wolf don't bite no more..." as he turns to follow the rest of the group.
Brobdingnagian considers to mutter "somebody deal with the bad wolf so the bad wolf don't trip no more!" as he repositions and shoots another arrow into melee
I tried figuring out what was going on in the combat, but decided that I could learn as I went afterwards. There was a lot going on ;).
I'm sure that some of the really tactical discussions can get complicated in this format. It looks like Varus and Boris could possibly get a decent flank but not sure how to point that out... how much side conversation like that is preferred?
