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Hey folks, I've had some unexpected drama enter my life, and I'm currently all over the shop, both time-wise and mentally. I don't think I'm going to be able to keep pace with this game. I'm really sorry, I was so excited to explore Ptolus with you all. Happy gaming, people.
hey all just a question. My game thread isn't telling me when there is a new post. I'm having to scroll down to look. ANy idea what's going on with it? I am not having this issue with the game I am running so not sure why I am here. I'm finding the site to be really buggy in general for me at the moment. I've been losing posts, unable to load pages, missing notifications... It's not great.
Nice, can't wait to get started :) I'll get an alias together shortly. So would anyone like to tie our backstories together a bit? Elbaren could know Lizette, for example, as he was a City Watchman, and could have come across her pulling a con or something, but instead of hauling her in just let her off with a warning. This could have happened after his sister died, and perhaps Lizette reminded him of her, so he feels protective of her, like a big brother. Similarly, Elbaren and Hroethgar both grew up in the Warrens. Maybe they used to watch out for each other as streetrats, and they've stayed friends through the years. Just throwing ideas out there. If anyone's keen for these sort of pre-game connections, let me know.
GM, are you happy to use the Cost of Living rules from the CRB? I'm thinking of paying my 10gp for the month at the start of play and having a little one bedroom upstairs apartment around the corner from Delver's Square.
Here's Elbaren's backstory. It doesn't tie directly to the Inverted Pyramid, but I'm sure one of the characters mentioned in it could be, and ask Elbaren to take part on their behalf. Either that, or I'd be keen to have made friends already with one or more of the other party members; Lizette was a waif like Elbaren and his sister, and Hroethgar the minotaur grew up in the Warrens like they did too. Happy to take the GM's guidance on any of that. Anyway, here it is. Apologies for the length, hope you like it. Elbaren's backstory: Elbaren was born in the Warrens. He has only the vaguest memories of his parents, a guardsman and an actress/singer fallen on hard times. When he was three, his sister Elani was born. Three years later, his parents were dead, victims of the random crimes that plague the slum district. With no family, the two children were left to fend for themselves.
Even at such a young age, Elbaren was impetuous and bold, and large for his years. After a dark but short period where he and Elani barely managed to escape the horrors that the Warrens could have inflicted on helpless children, the boy found work as a servant with a tough but humane tavern owner, Pug. Pug fed and housed the children, but both of them had to work for him from dawn till dusk (at least), take care of themselves, and cause no trouble. Elbaren's favorite part of working in the tavern, the Blue Lion, was undoubtedly the music. While proper bards were unlikely to frequent a place like the Blue Lion, many local folk musicians, mostly amateurs, played their music their from late afternoon till well into the night. One evening he helped a whistle player who had taken the worst of it in a bar brawl. The thankful (and drunk) musician proclaimed him an "angel of Jode", and gave him a small holy symbol of the Guardian of Song, a wooden lyre painted in gold. Over the following weeks, Elbaren asked questions from anyone he could about Jode. He soon found out about the Joden Templehall. The reckless child that he was, the nine-year-old boy presented himself at the Templehall to audition for tuition. An amused Knight of the Chord entertained the enthusiastic boy, who regaled the Knight with a bawdy sea shanty often sung at the Blue Lion. The Kinght, Mardun, praised the boy's confidence and ear for a tune, but told him they didn't take on waifs as students like the Imperial Academy of Music, and that he couldn't afford to go there. Still, Mardun allowed the boy to hang around sometimes, setting him odd jobs in return for the odd copper bit. On rare occasions he was even able to share a meal, or sit with some Knights while they drank and talked. The boy grew bigger and stronger, and by the age of 14 he was already six feet tall. One day, hanging around the Templehall, he encountered a yound nobleman of House Kath, Ingram. Impressed with Elbaren's confident and cheeky manner, he offered him the chance to join the City Watch under Ingram's sponsorship. Elbaren quickly agreed. Though he was sad to leave Pug's, it meant that he and Elani could get their own quarters somewhere, hopefully not in the Warrens. Sure enough, his work as a squire meant that the siblings were able to rent a room in Midtown shorlty thereafter. Ingram was never very present in Elbaren's life, but he would ocassionally visit the lad, asking questions about what was going on in Fort Dalenguard. The nobleman kept his enquiries conversational, but Elbaren got the sense that Ingram's curiosity was more than idle. Still, he was ever thankful to the scion of Kath, and saw no harm in their conversations. Shortly after his 17th birthday, Elbaren was promoted to constable. Shortly after that, preparing to upgrade he and his sister's lodgings, he returned home to find his street in flames, apparently as a result of some out of control battle involving a wizard. He stumbled over the body of an old, dying woman, and knelt over her, holding the holy symbol he'd treasured for years and praying to Jode. To his amazement, the old woman was healed, not completely, but enough to avoid death and walk away. Then he realised his building was still burning. Bursting in through the smoke and heat, he found Elani, dead in their room. Heartbroken, he continued his work as a guard, but also threw himself into the worship of Jode and the study of her teachings. He became more and more of a presence at the Templehall, not a member of the Knights, but as a welcomed student of their goddess. Three years later, when offered a position as a junior sergeant with the Watch, he decided to leave its employ. The time had come to help the downtrodden and fight evil as an individual, and Jode would have it, rather than as part of a sometimes frustrating and inert organization such as the Watch. This decision was met with a cool reaction from Ingram, his sponsor from House Kath, but the nobleman wished him his best wishes and stated that he would keep an eye on the young man's career in the future.
Awesome :) Alrighty then, here's the crunch for my well-rounded, good at lots but great at nothing (until his full summoning power comes online at levels 7-9, but we'll see if we get there!) herald caller of Jode. Money isn't all spent, and backstory is percolating away. Elbaren: Elbaren
Male human cleric (herald caller) of Jode 1 NG Medium humanoid (human) Init +7; Senses Perception +8 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+4 armor, +2 Dex) hp 11 (1d8+2+1) Fort +4, Ref +2, Will +5 -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 30 ft. Melee longspear +2 (1d8+2/x3) Ranged sling +2 (1d4+2) Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +4) 1st—comprehend languages, divine favor, truestrike 0 (at will)—create water, detect magic, light -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 13 Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 14 Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative Traits Eyes and Ears of the City, Reckless Skills Acrobatics +7 (+5), Heal +7, Kn. Religion +4, Perception +8, Sense Motive +7 Languages Common Other Gear chain shirt, holy symbol, bullets (20), lute, 28 gp, 8 sp -------------------- Special Abilities -------------------- Aura (Chaotic Good) Channel energy (1d6,Will DC 11) Domain (Luck) Bit of Luck (6/day) Dedicated Summoner Call Heralds (spontaneously cast summon monster) Divine Heralds Drawback - Overprotective:
Effect: If one of your allies should fall unconscious from hit point damage, you take a –2 penalty on attack rolls and skill checks as long as you are farther than 10 feet away from your fallen ally.
I'm whipping up a 1st level herald caller, and intending to base it on a reach build. As far as I can tell, the campaign doesn't require super optimization, so being somewhat well-rounded is viable, but I do (of course) want to be competent. It's a 25 point buy. I'll be a CG human, using a long spear, getting medium armor proficiency and combat reflexes at level 1, and taking the Luck domain. I very rarely play clerics, but I'm envisaging a summoner with support buffs/heals who can back up the front-liners and get regular AoOs in a 10' radius. Given that, I imagine I don't need to totally pump Wis. Given the role(s) I'm playing, and the perceived lack of total optimization among the other characters, I'd like to invite comments on the point buy I'm half-settled on as of right now. S 14, D 14, C 14, I 10, W 15 (17), Ch 13 Obviously, this is a very spread-out point buy. I'm going for broad utility here rather than specializing in one particular area. By level 7-9 some pretty powerful summoning will come online, too. But it feels very weird spreading the points around so much. Comments? Suggestions? Brutal personal attacks? Tell me what you think.
Okay, so looking to put together a herald caller reach cleric, is that archetype okay? I looked up Ptolus gods, I like Jode, Guardian of Song (CG, I'd take the Luck domain). He wouldn't be a completely high-end optimised character, but would be fun to play and I have the kernel of an interesting idea for backstory/personality. How does that sound?
Dotting, this looks like a fun group!
Also, how concerned are you with party composition? My first two ideas after reading through the player's guide were a rogue and a wizard, but I see one each of those already. Would you prefer we avoid doubling up classes? I'm sure I can find many other ideas, just wondering.
Hi there - I've been interested in Ptolus but haven't haven't read any of the books yet. How long do you suppose recruitment will be open for? I'll grab the player's guide you mentioned and devour it as quickly as I can before putting together a character for consideration. |
