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I'm ready to go whenever. I think Joey would have a suit, a small pistol (snub nose .38 or the like), a lock-blade pocket knife, a nokia or motorolla cell phone, and some "walking around money" on his person. He might have other things in his vehicle, depending on what sort of work he's doing on a given day ("cleaning" supplies). He pretty much always has an aluminum baseball bat (along with a ball and glove, for plausibility) in the vehicle at all times.
I am trying to think of an interesting Mobster Name that Joe would be known as to the Rizzutos. Some initial thoughts: "Average Joe" (reflecting his unremarkable build and description) "Joey Mops" (on the thought that, based on his skill-set, that he might be a "fixer" who cleans up for the higher-ups in the organization (killing, disposing of bodies, removing trace evidence). "G.A. Joe" ("Guardian Angel/Government Agent Joe", assuming a brand new moniker placed on him when he accepted this mission, as recognition of the responsibility and nature of the assignment.) Any other suggestions?
I was thinking about making a character who is part of the Rizzuto mafia, which was headed by Vito Rizzuto in the 1990's. During his shady dealings, Vito Rizzuto became aware of "demonic things" moving around in the same shadows he operated: Newfoundland fisheries, Montreal warehouses, Toronto bank records, corporate charters, and computer databases. Vito Rizzuto negotiated an arrangement with the RCMP SERT (Delta Green division) to provide them one of his trusted associates (my character), as a pipeline for information the Rizzuto Family uncovers during their business deals, in exchange for "markers" to be used to get certain convictions overturned, or certain cases being thrown out of court or declared mistrials. Criminal or Program Manager professions might work for this concept, depending on whether my character is a "soldier" in the organization or a nephew or 2nd cousin of Vito, and therefore trying to become a "Made Man." I am thinking of using the name of an actual associate of the Rizzuto mafia who disappeared, and is presumed dead as of 2012, Guiseppe "Joe" Renda.
The nice thing about Pathfinder 1E and D&D 3.5 is that they are VERY compatible. How you change the encounters in Age of Worms depends on how much internal consistency you want in your campaign with the published Paizo source material. You can run it, as is, and it may not matter since the Adventure Path runs all the way up to level 20. The PCs will most likely retire at the end of the campaign, so if some not-officially-Paizo monsters show up from time to time, what harm does it actually cause? When I ran it years ago, (pre-Pathfinder), I changed Zyrxog to a Psion, instead of a sorcerer, since the rules existed and it made more sense. I also ran the adventure path in Kingdoms of Kalamar instead of Greyhawk. Do whatever feels right. Make the Drow Duergar instead. Make Zyrxog an Aboleth, or a Lich or a Synthesist Summoner. On the off-chance one or more of your players has read the Adventure Path, any changes you decide to make will keep them on their toes.
I have been yearning to try Reign of Winter. I like the idea of squaring off against Baba Yaga! I would say Rise of the Runelords, but at this point, if someone told me that AP was cursed, and no attempt to complete it as a PbP would ever succeed, I would believe it!
Ancestral Weapon is good, though not every DM allows it, so you may need to run it past GM Polyfrequencies. Armor Master: reduces your Armor Check Penalty by 1. Group Fighter: +1 trait bonus to flanking attacks. Light Sleeper: Need only 4 hours sleep per night. Militia Veteran: Select one of the following skills: Profession (soldier), Ride, or Survival. You gain a +1 trait bonus on checks with that skill, and it is always a class skill for you. Muscle of the Society: You gain a +2 trait bonus on Strength checks made to break doors and lift portcullises, and you treat your Strength score as 2 higher for the purpose of determining your carrying capacity.
Carriage Conversation: "Stubbornness, more than most character traits, seems to have a neutral quality about it. It is much like a tool. It is beneficial when used properly and harmful when not. There is something admirable about the person who holds fast to their principles, and does not let the ever-changing stream of public opinion simply push them along. However, stubbornness can also blind one to evidence that does not support one's existing view, and that is ultimately to one's own detriment."
Just one question for now: where did you get the Compulsion and Driving Goal flaws from? I have a copy of the original Vampire: Dark Ages rule book (1996, p. 279). That’s what I was referencing while making the character. If those flaws don’t exist anymore, I can drop them and figure something else out.
The thing is, aside from those who are already named, the AP assumes the rest of the crew you get is made up of nameless mooks. And unless I do something special with them, even the named NPCs just fade into the background. The notable exception is Kroop, who can serve as a knowledge base for the party for a while, yet. Fair enough. Mooks they shall be, then.
I would like you to consider me for a spot in your campaign. I am a long-time gamer and have been active on the Paizo Boards for over a decade. I have participated in 3 Rise of the Runelords PbPs, but none of them got much farther than the opening scene/encounter at the Swallowtail Festival before the GM either indicated he/she couldn't continue the campaign or just stopped posting all together with no warning. I am currently in 3 other PBPs on the boards, and I have an extremely reliable posting history (I have never flaked out on a campaign). Feel free to peruse the campaign tabs under my alias if you wish. As far as character concepts, I am open to whatever is needed. My favorite character classes to play are Bards and Inquisitors, but there is no character class I won't play. There are three characters under my alias that were created in the recruitment process for Rise of the Runelords (two were selected for campaigns that died due to GM vanishing, and the other was not selected by the recruiting GM) ETHAN SOWER is a cleric of Erastil who has recently come to Sandpoint for the Swallowtail Festival and the dedication of the new cathedral. Being the rural sort, Ethan sees Sandpoint as the "big city" and has come to town as a missionary to try and persuade these metropolitan types to embrace a simpler, purer lifestyle. BLIKX (Beatrice Blackenshere) is a stormborn sorceress and local to Sandpoint. She works as a tattoo artist, and is considered to be something of a minor nuisance by the sheriff and local populace - mostly because she lives with her uncle, who doesn't exactly keep tabs on her most of the time. ZOMERAAND is a universalist wizard who moved to Sandpoint shortly after the time of the fires and the Chopper thinking that is was a quiet little town where things weren't so hectic and loud. He has made a reputation for himself as a local know-it-all, and he spends a lot of time sitting in the book store with a small group of local bookworms trying to out do one another in knowledge of the obscure. Let me know if any of these characters are of interest, or if you might be interested in me (as a player) but with a different character.
What about 41 year olds that are 20 at heart? My sentiments exactly. I read the book when it first came out, and I loved it. Does it meet the definition of great literature? Heck no. It's pulp fiction, and frankly I don't care. It's still one of my favorite books. I thought it was a cool idea for a story to include references to the decade of my youth in a way that made them important to characters 60 years in the future who are roughly the same age I was in the 1980's. The book is a nostalgia trip for forty-something geeks, and I'm guessing that's all Ernest Cline intended it to be. He was probably as shocked as anyone that it got optioned for a film, and that Spielberg himself agreed to direct it.
I figure the movie will have a lot of 90's and early 2000's references because the film's producers want to make sure to grab the millennial market share. People like me, who grew up in the 80's are the ones grocery stores now program their Musak selections for (sad but true). For folks who have read the book already know that there was no race scene, no Napoleon riding a scorpion into battle, and none of the main characters had an avatar that looked like a orc-cyborg. These are changes the current crop of junior execs most likely demanded in lieu of the less visually exciting challenges the book provides. In the end, movies and books are never one-to-one. They can't be. As much as I love the book, if it were made into a completely faithful adaptation, there will be quite a few scenes that would bore the audience to tears. Watching even two or three straight minutes of our hero trying to beat a first or second generation console game (or worse, a Commodore 64 or TRS-80 game) would annoy even those of us who grew up on them. Some other challenges are even less cinematic. I mean, how much could you watch of:
Parzival quoting War Games or Monty Python's Holy Grail line by line and scene by scene? One change I would be okay with, if Ernie and the other screen-writers thought of it: Have the Rush 2112 Key Challenge be a game of Guitar Hero or Rock Band, where Parzival has to play 2112 up through "Discovery" to get the key, but only if the entire song is played to the end will the clue about the trick to opening the Crystal Gate be revealed. This scene would be a montage, of course. Again, no one (except me, perhaps) wants to watch 20+ minutes of a kid playing 2112 on a game controller shaped like a guitar. |
