Just in case the situation escalates to violence, and I am by no means trying to insinuate that it will, Venthrus, you'll probably want to update your character to level 2 like the rest of the orphans.
"Well we certainly don't intend to attack you. Especially if there really are some adults to attend to. Instead I'll cut you a deal. Drop your weapons and we'll allow you to pass." At a motion from the captain some of the bandits begin moving to get around the log barricade. "Of course, if you plan to play heroes we'll gladly play along - although, fair warning, we do play rough."
"They says they're just orphans," the trap-tripper shouts back.
"They may say they're just orphans but they're quite heavily armed orphans at that," Borosha eyes you warily and then draws a javelin to point in your direction. "What business have you children out here in the woods? Furthermore, if we're talking cost versus benefit ratios, I'd equate the effort in robbing a group of children with taking candy from a baby. And you clearly carry possessions worth far more than a baby's candy."
Shortly after Ren lets loose a clump of gravel, someone in the bushes lets loose a clump of expletives.
"We been spotted!"
You all just barely manage to turn in time to catch the man in the bushes cut a nearby vine. Before any of you can react further a huge log comes crashing down from the canopy. Although most of you are too far ahead to be in any danger, Ren takes a nasty clipping to the shoulder as he moves just a little too slow. 6 points of damage to Ren. Furthermore, the log landed right in the middle of the expedition, cutting you off from the adults behind.
"We have been spotted." The trail ahead opens up into a sizeable clearing, the other end of which is blocked by another felled tree. Atop this tree stands a fearsome looking woman, armed to her alarmingly white teeth. "'We been' is simply incorrect, although honestly 'we have been' isn't much better, as it uses the passive voice. 'They have spotted us,' is the much stronger word choice."
From the edges of the clearing emerge five more brigands - two more crouch, bows drawn, in the undergrowth surrounding the clearing. The man who set off the trap still has yet to move from his hiding spot. "How come you always pick on me for the lessons, huh? Wait a minute, what's this? Captain Borosha, these is just children, I coulda sworn there's more of them a second ago. We been tricked! I mean...they been tricked us!"
Although the other bandits have their weapons drawn, they hesitate, looking to their captain for guidance.
No sympathies necessary, I'd already been searching for a new one and I was barely working there anyways and I've got enough savings to support myself for a good bit in the meantime.
"Trees, trees, trees! Is there nothing to talk about but trees!" The Professor suddenly seems to be paying attention to your discussion of dreams and trees and hastily moves to change the subject, beginning a (probably lengthy) diatribe about the strange carved stones and images which have been discovered in the forest and are allegedly cursed.
Perception DC 18:
Trees, trees, trees! Nothing to see but trees and the man hiding just off the trail in the undergrowth you just past.
P.S. Some of you have made skill checks that I've seemingly ignored - I haven't in fact ignored these skill checks, but rather introduced the information that would've been gained from them via other characters in an attempt to simulate the fact that you're all mere children.
Blast! The most convenient time to post is always never! I've just been fired from my job (for sleeping) and tomorrow I'm flying to New York (not for sleeping). Posts may be a bit slow this week, but we shall prevail! We, here meaning we the players, not the characters, who most certainly won't prevail.
Eventually, the Professor reluctantly calls the innkeeper back so that the orphans may be fed, and the six of you settle in at a separate table to tuck into some barely tolerable scraps.
You overhear the adventurers discussing some alarming news about a group of traders that left the Avauntz Inn a few weeks ago but never arrived at their destination on the southern edge of the forest. A single survivor of the group of traders was found, hopelessly mad. Apparently he was kept at the inn for a few days, but disappeared in the night and hasn’t been heard from since.
Shortly after the meal is finished and you are whisked away to the barn for (hopefully) a night of peaceful slumber.
===
Agana:
Last night you dreamt of flocks of black birds, like the crows that the party has already seen, flap through tree branches, staring and calling out with human voices.
Aisling:
Last night you dreamt of hunting some great unknown beast, but you woke up before the dream could reach any sort of conclusion.
Fezont:
Last night you dreamt you were alone in the darkness, surrounded by flitting movement and black figures that could be glimpsed only vaguely.
Leera:
Last night you dreamt you were chained to an altar, menaced by shadowy figures with bone knives and necklaces that resembled human figures crafted from tree twigs.
Ren:
Last night you dreamt of a meal far more delicious than the one you'd had previously.
Venthrus:
Last night you dreamt that rats had crept into the barn where you slept and put on a very disturbing song and dance number in their mysterious rat language.
After a night of decidedly un-peaceful slumber in the barn, the expedition sets off once more. Within a few minutes, the safe haven of the Avauntz Inn vanishes among the trees and you begin to feel truly alone. The party moves slowly westward along a narrow, overgrown track that leads straight toward the foothills in the Quillande Ferosc. The rain continues with steady intensity, the land rises slowly, and as you go the trees grow thicker and even more ancient.
"...and I'll have you know that most of these trees haven't been felled in centuries! Legend has it that the Ancient Ones drew power from their wild spirits. As to the veracity of these claims, we can merely speculate, but in my professional opinion..." Sarrus is taking the opportunity to give a long-winded and impromptu history lesson with none of the other academics seem too interested in. Indeed, the adults seem to have slept even worse than the children.
At one point Sylva interjects, "I'm almost inclined to believe it, last night I had the queerest dream in which we were all marching through the forest just as we are now. For some reason I felt quite nervous, as if I knew we were being watched, but when I looked around I saw nothing. Then my point of view shifted, and I saw us, as if I was the observer, as if I was one of the trees."
Not waiting for any cues but I've definitely fallen behind on my pacing goals - I've had some mysterious matters to attend to these past days. I'm going to try to pick up the pace this week.
Wacky weekend - the folks were visiting and I've been too busy entertaining to post anything (not that I care about any of you horrid children anyways). I'll get something up tonight or tomorrow morning.
As Aisling sets out, she's stopped by a pipe-smoking man relaxing just outside the inn. "Going out for a hunt are we? I'm not sure what surprises me more, the fact that a girl so young is out so late or the fact that you look like you actually know what you're doing. So here's a hunting tip: don't. I ventured out just west of these parts the other day and there wasn't a single bit of game to be found. What I did find was that someone," with a lean in for emphasis, "or something stole all my gear and spoiled all my food while I was away from my camp."
"The question is not whether you know eachother," Professor Togren calls out from the group of adults of horseback, "But why you bickering children would want to know eachother in the first place. I've brought you all along to keep us safe, not find to make friends and meet new Wizard Chess partners." Wizard Chess (not to be confused with Wizard's Chess, part of another intellectual property entirely) is a game of Togren's own devising, which he has painstakingly and unsuccessfully tried to teach all of you. It's nothing like chess and only thinly related to any sort of wizardry, rather relying on an absurdly complicated set of rules which always seem to conveniently serve the Professor.
Nymea breaks the awkward silence that follows. "Why not leave the children to their games just this once? Surely they all must be excited at the prospect of being in the wilderness for the first time. Besides, my faint elven senses tell me that something lies ahead." In spite of her ominous words, the only thing looming in the distance is a brief travel montage which saves everyone a lot of hassle.
===
Now, in the depths of the forest, morning and afternoon are scarcely distinguishable, but your body tells you that it is late in the day when the road turns west, revealing a venerable wooden building with a gabled roof and a stable. Smoke rises from its chimney, and a moss-covered sign outside announces that you have arrived at the Avauntz Inn.
The Inn is a welcome change from the deprivation of the past few days, although it quickly becomes apparent that due to lack of rooms, you six will be consigned to the barn tonight.
Before going to sleep the Professor and the other scholars stop by the dining hall where they grab a table and have their orders taken by a young girl, presumably the innkeeper's daughter. Although none of you were invited, you notice a group of colorful looking adventurer types sitting at the bar.
The relative safety of the Yolbiac Vale’s main road vanishes quickly behind you, and soon you find that the Quillande Road runs through a dark, threatening forest. You are deep in gloom, with only wan grey light and fat droplets of icy rainwater filtering down from a grim sky. The trees are old, with black bark and heavy branches sprouting thick needles. The only living things you see are black crows that roost among the boughs and stare coldly down on you, flying off only when Regis Tenebro wings pinecones at them.
The track ahead of you is narrow and in places overgrown, or blocked by fallen trees, requiring frustrating delays to clear. From time to time you ride past weathered waystones, thick with moss, their inscriptions barely legible, referring to settlements long lost to time — Timberval 120 leagues. There are a few newer stones as well — Avauntz Inn 20 leagues.
Just checking in to see if Venthrus is all set before getting into the adventure proper.
Gedney smiles brightly at his fellow gnomish traveller. Well, my boy, I'm not quite involved in the "technical details" side of the expedition, but I assume it should be no more than a quick jaunt from here. A few many hundred paces. A pleasant saunter through the wilderness." After giving such a disappointingly vague answer, he begins happily humming to himself.
Note to self: Never have another character smile brightly or hum happily again.
The day dawns, and with dawn come soaking rains. The morning of your departure is miserable — even with scraps of night-fog still clinging to low ground and tree branches, the rain pours down from the sky like the wrath of an angry god determined to dissuade you from your course of action.
The next several days prove uneventful, for the “road” to Coelum Town (SEE-lum) is not heavily traveled. You are fortunate enough to find inns and shelter along the way, through the mountain pass into the Yolbiac Vale, and after four days of hard travel you eventually reach the spot where the narrow and ill-maintained Quillande Road breaks off from the main road into the forested foothills known as the Quillande Ferosc.
-----
Aside from you poor orphans, other members of the expedition include the following:
A dedicated scholar, Sarrus Togren has spent the last 20 years intensely studying the ancient history of the Sinnar Coast region with special attention to the Yolbiac Vale and its most obscure inhabitants. He sincerely believes that it's earliest human inhabitants, the Ancient Ones, possessed significant knowledge that could benefit modern civilization, and dismisses tales that they consorted with demons and evil creatures as meaningless folklore or outright lies. Sarrus is tall and spare, with sparse grey hair, a wispy beard and a studious, thoughtful manner. A true friend to orphans everywhere Togren's kindness and generosity is legendary, as he has adopted several orphans purely out of the goodness of his heart. Because sarcasm is difficult to convey through text, I'd like to clarify that that last sentence was entirely untrue, other than the adopting orphans part. The professor's manic obsession with academia leaves little room for kindness and his primary goal of adoption would seem to be access to unpaid housecleaning, butlery, etc.
Quiet, intense, intelligent and even beautiful in a reserved, subtle way, Sarrus Togren’s half-elven academic assistant Nymea Goswynn. She dresses and behaves modestly, spending most of her time with books or assisting the professor in his researches. She endeavors to keep him insulated from worries or trouble and anyone who wishes to speak with Togren usually needs to go through her first. Thankfully, Nymea is unsarcastically kind and one of the few who don't point and whisper behind the academy orphans backs. If metaphors were still in fashion, one might describe her as a faint ray of hope in an otherwise dark, dark, dark...er...place?
Sigra Ironshoulders is a professor of engineering and geography who is along on the expedition to do some mapping and surveying. Like many dwarves, her manner is gruff but ultimately comradely. Physically she is solidly built with broad shoulders, strong arms and red braided hair shot with grey. She wears her chain shirt at all times without apparent fatigue, and carries a masterfully-crafted warhammer inscribed with the runic symbols of her clan, because every expedition needs a ridiculous dwarven stereotype.
Maiesse Tolivant is an athletic, resourceful young woman who has some experience in the wilderness, and has picked up a few survival skills. She jumped at the chance to go on this expedition, since she dreams of one day being a freelance adventurer. I sincerely hope for her own sake that she isn't too dead set on those dreams.
Gedney Foulkes is a gnomish student of arcane history, Gedney hopes to find new information about ancient spellcasting and magical procedures. Like most gnomes he is friendly and almost pathologically optimistic. He and his enthusiasm are about to learn the meaning of the phrase "sorely tested."
Sincere, bearded and ever so slightly overweight, Drew Connat is an enthusiastic if undistinguished history student, but he is totally unprepared for life on the road, frequently falling off his horse or losing the trail. There is absolutely no way that this can end well. Poor Drew.
Another of Professor Togren’s history students, Sylva Montrose is bright, bookish and friendly, with freckles and strawberry-blonde hair. She holds a great distrust of beautiful half-elves (cough, cough, Nymea, cough, cough), although between you and me I think it's safe to say that she's just jealous.
No one is really sure why Regis Tenebro is here. He’s dark, sallow and surly, constantly wrapped in a dark hooded cloak, usually complaining about conditions or grunting in monosyllables. The less said about him, the better.
Terry and Harry bear tents, blankets, rope, tools, and sufficient food for a week in the wilderness. Their interests include grain and long walks. They are mules.
I've been wracked by fire, ahem, fever these past few days, so I'm going to let you all stew in nervous anticipation a little longer until I've picked the party and set everything up.
in the original post you said small was optional, that might be the reason. either that or the recent mythweavers data loss messed everything up. either way i'll check it and report back sometime tonight or tommorrow morn
Small is optional, I thought that you had taken the option.
Few mistakes I've caught looking over character sheets:
Aisling, your ability scores don't match up on your profile/mythweavers sheet, double check them. 15 point buy, +2 dex -2 str for being small.
Agana, look at your ability scores as well. When I add them up you have one more point to spend. I think you forgot to factor in the small size ability score adjustments.
Leera, don't forget that you only get one trait unless you take a drawback, due to your limited experience.
Fezont, I don't see any trait on your character at all.
Gloom and doom most certainly might,
Appear in the posts that I am composing.
Brace yourselves for Saturday night,
When recruitment is most certainly closing.
Just how long have you been playing these games with people like me, anyway?
Don't we all play such games from the moment we learn to walk and talk? These same games merely increase in complexity as we get older. You might say that we're destined to play such games from the moment we are born, or in Our case, the moment We aren't.
Still not my Fifth Question: Since the children's "guardian" does not like babies, what is the youngest level of youthfulness you would like to see? Obviously this could vary depending on the weird maturation rates of the various races.
To make it simple, let's use stages instead of age ranges. Infancy and Toddlerhood are clearly "baby" range. Would Elementary age still be too young, or are you looking mostly for Pre-adolescent or Adolescent age?
Late elementary through pre-adolescent/adolescent.
Why did Samurai Jack never clue in to Akuu's color scheme and attack him right away?
Very poor perception checks.
DarkestHeart wrote:
So you bring us all here and send us off on this whole damn thing but you don't tell us anything about yourself? Superiority complex much? Ha! Anyway... at least tell me if you have ever read the Tomes of Steven Erikson, the Malazan Book of the Fallen epics? If you haven't I'd read it. Especially later on in the series there is a bit that is focused around Orphans. Might give you a sick kick!
Will you allow multiple concepts per submitting player?
It sounds heavily suggested the PCs are younger than adulthood, but some races take much longer in years to reach this. As every year of physical existence could equate to worldly experience to some degree, is there a maximum number of years of actual life you prefer we do not cross?
Contingent on the answer to the prior question, if anyone submits a worthy concept including a half-breed (aasimar, tiefling, dhampir, etc.), would you be using Advanced Race Guide first edition ages or second edition for youth?
Are dead parents allowed to now be undead (whereabouts presumably unknown naturally)?
One submission per player.
This fact has always annoyed me in general. Elves must get held back in school an awful lot if it takes them decades to learn what humans do in years. But to answer the question, I leave judgement on this one up to you, be any age you want so long as your character is definitively a child.
Again, your choice.
An curious interpretation of "dead parents." I'll allow it.
The Mercator projection. It makes Greenland so beautifully large, as it rightfully should be. Anyone who tells you otherwise is clearly in on the conspiracy, but you didn't hear that from me. All glory to the (spiritual) homeland!
Phillip Gastone wrote:
Paper of plastic?
A tough question indeed, which I'm allowed to answer only thanks to the recent declassification. The convenience of suffocation via plastic bag almost sways me, but I'm a sucker for nostalgia, and oft recall those fond days where the paper bag ripped during an attempted strangulation which devolved into a good old fashioned knife and/or gunfight.
Are we on Golarion? If so, where on it? I've found myself with an intelligence of 12, so I'll have a second language, and I'd like to pick something that makes sense.
Alternate setting - Borderland Provinces. You all come from a major metropolitan city, Troye, so any language is really feasible. I'll provide some information below on said city. The entire expedition does take place outside of the city however, so consider it completely unnecessary to enjoy the adventure.
Troye:
Appearance
The high granite walls of Troye are resplendent with banners, and lines of colorful shields are affixed to the battlements, representing the various noble houses of the Duchy of the Rampart. Great towers stand at intervals above the walls, some crowned with trebuchets and ballistae, others with high, pointed roofs. Over it all rises the vast citadel of the Duke, greatest and most formidable structure in a city designed for war.
Description
Troye is the capital city of the Duchy of the Rampart, founded in the Hyperborean era. The city is a major destination city for caravans, whose merchants sell their cargoes here to buy goods from faraway places for the return journey. Merchants planning on making the whole trek from the Kingdom of Foere into the provinces and back (most likely to Manas, but sometimes to Endhome) stop here to enjoy one last taste of city comforts before heading off into the wild.
This great metropolis at the far reaches of the Kingdoms of Foere offers a vast array of interesting sights, sounds, cultures, clothes, music, merriment, purchases, people, and pickpockets. It is wise to keep one hand on the belt pouch when walking through crowds in Troye. Tourist attractions include the University of Subtleties, the Great Stone Rabbit in Lapin Square, the smoke-snorting iron bull atop the temple of Mithras, the great Marchantal market, the dried remains of the six tall thieves (at the Citadel’s Gate), and the Court of Thespians.
In any of the city’s hundred small markets, mostly temporary affairs blocking crossroads, one can find herb-crusted breads, baskets of the dark purple, dream-inducing apples grown in the Yolbiac Vale, puppets, trained cats, dwarf-crafted trinkets, colorful surcoats, stolen items available for quick sale, clay idols painted with symbols, and all manner of merchandise culled from traveling merchants of the world.
Shells are a particularly popular item of jewelry, a curiosity in a city so far from the sea, and are often seen adorning wealthy merchants and nobles when they ride through the city’s narrow streets. Pearls are also much more highly prized than mined gemstones.
Government
Troye is governed by a Lord-Mayor, whose position is equivalent in status to a count (in other words, higher than a baron but not ranked as high as a duke). The Duke Palatine appoints the Lord-Mayor, but a council of burgesses elected by the city’s landowners handle most of the job of managing the city. In the past, Lords-Mayor who continued to make unpopular decrees were stopped in their tracks by the citizens who shut down the gates, blocked streets, and started arresting people loyal to the unpopular mayor. So even though the city is not technically self-governed, there is a practical limit to what the Duke can impose upon his capital city without its consent.
Factions
Troye is the headquarters or an important area of operations for a number of different organizations. Principal among these, of course, is the city’s government and city guard. Others include the Council of Guilds, which regulates the city’s commerce; the Most Honorable Guild of Thieves, which regulates the city’s crime and underworld; the Church of Vanitthu and the Temple of Jamboor, both important players in the city’s politics and spiritual life; the city chapterhouse of the Order of the Swan; and the Guild of Magisters.
When playing, what's your favorite Pathfinder class for your characters?
So much to acquire and so little will to acquire it. We're all drowning in our own bathtubs, knowing that all we need to do to escape is lift our heads above the water. And yet we can't. We can't have anything without cost. Innate power which needn't be studied nor paid for is truly the ultimate escapist fantasy panacea for the dreary lives we real people lead.
I had this funny concept of a levitating magic (Witch maybe, or Telekineticist) infant, but it would be impossible at level 2. Unless you wanted to somehow homebrew it (I would swear not to abuse it). Perhaps a 20' fly speed where I can't get more than 5' feet off the ground in exchange for the human bonus feat and cutting land speed to 10'?
Professor Togren hates babies, so this request I sadly can't accommodate.
While I would prefer to submit a Swashbuckler because they fit the daring type I had in mind, I suppose I can tool a rogue to fit a similar type. Would you prefer unchained or original?
No preference. Just to clarify, swashbucklers are allowed.
===================
The Insidious Introduction
===================
The Yolbiac Vale is known for its strange secrets, but has largely been ignored by historians from outside the Vale itself — though one scholar, Sarrus Togren of the University of Subtleties in the city of Troye, believes the region was once home to an ancient and learned civilization. Long dismissed as a crackpot by his peers Togren has, with the aid of his loyal assistant Nymea Goswynn, at last obtained funding to lead a research expedition to the Vale, specifically a region known locally as the Quillande Ferosc. He now has everything he needs save guards for the hazardous trek into a wilderness region of the Yolbiac.
In most stories, this is where the professor might hire a band of well-equipped adventurers to handily defeat (murder) any and all problems which come their way. Unfortunately, our dear professor is short on cash, so instead he's decided to rely on the aid of several suspiciously capable orphans who came into his care after their parents all died in bizarre and tragic circumstances. Orphans whom he expects to perform all sorts of unsavory and potentially life-threatening tasks without any hope of payment on account of his "charity." This is where you come in.
=================
The Worrisome Welcome
=================
If you've come to apply for a light-hearted game about noble, monster-slaying, treasure-hunting heroes, leave. This game will center around the mysterious and horrific escapades of a group of orphans unwillingly thrust into danger, similar to Lemony Snicket's Series of Unfortunate Events books.
If you get easily attached to your characters, don't. This game will be a one shot, not to mention the high probability that some of you will die before we finish anyways.
If any of the above sounds fun to you for some reason, then I'll presume you're the kind of person who doesn't get invited to dinner parties because your dark sense of "humor" tends to dampen the mood. This game might just be for you (although I still won't be inviting you to any of my dinner parties).
======================
The Callous Character Creation
======================
Starting Age: You are all unmistakably children. No ability score modifiers to keep things simple, although you may change your size to small (with the usual +2 dex/-2 str) if you wish to play a younger child. Small races stay small.
Starting Level: 2
Races: Core by default, anything else needs approval with concept.
Classes: All.
Ability Scores: After much deliberation, I've decided to generously allow 15 point buy, instead of the original 10.
Hit Points: Max at 1st, half rounded up at 2nd.
Wealth: Funds are tight on the expedition and as such you only receive average for your class as if you were a 1st level character.
Traits: ONLY 1! Drawback for a second.
Background: The only requirement is that you answer these five questions:
How did your parents die?
What is your greatest fear?
What is your greatest wish? I ask merely so that I can ensure that it doesn't accidentally get granted during the game.
Who is your least favorite scholar and why is it Professor Togren?
An untimely computer crash caused me to lose my original post and I've forgotten the fifth question. Instead I'd like you to ask me a question about myself - it can be absolutely any sort of question as long as it hasn't been asked.
Etc: Maps on Roll20. Submission deadline to be decided.
===================
The Sickly Spoiler:
Just like the futures of six unlucky orphans, there's nothing much here.
