Female Merchant

Egder's page

19 posts. Alias of Raging Bull.



Sczarni

Chapter I: Paint it black

At times like these, when dangers beyond understanding are close and there is no obvious way of going against it, humans tend towards two possible behaviours. Either they ignore the problem alltogether, acting like they always did. Either they seek to forget it by doing what they are best at, hoping that those who are leading them do the same. As a result, the Shark's Tooth, local sailor tavern in the city of Globeto was bustling with activity. It was one of the first warm nights of the year, and the city of Globeto was bathing in moonlight.

Refugees and locals had enough misery to share for an ale or two, to enjoy some small gambling, to seek company from a courtesan, or to listen to the music of a Bard. Those who couldn't stand the crowd went outside, either for a romantic walk either they went home alone. Inside, the Bard gave away his best song of the night. Many Valesmen knew the song, some even sang along.

The Proud Sea God
Lived happy with his wife
He lead peacefull life
And loved with all his heart
And loved with all his heart

The Dull Sea God
Was tired of all the peace
He left his wife with pleas
And travelled overseas
And travelled overseas

The Proud Sea God
Saw a pretty pair of eyes
He left his husbands vows
And settled overseas
And settled overseas

The Dull Sea God
Got tired of it again
He went back to his den
But found another man
But found another man

The Proud Sea God
Waged war against the man
He gave him all he can
But lost it in the end
But lost it in the end

The Dull Sea God
Is angry with his wife
Should he return to life
Storm over the Vales
Storm over the Vales

When the song was done, the audience cheered and many coins were thrown to the bard. He gave his thanks to the public, put his instrument away and went for an ale himself.

Sczarni

Welcome and congratulations on making it to the campaign!

For starters I'm going to give a few rules, tips and advices for you to use while playing. I'm certain some of these are no-brainers and I'm very sorry to bore the more experienced players, but I think it's good to say anyway. Everyone is happy when you know what you're up to. Ah, and do forgive me for the silly comments/examples in italics.

  • 1. "Suddenly the rogue falls dead. The alchemist sees nothing strange and concludes the rogue died from a heart attack. A few miles further, Light smiles and closes his Death Note."
    As I said in the recruiting topic, I expect you to post daily. No problem if you got some busy days, I'll have some of those as well, but just tell in advance. I'll kick those absent for 48h without notice, just because the other players deserve to be able to go on with the game.

  • 2. "You can shout white all you want, if I say it's black, it's black, even if reality says it's grey."
    I'm very open to suggestions about your character, the setting and how to play. Just do in a respectfull way and don't forget it's me who decides in the end. You can also send suggestions in private to: dm.raging.bull@gmail.com

  • 3. "The Barbarian uses Climb. He rolls a 3 tough, so he falls to the ground. And takes damage of 2 HP from falling."
    Limit the ooc talk as much as you can in the Gameplay discussion and come up with good descriptions of what is actually happening. Much more fun to read. If what you have to say ooc is longer as the narrative, consider putting it up in the discussion thread or putting up a spoiler.

  • 4. "The Bard stepped forward and made up a story on the spot to try and get past the guard. You don't remember the details, nor everything he said, but it included a sick person and the party having the necessary ingredients for that person."
    rolls:
    Bluff Check: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (1) + 8 = 9

    I like this way of posting since it further "hides" the gameplay and puts the focus on the RP. Feel free to use it, I won't be angry if you don't. I just send a Tarrasque at you ^^ (kidding, really, this is just a tip for those who want to further put the focus on the narrative)

  • 5. "This is called a game. We use it to relax when not doing our job and to have some fun."
    Need to be more clear? Game and fun are central here. No one dies when it doesn't go the way you'd like it and we all try and have fun.

Can't think of anything else. Ah yes. Doublecheck your languages. I changed the first rule of bonus languages for divine and arcane casters so you might reconsider before you start playing. Your choice is final from the moment we enter the gameplay.

Bonuses will follow. They take different forms, not all are traits as I said initially, but you all will have some reward for the stories.


Prologue: Invasion of Tintalas

Some say it was inevitable and that our great empire was already a succes by avoiding this fate for a thousand years. Others claim we brought it upon ourselves by our pride or even speak of a divine punishment. Whatever the explanation, the hordes of the sea have come and our walls have fallen. They have taken thousands of lives, defied our Empress and plundered our cities. Only we are left, in the city of Babil, ironically "Gate of the Godess". She has become silent. And we wonder... How did the horde of the sea do this? Why were our Empress and our magics not enough to hold them back? Was the horde just lucky or are other causes at hand? Why has the Godess fallen silent? Why do our allies do not answer? We have sent messages to the Olan Vales, yet no sign of help. Have they all forsaken us?

Mirthon the Wise, High Priest under Empress Ishtaranian II

Setting::

We have what used to be a mighty Empire on the brink of collapse, Tintalas, and their allies and trade partners, the Olan Vales. The players start in the city of Globeto, capital of the Olan Vales.

The Olan Vales: A merchant federation of cities, compare it to the historical Hanze in northern Germany, or the Italian Republics in the late middle ages.
Tintalas: A large and centralised Empire with an Empress, incarnation of the Sun Godess, at its head and High Priests directly serving her.
Technology: Late middle ages/early renaissance. Bombs, early guns (think of muskets rather than rifles or revolvers) and the usual fantasy stuff.
Religion: A Pantheon in the Olan Vales, Monotheism in Tintalas. In fact, most of the Tintalas people venerate their Empress as a living godess. Only refugees dare to openly doubt she is a godess. As for the Pantheon, feel free to use the Pathfinder Pantheon for now or come up with a good homebrew that convinces me.
Magic: In Tintalas, magic used to be a blessing, in the Olan Vales it's considered a curse. It frightens people and many Valesmen are openly or secretly hostile towards magic-users, causing difficulties in the refugee population.
Recent history: See prologue. Refugees in large number look for shelter in the Olan Vales.
Cultures Tintalas is a rather Lawfull Neutral society, the Olan Vales are Chaotic Neutral. They have a long history of rivalry but have never invaded the other and joined forces when eliminating threats to both civilizations, untill now.
Races: There are other advanced races in the world, but your character has only heard myths and legends of them. Perhaps even heard a traveller speaking about them, but never encountered another civilized race before.
Other: Feel free to ask.

Characters - Rules:

-Starting level: 1
-Races: Human only.
-Classes: All official* base classes, core classes & archetypes.
-Feats: All official* feats allowed.
-Abilities: Point buy 20, no ability under 9 before modifiers
-Traits: 2 official* traits
-Money: 250gp

*Official = From the Pathfinder PRD

Background:

Feel free to pick either a native Valesmen or a Tintalian refugee. You're free to agree or to disagree with your proper civilizations' culture, (you can be a chaotic Tintalian who is very happy with the freedom in the Vales, or a lawfull Valesmen who would love an established power in the Vales for either good or bad).

Tintalian characters have had no personal contact with the invaders. You fled before seeing any actual combat.
Valesmen characters do not know what to make of current events, hearing many tales of the refugees but no one seems to have actually seen the enemy.

Make sure your background story includes:
-your most valuable posession and why you hold it dear
-the name of a relative, a friend or lover, be it alive or dead

To motivate you a bit, I give a minor bonus trait to good/original character backgrounds.

The Players:

I'm looking for 4-6 people willing to bring this world alive. Recruitment will depend on the amount of interest, more info will follow soon.

I expect the players to post at least daily. If you don't post for 2 days without noticing beforehand your character dies.

The DM:

I'm a 3.5 player and discovered Pathfinder only recently. I don't have much experience DM'ing, but this is not my first campaign either. I've done some forum RP before, but this will be my first PbP campaign. What I enjoy most is the RP part: creating a world and making others part of it. I'm not native English so I'm sorry for spelling/grammar mistakes. I do hope the players will have a wonderfull time and look forward to start this.