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Campaign Synopsis/Background

Murder most foul. Not of an adventurer, or a noble, or even a king – but the murder of an entire nation. Once a savage land of fiercely painted warriors and witches, the nation of Sarkoris was brutally murdered in 4606 AR. The death of Aroden saw the appearance of the Worldwound, a gaping gateway to the Abyss. Demons spewed forth. Cities fell. From Iz to Undarin to Storasta, the very land became warped and twisted.
The church of Iomedae, appalled by the demonic invasion, declared the Mendevian Crusades in order to drive back the demons. There have been four Crusades, each less glorious than its predecessor. The Fourth Crusade did not end as much as it petered out with no real progress made against the demonic invasion. The wardstones – menhirs erected along the West Sellen and Moutray rivers – are the only things that keep the demons contained within Sarkoris. Yet the dream lives on – the dream to reclaim a nation lost, to drive the demons back to the abyss in the name of Aroden and Iomedae. Adventurers continue to pour into the border cities, looking to join the Mendev Crusades – for Glory, for Redemption, for a chance to change the world!

The Vision:

Party of 4-6 (Humans)
All different classes – travelling to Kenabres to join the Crusades.

Majority of the group knows each other, either shared adventures, comrades in arms (former soldiers etc.), grew up in the same town etc. Define relationships with each other.

Define how you want the character developed (i.e. who will the character be at lvl 20?) along with his/her goal/motivation.
Overarching theme will be redemption/betrayal – evil can be redeemed just as those with the purest of intentions can do bad things.

Combat will be cinematic rather than tactical.
‘Social’ and NPC interactions will play a key factor over pure hack n’ slash.

Emphasis placed on professions/crafting skills for supplies etc. Self-sufficiency will be an important factor.

Downtime activities and mass combat will be factored in using selected sections from Ultimate Campaign (TBD).

Possible rotating leadership role within the group?

Crunch

Party of 6
Standard 20 point buy (btwn 8- 18 after racial)
2 traits – one picked from Core or APG etc. Check with me for the second as it will be customized.
125gp starting gear

The prison carriage rocked as it raced across the rough path approaching Branderscar Prison. You forlornly look out at the former coastal castle turned prison, its main spire reaching out to the dusky sky. Your thoughts turn inwards, contemplating the circumstances that brought you here today.
“Guilty!” the judge had intoned, frowning behind a stern face, almost glad to be rid of you. Branderscar Prison. The sentence had but one meaning. You were deemed wicked and irredeemable.
“Take a good look scum,” the guard’s mocking voice breaks through your thoughts. “That’s the last sight of the free world you’ll ever see!” The guard and his companion break into hearty laughter as the shades are pulled down on the prison carriage, leaving you in the dark – alone with your dark thoughts.
Shortly, the carriage rolls to a stop and the doors are thrown open. Before you have a moment to adjust, rough hands grab at you and a hood is thrown over your head . You hear shackles snap in place around your wrists and legs as you are half-carried, half-dragged by guards who have done this countless times before.
The hood comes off and you find yourself in a small room, being held down by two guards as a third, this man, approaches you holding a red hot branding iron. The cruel smirk on his face makes his intentions obvious.
Please ensure your first post includes how your character reacted to this. Stoic? Sullenly accepting? Resisted? Howled with pain? Bargained? etc.
You are branded upon your arm with a runic F. The mark signifies ‘forsaken’ and the painful scar is indelible proof that each of you has betrayed the great and eternal love of Mitra and his chosen mortal vassals.
“Take this filth out of my sight. Justice will be served soon enough!” he proclaims as the hood goes back up over your head, blocking all sight. A sharp blow on the back of your head and you lose track of the next few hours.
Upon awakening, you find yourself chained and shackled in a communal cell, dressed in nothing but filthy, tattered rags. Manhandled and mistreated, any finery you once possessed is either ruined or
long lost.

Please remove all equipment, money, armor, curved blades, hidden doodads, spell components etc. etc. from your inventory. Adjust your AC and other stats accordingly. You have NOTHING – not even the freebie outfit most characters start out wearing.

No special treatment has been given any prisoner – male or female, commoner or noble – all of the forsaken are bound and imprisoned together.

Your feet are secured by iron cuffs tethered by one long chain. Your arms are secured by manacles to the wall behind you. A guard is posted right outside the cell day and night. Little thought is given to long term accommodations. At Branderscar, justice comes swift and sure.

Escape seems hopeless. You have been well searched and every attempt to conceal anything on your person has failed. And if you could somehow slip your bonds and fly out of this prison, where would you go? Who from your former life would want anything to do with the forsaken? Despised, alone and shackled – all that you can do now is await your doom. For each of you, your old life is over. For each of you, hope is a fading memory. For each of you, justice will be fairly meted. And who can blame fair Talingarde after what each of you has done?

You were brought into the same cell in the following order anywhere from a few hours to a day apart: Charlie, Darvik, Gregor, Avingen, Jasper and finally, Morlos – the earliest prisoner was about 4 days ago, the most recent, just a few minutes ago. Any eidolons/familiars/minions are currently unsummoned. You may wish to exercise discretion in trying to communicate with those. Magic users – you have your spells memorized BUT no components or books handy. Same discretion/judgement advice applies. Go ahead and make your first posts – appearances, reaction to branding, to each other etc. etc. Game on!

The prison carriage rocked as it raced across the rough path approaching Branderscar Prison. You forlornly look out at the former coastal castle turned prison, its main spire reaching out to the dusky sky. Your thoughts turn inwards, contemplating the circumstances that brought you here today.
“Guilty!” the judge had intoned, frowning behind a stern face, almost glad to be rid of you. Branderscar Prison. The sentence had but one meaning. You were deemed wicked and irredeemable.
“Take a good look scum,” the guard’s mocking voice breaks through your thoughts. “That’s the last sight of the free world you’ll ever see!” The guard and his companion break into hearty laughter as the shades are pulled down on the prison carriage, leaving you in the dark – alone with your dark thoughts.
Shortly, the carriage rolls to a stop and the doors are thrown open. Before you have a moment to adjust, rough hands grab at you and a hood is thrown over your head . You hear shackles snap in place around your wrists and legs as you are half-carried, half-dragged by guards who have done this countless times before.
The hood comes off and you find yourself in a small room, being held down by two guards as a third, this man, approaches you holding a red hot branding iron. The cruel smirk on his face makes his intentions obvious.
Please ensure your first post includes how your character reacted to this. Stoic? Sullenly accepting? Resisted? Howled with pain? Bargained? etc.
You are branded upon your arm with a runic F. The mark signifies ‘forsaken’ and the painful
scar is indelible proof that each of you has betrayed the great and eternal love of Mitra and his chosen mortal vassals.
“Take this filth out of my sight. Justice will be served soon enough!” he proclaims as the hood goes back up over your head, blocking all sight. A sharp blow on the back of your head and you lose track of the next few hours.
Upon awakening, you find yourself chained and shackled in a communal cell, dressed in nothing but filthy, tattered rags. Manhandled and mistreated, any finery you once possessed is either ruined or
long lost.

Please remove all equipment, money, armor, curved blades, hidden doodads, spell components etc. etc. from your inventory. Adjust your AC and other stats accordingly. You have NOTHING – not even the freebie outfit most characters start out wearing.

No special treatment has been given any prisoner – male or female, commoner or noble – all of the forsaken are bound and imprisoned together.

Your feet are secured by iron cuffs tethered by one long chain. Your arms are secured by manacles to the wall behind you. A guard is posted right outside the cell day and night. Little thought is given to long term accommodations. At Branderscar, justice comes swift and sure.

Escape seems hopeless. You have been well searched and every attempt to conceal anything on your person has failed. And if you could somehow slip your bonds and fly out of this prison, where would you go? Who from your former life would want anything to do with the forsaken? Despised, alone and shackled – all that you can do now is await your doom. For each of you, your old life is over. For each of you, hope is a fading memory. For each of you, justice will be fairly meted. And who can blame fair Talingarde after what each of you has done?

You were brought into the same cell in the following order anywhere from a few hours to a day apart: Numair, Twigs, Izabelle, Malum and finally Giltharon - the earliest prisoner was about 4 days ago, the most recent, just a few minutes ago. Any eidolons/familiars/minions are currently unsummoned. You may wish to exercise discretion in trying to communicate with those. Magic users – you have your spells memorized BUT no components or books handy. Same discretion/judgement advice applies. Go ahead and make your first posts – appearances, reaction to branding, to each other etc. etc. Game on!

Welcome to the Way of the Wicked discussion thread. Here’s where I would like the group to hone their characters, flesh out the back stories, finish the crunch etc. before we get started. Once we start, I encourage you all to use this thread for info, strategy/tactics planning etc. that might be considered ‘out-of-character’ – for instance, if your character is a meek, mild mannered librarian who wouldn’t say boo in a group but you have an idea as to how to handle combat… use the forum here to present it to the group since your ‘character’ wouldn’t necessarily be a tactician or a leader.
Now for the homework – before we start, I’d like the following completed:

1. Create your alias, complete your crunch, skills, feats etc.
2. Forgot to mention this in the recruitment but use average starting wealth for gear.
3. Flesh out your appearance /background / biography / back-story if you haven’t already done so. This *can* be a collaborative effort amongst all players should you so desire. The only thing I would ask is that you refrain from having your characters know each other at the start. I would prefer strangers thrown in to the mix together at the onset of the story. :) And you folks seriously don't ALL have to be Asmodeus followers! :)
4. Include your appearance/background / biography / back-story in your alias under a spoiler. This should include the general location(s) in Talingarde you frequented, where you grew up, your career choices, any close friends/contacts you had in your previous life etc. Feel free to reference specific locations (or make them up if they’re villages – as long as I know the general vicinity where they are, it’s all good). You can google a higher resolution of the map of Talingarde that I posted I’m sure. Shoot me a PM if you need help.
5. If you haven’t heard of or read the AP – don’t! If you’ve read or played the AP before, leave out any personal relationships with any NAMED characters please – i.e. Bardin the Stout, your close childhood friend who ratted you out is fine. You got caught when you pinched Sir Balin’s man-purse is not. :)
6. If you have a familiar, minion, follower, eidolon etc. – anything that could be considered a ‘separate’ entity that can talk, has its own actions and so own, please make a separate alias for it and post its actions using its own alias. For instance, Jojo the summoner has an eidolon that looks like an inky shadow named Steve with a whispering voice that ssssseeeeems toooo come fr-m faaaar awwaaa—yy . Steve should have its own alias – RP him well. You wanted the responsibility, you got it! Descriptions and appearance in the alias profile for this too please.
7. I’d like as much info stored in your alias’ profile if at all possible so I don’t have to go hunting through an old thread. This includes gear, limited uses/day powers, current spells memorized/used etc. etc. Have your current hp and other frequently used stats stored in your header. Again, for those that are new, PM me should you need assistance with this.
8. Please post here when you have everything checked off and are ready to start. I’ll do a final review of your character. I’d suggest refraining from posting in the game-play thread until all characters are approved.
9. The only other thing I’d ask for (as if the first 8 weren’t enough) is a post from you, the player, on the kind of game you prefer – combat-heavy (full tactical with maps and lots of rule/number crunching), more geared towards RP, puzzle solving, heavy on character interactions (with NPCs and PCs) etc. This is so I can customize the game to suit the group’s preference to (hopefully) make it an enjoyable experience for all.

Thanks for indulging my quirks folks. Looking forward to a great game.

Welcome to the Way of the Wicked discussion thread. Here’s where I would like the group to hone their characters, flesh out the back stories, finish the crunch etc. before we get started. Once we start, I encourage you all to use this thread for info, strategy/tactics planning etc. that might be considered ‘out-of-character’ – for instance, if your character is a meek, mild mannered librarian who wouldn’t say boo in a group but you have an idea as to how to handle combat… use the forum here to present it to the group since your ‘character’ wouldn’t necessarily be a tactician or a leader.
Now for the homework – before we start, I’d like the following completed:

1. Create your alias, complete your crunch, skills, feats etc.
2. Forgot to mention this in the recruitment but use average starting wealth for gear.
3. Flesh out your appearance /background / biography / back-story if you haven’t already done so. This *can* be a collaborative effort amongst all players should you so desire. The only thing I would ask is that you refrain from having your characters know each other at the start. I would prefer strangers thrown in to the mix together at the onset of the story. :) And you folks seriously don't ALL have to be Asmodeus followers! :)
4. Include your appearance/background / biography / back-story in your alias under a spoiler. This should include the general location(s) in Talingarde you frequented, where you grew up, your career choices, any close friends/contacts you had in your previous life etc. Feel free to reference specific locations (or make them up if they’re villages – as long as I know the general vicinity where they are, it’s all good). You can google a higher resolution of the map of Talingarde that I posted I’m sure. Shoot me a PM if you need help.
5. If you haven’t heard of or read the AP – don’t! If you’ve read or played the AP before, leave out any personal relationships with any NAMED characters please – i.e. Bardin the Stout, your close childhood friend who ratted you out is fine. You got caught when you pinched Sir Balin’s man-purse is not. :)
6. If you have a familiar, minion, follower, eidolon etc. – anything that could be considered a ‘separate’ entity that can talk, has its own actions and so own, please make a separate alias for it and post its actions using its own alias. For instance, Jojo the summoner has an eidolon that looks like an inky shadow named Steve with a whispering voice that ssssseeeeems toooo come fr-m faaaar awwaaa—yy . Steve should have its own alias – RP him well. You wanted the responsibility, you got it! Descriptions and appearance in the alias profile for this too please.
7. I’d like as much info stored in your alias’ profile if at all possible so I don’t have to go hunting through an old thread. This includes gear, limited uses/day powers, current spells memorized/used etc. etc. Have your current hp and other frequently used stats stored in your header. Again, for those that are new, PM me should you need assistance with this.
8. Please post here when you have everything checked off and are ready to start. I’ll do a final review of your character. I’d suggest refraining from posting in the game-play thread until all characters are approved.
9. The only other thing I’d ask for (as if the first 8 weren’t enough) is a post from you, the player, on the kind of game you prefer – combat-heavy (full tactical with maps and lots of rule/number crunching), more geared towards RP, puzzle solving, heavy on character interactions (with NPCs and PCs) etc. This is so I can customize the game to suit the group’s preference to (hopefully) make it an enjoyable experience for all.

Thanks for indulging my quirks folks. Looking forward to a great game.

The Kingdom of Talingarde – one of most noble, virtuous and peaceful nation in the known world. The royalty of this dominion has rescued a dispirited people from the brink of despair and darkness. They dealt with their enemies honorably and their allies faithfully. Talingarde is a paragon of the age, a bright shining city upon a hill. Yet the nation faces now its greatest test – YOU!

They condemned you for your wicked deeds. They branded you. They shipped you to the worst prison in the kingdom. The expect you to die in Branderscar. The do-gooders pray they’ll be rid of you.

The fools.
You have your wits, and a burning passion for revenge upon those who wronged you.
But no one has ever escaped from Branderscar prison.
This is where your story ends… or does it?

Welcome to “Way of the Wicked” – a campaign where the world needs saving from you.

You’ve saved the world plenty.
It’s time you walked the Way of the Wicked.

[See info under Campaign tab for further details]

Character selection:

Depending on the applications received, I will be choosing 4-6 players to partake in this adventure. I will be picking players for the four main roles (melee combatant, arcane caster, healer, skill/trap-smith). If there are multiple good applicants, I may fill 2 other slots with support or backup characters. For the sake of variety, as stated in character creation guidelines below, my picks will ensure the group is comprised of all different classes.

Recruiting will remain open for 10-14 days (closing no later than July 29 - possibly sooner). I’ll give 24 hours notice before I close recruitment so last minute applicants can squeeze in if needed.
I hope to have the final party selections within 48 hours of closing recruitment.
Factoring in a few additional days doing final tweaks to backgrounds and back stories in discussion, reviewing character crunches etc. I anticipate starting roughly 48 hours after the party is finalized (possibly sooner).

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