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Hey folks! Quick update: some important family matters came up (minor hospitalization), and I will need to be away from any sort of computer and thus unable to post until Tuesday night. I'm truly sorry for the delay, especially in the middle of two various dialogues.
Lord Islaran's mouth flattens into a hard line. "Ah," he breathes. His voice is barely above a whisper. "Howsoever you obtained this...report, the ship was returned to Oliverson. He likes to bicker and moan, but the ship was returned. Moreover, Vark returned to me the payment for the docking in full, even before Oliverson's for-" Lord Islaran lets out a series of loud, hacking coughs. His face turns a deep red as he continues to cough, holding up a hand to indicate that he needs no assistance. After the fit subsides, he clears his throat and continues as if nothing had happened. "Before Oliverson's formal complaint was registered to me. Oliverson is not the most reliable source, at any rate." The tall human continues on slowly, as if tasting every word. "In regards to your request, I am not convinced that Lavinia is the most...reliable of sources. Her loss, while tragic, has left her as the inheritor to several debts across the city. Perhaps her parents' fortune is not so massive as we thought. A girl, in her position...trying to weasel out of a mooring fee would be no difficult thing, and would absolve part of her debt." The old man's eyes turn hard. "My heart is with her, but were I to make an exception for her..." He lets his voice trail off, letting the implication hang in the air. "You ask me to judge her word against the work of one in my employ," he says with chilling calm. "Do you have any proof other than Lady Vanderboren's word?"
Ila and Vanessa:
The half-orc sniffs, then nods her head once, curtly. "Miss Landaria," she says in answer to Ila's question. "Very well. I will see what I can do." She disappears momentarily, and eventually returns to the room. "Lord Islaran will see you now." She strides through a hallway filled with several doors. The hallways is eerily quiet. She leads the duo to the end of the hall, and opens an ornate door. Inside is a small room with a circular table with four chairs. A tall, thin man stands over the table, pouring a cup of tea for himself. He sips it as Ila and Vanessa enter. "I hear you have a complaint, and Landaria seems to think it has enough merit to disrupt my work," he says in a paper-thin voice. "Out with it." he says, bluntly. He points to two chairs at the table, and takes a seat himself.
Abraham and Owl:
The two men relax slightly as Abraham approaches in what they obviously deem a non-threatening manner. They both have crossbows slung across their backs. One carries a rapier, the other a cutlass. Both appear right-handed. "Heh, this one speaks like a right fancy ponce, Korwin," the one with the rapier says. "Sod off mate, Vark ain't seein' no one today." The other man shakes his head almost apologetically. "Apologies. My friend here is overeager to perform his job duties to protect this ship. But I am afraid he is correct. We have been ordered to let no one on this ship to see him," he says, giving a false, sharklike smile.
Sense Motive: DC 13 (For Owl and Abraham): Both men seem fidgety at the name Vark, as if they are more afraid of him than they are of Abraham or Owl. Were that to change, they might be more amiable.
"Lord Islaran is quite busy at the moment. Names?" she questions flatly. "Purpose?" Perception: DC 10:
The building is very quiet. Much quieter than one would expect to find a setting that would normally be fairly busy. None of the usual hustle or bustle of moving messengers is seen from the lobby. Additionally, laying atop one of the stacks of paper on the desk is an opened letter that is written to Lord Islaran by someone named Aldrin Oliverson. The letter is brief and easily readable in a handful of seconds; it is an informal complaint that the hired guard Soller Vark accepted payment on a mooring fee, but refused to give the ship back to its owner for several days, claiming that the fee needed several days to be processed. Although the ship was eventually returned, the delay caused Oliverson to lose "precious fishing time."
Little has changed at the docks since Owl's earlier observation. The two armed and rather crude looking guards remain in place in front of the ship. The larger of the two, with the scimitar at his hip, offers a grin with a maw missing several teeth to those who approach the ship, and drops his left hand to his weapon's hilt. The smaller one, armed with the rapier, sits on a barrel, scowling at those who get too close. He is using a small knife to dig clods of dirt from his fingernails. Islaran: The Islaran manor lies in the Azure District, which is in the eastern part of Sasserine. The manor lies in the western-most part of the district, facing inwards towards the manmade riverways that trace through the city like veins. A smaller building is attached to the manor. The smaller building, labelled Harbor Clerk, is where the financial aspect of the business of the Islaran family takes place. During the day, Keltar and his staff of clerks are often working in this building, performing the bureaucratic tasks necessary to keep the city's waterways running. Just inside the doors of the building is a disinterested-looking half-orc who sits at a desk facing the door. Her small, round spectacles and simple yet elegant clothing give her a secretarial look.
Jesus how are still alive right now? I replaced my blood with caffeine. In any case, a handful of updates:
If anyone is waiting on me for something, please let me know! I think all questions are answered; when you are ready to move on, simply have your characters make the decision of where they wish to go next. It looks like the popular choices are Vark or Islaran. That said, feel free to RP to your heart's content before moving on if you have more to say! I certainly do not wish to cut short a roleplaying opportunity.
Will post up tomorrow. Exhausted, running on about 10 hours of sleep over 4 days. In the interest of moving things along, Vanessa, assume that the church will express sympathy towards Vanderboren, but can do nothing. Islaran can legally bar boarding the vessel until payment is given. As there is no writ of proof of payment, it will be Lavinia's word against Vark's, which is not enough to force legal action. Again, I'll post a more in-depth thinger tomorrow. Sleeeeeeeeep.
The freshly-painted sign out front of the bar indicates that it has undergone a name change. The sign for the newly named Bloody Clam depicts an armor-clad woman using a longsword to cleave through a poorly painted bi-valved creature that holds the vaguest of resemblance to an actual clam. A weary-looking Varisian bartender wipes down tables and chairs with a surprisingly clean bar rag. The bags beneath his eyes indicate that he has not been sleeping much as of late. His face turns cheery as new customers enter the bar; the place is completely devoid of other people. He turns a shark-like grin towards the newcomers. "Come in, come in!" he says with glee. "Welcome to the Bloody Clam, the historical den of thieves and smugglers! Feel free to revel in its glories and partake of its delights! But be careful not to get too rowdy, else a holy warrior may show up to smite you where you sit?" The man makes a grand gesture towards a bar table that has been broken in two. It looks very much as though a human body has been slammed through it. Vanessa may recognize it as the spot where one of her attackers went fell backwards into a table. "Drinks?" the man asks earnestly.
Abraham's Questions:
"Sadly, I must admit that I know little of the precise number of his men, nor their armaments. If I had to guess...I'd say about a dozen or so? Mr. Vark carries a rapier and crossbow, I can remember that much." "Mr. Vark is a man of Taldane descent, bald, with a large scar on his right arm and a smaller one on his face at the bridge of his nose. Small brown beard. He will likely be near or on the Blue Nixie."
Owl's Information: Vark is a man of fierce disrepute. Unmannerly, slovenly, and possessing of no small temper, he is not well liked by most. He has a love of drinking and often gets into bar fights. Little else about him is known; he is not a "big player" by any means. The harbormaster is Keltar Islaran, a tired old man who expected to hand over the title of harbormaster to his eldest son Aaron in a few years. Unfortunately, Aaron vanished a few years ago, leaving him with only three daughters more interested in marrying into other families and a son who's deathly afraid of the water. In recent years, he has become more lax as his health has begun to fail, and the harbor has slowly been growing in number of smugglers, pirates, and thieves. The ship, the Blue Nixie, belongs to the Vanderborens. It is a fairly typical large sailing vessel. The attempt to gather information leads to nothing that Owl does not know already. Watching the ship yields a few notes to mention: the ship has two intimidating men standing on guard on land, one armed with a cutlass, one with a rapier. During the three hours, one woman departs the inner part of the ship, heads into town, and returns with a cartfull of several small iron cages; the sort that would hold something the size of a moderately sized bird like a macaw parrot or hawk. A light snoring sound occasionally thunders up from the lower decks, but it seems to only be one or two voices. No one else boards or leaves the ship during the three hours, although an occasional person steps out topside to stretch. All told, Owl sees six unique individuals; Vark is not one of them.
I'm afraid I might be a touch slow this weekend, as I have several projects, reports, and care plans due on Monday, coupled with a test. I still expect to post once per day, but may not be able to manage more than that.
A bemused smirk crosses her face as Owl asks for an increase in payment, although she says nothing, instead opting to watch the exchange between the group unfold. She beams a grateful smile at Vanessa as the armored woman denies greater payment. When Abraham mentions her brother, Lavinia interjects. "My brother is out of town. At present, I have inherited several debts with no immediate method to make the payments. I do not think he would object to paying debts that are owed." Sense Motive DC 20:
Lavinia is visibly distraught at the mention of her brother. When she mentions that she does not think her brother would object to paying others their due, a ghost of a frown passes over her face. She patiently waits as Owl and Abraham exchange wits, words, and wisecracks. After Vanessa and Ila accept, she grins from ear to ear. "Excellent. And Owl makes a good point," she muses, "it would be best to start off on the right foot with those whom I may have a long-standing relationship. 300 gold," Lavinia says, but holds up three fingers. "If you can find the ring, recover the payment I made to Mr. Vark, and either find out for what purpose he and his men are using my ship, else at least convince them to leave it. She places a light emphasis on the word convince, making it clear that she does not regard mere conversation as the only method to achieve this goal. "I will also see if I can find alternative means of payment for Owl and Lady Indigo," she says, nodding towards each in turn. "Acceptable?"
Loving everyone's characters so far, just wanted to say.
"That I did," Lavinia concedes, and looks pensive for a moment, as if unsure quite where to begin. She nods to herself, and begins speaking. "First, I must thank all of you for coming. I must confess that I have sent several more letters than people who have shown up, but that is neither here nor there. Ila Indigo, I have summoned you for your kindness and generosity. You are willing to help others, and I am in need of help." She turns to Vanessa. "Vanessa Stronghart. I have summoned you for your fierce fighting prowress, and ability to cut through lies to find the dirty truth underneath. I am in need of truth." She turns to Abraham. "Abraham Maedrhos. I have summoned you for your keen mind, and your investigative strength. I have a mystery, and I am in need of a solution." She turns to Owl. "Owl. I have summoned you for your reputation to get things done with efficiency and with few complications. I have an item that needs to be found, and I am in need of this item." Lavinia walks towards the party and leans in conspiratorially. "As you may have heard, I recently inherited my parents' estate. Along with this fine house, unfortunately, came a fine amount of debt owed the Dawn Council, the harbormaster, and quite a few guild halls. It seems my parents, for all their success as adventurers, were not as skilled at finance as one might expect. If I'm to get these taxes paid, I'll need to access my family's vault under Castle Teraknian." Lavinia pauses again to collect her thoughts. "And that's the problem, you see. The vaults are magically locked-keyed to special signet rings. Both of my parents had these rings, at least, until recently. My mother lost hers a few months ago. She arranged for a replacement, but it won't be done for another month or so. And I need the money before that. Which leaves my father's ring. He never wore it...he had a thing about men wearing jewelry. He kept it hidden somewhere on his ship, the Blue Nixie. The problem there is that the harbormaster's seized the ship until someone pays for the last four months of mooring. I've paid the fines to the man the harbormaster's put in charge of my ship, a brute named Soller Yark. Yet when I went to claim my ship, Vark's men wouldn't let me board,
"Vark and his men are up to something on my ship. What I need is to find out exactly what they're up to. Unfortunately, Yark's not the type to react well to diplomacy or logic. I need someone who speaks his language... which is where you all come in. If you can find out what he's using my ship for, or even better, recover the money I paid him, I'll pay each of you 200 gold in return once I've access to my vault," she finishes, and waits for a response.
The Woman's Reaction:
Liamae turns to Ila with a look of disbelief. As her eyes take in the other human's threadbare clothing, the look turns to one of disgust. Liamae quickly turns away without a word and continues on her original path.
There is now a pictures link in the upper left hand corner, right above campaign info. I'll update it as you meet various characters, and possibly toss a few maps - general ones of large areas, not grid maps - and the like in there as the game goes on.
Kora snickers lightly, and quirks her head to the door through which the Jade Ravens had recently entered. She pushes through, and leads the party up a small staircase to the second floor. After a few sharp turns down a winding hallway, the halfling stops before a door which she opens before stepping to the side to allow the party entrance. Inside is a small private dining room. It is comfortable, cozy, and surprisingly modest for a noble's home. A dull glow made by wall-mounted lanterns lights the room, displaying a large portrait on the wall of a young man with a short bearded goatee. The portrait bears resemblance to the human woman who stands below it; a young woman wearing a long, flowing blue-and-gold dress. Her hair is dark brown, though it contains the luster common to those who keep up with personal grooming. Her brown eyes watch with genuine interest as each member files into the room. She gives a practiced curtsey as the party enters the room, offering each member a warm smile. "Hello. My name is Lavinia Vanderboren." She pauses and gives a coy grin. She seems to be waiting for someone to say something.
Tolin's grin turns to a scowl at Abraham's words, and he opens his mouth to say something. Whatever he was about to say is lost as Kaskus releases a deep boom of laughter that echoes through the atrium, and quite possibly the entire three stories of the manor. Tolin turns to Kaskus and narrows his eyes. "Ah, leave off th' newbloods, Tolin," Kaskus says, directing himself and the other Jade Ravens to leave the room. "Spare th' wee pups th' need ta listen ta yer blather." Tolin turns a light shade of crimson, but says nothing. He shoots a last dirty glare at Abraham before leaving the room.
If anyone wants to post something that they would have said before or during any post that I make, feel free to do so! If I ever wind up interrupting a conversation, I have no qualms about going back to finish it. An easy format is this:
Jack finishes his conversation with Jill. ------------------- Jack responds to the most recent post.
A light creak sounds out as the right side of the double doors cracks open to reveal an old halfling woman; the same woman who had earlier presented the group with their letters. She clicks her tongue in mild annoyance, but swings the door fully open to admit everyone. "Come in, come in. Mind you don't wet the floors overmuch, they've just been cleaned," she grumbles, obviously oblivious to the fact that several members of the party are already magically dry. "'Less you want to do the cleaning yourself. Wouldn't recommend it, hard on the back. Come, come." Kora beckons the party to follow, and walks off without bothering to see if they do. Kora walks through a handful of winding hallways before coming to a stop in the atrium, where a large glass window facing to the sky stands almost 30 feet above. The window is blurred with streaks of rainwater running across it, though it seems in good repair as none of the rain penetrates the building. "You can wait here," Kora says, gesturing to a small round table with seven chairs. "The lady will be in to see you short-" Kora cuts herself off as four humanoids emerge from a door to the east: a jaunty male half-elf dressed in leather armor and armed with a half dozen daggers of different shapes, a dark-skinned dwarf with a sour expression dressed in green and brown robes and clutching a large curved spear, an attractive but haughty-looking woman dressed in dark purple robes and with a tattoo of a crescent moon on one cheek, and lastly, a tall and handsome man dressed in polished breastplate carrying a bastard sword. The last man turns to the party with an eyebrow upturned and gives them an appraising glance. "Hmm. You must be the help Lavinia's bringing in to do the chores. Best of luck to ya!" Knowledge (local), DC 15: These are the Jade Ravens, a mercenary company that's been in the Vanderboren employ for several years. Their leader, and the man speaking, is Tolin Kientai. The others are Zan Oldavin (the half-elf), Kaskus Kiel (the dwarf) and Liamae Teslikaria (the human woman). They are known for being efficient, but possessing of a hint of arrogance that has made them less popular than a group of their renown would otherwise be.
Information on the Vanderborens: Knowledge (nobility) or (local); or Diplomacy to gather information: DC 10:
The Vanderboren name is recognizable as a family of minor nobles. They are said to be quite wealthy, and are among the few nobles in Sasserine that can claim to have earned their wealth by completely honest means. Knowledge (nobility) or (local); or Diplomacy to gather information: DC 15: Lavinia is the eldest daughter of the Vanderboren family, and the recent inheritor of the estate. One month ago, a tragic fire aboard a ship caused the deaths of Verik and Larissa Vanderboren. The Vanderborens were survived by the their two children, Lavinia and Vanthus.
It is mid-day in Sasserine, and the appointed hour approaches. The letter written by Lady Lavinia Vanderboren summoned four individuals of various talents to the Vanderboren Manor. The clouds above the city have decided to celebrate this auspicious occasion by darkening the sky and drowning the city in a fierce deluge. The manor itself is located in the eastern section of the Merchant District; an easy enough building to find, as it stands three-stories high. The architecture is gothic in nature, and a seven-foot-tall stone wall surrounds the plot of land immediately around the manor. On the southern edge of the square wall lies a large, iron gate that has been left unlocked and open. Beyond the gate is a small cobblestone path that winds through a miniature garden filled with flowers and plants that, in full sunlight, would no doubt be staggeringly beautiful. In the poor weather, everything seems dull and lifeless. At the end of the path is the front door to the manor, a pair of wooden doors bearing inlaid carvings of pair of nymphs capering through a forest. This door, unlike the gate, is closed. Fortunately, an overhang held up by two massive pillars provides a reprieve from the rain. A large brass knocker lies on either door.
Hiya! Welcome to the discussion section. Feel free to do whatever you want; if you want to make any minor character tweaks, now's the time to make 'em! I'm going to post up the opening scene/introduction in the gameplay thread and link it up over here. I'll post in discussion when it's ready, and you can dot to your heart's content.
201st post, start of a new page! A good place to announce the final picks! In no particular order: "Owl", who I feel compelled to pick for some odd reason. It's almost like something kept telling me to pick him, but I can't imagine what. Hum, strange. Abraham Maedrhos, a detective with a good ol' fashioned Sherlock Holmes flavor. Pretty good at punching things. Vanessa Stronghart, a righteous follower of Iomedae sent to smack around some folks in a bar. Ila Indigo, a local Sassarinian who C'mon down to the discussion section! To those who did not get picked: Agh, I'm sorry, there were so many great choices to pick from! Not getting picked is by no means a sign that your character was not incredibly awesome, and had I time to run more tables, I would definitely take a good number of you with me. Best of luck, may we cross paths again, and may all your rolls be natural 20s!
I got too excited and sent mine earlier today. My bad. D: INSTANT DISQUALIFICATION! Seriously, though, no worries. A couple of others did as well. I do want to encourage everyone who sent in their choices early to consider Pazzell and Zaeos, as they were both submitted prior to the deadline but after my "hey send me things" message. Of course, consider the early and middle submissions, too. I have work followed by an exam tomorrow, so I will likely not post anything until 6pm if I finish the test with enough time to whip up a post or two, 8pm if I don't.
"Once the submission period ends (midnight central), I would like for everyone who has submitted to PM me 4 names; your characters name, and your top 3 favorite other characters. While the final choices will still be my decision, I would like your input on which characters you would choose to bring with you. It may influence me if I'm on the fence between two characters." So, basically send me your 3 favorite characters; this will help me get a feel for how everyone else is viewing the other potential PCs.
Submission period is officially over! Please send me your top 3 picks for the final party. I will post up my final decision tomorrow, and hopefully start the game tomorrow as well.
I would 100% be willing for someone to snap up any of the characters that I wasn't able to fit in because of party size or major role overlap. I would love to run a second table, but I am currently rather busy, and I think anything more than one table as GM and one PbP as a player might be a bit much for me. I suppose I could see how time intensive the single table is, but I wouldn't hold out too much hope. About 9.5 hours left! Once the submission period ends (midnight central), I would like for everyone who has submitted to PM me 4 names; your characters name, and your top 3 favorite other characters. While the final choices will still be my decision, I would like your input on which characters you would choose to bring with you. It may influence me if I'm on the fence between two characters. Almost at the finish line, folks!
About 50.5 hours until submission closes!
faithless one: I saw it, but I wasn't sure it was complete. It is very scant at the moment, and doesn't give me a good idea of the general personality of the character, nor why he is what he is. What led to him becoming a follower of all (or most) good gods? Are there some he rejects? How does he interact with those who follow a single faith, ie looking down on them for their single-mindedness, accepting them but believing them to be misguided, believing they are right and religion is an individual path for everyone, etc. I need more meat to the submission. Thorntail: Timekeeper's favored weapon is the meteor hammer. I wanted something with a chain-based theme (since part of the god is manipulating the chains of fate) and an eastern flavor. You can pick any subdomain with any god as long as it is one of their domains and it fits the theme of the god. Pharasma-followers shouldn't be taking undead-raising subdomains, for example. And yes, your character would fit in with the religion.
As an aside, I might not be able to post much on Friday. I have work and a fair amount of homework due by Saturday morning. Just in case anyone has some burning questions on Friday, I might not be able to answer them until Saturday in the afternoon or so. I plan to pop in Thursday night to answer any questions anyone has.
Illyan Sobachesky: Polyglot is not spoke often by citizens, but some traders will speak it as their primary language. Most will still speak Common, though. That said, I sometimes like to give bonuses to Diplomacy checks and the like for addressing someone in their native tongue. Xoruk Ironmaw: Abyssal and Draconic will see use in this campaign, but probably not much early on.
There was a Kender Master Summoner in Azlant. That's why it sank. Official Paizo canon.
Taryk Tarkanon: A general idea of where you plan to take your build would be a good idea. Also include your first level feats/traits. The flavor itself seems fine, and would fit in the campaign. Rabi: Common/Taldane is the most common. Elven (and various other "racial" languages) are likely to be spoken in Sunrise with some regularity. There are a handful of gillmen in the Azure District who speak aboleth. Kenders get the Master Summoner treatment. From orbit.
Spazmodeus: I have no problem with them. Some of the boons are quite powerful, but since they require a feat and a fairly high level to obtain, they won't break the game as far as I can tell. At least, not any more than high level characters already break the game. Vaguely related, Timekeeper's lore is now in the Discussion thread. wait i can play one of these? Sadly, they don't exist on Golarion. They live solely on a diet of Kender.
My Incredibly Easy-to-Understand Schedule: In Central Time: Week A I am always offline from 7am-8pm Monday and Tuesday (might have a short break to post around 3-4pm), from 2pm-11pm Wednesday and Thursday, from 11am-3pm on Friday, and from 7am-3pm on Saturday and Sunday. This week is a week A for me. Week B I am always offline from 3pm-8pm on Monday, 7am-8pm on Tuesday, 2pm-11pm Wednesday and Thursday, and 7am-3pm on Saturday and Sunday. I am completely free on Friday. So, I will generally try to post in the morning around 5-6am when I work, and at night 8pm-11pm depending on the day. This is somewhat variable, but I strive to always post at least once per day, often more frequently if possible. My schedule will also become a bit more tame in two weeks, when this semester's clinicals end. Base Attack and Gestalt:Basically, you have two "sides" to gestalt; take the higher side, and that's your BAB. If you have a Fighter 1/Inquisitor 19;Rogue 20, for example, a non-gestalt Fighter 1/Inquisitor 19 would have a BAB of +15. A non-gestalt rogue also would have a +15. As a gestalt, this character has a +15 BAB. A Fighter 4/Inquisitor 16; Rogue 20 would have +16 BAB since Fighter 4/Inquisitor 16 has a +16 BAB. Timekeeper, the Blind Fate:
It is unclear what happened next. Some say that Jishí's prediction was simply mistaken, while a current popular myth claimes that the samsaran discovered the physical manifestation of the chain of the heroes' fate and broke off a link, severing the ill-omened prophecy from reality. The heroes met Deskari on the battlefield, and slew him on his home plane, killing him forever; the sealing of the Worldwound was a testament to their victory. It was at this moment that Jishí ascended to his status as a demi-god, and took the name Timekeeper. In recent years, Timekeeper's worship has gained a small measure of traction among those who wish to escape from the shackles of fate, turning a blind eye to their supposedly-intended future. With followers ranging from nobles who desire an escape from arranged marriages to urchins who seek to escape life on the street, Timekeeper teaches that fate is not set in stone, and carving one's own path - even in the face of great adversity - is the way all living beings were meant to live.
Edward Sobel: The way I view gestalt is that you are already taking both base classes as your favored class. Multitalented will work if you are planning to multiclass both sides of the gestalt (ie, a Monk 10/Druid 10; Fighter 10/Shaman 10 with Multitalented would get one favored class bonus each level), but may have limited use elsewise. The favored class bonuses do not stack with each other; you will only get 1 HP, 1 skill point, OR a bonus related to one of your classes each level.
It's just Wisdom of the Flesh (word for word) with +2 Sense Motive tacked on. :) . .What? Nonsense! This is clearly a completely original feat that is in no way an adapted trait. >.> <.< Zayne Iwatani: I'm a bit unsure about how powerful the rogue talent thing could get, but my instinct says to allow it. I trust my instinct. It looks like you're going a different route now (Bard/Slayer), though. I do want to clarify that I plan to allow bonus feats and the like to stack, but things like sneak attack damage will not stack. Hotaru of the Society: I've got a bit of a wonky schedule. I work on an A week B week schedule, and have class/clinicals on Mon-Thurs. All times are in Central Time: Schedule:
Week A I am always offline from 7am-8pm Monday and Tuesday (might have a short break to post around 3-4pm), from 2pm-11pm Wednesday and Thursday, from 11am-3pm on Friday, and from 7am-3pm on Saturday and Sunday. This week is a week A for me.
Week B I am always offline from 3pm-8pm on Monday, 7am-8pm on Tuesday, 2pm-11pm Wednesday and Thursday, and 7am-3pm on Saturday and Sunday. I am completely free on Friday. So, I will generally try to post in the morning around 5-6am when I work, and at night 8pm-11pm depending on the day. This is somewhat variable, but I strive to always post at least once per day, often more frequently if possible. My schedule will also become a bit more tame in two weeks, when this semester's clinicals end. Sixteenbiticon: That's fine. If I wind up requiring something that conflicts with your backstory, I will PM you and we can hash out details. At this point, though, I see no potential problem. Illyan Sobachesky: I have no problems with prestige classes. I will note that I won't allow the aasimar-has-daylight=3rd-level-spell cheese, but a normal entry prestige should be no problem. MordredofFairy: Partial progress, if I'm understanding it right. Basically, you have two "sides" to gestalt; take the higher side, and that's your BAB. In your Fighter 1/Inquisitor 19;Rogue 20 example, a non-gestalt Fighter 1/Inquisitor 19 would have a BAB of +15. A non-gestalt rogue also would have a +15. As a gestalt, this character has a +15 BAB. A Fighter 4/Inquisitor 16; Rogue 20 would have +16 BAB. Billybrainpan: I don't see this being particularly unbalancing, so I'm fine with it. I hope that's all the questions! I'm going to start delving into some character reading, and should be online for an hour or so if anyone has further questions.
New Feat: This feat is to replace the Cudgel/Enlightened District feat:
Tiefling/Aasimar alternate trait chart: I'd like to avoid the alternate trait charts completely. There's just too much variability between the traits for me to want to leave it up to the dice ("get sick around evil" vs. "scaling spell resistence" is a fairly major power discrepancy), and picking and choosing seems unfair to the non-tiefimar characters. Please note that this is the roll 1-100 chart only; alternate racial traits such as Celestial Crusader and variant heritages such as Agathion-Blooded are still very much allowed. On the use of the Player's Guide: Feel free to peruse the Player's Guide for the general "feel" of Sasserine, but be aware that I will not take it as gospel. I am a big fan of using "Blank Space" as a GM. Blank Space is essentially when an area that hasn't been addressed (ie, asked about by the players), or is non-story relevant is blank, to be filled in as needed. What's to the east of Sasserine? Currently, nothing. If I need to add in a mountain range to suit the campaign, I will. If I need to add in a sinister fey forest, I will. If the campaign would benefit from a unicyle-riding, tutu-wearing race of sentient giant polar bears living just outside the city, I will start trying to wrap my head around the movement speed of unicycles. Again, I will be using the skeleton of the Adventure Path and making alterations as needed to create a version of Savage Tide that is unique in its own ways. Paladins, and Uncompromising Characters: Forewarning: characters that are unwilling to team up with lesser evils to take down more immediate threats will have a difficult time fitting the themes of the campaign. Characters with at least a touch of moral ambiguity will likely work out better in the long run. If you want to make a paladin, by all means make one! Just be aware that a pure, uncompromising, "kill all evil" character may be a burden on the party, at least in later chapters.
Hoo boy, lotsa questions to answer. Anderlorn: Emerging guns, early firearms only. I will allow explosive missile to work for two-handed weapons, but the action to do so becomes a full-round action. I think this is a fair trade-off, as the normal action needed to load a one-handed firearm is a standard, while it is a full-round for a two-handed firearm. Angelena Chillfist: I agree; I think the intention is to make the Cudgel District (my Enlightened District) more of a suspicious, xenophobic place, but I'd rather allow the version I'm running to be a more calm, introspective district. Let's swap it out for this: Enlightened Intuition
Sixteenbiticon: Actually, there is surprisingly little sailing in the AP; it's more set in coastal areas. The third chapter (out of twelve, mind) is mostly set aboard a ship, but the rest is mostly on land. The titular Savage Tide is actually an event that the party will seek to prevent. In fact, [spoiler redacted]! CaveToad: I'd like to avoid the alternate trait charts completely. There's just too much variability between the traits for me to want to leave it up to the dice ("get sick around evil" vs. "scaling spell resistence" is a fairly major power discrepancy), and picking and choosing seems unfair to the non-tiefimar characters. Philo Pharynx: Remember that the 5% break is only on selling items, not buying them. I haven't delved deep into anyone's crunch yet, but everything else seems fine at a cursory glance. Dragonofashandflame: I have a bit of a bias against synthesist, but actually, that sounds kind of interesting. Feel free to go for it. Side note: I will nuke any Master Summoners from orbit. Side side note: Feel free to peruse the Player's Guide for the general "feel" of Sasserine, but be aware that I will not take it as gospel. I am a big fan of using "Blank Space" as a GM. Blank Space is essentially when an area that hasn't been addressed (ie, asked about by the players), or is non-story relevant is blank, to be filled in as needed. What's to the east of Sasserine? Currently, nothing. If I need to add in a mountain range to suit the campaign, I will. If I need to add in a sinister fey forest, I will. If the campaign would benefit from a unicyle-riding, tutu-wearing race of sentient giant polar bears living just outside the city, I will start trying to wrap my head around the movement speed of unicycles.
First update! Player numbers and posting rate: I will be selecting a total of Four PCs. As far as posting rate goes, once per day is fine, but more is gravy. I will definitely have days where I can only post once, but I plan to be fairly consistent about when I post. I would much rather see daily consistency in posting than quantity alone. Campaign scale: First level all the way to twenty. Deities not represented by a district: The deities associated with the districts are mostly guidelines to give an idea of the sort of life people live in those districts as well as the overall "feel" of said districts, and it is entirely possible for a worshiper of a deity not listed to live in Sasserine. It may even be a goal for said character to establish a church in Sasserine. "The Cudgel District": The Cudgel District is the Enlightened District under the Campaign Feats, I just forgot to convert the name over. Taking Linguistics as the required "social skill": Allowed, even when taken without the feat. The main intent is to ensure that even low skill characters can do more than sit there and look pretty when the talkin' starts; Linguistics will enhance the party's ability to talk to those that do not speak Common. Combat vs. non-combat; creativity: I meant to mention this earlier, but sleep became a priority: I will be cutting out some of the unnecessary combats (ie, a dungeon that originally would have thrown 3 groups of 4 goblins at you would have one larger group of goblins), since combat can be exceptionally slow in PbP. This means there will be a slightly greater focus on roleplaying, and hopefully on creativity in general. If you can use a creative way to avoid or supplement combat, I'm inclined to at least give it a chance of success. An example: Player: We're on a really craggy, rocky mountain where these guys are attacking us, right?
Such an example won't work every time, but this sort of thing, in my mind, should be encouraged. "There are no rocks" just kind of quashes any creativity, and the player is less likely to try to think of creative solutions in the future. Not all combats can be avoided, but some can be circumvented or made easier with this sort of thing.
@Edward: The deities are mostly guidelines, and it is entirely possible for a worshiper of a deity not listed to live in Sasserine; it may even be a goal for said character to establish a church in Sasserine. @Angelena: Whoops! The Cudgel District is the Enlightened District, I just forgot to convert the name over. @Lady Ladile: Four PCs. @Tsriel: Allowed, even when taken without the feat. The main intent is to ensure that even low skill characters can do more than sit there and look pretty when the talkin' starts; Linguistics will enhance the party's ability to talk to those that do not speak Common. I meant to mention this earlier, but sleep became a priority: I will be cutting out some of the unnecessary combats (ie, a dungeon that originally would have thrown 3 groups of 4 goblins at you would have one larger group of goblins), since combat can be exceptionally slow in PbP. This means there will be a slightly greater focus on roleplaying, and hopefully on creativity in general. If you can use a creative way to avoid or supplement combat, I'm inclined to at least give it a chance of success. An example: Player: We're on a really craggy, rocky mountain where these guys are attacking us, right?
Such an example won't work every time, but this sort of thing, in my mind, should be encouraged. "There are no rocks" just kind of quashes any creativity, and the player is less likely to try to think of creative solutions in the future.
Don't post here yet! If I have any changes or clarifications that should have been in the introduction post, they will be here.
"A man cannot destroy the savage in him by denying its impulses. The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it." Welcome to GM Red Ruin's Savage Tide AP! What is Savage Tide? Good question! Savage Tide is an early AP made by Paizo before they converted from 3.5 rules to Pathfinder. It was published serially in Dungeon Magazine. But you're not looking for a history lesson...what's it about? The adventure begins in the city of Sasserine, on a seemingly minor mission from a noble. Deeper and deeper mysteries arrive throughout the adventure path; to quote my post in the Interest Check thread, Savage Tide "begins essentially running errands in a city, leads into some sailing across dangerous waters, engaging in the defense of a town/village/colony against an invading force, and ultimately ends with a rather large scale war on one of the non-Material Planes. And loads of other exciting events that I don't want to get into because of spoilers." I will be running this game gestalt, which is explained further down somehweres. I will also be running this as theater of the mind. NO MAPS! Or at least, no 5x5 squares and moving characters around on Google Docs. So, let's set the scene, eh? Introduction:
The halfling before you is a wizened old crone, for lack of a better term. Deep crow's feet sit at the corners of her eyes, and smile lines mark her cheeks. Her greyed out hair is tied in a neat bun. Her dress is simple, but elegant; it gives the impression that she herself is not wealthy, but she dresses the part. "My name is Kora. I work for Lady Vanderboren, and she saw fit to ask for your help," she says in a clear, strong voice. The halfling gives you an assessing gaze, and frowns. She rustles in her cloak, and produces a letter. As she extends it towards you, it flaps lightly in the air from the old woman's light tremor. "Don't see why. Always a troublesome one, that Lavinia. Where she thinks someone like you can help her, I've no idea. No one ever tells me anything," she complains, although a twinkle in her eye betrays her stern expression. She waits for you to read the letter. The note reads:
My name is Lavinia Vanderboren, and I humbly request your attendance at dinner at my estate on Festival Street and Blue Skink Lane tomorrow evening. I think I can present you with an opportunity uniquely suited to your skills. Please inform the carrier of this letter of your response to this invitation, and I hope to be speaking to you soon! Lavinia Vanderboren The halfling woman stares at you, one eyebrow ticked up in question. "Well? Setting:
The adventure will take place in Golarion, albeit a slightly modified one. I'm shamelessly stealing someone else's idea that I saw by setting the AP ten years AFTER the events of Wrath of the Righteous. The Worldwound is closed, and Demon Lord Deskari is dead, dead, dead. In the aftermath of the Worldwound sealing, a small mass of land, previously part of ancient Azlant, has risen from the deeps. Several attempts at colonizing it have been made, but they have largely been unsuccessful. This island will come up more later in the AP, and I will describe the lore involved further when we get there. SASSERINE:
Sasserine is a city that is located just south of the Shackles. It is divided into seven major districts, each ruled by a noble family. Each district has a temple to a god that is commonly worshipped by its residents: Azure District:
Champions District:
Enlightened District:
Merchant District:
Noble District:
*Timekeeper is a homebrew deity with the Darkness, Good, Glory, and Travel domains. Timekeeper is a demi-god; a Samsaran who was one of the heroes that defeated Deskari and has since ascended to demi-godhood. More information will be presented in the AP; if anyone is interested in taking him as a deity, I can explain more when I'm not super tired. Shadowshire:
Sunrise:
Crunch:
This is a gestalt game. This means you pick two classes, and basically get the best parts of both. Here is a link with all the cool explanation stuffs. Starting Level: 1 HP: Max HP first level, Half HP +1 every level after (d10 would get 6 per level, for example) Starting Gold: Max starting gold from the wealthier of the two classes. Race: Any Paizo, but I'm less likely to pick a super obscure race unless you have a good reason for picking it. I admittedly have a slight bias towards core races, but an interesting character can easily sweep this bias aside. Alignment: Any. Yes, even evil, but you'd better be able to play nice with the group, or so help me I will turn this campaign around. Class: Any Paizo class, none of the playtest classes. Ability Scores: 24 point build, on a 1-1 scale, from a base of 10. You can go over 18, but your final score in any ability post-racial and age modifiers cannot be over 20. So, you can make an old paladin who is still supernaturally strong due to the power of his faith, or the dwarven bard you never could make due to that floating -2 CHA; this frees up a good number of character options, I think. Skills: You get +2 skill point per level, BUT one of them must be spent on a social skill (Intimidate, Diplomacy, or Bluff). Remember that you can use Aid Another in social situations if you don't want to just stand there! Feats: You get a bonus campaign feat at first level. It's a bit like a campaign trait. Traits: 2 traits. No campaign traits. Those are feats, silly. Campaign Feats:
Water Rat Most of Azure District’s citizens learn to swim at a very early age, and take to the water as easily as land. District: Azure. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Swim checks. When wearing light or no armor and not encumbered, fatigued, or exhausted, you can swim at one-half your speed as a move action or your full speed as a full-round action. While swimming, you gain a +2 bonus on Initiative checks. Normal: Without the benefits of this feat, a character swims at one-quarter his speed as a move action or at one-half speed as a full-round action. Arena Blood
Steadfast Loyalty
Suspicious Eye
Merchant’s Tongue
Academy Graduate
Knack for Magic
Child of the Shadow
Student of Nature
Your Application:
In order for your application to be complete, I need the following things: The Crunch: I don't need every single piece here set in stone, but I want at least a good idea of where you are going with the character. Your race, classes, level one feats, and traits are necessary for this section, everything else can more or less wait until the campaign starts. Why You?: Why has Lavinia decided to recruit you? You have done something noteworthy that has gained you minor renown in some circles. What is it you did? Did you protect a caravan from a bandit attack? Steal jewels from a minor noble family? Thwart a small smuggling ring? Make it whatever you want, but remember that you are level 1. You are gestalt, so you are strong for a level 1 character, but odds are you didn't slay a dragon. Flavor/Background: The good stuff. Give me an interesting story. Don't just make a justification for how your samurai once picked up a potion and suddenly became an amazing alchemist. Give me a character that could be a main character in a fantasy novel that would make everyone argue about who would play him/her if HBO picked up the series. That level of interesting. Feel free to be from Sasserine, or anywhere else, really. Appearance: A few sentences is all I really need, but feel free to embellish. You can also describe mannerisms, quirks, etc.
I think that's it. Recruitment will close next Monday at midnight, central time. Have at it! Please visit the Discussion Section, but do not post. I will add in any major changes or clarifications that I deem necessary. They will be posted in both this thread and the Discussion thread, but this way you will not need to root through the entire thread just to see if I changed or clarified something.
Not yet dead! I'll be posting up the big recruitment sometime tonight. I'm just waffling on a few decisions that won't matter for several chapters in the adventure, but need to be made early on for consistency's sake. As far as posting rate goes, once per day is fine, but more is gravy. I will definitely have days where I can only post once, but I plan to be fairly consistent about when I post. I would much rather see daily consistency in posting than quantity alone.
@gossamar4: I'm probably going to add in extra skill points per level (2 extra, one must be spent on a social skill, I think), and I am definitely going to use point buy. I'll probably go the 25-point route over a 1-to-1 route, but I will consider it before I finalize my decisions. @ GM .. The "district" feats from the player's guide might work nicely, maybe as an option instead of traits? Or they could be scaled down to be more suitable as traits. Just thoughts. I was actually thinking this as well. The feats look like they are a step above most traits, but a step below most feats. would this be in Greyhawk? also what pantheon would you be using? Set in Golarion, baby! So, Golarion pantheon for the most part. I will note, however, that I do have several parts of the AP that I plan to edit heavily, and some that will stay almost exactly the same. There may be some adapted 3.5 monsters mixed in, while for other parts I'll just axe the 3.5 aspects and completely substitute in PF bits. I plan to incorporate some of Golarion's history into the setting, but will likely make some minor geographical alterations to "fit" everything together. This will help the game feel more familiar to Pathfinder. If you haven't read the Player's Guide, I wouldn't worry about it. I'm planning to take the skeleton of Sasserine that is provided and add my own flesh (ewwww) to it. The concept of seven districts and seven noble families will stay the same, as will the "feel" of each district; one for the harbor/sailors, one for the arena/gladiators, etc. This will all be included in the recruitment post that will probably show up this weekend.
What kind of point buy did you have in mind? Also would you allow a swashbuckler to use dueling mastery to make dueling swords piercing like it does for duelist? Point Buy: I'm looking into this, but it'll be on the higher end. Gestalt can leave some characters quite MAD, and I'd like to let players have more freedom in character creation. Dueling Mastery: Yep, that should be fine. As a general rule, I don't have a problem with probably-Rules-as-Intended vs. Rules-as-Written. That feat came out long before swashbucklers existed, and I don't see anything game-breaking coming out of it.
Part of the problem is that the AP is still only on the first book, and often the APs will make references to later books. Some important information that might cause the GM to alter story points may not be available to the GM until those later books. I can think of several good examples, but most involve spoilers. Let's say an AP involves a BBEG that doesn't really have much involvement until book 5, but the the GM wants to plant seeds of the BBEG's evil plot as early as book 2. Without books 1-5, the GM doesn't really have a proper grasp of the full metaplot, and cannot properly make any alterations. I'm certainly interested in Giantslayer, but I definitely won't be running a Giantslayer game until several more of the books are released.
First level. And by "quietly famous," I mean something closer to "his/her name is known in certain circles." When I say a PC could be an arena champion, I mean that the PC has won a few matches, perhaps a very minor tournament or two, but is generally recognized as a strong rookie up-and-comer. The long and short of it is, a young noble has heard of your character, and believes that your character is well-suited to the minor task of retrieval of an item currently caught up in some bureaucratic nonsense (with complications, of course). Your character should be famous enough to attract this amount of attention, but not famous enough to be recognized unilaterally in the city. "Successful, but affordable" would be a good way to look at it. Obviously, no one one should be famous for saving a city from a dragon single-handedly. Saving a small caravan from a bandit or two would be more in line.
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