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Well, it seems to me finding a new GM would be a problem in this case. If the campaign is running one of the Paizo APs then all it takes is someone who has the AP and is willing to run it. The new GM just steps in. In this case it's a homebrew. It never started so aside from the location everything needs to be created. I don't think we're going to find anyone willing to create a campaign from scratch. I'm not saying we shouldn't try, but I really doubt it will work out.
it looks like we're caught in the irony of being picked for a game that'll never get started, while the people picked from the leftover applications have a game that's happily chugging away. Maybe it really is possible to be too lucky? :p
Well, waiting is free so I'll be around.
Oh, that reminds me, Joska is due a second language for INT and I'm not sure what to choose. I'd like a second language that's practical given the location rather than something exotic or esoteric. Probably I'm looking for the second most widely spoken language after Common. Also, which language exactly is "Common" in Faerun?
I'm figuring by now most everyone has noticed that Joska's background info is blank and the information that is available references Golarion and her past as a former Gray Maiden. I'd meant to have those changed over for this campaign by now, but bad timing and random disasters (most notably a case of covid that absolutely flattened me for a while) has kept me from getting it done yet. It's finished as far as discussions about it with Tara goes, but I probably won't be able to get it written up and added until this weekend. Also, if nobody minds, her background information will still be sparse. There are some things about her past that Joska wouldn't be eager to share too quickly. I could go ahead and put in the whole story with it being an in game surprise, but since it isn't there already, it could also be a real surprise coming out at some point. That sounds like it could be fun to me, but if you want to know up front I'll post the entire background. I'll just say now that her background is modified to fit the new setting rather than being entirely different. Fighters don't tend to lend themselves to great degrees of variety, so as you'd expect Joska is about hitting things until they're dead. The particular flavor of that she'll be going with is sword and shield bash two-weapon fighting. Her damage won't be as high as it possibly could be with a different combat style, but she'll have a couple of tricks to compensate. While I need to map out how much extra I'll be able to add considering the extra feats we get, I'm pretty sure she can work in the bullrush line of feats for some battlefield control and intimidation feats for debuffing. I plan to wait until armor training 2 comes along before upping her armor to full plate so she keeps 30' movement the whole time. As for personality and so forth, I'll just be transparent. Joska is kind of 2 parts Bobbie Draper from The Expanse to 1 part Jessica Jones from the TV series, to 1 part what I added melding the parts together and fitting it to the campaign setting. I, on the other hand, am quite boring. I live in Portland, Oregon. My background, education, prior employment and such is in socio-cultural anthropology. I am now a case manager for the Oregon Department of Human Services, where I work with the schools I'm assigned to on improving attendance along with the typical case management stuff. I have a dog that's obsessed with me, a cat that's obsessed with the dog, and half-time my son who is now 17 so of course he is obsessed with 1. his girlfriend 2. jiu-jitsu 3. rock climbing 4. everything that isn't figuring out what to do after he graduates, 5. what to do after he graduates, .......... 37. me, the dog, and the cat. I'd like to claim I have hobbies that are as cool as my son's, but mostly I read, watch some tv, and bike a little when I find the time. I do make a wicked shepherd's pie when it's suitably chilly and a slow weekend, so not very often.
@Tara: Will we be starting with the characters not knowing each other, or will all or some of us have prior relationships of some kind?
Hello hello! Thanks for choosing me Tara!
Regarding the ability score rolls, I believe Tara is planning to make adjustments to even things out some after she selects her party. I don't know specifically how it will be done, maybe some trimming and the top and bolstering at the bottom, or possibly wealth/gear differentials? Anyway, I believe Joska is at the top with a calculated 70 point buy according to the spread sheet. I don't expect that to stand as is if she's selected.
Thank you Slowdrifter, you're awesome!
I'm making a late substitution, withdrawing Raziah the Inquisitor to be replaced by Joska, a Brawler archetype Fighter. She's a sword and shield bash two-weapon fighter who treats combat like a rugby match, but with sharp, pointy things instead of a ball and bodies instead of points. Elevator-Sized Background:
She grew up around Zhentil Keep, and matriculated into the Zhentarim in her later teens as a soldier in the Zhentilar. After a few years though, she realized the whole Black Network thing was way crazier and nastier than she'd ever imagined. When the opportunity came, she faked her own death and took off for greener pastures. Everything is complete for Joska except her background, and I'll finish that part today.
I'm thinking about rebuilding this character to match the build rules for this game. The game she was originally built for was crazy generous so she needs to be paired down considerably. The plan is for sword and board / shield bash Fighter taking the Heritor Knight prestige class. Joska starts as a Gorum worshipper, but will convert to Iomedae early on, shifting alignment from CG to NG to meet Heritor Knight requirements. Her elevator pitch backstory is she's a former Gray Maiden who has some atoning to do, so she's heading for the Worldwound to do it. The full backstory is already included in the profile.
I built a Fighter for a Wrath of the Righteous campaign that had character creation rules that are similar to a lot of the things mentioned on here. This was a mythic rules game, but I don't know that it would have been needed. I chose Fighter because her backstory is that of a former Gray Maiden so I wanted strength based sword and board TWF. She started as a Gorum worshipper but the plan was for her to eventually be swayed to Iomedae and go into Heritor Knight. She's quite the beast. I dearly wish I'd gotten to play her farther. This is the avatar for the character if you want to see the 2nd level build, and the recruitment link is below. Easier to include it than to ferret out all the goodies we got. A few extras were added along the way and aren't listed up front.
It's starting to look like it's just us Meraati.
Yeah, it does look like that's where we're at now. I'm for trying to find someone to take over, but that's getting harder to do these days it seems.
I'm still around too.
Happy New Year everyone!
Happy Holidays everyone!
Joska takes a hard blow but powers through it to keep pressing the warrior. Guess he doesn't feel like talking. Sulky bastard...
Since the warrior seems chatty Joska asks "So, who's heart is that anyway?" Who knows? I might get an answer. She continues to press her attack, but fighting across a table isn't ideal.
Alright I'm back. Life is mostly back to normal. Now to get caught up on posts...
Joska stays put and concentrates on putting down the man by Missy.
Apologies for the gap in posting. Aside from the holiday my car was totaled over the weekend. No injuries, but I'm in the middle of dealing with all the stuff involved, including finding a new vehicle right quick. It may be a few days yet before things are back to normal. If you need to please bot me.
Joska helps search, including for the manacles key.
Joska turns her attacks on the last remaining mongrel after she blocks his fail attack.
Keeping her shield up for cover, Joska forces herself into the room. She bypasses the first mongrel before turning to attack him.
Joska makes another effort, putting her shoulder into the door to help Callen.
Joska tries to help, but to little effect.
Joska keeps her voice low and makes a suggestion. "Clear the passage so I can get some momentum going before I reach the door. The longer this takes the more time they have to bolster their brace; we need to be quick."
Joska hustles up to support Kevin.
Indicating the heart, Joska says "It seems we don't really know what we're messing with there. We also don't have the time to ruminate over the question of what to do with it. I think it's best we leave it be and keep going."
"It might have been a sacrifice, but only one is in there and it seems like it has been for a very long time. It could also be an object of veneration, the heart of someone or something held in high esteem."
Joska frowns and her eyes narrow in disgust when the heart is brought out.
Me neither. Very odd.
Joska shrugs at Callen. "Maybe? I like to be sure about things. Once we're on the surface I figure we'll want to tell someone about this, assuming there's anyone left to tell. I'd like to be confident what I'm telling them is complete and accurate as it can be."
Thanks Raven. It really helps because everyone can go ahead and post without worrying about initiative order.
Joska looks all around before she lowers her weapon and relaxes. Still so far so good... At least as far as we know. "It would be good to know why these two groups are cooperating. What is the aim? Let's make sure to gather any documents or anything else that might give us some clues." Joska helps with the body and room search.
Joska only needs to turn to her right to engage the last mongrel. She leads with her sword as she makes the pivot. It ends with a roundhouse using the edge of her shield.
Joska doesn't need to look back to understand where the arrow came from. She recognizes Callen's fletchings. With the first of the three down and one of the remaining two disarmed, Joska starts to think about an end game, how to best quickly mop up her corner. She ignores her immediate foe and steps toward the one better placed to flee. She should be in no more danger for it. She can't help but smirk at the man's poor handling of his former weapon as she strikes at him.
With her original opponent moving away and two new enemies taking her place, Joska knows her position is now much more dangerous. Whether on purpose or not, they have placed her in a situation that could get her cut off from her allies or surrounded if she isn't careful. Joska takes a step to her left, where the large table should help keep all her foes to one side of her and keep the space between her friends and herself clear. She strikes out again with sword and shield, this time at the mongrel by the table.
Apologies for holding things up with my delayed post. Partially it was a busier than usual workweek. Mostly I blame Callen and his recruitment though. I became obsessed with figuring it out and getting a character made. It crowded everything else out in my head and left no rooms for thinking about my other games. Curse you Callen! :) At least I finally finished. And now, back to my regularly scheduled programming.
Joska quickly closes in on one of the disguised visitors, planning to turn their glaive's advantage of reach against them. She chops with her sword then pushes in tight against them for a shield hit. Through gritted teeth she decides to just ask what she's wondering. "Why are you skulking about here? what do you want?"
Joska chuckles at Callen's comment. A bit of levity soothes the tension of their situation, which is welcome. "That much I know Callen. It's the speed and aiming parts that trouble me. I just don't have the practice in to go through the motions without thinking through each of them." +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++= Joska holds her position in the passage, around the corner from the large room, until everyone else catches up. While she waits she keeps an eye out for activity.
Joska smiles bashfully at Nicolette's comment, but shakes her head. "All I know of archery is the barest of fundamentals. In formation we all occupied set positions we were specifically trained for. I was in the shield wall. Behind us, the spears. Behind them some archers, but never many of them. In a city it didn't really fit doctrine to engage at range." "Out of formation it was all sword and shield. I haven't seen a lot of variety I guess you could say. I was a latecomer and we were mostly assigned to plug holes. Most of those holes were up front in the wall, that's where the casualties stacked up." "Yeah, we should collect all the arms and take them back to distribute. Good idea."
Joska takes the longbow on the wall and some arrows. "I'm not much of an archer either, but it seems to be working for us down here." "South passage now, where we took out the sentries? We'll have at least some distance we can cover in that direction without worrying too much about opposition."
Joska keeps an eye out for any arriving threats while Callen, Nicolette, and crew check for useful items and materials.
I those kind of encounters as well. They can be done in PbP. One thing that can help if things are getting confusing is a round status summary at the end of GM posts. Something like Character X is at location D7 and attacking A. Character Y is moving to location G4, etc. Of course this requires a lettered and numbered grid. But of course it also requires players to read other players' posts carefully and keep them in mind when they're deciding what to do, to move their icons on the map to where they want to be, and to communicate intent to each other in character or OOC. It's totally doable; it just takes a little more care and attention all around.
Joska is thrilled, and frankly amazed, they've managed to do so well so far. Her original concern remains though, being flanked or surrounded if the mongrels have side passages through which to move around them. "We'll need to check the rooms thoroughly before we move on. Anything useful to us we take. Any caches or stores we can't use we need to destroy so this place becomes indefensible when we're done. We can let the Chief Lann and his people know they can easily reclaim it." "Let's start with the room the archer came from. I believe she was one of the leaders Lann mentioned. After that I think we should check the southern passages since we're farther into them already. Afterward we can come back through and start on the north side." Joska has seen the kind of shock Amelia is presenting before. It's not unusual, battles are horrible to experience or even see. Hopefully given some time she'll adjust. "Will you be staying with Amelia then Meraati? She shouldn't be left alone."
When her chance comes Joska takes her shots at the sentry.
Joska holds her position and waits until those closer have acted, so as not to spoil their surprise. After she hears action commence Joska rounds the corner into the tunnel and advances on the guard.
Joska waits outside the passageway and tries to remain quiet. Things seem to be working out pretty well for Callen so far, and she figures he will let the rest of them know if they're needed.
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