Alright everybody, my apologies again for an extended and unexpected delay. There were a lot of reasons that went into it, including my own mental state and life getting hectic as I started at a new job, which was draining on several levels. That said, I definitely want to get this back on track and I'm very hopeful that I'll have a more reasonable and stable posting schedule from here on, at least for a while. Thank you for bearing with me, and now back to our regularly scheduled program.
...That said, I'll give you what updates I can here, but it won't be a ton at the moment. Looking at where things are, it seems that the team is split in three groups. Nix and Paladin are heading to Paladin's apartment, where they'll do some Matrix research on this place; Rune is heading to a (presumably inconspicuous) spot near the dine-in theater to do some Astral scoping; and Geezer is hanging out (in the Green Rhythm? or maybe at his and Pam's) until he hears what she's able to find out about your employers. If anything is wrong there, or you want to specify something, please let me know in Discussion; for now, I'm posting assuming that's all at least mostly correct.
Finally, it's worth noting that right now, and probably for future jobs, time may get a little hazy during any "setup" periods like this one, where you're getting ready for the run but the specific order of events/timing of things isn't super important. If we need to iron out when things are happening relative to one another, we can, but until it matters I'm happy to handwave things and say you share information as you find it. Of course, you're always free to actually RP how you tell the others what you've discovered!
Geezer and his Girl:
Hope you don't mind me writing for Pam, and I also hope I do a decent job of it. I think your story sample in the profile and what you've written so far has given me a decent idea. Also, if you want to do anything specific during the day before Pam gets back to you, let me know. Pam's Street Knowledge:7d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 6, 4, 4, 6, 1) = 283 hits. This is calculated assuming Pam has roughly average Intuition (3), but plenty of knowledge of Boston's gangs (and who to ask) thanks to her upbringing and occupation (4), and I'm sharing it with you so you can mark it down for future reference if you like.
Later that evening, you're back at your apartment flat when Pam finally comes in. She looks pretty usual, a little worn out from a busy day but still with plenty of piss and vinegar to keep her running. There's some small talk, a short shouting match over what brands and varieties of alcohol are kept in the place, and once things have calmed down again (relatively speaking) she speaks as to your earlier question.
"First off, I don't know how the hell you meet half the people you do, but I'm not sure I want to. Just don't bring 'em round here unless they're looking to help or to buy." Her Boston-Irish accent is as hard as always, but you can sense the slightest hint of concern--some might say it approaches caring, even. She lights a cigarette and savors it before continuing. "Anyway, I asked around a little, talked to Mark down Dorchester and all?
"Sounds like the Baby B's. Kinda funny, since that used to be what they called the Bruins' minors, not the Sox..." She pauses and glances at you, realizing that you probably either don't know or don't care about the minutiae of old Boston sports. "Anyway, I'm surprised you asked about 'em. From what I heard, they ain't exactly big players these days. Used to be pretty popular, all about city pride and that, a lot of the locals liked them. Mark said he even drank with some of 'em a couple times down at a pub, watching a game or something. But I guess a year or two ago, something happened, suddenly they ain't doin' so hot."
Pam shrugs and takes another long drag of her cigarette. "You run into one of 'em or something? Hope you didn't hit him too hard."
Nix and Paladin, Cyber Hackers:
In Shadowrun, aiding someone else does indeed call for rolling the same test (I'd allow a different one that seems fitting in some cases); each hit you get adds 1 die to the primary actor's dice pool, up to a limit of your own Skill rating. In this case, you'd add 2 dice apiece to Paladin's tests; defaulting those dice would get a total of 12, which is enough to find basic info on the restaurant that isn't purely public knowledge.
The trip to Paladin's apartment is uneventful, and when you arrive, the place is locked and empty. Paladin glances almost automatically at one wall where messages are usually written in AR, and sees a note from Cuervo that he's out walking the dog. He also knows that usually means that a big dog and a bigger ork are running in one of the sprawl's indoor "parks," possibly caught up in an AR game of some kind, and won't be back for some time. With that in mind, the two of you set up, connect through the neighbors' access, and get to work.
The Classic is located in Dorchester, in a fairly decent section of the city, although not far from a more run-down area. It's been operating as a restaurant-theater for decades; the public node proclaims it's been family-run since 2014, and that the current owners are merely the latest chapter in "a proud history with roots in a great city." Although the exterior looks to be standard older-looking materials worn by the years, the inside has been renovated and kept up quite nicely, with trid-viewing facilities that are only a few years behind the cutting edge, and more than enough for a theater-going experience--for those who still do that sort of thing. You quickly get the sense that the Classic is still open mostly by the virtue of novelty, since the very concept of a restaurant-theater is so different from the typical in today's world. It's very much the kind of place that attracts (and caters to) middle-class wageslaves who want to live it up for an evening.
A brief search into the owner himself reveals nothing of interest; he doesn't appear to have any connections or scandals, or anything of note about him at all. You do discover the Matrix address of the establishment's private node, however, if you care to do less legal digging.
If there was public information of this sort that you'd like, but I didn't already offer, just ask. Anything deeper than the surface, though, is going to call for some hacking.
Weekend at Runie's (with Sarge and Wraith):
[ooc]I'm not positive on how you're planning to scope the place out, but I'm getting that Rune is going to use Astral space to do it, and he wants to be somewhere relatively secure while doing so. I'm assuming you just find an inconspicuous spot nearby, but if you'd prefer something more specific just let me know.
After some awkward history is brought up, and then smoothed over with some only slightly less awkward displays of affection, the three of you make for the Classic, finding its location easily enough with a quick Matrix search. Of course you don't just walk right in; instead, you find a nice empty lot nearby, with a little alley off the side where Rune can take a seat before going astral. Wraith and Sarge take up a position on either side of the elf, and his body relaxes and slumps back as his consciousness is projected into another space.
Rune, this isn't your first time perceiving and moving purely in the astral plane, and it doesn't take a great deal of effort to quickly get your bearings and move to the Classic. You can't move as fast as is possible in the astral if you want to take a look around, but it's still quicker than walking, and it has the added benefit of allowing you to move unsensed and mostly unhindered. The building itself has no magical defenses or barriers, so you're able to move inside with ease. The decor is much more pleasant than the building's worn exterior, and it almost immediately presents the feeling of a place designed and marketed toward middle-class customers who want to feel richer for an outing. As it's still fairly early in the day for a trid theater, there aren't many people inside--just a few employees making sure things are clean and orderly, a pair in the kitchen likely preparing the space for tonight's cooking. No one seems to notice your astral projection.
Rune, let me know what you're looking for in terms of anything specific, like layout, employee auras, anything like that; otherwise, I can just give you some basics. If you feel you should make a roll for anything, go ahead. Wraith and Sarge, I'd like a Perception test from each of you.
Aurelie had been in fine spirits, at least given her usual demeanor, during the heckling of Frye. At the scent and buzzing, she became wary and her hand crept toward her dagger. At the cry of distress, she drew the stiletto and stepped forward. Brunhard and Skeggi quickly displayed their desire to go help, and that was little surprise--Brunhard was a knight, after all, honor-bound to help the innocent, and Skeggi was a warrior by nature. Aurelie was neither of these, but she was familiar with the hard lot of children, especially poor young girls. And she was unyielding in her devotion to Saint Serene, and the need to make a difference in the face of danger and hardship--whether by words or by blade.
So when the two tall, strong warriors move forward with weapons ready, they're joined by a small woman with a wicked knife in hand and a fiercely determined steel in her eyes.
Resolve (Standard, Apprentice) 51:1d100 ⇒ 50By the skin of her teeth! Awareness (Discern Details vs. Priest) 46:1d100 ⇒ 85
Upon viewing the scene, Amelie is nearly overwhelmed by the horrid violence of it, but she thinks back to her training at the monastery. There are many dangers in the world, many horrible things, and the Sisters of Serene are trained to witness such atrocities... and, if the time comes, have a hand in some of them. Such wanton killing as this would never spring from a Sister, but neither would one be sent screaming from such a sight.
When Brunhard speaks up, Aurelie's thoughts aren't far from Skeggi's, but she pushes them aside. She's seen the knight fight before, and knows that although such proclamations may be foolish, he is more than capable of fulfilling his deathly promises. And his shouting comes from a good place. Yes, these monsters are wicked, agents of Chaos and death, and for that they must die.
Aurelie grips her knife tightly for a moment, but her hand naturally relaxes into the loose, able grip of a trained fighter. A stiletto might not have the military tradition of a pike, might not be recognized as a warrior's tool like a sword... but oh, the things a skilled hand can do with such a sharp, wicked blade.
Of course, all that said, Aurelie isn't about to just charge in and start stabbing. Let's see how things go.
Female Half-Orc Brawler (Wild Child) 6 (Champion 1) | HP 87/89 | AC 18, touch 15, FF 13; CMD 25 | Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +4 | Init +3; Perception +11, darkvision 60 ft.
Shape:
Maqli maintains her shallow breathing, but barely. The darkness and pressure and suspense are nearly suffocating in the halls, and while her breaths remain quiet, they come quickly. She glances into the barren room, but seeing nothing of interest, leads the way down the stairs to the junction. There, she pauses again, crouched down, staring between the apparent routes. When Jasmine speaks, she nearly leaves the ground, turning with an arched back and wide eyes.
After the elf's words, though, Maqli takes a breath and nods. "You are right. This is what a fool would do. Chasing something she does not understand, not knowing the land or the beasts. There is danger here, and I would walk into it." She shakes her head and frowns. "No, you are right. We should go back. Look at the altar, find another way. Only go deeper if we must."
The half-orc stands up and heads back for the stairs, keeping Karsak by her side--although both look behind with frequency. "I should know better. There were tombs and old ruins in the Vargrrashat. This is the same. A dangerous, old place, stinking of death."
And lo, unto the dragon did our hero leap, and with claws sharp and fangs ready. The great fire-drake reared back with flaming death in its jaws, and its mighty scales shining, and it roared and slashed at its foe with scything teeth. But Whiskers was quick and agile, and he landed upon the dragon's snout and there did he swipe out with one needle paw. And the dragon roared in pain as its eye was rent, for the claws of the cat are small but wicked-biting sharp. Ere long the beast was blind, and soon after it fell, the feline champion having scratched even unto its very skull. And there to mock his foe, Whiskers did hack up a hairball, which was later placed in the Temple of the Dragonslayer as a relic of great import.
Male Aasimar Inquisitor 2 | AC 17, touch 14, FF 13 | Fort +5, Ref +4, Will +6 | HP 14/17 | Init +7, Perception +8, Sense Motive +11
Sandy hit my area the night I was supposed to pick up a pre-ordered video game; everything closed early and things were out of whack, so I ended up picking it up some two days later.
The game was Assassin's Creed III.
Actually, you can. A character can buy gear up to one level beyond their own. If you're referring to price, that's appropriate as well--in the right hands a sniper rifle is way more powerful than a hunting rifle. As for the name, that's explained right in the weapon description--it refers to the compound sights, and in fact the rifles are "rarely" manufactured by shirrens.
Huh. In the right hands, a hunting rifle IS a sniper rifle.
At least for most of the world's history.
Seriously...do you need a more powerful weapon to kill a large 500 kg animal in one shot, or your typical 70 kg humanoid?
Both need to be very accurate/precise, and preferably maintain little variation in point-of-impact over long distances, but the hunting rifle usually has to be much more powerful to ensure a kill.
The key phrase in that is "most of the world's history".
We're talking about a science fantasy setting. The sniper rifles in that setting aren't just rifles with a scope stuck on and good ballistics. They're feats of engineering, finely tuned machines with technology included that makes them more deadly and precise as killing tools--and that needs more specialized training than your average longarm, thus Sniper Weapon Proficiency. That also explains why even the most basic sniper is Level 2 and costs as much as it does--these are such advanced precision weapons that the most basic model is still (relatively) expensive and requires a special permit for the average citizen. The sniper rifles in Starfinder aren't like the Remington 700 you can pick up at the local store--that'd be a hunting rifle--they're Barrett M82s, requiring special training and permission to use.
I'll tack on that there's a reason snipers don't just use the same rifles as your average hunter. Even today, their weapons are more precise, more expensive, and require more training to properly use to their full extent.
As far as availability and item level, I think they are fairly similar, and I don't think it's that strange. The argument is the same as magic items in Pathfinder--just because an item exists doesn't mean every shop has one in stock. So no, going to the local armory on whatever backwater world you're exploring this week isn't going to mean just flashing a card so you can buy your fancy molecular rift longsword. The game has abstractions. It basically spells that out for you in the description of what item level means.
Forgive my saying, but it seems like you've missed some important or clarifying notes from the book.
therealthom wrote:
Club is arguably the best of the level 1 weapons, and it's free. The next basic melee weapon to do as much damage is the level 2 tactical dueling sword, and that would cost nearly half your starting wealth.
In terms of damage die, yes, but the club is an archaic weapon. Losing 5 damage against any enemy with modern armor is a big hit, especially with a base d6 of damage. Even with 16 Strength, that means that you're going to be doing a pitiful amount--at best the same as a 10 Strength character with that puny survival knife.
therealthom wrote:
The level 1 advanced melee weapons are no better if you want to get to 1d6 damage or better. How mechanically is the longsword different from the tactical dueling sword? Aside from the extra cash required?
I'm not sure what you're trying to get at here. The longsword is different mechanically in that it's an advanced weapon rather than basic; it takes more training and knowledge to use one properly, which is the tradeoff for a better damage die at a lower price. Also, there's the assault hammer--it costs the same as the survival knife and deals 1d6 damage instead of 1d4. Less than 10% of your starting wealth for a decent melee weapon isn't a bad trade.
therealthom wrote:
Small arms? Is there really no one in the star system making a laser pistol that would fall between level 1 and 6? I suppose we should be grateful that they charged less than 4000 units to add 1d4 to damage.
Maybe not, or at least not making one that's notably different than the level 1 version. A GM could always homebrew something to go in the middle, possibly with the better range but not the increased damage? That mostly comes down to game balance and expected damage over level increases.
therealthom wrote:
Many of the weapon names are just lame. Really they would have been better off with shotgun, level X in most cases. And tactical, yeah, that will make it all sound cool.
Yeah, adding in subjective comments on what's "cool" or "lame" doesn't really add anything. As a personal note, I think scattergun works a lot better--these are clearly more akin to old-style blunderbusses than modern shotguns.
therealthom wrote:
Sniper weapons! Oh, sorry your operative can't have one at first level. And why are they all Shirren-eye ? Are the Shirren's the only race to have snipers, or the first to conceive them, or do all the other races use Shirren eyes for target practice?
Actually, you can. A character can buy gear up to one level beyond their own. If you're referring to price, that's appropriate as well--in the right hands a sniper rifle is way more powerful than a hunting rifle. As for the name, that's explained right in the weapon description--it refers to the compound sights, and in fact the rifles are "rarely" manufactured by shirrens.
therealthom wrote:
And what is with the chainsaws? It's like the game designers saw an old Doctor Who where Matt Smith said, "Chainsaws are cool."
By chainsaws, do you mean the fangblade? That's a pretty standard sci-fi weapon design and has been for a while, especially in the hands of SPESS MEHREENS.
therealthom wrote:
Armor presents a bewildering array of inferior concepts at inflated prices. It's like the designers said, "We need to teach players about careful comparison shopping."
I'll agree with you to some extent on this one. The tables are a little bewildering, and some armors seem like they should be much more or less expensive compared to others of similar level.
therealthom wrote:
And damage. PCs start with around 15 combined stamina and hit points. Yet most first level weapons do 1d4. Somebody better have high strength mods or low level combat is going to take hours.
Well, by my understanding enemies don't have Stamina, so they'll probably go down a bit quicker, but it's also the general consensus that combat takes a bit longer in Starfinder than it does in Pathfinder, in terms of rounds; individual turns probably go by a bit quicker since it seems like there wouldn't be as much rolling.
All in all, I don't know, man. Maybe you just came here to grouse or I fell for bait? Either way, the goal is to have fun, so if you don't like the game, don't play it.
As a note that comes to mind, I want to say: Shadowrun, in some ways unlike many other RPGs, can lend a lot of agency to the players and their characters when choosing what "adventures" to partake in. In your typical fantasy game there's some world-threatening crisis that needs stopped and your (usually inherently heroic) PCs willingly take up arms against it. Even in other sci-fi games it's typically something along those lines.
Shadowrun, though, features criminals (even if they have hearts of gold, as I've no doubt our team does!) taking on high-risk jobs for payment. It's a dangerous line of work characterized by people who play it safe and smart lasting a lot longer than numbskulls who take every offer and waltz off to their deaths. As such, it's fully within the realm of possibility for a team of runners to turn down a job opportunity. Hell, it's even expected to a certain extent.
Usually this would be fielded by a decent fixer who acts as a sort of buffer against bad work--for example, Tilt is aware of certain things the team doesn't like. If a Johnson from Knight Errant were looking for a runner team to gun down Catholic orphanage that's owned by Pensodyne Genetics, he'd scoff at the ridiculous premise and pass on the offer. But a job might slip through the cracks before the details come out, or it might seem totally good until the Johnson says something that makes the team start second-guessing. And of course, the team might just decide that the last run paid enough and they'd like a vacation.
My point in all this is, I don't want you guys to ever feel like you have to take a job that I cook up for you. In fact, I don't want you to feel like there's a right or wrong response to any given job, whether it's accepting or walking away. That's not to say there won't be consequences to the choices you make, but that's all part of the game.
tl;dr--Just because you see me spend time writing up a run description/offer for the team, that doesn't mean you have to take it. I'll come up with others, and I enjoy the writing, so no worries.
Aurelie smiles at her companions' continued mirth, although she herself is more worried about the legalities of the contract than she let on. If there's one clause we almost missed, who knows what else they might have hidden in there... For that matter, how did I miss it? I'll have to say my prayers twice tonight.
Her thoughts are interrupted by Reingolde's approach and offer, and she sits patiently as the man explains. When he offers the ale, she takes a sip and sighs in appreciation--she hadn't had something this fine and precious in years. Just because you're taught to endure life's hardships doesn't mean you can't appreciate the finer things.
Another fine moment comes from her friends voicing the very questions she'd been ready to ask. The payment offered was quite extensive, even if it was more in services than goods or gold, and that suggested a difficult or dangerous job. So while the others quite capably covered the important questions, Aurelie lets her mind drift to what she's heard of Saint Maisontaal and the Monastery...
Aurelie is trained in Education with a Focus in Theology, so she knows a fair bit of religion. If this would call for a roll... Intelligence (Education) 59:1d100 ⇒ 69Ah, unfortunately a failure. Perhaps she was ill for that lecture.
Female Half-Orc Brawler (Wild Child) 6 (Champion 1) | HP 87/89 | AC 18, touch 15, FF 13; CMD 25 | Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +4 | Init +3; Perception +11, darkvision 60 ft.
Are we all at the same campfire, or are the last three posts at a separate one? I'm assuming we're all together, but I'm not positive.
Maqli scowled as she returned to the camp grounds, Kalsak at her side. She was in a foul mood for many reasons--ill hunting only one of them. The prospect of a desert wasn't one she liked to face, used to hills and rocky outcroppings as she was. Something about the wide open space set her ill at ease, although she didn't care to admit it. And the running aspect wasn't something she craved, either; Maqli was a hunter and fighter by nature, and while she understood biding her time and striking when the enemy was weak, this felt like something entirely different. But the old lands were no longer safe, the Vargrrashat overrun by the humans as they expanded ever further... It had been a long and troubled march north from the Green Peaks, but they'd found the many other races and, uneasy as it was, they'd fallen in among the masses.
Maqli's thoughts are interrupted by Kalsak's abrupt halt. She looks curiously at the great beast, who sniffs and then gives a low sound, the strange growling rumble that passes as a warcat's purr. Maqli stares toward whatever caught Kalsak's attention: a campfire by the edge of the mass, around which a number of figures sit. After a moment, she picks out the likely cause for Kalsak's interest, in the form of another big cat. With a sidelong glance at her companion, Maqli strides for the fire, and the warcat bounds forward to stay by her side.
As she comes into the light of the fire, Maqli grunts to announce her presence--a rolling, throaty grumble not unlike Kalsak's purring. Her green skin and slight tusks immediately display her orcish blood, but equally obvious is that she's not a full orc--her figure somewhat too slight and short, her skin not quite so ruddy and rough. By her side is a strange beast not commonly seen by other races: the warcat looks something like a large feline with hard, armored skin rather than a furry hide. This warcat seems singularly interested in Inja's lioness, its head cocked to one side as its claws idly scrape the ground.
"Sorry to interrupt," Maqli says. Her command of the common tongue has grown since leaving the Vargrrashat Crags, but she still speaks quick and somewhat gruffly. "Karsak smelled your cat. I think he wants to play, or at least smell." She glances around at the disparate group and grunts again. "You are all odd. Not a tribe. What brings you together?"
Aurelie frowns and nods at Brunhard's mention of Red Hill. "Well, it's good enough that we all walked away from that one. We might have done it laughing, but someone... well, best to leave it."I hereby vote that the Red Hill Keep job become our very own Noodle Incident.
The thin woman sighs and returns her gaze to the charter, considering Brunhard's comment on the mercenary term. It is what they are, she supposes, but each of them have skills and training beyond that point. As she peruses, her eyes start to search out every detail of the contract, at first from habit, then from curiosity. She'd heard about the people being bothered by the adventuring policies in Bard's Gate... maybe there's a hint as to why?
Fellowship (Local Lore), 72:1d100 ⇒ 202, flip to fail is 20, so a success!
Her eyes catch on a small section of the fine print in the contract, and she clears her throat to get the others' attention. "Everyone, were you aware we were hiring on as guards with this charter?" Aurelie looks up, and turns the paper about, keeping the offending sentence under one finger. "Perhaps we should list our occupations as Free Defenders."
Seated beside the knight looks to be his opposite in nearly all ways: Aurelie. Where the knight is tall and broad-shouldered, a mountain of a man, Aurelie is small and frail; even if she's of average height for a woman, she's quite thin and seems dwarfed beside her companion. Where his hair is short and his eyes dark, she has long waves of tawny brown locks, and her eyes are a light gray-blue. Where Brunhard's rugged good looks are hidden by scars of old wounds, Aurelie looks almost sickly with her lean figure and an ashen complexion--and yet, the woman is undeniably striking. Perhaps the only similarity is her serious demeanor: she seems a tad concerned and on edge, as the others have learned she nearly always is.
"Agreed, we should save the drinks 'til then." Aurelie purses her lips in thought for a moment. It would save on funds, as well. No sense in spending what little we have left. With a sigh, she pats her own coin purse and feels its lightness. Another night of troll brew, if you're drinking, it seems.
"So, what are we thinking? This 'occupation' business has me wondering." She points out the spaces on the charter. "Should we all just put 'mercenary,' or should we refer to our talents there? It would let employers know about our capabilities."
I've actually changed my mind on the shiv--not much reason to have one with the stiletto--but they add up to less than half the rapier's value, so no issues there. I'll admit the request is partly because the stiletto is a much better weapon for Aurelie than the rapier, but it also makes for a more interesting element to the character and her background.
I think it would more directly contribute to the main idea I have for the Sisterhood of Serene: they're respected and considered fine agents, but they're also somewhat feared and mistrusted. Whereas the Sisters see themselves as being much like their patron saint: willing to use any tool to achieve peace and prosperity, be it a kind word, a hard gaze, or a sharp knife in the dark.
Jeez, this thread is a regular meet and greet for the board, by this point. We probably could form a small army... or at least one hell of a gaming society.
Just posting in to say that I'm still here and interested--I've been looking over the book some more and thinking about the character. I think I'm actually going to go with Envoy, in the end, because I'm coming up with a more coherent background for that, and I think it presents a more interesting tie-in with the Debt-Ridden Drawback.
Warlock 3 | HP 22/22 | AC 16 | Str 0, Dex +3, Con +1, Int +2, Wis +1 (+3 save), Cha +4 (+6 save) | Passive Investigation 14, Perception 11, Stealth 13
Makes sense to me, and I dig the writeup of Kayne discovering his Book of Shadows. (Also, said Tome contains the chill touch, fire bolt, and thaumaturgy cantrips.)
Male Skinwalker Cavalier 4 | HP 21/44 | AC 17, touch 12, FF 15; CMD 19 | Fort +8, Ref +4, Will +5 | Init +2, Perception +9 (low-light vision)
Sorry, I had much less free time and Internet access this weekend than I'd expected.
Arradir continues to keep to himself during this new exchange, but he listens in with some curiosity. It isn't often an Imperial girl so willingly--and brazenly--approaches a Norden, and her offer only further steps from the bounds of normality. Maybe times are finally changing, after all. The towns always progress before the outlier villages. Who knows? Maybe it's even become normal by now.
The man chokes back a chuckle at the last thought, and spoons more stew into his mouth to mask the sound. Imperial and Norden mingling isn't normal yet. Keep your britches in place, Arradir. But as he takes another bite, his thoughts turn to the prospect of a warm bed and a solid roof. It might be a nice change of pace.
I guess I'm pretty predictable, because it is indeed around 8 PM here on the U.S. East Coast, and here I am with the selections. It was a very tough process narrowing it down, as there were lots of very good submissions here, but after debate and long thought, I've chosen our unfortunate heroes for this one. I'd like to extend a welcome to the following fine souls:
Deiniol Sylvir, elven investigator extraordinaire;
Matoska Tayaya, aasimar outcast and fine brawler;
Perspicacious Gao, human wanderer and sharer great wisdom;
Rajuna Two-Fangs, human slayer of handcrafted monsters;
Shara Alazna, human daughter of Old Thassilon itself; and
Uriel Leveton, aasimar who definitely wasn't brainwashed by a cult.
As I said, there were a lot of great submissions for this one, and I hope to see everyone in the future! In the not-so-distant future I'll be recruiting for another gestalt game with a very different bent to it, so keep your eyes out. In the meanwhile, good gaming to everyone, and I'll have Discussion open for the party shortly.
So should I not take the Scholar of the Ancients trait? Because it gives you Thassilonian as a language.
Right, I forgot about that bit. Take the trait by all means, but I'm going to remove the language from its benefits--Thassilon is supposed to be a mysterious, ancient nation that nobody knows much about, and it feels a little cheap to make its language available right from the get-go. In return, I'll allow folks to increase the trait bonus to one skill to +2.
Also, here's the current list as I'm seeing it, gathered from the submissions I've read over and responded to. I'm not going to try and divide people into "roles" in this, instead just listing character name, race, classes, and campaign trait, going alphabetically by name.
Alekzander Ingerbalaur--Aasimar (Angelkin) Barbarian (Unchained, Savage Barbarian)/Sorcerer--Giant Slayer
Anjelica--Aasimar (Plumekith) Paladin (Divine Hunter)/Monk (Zen Archer)--Giant Slayer
Cale'anon Vaty--Elf Magus (Bladebound, Kensai)/Fighter (Eldritch Guardian, Mutagenic Warrior)--Outlander (Lore Seeker)
Caleb Rook--Tiefling (Hellspawn) Fighter/Pyrokineticist--Family Ties
Corso Gaczi--Human Brawler/Investigator (Empiricist)--Giant Slayer
Dakash Naan--Aasimar (Lawbringer) Druid/Monk (Unchained)--Sandpoint Faithful
Deiniol Sylvir--Elf Investigator (Psychic Detective)/Magus (Bladebound, Hexcrafter)--Scholar of the Ancients
Emilio Deivon--Human Stalker/Ranger (Freebooter)--Monster Hunter
Hammerstone--Dwarf Fighter (Foehammer)/Ranger--Giant Slayer
Koran Lashorn--Suli Sorcerer/Paladin--Scholar of the Ancients
Myst Eye--Halfling Sorcerer/Rogue (Unchained)--Giant Hunter
Nixis Dra'nor--Tower Elf Psychic/Sorcerer (Tattooed Sorcerer)--Scholar of the Ancients
Perspicacious Gao--Human Monk (Unchained, Perfect Scholar)/Sorcerer (Wildblooded)--Scholar of the Ancients
Rajuna Two-Fangs--Human (Varisian) Rogue (Knife Master, Unchained)/Inquisitor (Infiltrator, Sanctified Slayer)--Monster Hunter
Ruaidhrigh Katanalisko--Gnome (Lava Gnome) Cavalier (Beast Rider, Luring Cavalier)/Pyrokineticist--Giant Slayer
Shara Alazna--Human Arcanist (Blood Arcanist)/Fighter--Scholar of the Ancients
Torvin Gallus--Human Inquisitor/Slayer--Monster Hunter
Tsura Vhiski--Human Warlord (Steelfist Commando)/Monk (Master of Many Styles, Scaled Fist)--Sandpoint Faithful
Uriel Leveton--Aasimar (Angelkin) Inquisitor (Spellbreaker)/Fighter--Outlander (Missionary)
Whakau Whakau--Tengu Oracle/Paladin--Student of Faith
Wiz Ard--Human (Taldan) Wizard (Sin Magic Specialist)/Arcanist (Blood Arcanist)--Scholar of the Ancients
Zeldana--Half-Elf Witch (Cartomancer)/Psychic--Scholar of the Ancients
Scholar of the Ancients is the most popular, with Giant Slayer in second; we have a submission list with some people who are quite prepared for things to come.
Also, with 22 submissions at this point, Recruitment is now closed to further interest. If you've already posted in the thread, you're good to keep working and thinking on things. However, in the interest of getting things to start winding down, I'll set a soft deadline of Wednesday night for EST--roughly 48 hours from now. That's when I'll really be getting into the thick of submissions and starting to put a party together.
Alright, I'm typing this up in a break of events here, so I won't be giving full character feedback in this post--but expect something like that in the next day or two! (I'd say tomorrow, but it's looking like a long drive home, so maybe Monday for me.) That said, I do want to maintain my own presence here, and give some feedback on comments and questions since my last check-in.
Note: If you responded to my comments, and I don't respond to you, I'm not ignoring you! It just means that everything looks and sounds good to me, so you don't have anything to worry about or change.
Corso Gaczi:
The AC thing is because looking at your profile, you have your AC listed as 10, but touch listed as 12, due to the +2 from Dex. Maybe there's something I'm missing, but I believe your base AC should also be 12?
Jereru wrote:
Maybe too late to dot, I hope not.[/qoute]No worries, you're totally fine. When recruitment starts to close down, it'll begin with a note for no new interest, and a rough deadline for submissions to be finished so I can look them all over. (I say rough because if someone posts their character after I've started but before I've finished, I'll include it in my consideration.)
Gilthanis wrote:
Background has been updated. My copy/paste failed previously
Looks good from my readover. A quick note on your mechanics that I forgot last time--Weapon Focus (and other feats normally dedicated to one weapon) are now applied to an entire weapon group, so you'd have Weapon Focus (hammers) and Weapon Focus (heavy blades OR close weapons), rather than just the earthbreaker and klar.
F. Castor wrote:
Is it always on? Or is it a sort of at will thing, so it can be turned on and off? Because if it is always on, that would make for some darn uncomfortable handshakes and hugs...
Well, I'd say it's always on in terms of flavor--that is, your body is always producing intense, uncomfortable heat, but not so much that a handshake or even a quick hug would cause damage, just be noticeably hot and probably startling. It could certainly put a damper on some activities, but day to day life wouldn't be ruined. I'm also okay with that ability to replace your SLA--it has a mechanical effect, but it seems pretty fairly balanced to me.
Rafael Morganis wrote:
I hope I make the deadline, whatever that might be!
No worries, as mentioned, a deadline for finished submissions won't be for probably a few days yet.
Deiniol Sylvir wrote:
Important build considerations
Good questions, but both are fortunately dealt with by a single feat that's available to you from Path of War: Deadly Agility. I think Dexterity to damage is highly overrated in terms of how powerful Paizo considers it, so I have no problem with a feat making it possible to do it without so many restrictions. Also as a note, Weapon Focus isn't removed, just altered to apply to a weapon group--so if you wanted Slashing Grace for some benefit, you would still need Weapon Focus, it's just that both feats would apply to a full weapon group. (At least the one-handed weapons within that group.) Also, I give sword canes the same stats as rapiers, and they count as rapiers for basically all considerations, so have fun with that.
glibness wrote:
So I've spent the last couple of days thinking of a new character and I think I've got what I'm going to run A Kensai/Eldritch Scion/Bladebound Magus. and a Swashbuckler. Do you see any issue with that before I start building it? I'm going to make it at work tonight/tomorrow before work and will have it up by 12 PST tomorrow. I might want to go levels of Sentinel (The martial perstige class from Inner Sea Gods) is that ok to make or should I not plan on doing that route?
I've got no problems with any of that, although as someone else pointed out, Kensai and Eldritch Scion don't technically stack. If you're interested in playing that build, though, I'm happy to come up with a workaround, so just PM me to let me know!
Δaedalus wrote:
Several Questions
1: I think by a normal reading, instantaneous would be the duration for everything, but I'd be willing to entertain the possibility of altering that for at least some combinations. (Your idea there, for intance, I like and would potentially allow.)
2: I'd restrict that to an extra spell, since words are more versatile, but I'd also be fine with altering it to give you +1/3 of a new word.
3: I believe feats of that sort would apply to spells rather than words, but I'll think on that (and see if anyone else has put forward a good answer and reasoning).
4: Yes.
5: No.
gyrfalcon wrote:
Given that, how do you feel about the Zealot?
One of the big hits about Psionics to me is the Power Point system, so I'd rather people didn't use the Zealot or Sleeping Goddess. I agree that it's thematic, but short of an overhaul to not use Power Points (which I don't have time to do), I don't wnat to include it, sorry. As for the gods, the Peacock Spirit strikes me as a little too on-the-nose for this one for a PC, although a good write-up could change my mind there. Curchanus could certainly be rather interesting, though.
Alekzander Ingerbalaur wrote:
Loup, speaking of feats taxes I just realized I am taking a feat that has almost no benefit in a gestalt game. Could I please get a ruling on it?
Well, it's certainly a feat you could take, but I'll agree it doesn't serve much purpose, so feel free to drop it.
Myst Eye wrote:
Does the unchained rogue get something to replace rogue finese at first level? Maybe weapon focus, close weapons or something like that.
The unchained rogue will retain Rogue Finesse--it just kicks in with Dexterity to damage at 1st level, then again at 3rd and so on. I'll also allow ranged weapons to be taken with that ability, and this also reminded me that I do keep a feat called Deadly Aim with this system, which allows you to add Dexterity to damage with ranged weapons.
Cale Vatay wrote:
Hey DM? How many people are you thinking of selecting?
As mentioned in the first post, I'm looking at 3 to 6 people for this game, depending on a few factors. Ideally 4 or 5.
Alias ad Tempus wrote:
Question: what is your ruling on unarmed strikes and weapon finesse? I understand that Weapon Finesse is gone, but nevertheless: are unarmed strikes considered finesse weapons?
Since unarmed strikes are light weapons by default, they are finesse weapons, yes.
Alias ad Tempus wrote:
PS: Loup Blanc... French? Francophone? Francophile? Or is it an ode to Whitewolf?
A significant chunk of my family is French-Canadian, and I do speak a fair amount of French; it's also a play on my last name and my middle name (which is also my mother's maiden name).
For five years, the faithful of Sandpoint have attended church in temporary structures erected after fire destroyed the previous temple. While the new religious leader was helpful, kind, and wise, their worship wasn't the same. Now, though, the new cathedral is finally done. All that remains is for the Swallowtail Festival to renew the site's blessings from the gods, and it will be as if the Sandpoint Fire had never occurred.
From near and far, attendees to the Swallowtail Festival have come to help usher in this wonderful new era in the town's history. With all the festivities, the locals have set their goods and services on display, and even travelers in the region are drawn to Sandpoint for a day of celebration. It's sure to be a wonderful and relaxing time for one and all.
Greetings, everyone! Loup Blanc here, and I'm opening recruitment for a campaign of Rise of the Runelords, running off of the Anniversary Edition. This isn't going to be your granddad's Adventure Path, though--there are going to be some updates and power increases, both for the PCs and the enemies. I'll also probably tweak some encounters or add things in here and there. Don't worry, it'll still be very recognizable as Rise of the Runelords in all its glory; it's one of my favorite campaigns, and I wouldn't want to mess with that. Any changes will just be made to link things deeper to PCs if necessary, to build things out a little longer (I'd love to see this reach 20th level before the finish), and to perhaps make things more interesting as characters are rebuilt to keep things interesting and dangerous. My overall hope here is for things to be challenging and fair.
Character Creation--Mechanics:
Starting Level: 1st. The PCs will one day become great heroes, having overcome incredible dangers along the way... but they have humble beginnings.
--Special Rule: Gestalt! We'll be using the gestalt system for leveling up, meaning you advance in two classes and take the best of both. If you're unfamiliar with the system, a quick web search should get you what you need to know.
Ability Scores: Use a 25 point-buy by standard Pathfinder rules. You're great heroes with many talents and strengths.
Races: I don't explicitly disallow any given race, because soemone might wow me with a great backstory, but use good sense, and keep in mind your race is more than just numbers and abilities on a sheet. If you play a drow, people are going to react to that; same for any other distinctly odd or monstrous-looking race. Core and featured races are your best bets, unless you give me a great backstory to explain how you've come to be in Sandpoint.
--Templates: Not at game start. If your character concept involves hoping for something down the line, mention it as wishful thinking, but no guarantees. This is not the game to put forward your Advanced Natural Wereocelot.
Classes: I allow all Paizo published classes; the only one I can think of that raises an eyebrow for this area is the gunslinger, but a decent backstory will explain that. Unchained is recommended, but not required (although Summoners must use the Unchained spell list).
--Archetypes: I'm mentioning this since it comes up sometimes: I'm fine with archetypes, and feel free to use them for a different flavor than their origins. Sometimes a mechanical setup works perfectly for an idea that doesn't fit the flavor, and that's okay by me. I also have no issues with archetype stacking (per the usual requirements), as a general rule, so go for it.
--Third Party: Listed here since classes and archetypes are the most common. The only third-party sources I'll allow on a general rule is the Path of War work from Dreamscarred Press. Anything outside of that needs to be run by me specifically, on a case-by-case basis of what you want to use, before I can allow it; I also need access to it, meaning that if it isn't on the d20pfsrd website, it probably won't work, since I don't own very much.
Traits: Each character begins with a campaign trait for Rise of the Runelords; you also gain two other traits of your choice, for a total of three. You may take a drawback for an additional trait, but I will hold you to that drawback both mechanically and in terms of roleplaying.
--On Traits: Traits should be more than just a way to gain a class skill or bigger numbers on your sheet: they should inform an aspect of your character's background. I'm fine with reflavoring a trait for you to gain the same advantage, but it needs to be explained somewhere.
Starting Wealth: Maximum for your class at 1st level (e.g., a fighter or other 5d6x10 gp class would begin with 300 gold pieces to spend). There are several traits that add to this, whether in gold or equipment--these are powerful tools, so don't use them lightly.
Sources: To reiterate, most anything Paizo is available, with exceptions here and there. If it's from a hardcover you're probably fine--if you want to use something from an obscure source, please point out to me where it's from and I'll make sure it's okay. Third-party is allowed on a case by case basis, other than Path of War (which I like as a neat system providing more options for martials); please ask me before building a character, to save us both time and energy.
Alignment: At risk of causing a big debate (please, please for the love of the gods don't start one in this thread), no alignments within one step of Chaotic Evil. The reasons for barring NE and CE should be clear; CN is banned due to probability for shenanigans and it being unlikely that a truly Chaotic Neutral individual would go through the entirety of this AP. Lawful Evil will be looked at with a leery eye, but if you believe you can build one that will get along with the party (and well), I'm willing to give it a look.
House and Optional Rules --Background Skills are a go, including Artistry and Lore.
--Combat Stamina and its related systems are allowed; Fighters can access these for free, anyone else can take the feat.
--Feat Taxes are a thing I don't like, and to help combat them I'm using some changes I've recently been made aware of. This article discusses some of the basic alterations in depth, and this table has some more changes that we'll be using. Nothing major is altered here--it simply does away with some feats that don't need to exist, and combines some others to make things more streamlined.
--Variant Multiclassing is allowed, but it means you cannot multiclass in any other way. (For example, you could be a fighter/wizard VMC cleric, but you couldn't then multiclass from fighter to rogue down the line.) This does lock you out of prestige classes.
Character Creation--Backstory:
Let me begin this section by saying that I don't require anything specific. Everyone writes backgrounds differently, they focus on different aspects, they write in different ways. Instead of telling you how to write your character, let me just offer some suggestions of how to get my attention and fulfill what I need.
If you don't know where to start, try the Ten-Minute Background. It's a simple, useful method for writing down the basics of your character: concepts, plot points, goals. It's by no means the be-all, end-all of background writing, but it's a solid foundation.
Please don't just give me bullet points, or fragmented highlights that aren't full sentences, or something similarly half-assed. I'm offering to run a well-loved campaign with NPCs and subtlety and character and plot. True, most if not all of it comes prewritten, but I'm also promising not to just copy and paste chunks of the book into a thread and call it a day. In return, I'm asking you to give me an interesting and thought-out character.
Interesting is the best word to have in mind for your PC's background! After all, this isn't a game about regular townsfolk who are boring old commoners, nor is it about skilled individuals who'd rather hang out on their porch than take the fight to the evil of the world. This is a game about heroes! Feel free to go reluctant hero, or even grudging antihero, but above all, make your character an interesting person who will rise above the masses.
Finally, make sure to hit the usual highlights. What are your origins? How did you become an adventurer? What brings you to Sandpoint? Think of your backstory as the origins issue for your hero, their special prologue that comes before the team-up arc. Feel free to describe their first mini-adventure; in game terms, it might have netted a total of 300 XP or so, so maybe you killed some goblins or helped hunt down an ogre or something. Definitely have fun with it! The more you care about your character, the more likely it is that I will, too.
About Me, About This Game:
I'm a recent college graduate with a degree in Creative Writing; naturally, I love to read, tell, and write stories, which lends to my love of RPGs and GMing. I've been playing for about a dozen years now, and I've been GMing in some form for much of that time (since I was among the first of my friends to get into the hobby), so I have experience. I can theorycraft with the best, but I prefer interesting, well-rounded characters to powergamed one-trick ponies.
As mentioned previously, I'll be running this game based on the Anniversary Edition of Rise of the Runelords, with updates and upgrades to reflect the new material that's become available since the book's release (as well as changes I feel will make for a more challenging, and thereby more fulfilling, campaign). The plot will remain nearly entirely the same, but expect many encounters to be different. You might think of this as the AP on Hard Mode, but the PCs are also much more powerful to match. I think of this campaign as a great example of classic high fantasy, with heroes rising up to stop an ancient world-changing evil, and I want things to feel truly heroic throughout.
With my schedule as it is, I hope and plan to post, on average, once a day, perhaps going down to once over the weekend. (I live on the East Coast of the United States, in terms of time zones.) That said, I have an active and at times very busy life, and there will be times when I cannot post. As often as possible, I'll at least check in, and any planned departures will have warning ahead of time, but life happens; things come up that cannot be avoided. All I can say is that I'm in this for the long haul, barring extreme circumstances, and I hope to see this through to the end no matter what. I don't promise a fast game--I promise a well-loved one.
I would strongly recommend anyone who's interested in this game to take a look at the following document: Virtues and Vices of Playing. It offers some of my most important thoughts on how to be a good player for PbP, particularly how to improved your chances of being selected by me for a campaign.
For this game, I'm looking at recruiting 3-6 characters, depending on interest, party composition, and so forth. There's no hard deadline to recruitment as of the moment, and warning will be given before it closes down and I make my selection.
If you've made it this far, congratulations and thanks to you! I hope this has caught your interest; if not, I hope you find happy gaming elsewhere. I wouldn't be surprised if I've forgotten something, or muddled my meaning somewhere, so if you have a question, feel free to ask. Otherwise, I hope to see some voices of interest and some wonderfully neat characters!
I actually think a number of the Adventure Paths could be played with some tweaking to allow for--and fit--a primarily evil or morally-dubious party.
Some Thoughts:
Rise of the Runelords: The game starts out with goblins attacking Sandpoint, and most of the plot revolves around bigger and badder threats becoming apparent for the town and the surrounding area. The key thing here is that evil doesn't often get along very well with other evil, so you could easily have something like that coming out here. An idea off the top of my head is a Sczarni family who wants to take control of the town fighting against threats to their machinations, or evil adventurers trying to unravel the secrets of Thassilon stumbling upon more truths than they ever expected to find.
Curse of the Crimson Throne: I don't know a ton about it, but from what I do know Korvosa is a very seedy city and it's pretty easy to play some morally gray characters there. I could easily see an up-and-coming crime syndicate composed of the PCs wanting to keep the city from collapsing into utter chaos--after all, it's so much easier to rob people blind when they're focused on other things.
Council of Thieves: I feel like this could go similarly to the CotCT--it's a grim region of Golarion, so playing grayer or grittier characters could probably work well.
Kingmaker: People have already touched on this, and there are plenty of ways to adapt it to fit. You're already being proactive and carving out your society--it's just that it'll be a despotic tyranny or a might-makes-right style kingdom rather than a bastion of light against the darkness.
Serpent's Skull: I don't know a ton about this one, but I feel like even evil characters have a good reason to fight for survival and try to stop a world-altering reptile god from coming back and messing things up.
Jade Regent: So get this: instead of a party of heroes who help the rightful empress of Minkai reclaim her throne, it's a group of opportunists or some such who steal the seal that gives them the right to rule. Some simple rewriting of things--maybe the kami that protects the seal has truly gone insane and helps them as an oni--and blam, a villainous campaign of conquest in a far-off land. Alternatively, the PCs are still helping to rightfully reclaim the throne, but the hereditary ruler isn't nearly as pleasant as the baseline Ameiko. Alternatively, I've plotted out what I call Jade Goblin, where the Licktoad Tribe decides to cross the globe and build a new goblin kingdom... but that might not quite fit.
Skull & Shackles: Just play real, actual, nasty pirates. Just don't like Cheliax, and like having shiny things.
Wrath of the Righteous: Two words: Low Templars. Instead of champions of justice and light, these are the people who get the job done. They're damn good at what they do, and what they do isn't very nice.
Those are just my thoughts on some of the APs that I can particularly see working well with this kind of idea. I do really like the "accidental hero" angle as a concept, though: A game where evil PCs stumble into heroism completely without trying to sounds like a lot of fun. Any of the games that kick off with big trouble would fit well for that.
Male Human | 0 Wounds | Parry 8, Toughness 5 | Status 4, Favors 2 | 2/3 Bennies
Deep apologies for the delay and not having our Interlude up sooner--Victoria and I have been busy, particularly me. We do have it done, now, though, so hopefully you'll allow it to be posted now! It's in a similar format to Rasheed and Carl's, with my parts in basic text and Victoria's in italics.
Demons on the Docks:
Not long after wrapping things up with the writer, Tristan began coming back into a more talkative and energetic mood once more. Their success in recruiting Swinburne raised his spirits, even more so that they avoided bloodshed, and he felt cause to celebrate. A brief investigation into the current social scene among the nobility, however, revealed that no one was hosting any events at the moment... at least no one whose party he could attend without too much of a stir. After some thought, he appoached Victoria with a request: to engage in some frivolity and leisure amongst the lower classes, with whom she was more familiar. "I believe it's called 'slumming,'" he said with a wink. Soon enough, the pair embarked, with Ajax in tow at Tristan's heels.
Victoria led Tristan through the streets of downtown London, her hands folded across her chest. She frowned at Tristan's awe at how the poorer people live, and quite purposefully avoided the area of the city where she had grown up herself. When pressed she said nothing other than that he was likely to be robbed--and more importantly, starting a fight would draw attention they didn't want--but the bite in her voice was an easy clue that something was left unsaid. She instead led him toward the Thames through a shopping district, leading him into places like butcher shops or cobblers or other such trades he'd likely never seen done personally. She watched with a smirk as the old gentleman spoke with the butcher about a cut of meat, and let him have some fun conversing with the locals and finding himself a bit of a lunch from one of the many stands and shops. Once he was done, she led him to the docks.
Tristan was by now enjoying himself immensely. He'd seen butchers' and other tradesmen's stores in the past, but hadn't often had opportunity to linger long inside or speak with the men. Now, he could have long conversation, and while he had no doubts as to the countless faux pas he was making, it was a good time nonetheless. Down at the docks he fed some meats to Ajax while speaking with some of the local workers, asking them about their jobs and lives. They were obviously hesitant at first, then more amused than anything, but slowly he began to win them over--particularly when some of their children, coming to bring them food, laughed and started petting Ajax, who took it in stride.
While Tristan spoke with the dock workers, she instead sat back and took a bite of an apple she'd swiped from a stand earlier in the day. She watched idly as a group of workers unloaded crates into a warehouse of sorts, barely paying attention until she noticed something peculiar; the men inside the warehouse were quite careful not to let the sunlight touch them, and when one did the crate he was holding crashed to the ground as he recoiled in pain. Narrowing her eyes, she slipped away from Tristan to investigate, finding another way into the warehouse through a cracked window. She cursed as she watched from behind a stack of boxes as all manner of monsters worked in the privacy of the warehouse, unloading supplies for some diabolical plan. She felt her heart racing as she reached to unsheathe her Ripper claw, but stopped when she looked to the back of the building. Trapped were a group of who could only be Rippers, their weapons lined against the back wall as they were tortured by a demon. Victoria scowled and kept herself behind the boxes, looking for a way to get to them.
As Victoria was looking in at the warehouse, Tristan finished up a particularly long and raunchy joke, which set the men to roaring laughter and the children to confused looks and scattered chuckling. The old gentleman laughed along with them, and leaned forward as another man started a joke of his own--something simpler and shorter, but equally entertaining. Just as he finished the punchline, however, Ajax stood up and turned his head, ears peaked up and hackles raised. Tristan followed the hound's gaze to a warehouse; the wind had shifted, and a curious, stale smell was now blowing from it. Tristan thanked the dockhands for their time and quickly made his way over toward the building, keeping Ajax to heel for the time being. The Ripper-trained hound was displaying quite clearly his reaction to scenting a supernatural threat, and Tristan was glad he'd brought his mixed-metal sword cane, prepared to deal with different types of foes. Discretion being the better part of valor, he made his way to find a side entrance, and soon clambered through the same broken window Victoria had found, coming up behind the woman to view the situation and hatch a plan.
Victoria suppressed a yelp of surprise when Tristan nearly appeared beside her, cane at the ready. She spoke in hushed whispers of the Rippers beind held and hatched a plan to release them. When Tristan caused a ruckus as a distraction she snuck to the captured Rippers and undid their bonds, before unsheathing her claws and scattering back behind the crates. When the other Rippers launched their surprise attack Victoria joined them, hacking into the monsters with an animalistic fervor. When the demon cornered one of the Rippers and threatened a killing blow, she leapt onto the monster's back and thrust one long claw through the membrane of its wings, before jamming the other into its back and rearing away to give the Ripper time to escape. She was flung from its back near Tristan, who just having put down a monster himself, turned to face it alongside her.
Side by side, Tristan and Victoria faced the horrific creature, and Tristan stepped forward to draw its attention while Victoria rose to her feet. His sword cane lashed out, the cold iron blade drawing hellish blood from the demon, but it roared and came on at speed. Tristan fell back, scrambling on the floor, and at that moment Ajax burst through another window, all snarls and snapping jaws. A quick shot from Tristan's revolver did no real damage to the demon, but distracted it long enough for Ajax and Victoria to strike and fall back, keeping the creature wheeling and roaring, unsure of who to attack first. It chose in the end to go for the weakest link, the old man, and Tristan was knocked to the floor, his head colliding with a crate. Dazed, he looked up as the creature drove on him, but then another hand picked up his sword and rammed it forward, driving the blade through the demon's throat. Looking to the side, Tristan blinked and saw one of the dock workers with whom he'd joked, whose young daughter had been the first to shyly pet Ajax.
When the dust settled, Victoria and Tristan helped the Rippers gather what supplies had been found and salvage what they could from the dead Cabal members in terms of Rippertech and other such goods. For the favor of saving their lives, one member of their team offered to implant some of the Rippertech they'd scavenged or help attune any of the magical artifacts found in their shipment to either of them, and Victoria accepted the monstrous grafts.
Tristan, meanwhile, spoke with the dockhand who'd saved him, thanking him for his assistance. The man, who introduced himself as Will Thatcher, was one of the more experienced dock workers, and had served in the navy for several years as a younger man. He mentioned he'd heard of strange things happening on the docks, and had been curious as to the strange warehouse and its odd, secretive workers, but he'd never guessed it might hold supernatural secrets. Thatcher didn't volunteer to join the Rippers, nor would Tristan ask him to do so--he had a family and needed to care for them first--but the man offered his assistance should Tristan need it in the future.
So the "treasure" would be a piece of Rippertech for Victoria, and the Extra tagging along with Tristan (although not all the time).
On the 26th, Tristan opens the letter and examines the photographs. "Well, I say, these are rather... intriguing." He looks them over and passes them to the others. "Shall we pay Master Swinburne or the Strand a visit and investigate the origins of these images?"
This is a notice that recruitment will close soon. As of right now interest and everything is still open, but consider this a warning that I'll be closing this off in a couple days or so. I think it's run long enough and we've got a solid bunch of submissions, so I'll be going over things again and selecting before much longer, so we can get this under way.
GM DeathbySuburbs: Glad to hear it! Makes sense how Flora could be connected, then. Looks good to me.
Araj the Raven: Technically you can't gain benefits from three Minor Hindrances on a character, only two Minor and one Major, but I don't have an issue with it for the Soldier. It does look like you're still one over on skills, though--I count 17 points as being spent there. (This directly stemmed from my own miscalculation last time, I'm guessing, where I missed the three Minor Hindrances and assumed you'd taken one Major.) It's a small fix to make, so I still consider you finished.
Atlas2112: As kamenhero25 just mentioned, and I've put in the player's doc, Blessed were introduced to Noir in the companion book. They don't function like they used to in Deadlands Reloaded, because some events took place that shook up their connection to their powers, and faith is pretty low by this era, so they have to use their powers more sparingly and with some limitations. Thus, they have Power Points rather than just rolling Faith. Overall it's pretty similar to the base version of the Arcane Background from Savage Worlds itself, with a couple changes here and there--I can point those out when the time comes.
Also, the player's document is finished! Sort of. The mechanical rules are up there, and I'll be continuing to work on and add the more flavorful stuff--it applies to what your Ripper PCs in 1933 know, so we can get started without all of it added in. I would have more, but I realized a fair bit of what I'd typed up previously was muddled and/or contradictory. (Don't try writing complicated tapestries of metaplots when you're not thinking straight to begin with.) I'll be updating it as I have time and capacity to do so, but take a look to start getting the gist of things!
Male Lesser Deity | Attack 4d6, Defense 4d6, Hit Points 40/40
I'll agree that I think the game would be more interesting and in some ways more fun if everyone is only playing one god, but I'm not necessarily against it. Although I do also feel like a god of undeath this early on doesn't make much sense... Maybe a god of death who comes to take on the undead as part of his domain?
Also, personally I think we may be overthinking and overconcerning ourselves with logistical things that don't really matter. Who cares if it doesn't really make sense for our world to exist as it does without a sun? Why bother worrying over internal-earth energy generation, or creating magic as an excuse to make it work? We're gods. We can do what we want, and right now we're very much in the mythical prehistory time, before the creation of sapient races who think rationally and try to piece those things together.
Long story short, we don't need to worry about how it all works until somebody comes along and asks. And even Atheos doesn't really qualify as that somebody, because he's a god, too--like it or not ;)
Male Togruta Scout 4 | HP 39/47, Condition 0 | Fort 17, Ref 20, Will 14 | Init +11, Perception +7 (Echolocation) | Force Points: 6
In Avizzi's mind, he's on Shili. He's at home, hidden in the turu-grass, his red and white skin patterns allowing him to easily blend in with the vegetation. A spear is clutched in his hand, and his breath is shallow. He's on the hunt, and cannot return to the village until he has fruits of his labor. He knows these lands aren't the safest--at least one Akul lives in this territory, and he should have turned back hours before. But he's been tracking a quarry, and now he's close, so close to the kill--
A sound behind him. It isn't a footstep, nor is it breath. It's metallic, unnatural. Avizzi spins, his spear in hand and already lunging up and forward, and he sees the source of the noise. It isn't an Akul, nor any other beast. It's another togruta, and in his hands, a pistol, the barrel black and yawning...
Avizzi comes to with a start, the pain unbearable for a moment, but he fights through it and flexes his fingers. Alive. That's good. He glances around. The group is there, everyone else relatively fine, and the sithspit woman is unconscious on the ground. The Hutt is here, and Taril is worriedly asking the medic if her lekku will scar. Everything as it should be, the togruta thinks, and he smirks--although it quickly turns to a grimace as he sits up.
"Can I put a slug through her skull yet?" he asks, gesturing to Kressa's body.
Male Togruta Scout 4 | HP 39/47, Condition 0 | Fort 17, Ref 20, Will 14 | Init +11, Perception +7 (Echolocation) | Force Points: 6
Alright, cool. For this level Avizzi gains 6 HP, a Destiny Point, and his Force Points reset to 7 total. (I should start using those more often.) He'll also take Stay Up (from Scum and Villainy, page 24) as his bonus feat--useful, and feels fitting given what's just happened!
EDIT: I forgot, we get ability increases here! I'll increase Dexterity and Constitution, which also nets me more HP. Also increasing skills.
Male Togruta Scout 4 | HP 39/47, Condition 0 | Fort 17, Ref 20, Will 14 | Init +11, Perception +7 (Echolocation) | Force Points: 6
Avizzi grunts as the blaster bolt slams into his shoulder, and he nearly drops to one knee as he spins with the hit. "She's here, but I don't think you'll like it much," he grunts. He takes a moment to force his mind past the pain in his shoulder and brings his pistol up, sending another slug downrange at the woman. (Two swift actions to move up on the condition track with Shake it Off, standard to attack.)
Male Togruta Scout 4 | HP 39/47, Condition 0 | Fort 17, Ref 20, Will 14 | Init +11, Perception +7 (Echolocation) | Force Points: 6
With a frown, Avizzi stops reaching for his pistol. "We certainly do have a way with people," he comments, returning to his room to put on some more of his things--boots, jacket, concealed holster. Once that's done he comes back out to the hub area, folds his arms, and waits for the Neimoidian to recover. "Even when we don't go in shooting, they end up dropping." He snorts and gives a shake of his own lekku, apparently amused.
Male Togruta Scout 4 | HP 39/47, Condition 0 | Fort 17, Ref 20, Will 14 | Init +11, Perception +7 (Echolocation) | Force Points: 6
I don't know about the others, but Avizzi will sleep in his own room. Albeit with his slugthrower pistol under his pillow, and the rifle positioned to shoot at someone in the doorway with its remote activation--preferably hidden under the bed if possible. Remember, kids: paranoia pays off!
Male Togruta Scout 4 | HP 39/47, Condition 0 | Fort 17, Ref 20, Will 14 | Init +11, Perception +7 (Echolocation) | Force Points: 6
When Taril crashes Igren's droid, Avizzi catches the Rodian's gaze and responds with a predatory grin, flashing his sharp teeth at the bookie. "She's a real hunter," he says, turning back to see what she does on the next lap. "I'd say double or nothing she knocks out the others just to show she can, but I doubt you'll take it."
Indeed it would. But speaking of three factions, I think I've found a potential time-setting for the Star Wars game: how does the Old Republic Cold War sound to people? The only real source of info we'd be going up against is the Old Republic MMORPG, which is a great game I've barely sunk my teeth into at this point, and even that takes place mostly toward the end of the period from what I can tell.
Other thoughts include the outright wars around this period, or perhaps the Third or Fourth Schism within the Jedi Order, but considering the idea evolved from special operations, secret agents, and James Bond, it's hard not to go with the obvious analogue period. It's even called the Cold War, for cripes' sake! And it keeps most if not all options on the table in terms of what people want to play, from Jedi Knights to Republic special forces to hired guns.
Male Human Medium (Reincarnated) | HP 35/35 | AC 20, touch 11, FF 19 | Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +5 | Init +1, Perception +6 | Lamb, Order of the Sheep
The Totally Real Encyclopedia Labyrinthica Dramatica wrote:
Uh, yeah, you can take a loan from the souls of the Labyrinth. But you better pay them back before you die, because otherwise, uh, it's real spooky, and, um, bad things happen. Like Solaire turning into the Carthus Sandworm! Yeah. That sorta stuff. Real spooky things. With skeletons. Scary ones.
The date is Wednesday, October 19th, 2016, and Romney, New Hampshire seems to be going about its regular business. The college town, with a population of a bit over 150,000, has been generally following its usual existence. There isn't a lot of trouble in Romney, no pressing political concerns beyond usual, crime rates are about average, and it's an average New England city in many ways. The only talk that's out of the usual lately is expected, even: the two-year anniversary of Ricky Thompson's disappearance is coming up on the 29th, just ten days away. That dark spot in Romney's recent history has been brought back to local attention, thanks both to the upcoming date as well as an "anonymous tip" that led to a story in the local tabloid, the Romney Rag, wherein it was suggested that the Thompson family may be filing to have their son declared legally dead.
But as with every city across the world, darkness lurks under the surface. The shadows are around every corner, and there are many things in Romney that have gone thus far unseen, or unspoken, by the general public...
Aaron:
It's about 3 PM and you're sitting at your desk, going over yet another file in what's been a long day of paperwork. There was an issue a few weeks back when a Private got in a fistfight down at one of the bars in town, and the drug bust a week before, but beyond that, it's been backlogs and clerical duties for most of your time, lately. Sometimes it seems like taking the job here, in a relatively quiet New England college town, may not have been the best idea... but then again, you haven't had any flashbacks or direct nightmares about your last mission overseas lately. Maybe the trade-off is worth it. After all, if nothing else you've got your old cold case file on the Master Sergeant's disappearance, even though there haven't been any updates there in...
As your thoughts are drifting off, you're brought back by the ringing of your office phone. You answer to hear the familiar sound of Detective Marcus Warren, one of the local LEOs you've worked with over the last couple years. "Nikhols, hey, I figured I'd give you a ring. You still working that case with the sergeant thing? Asked me to send you anything with the Thompson kid for that, yeah?" He pauses, apparently both for you to answer and for a sip of something. "Well, we just got word that some art thing going up in town tomorrow? New exhibit opening, something like that, I dunno the specifics just yet. Anyway, apparently there's a last-minute addition and it's a tribute to the kid. Figured I'd send it your way, in case you wanted a look at it. Dunno what connection you see, but hey, you federal boys got further sight than us, I guess."
Warren's chuckle ruins his attempt to sound like the gruff cop bothered by higher-ups pulling rank or jurisdiction. He's an old hand at the game, and he cares a lot more about actually seeing justice done than anything else. He was also one of the original detectives assigned to the Thompson case, and he's been helpful in more than one investigation since.
Derek:
It's just after 3 PM, and you're walking out of Bio lab, free for the rest of the afternoon into evening. There may or may not be anything on your schedule just yet, but if nothing else you can always just walk around town a bit. Romney may not be the big city, but it does have plenty to do if you look for it. Maybe catch a movie, or visit one of the museums or hangout points in town. You're still too young to hit one of the bars just yet, but give it a little bit and you'll be there...
Your thoughts are interrupted by a familiar voice--Dennis, one of the guys in your lab. You don't know him incredibly well, this is the first course you've had together, but he's a friendly guy. Just now, he's got his hand on your shoulder and a grin on his face. "Hey man, you going to the opening tomorrow night? I heard professors aren't counting it as absences for labs or anything."
Diana:
It's about 3 PM, and you're gaming in the name of research. It's honestly a potentially useful experience, and can give you insights into the way modern games are being made and the elements that go into a fun time for the user. It's also a decent way to take a break from the ongoing problems with your personal projects, and to procrastinate just a little on your homework. At least that's what you've told yourself, but the game is actually quite good, with a number of complex decisions to be made as well as character choices in-game that provide what could be positively described as "extensive." To an old hat RPG player like you, this only opens up worlds of opportunity, and you're looking at the various opportunities presented by a few options in particular...
Your thoughts are interrupted by the door opening and your roommate, Summer Shines (her actual name, thanks to parents who never quite outgrew the sixties despite not growing up during them), coming in to flop down on her bed. She heaves one sigh from a day of classes and then turns to look at you. "Hey, you hear about the art thing going up downtown tomorrow? Apparently there's gonna be a gamer thing as part of it. Maybe a good way to get out of the room for a bit, do something fun and different, you know?"
Fitting for her name, Summer's got a bright outlook on life and a cheery personality, for the most part. She was your roommate last year, and she's been a true friend and what even you recognize as a good influence, helping you continue to keep out of your shell and do new things. She doesn't ever really push you to do anything you don't want, but she's definitely suggested events in the past that have turned out to be a lot of fun.
Hunter:
It's about 3 PM, and you're packing up in an art lab where you've spent the last couple hours doing figure work with other students. Practice doesn't start until four, so you actually have a brief period to yourself. Between school, sports, and your outside work on art, it sometimes feels like you're busy all the time, but you've got a bit of freedom every now and again. Right now that freedom could get you some extra work on projects, or maybe an episode of something on TV or Netflix or...
Your thoughts are cut off by a new email coming into your inbox, and you check the subject line. New Exhibit Opening Tomorrow--Please Read! Opening the email reveals a longer message, sent out through the Art Department's collective email service to all of its students at Romney State.
To All Our Students and Faculty: A new exhibit is opening at the P. Stroehmann Gallery downtown tomorrow night, Memory Warp, and we would like to officially invite all of Romney State's fine arts community to attend if they have the time and desire. While we always encourage our students to attend exhibits if possible, but in this particular case we believe there may be even more value than usual in attending. The exhibit is showcasing works of local artists, working individually and together to create a showcase of unique and varied pieces. Also of note is a recently announced addition to the exhibit which will relate to the life and memory of Ricky Thompson. We are all aware that our community still feels the disappearance of Ricky and its effects, and we would like to encourage everyone to participate in this special reflection.
As such, any classes tomorrow evening will be excused, and you should speak to your professors regarding possible extensions to any ongoing projects. We hope you will take this opportunity to view a special collection of local work and participate in an important community event.
James:
It's about 3 PM, and you're staring at the last page you've finished so far today as you sit in the Fog and Flame. Maybe you typed or wrote it there this afternoon, maybe you're just reviewing over something warm to drink on this blustery autumn day, but either way you're looking at what you've written to double-check for now. Probably just a basic proofreading, making sure you don't have any blatant misspellings or punctuation issues. The book's coming along nicely, and you'll probably have it done before too much longer. Then it's final chapters to the agent, probably not long before a full manuscript to the editors, and from there, if everything holds up, it won't be long before you're out of town again...
Your thoughts are interrupted by the scrape of wood on wood and a familiar, if somewhat unwelcome, face appearing on the other side of the table. Now seated across from you is Hollis Brown, well-known to you and other Romney locals as the owner, publisher, and senior editor of the Rag. Most people think of him as a talentless hack, and as a publisher, he definitely is--but you know enough about the craft of writing to realize, however grudgingly, that the rare article he writes himself is well-written, if not completely factual or even ethical.
"Hey there, golden boy. You gonna be at the big hoedown tomorrow at the gallery? Asking strictly off-record, of course." He gives the wheezy laugh of a lifelong smoker at his own joke. He wrote a review of your novel and published it in the Rag after it came out--it was positive overall, although he seemed to miss the real plot in favor of wild conjecture about your own psychology and how it was represented on the page. "I'm sure it'd mean a lot to the community if our very own homegrown literary hero attended. Especially what with the Thompson piece and all."
John:
It's about 3 PM, and you're currently finishing up in a computer lab after class. It's mostly things you already know, mixed in with some thoughts on theory and specific vocabulary that you don't really care about. In the end this is likely to be an easy A as long as you take the time to do the busywork along with coding out the projects--ones that you may not still have saved on your computer, since they're basics you got used to years back. If there's one good thing about the class, though, it provides you ample opportunity to work on your own projects after you've finished whatever assignment was given that day. The school computers might not have as much power as yours, but taking down security measures is a piece of cake, and it does make it theoretically impossible to trace back to you if you're using the campus-wide networking. Even makes hanging around after class for a little bit to finish things up worth your while...
Your thoughts are interrupted by the tone of a new message popping up in an online chat you use to keep in touch with people of "similar interests." The message is from a "username" that's just a meaningless string of numbers, letters, and symbols, similar to your own in format and the fact that it'll be wiped and replaced as soon as you disconnect from the server. The actual sender, you know, is a local hacker with moderate skills and too little ambition to get him on a bigger scene. They go by PAC, always all caps, and you haven't met in person, but you've gotten to know them pretty well--as anonymous hacker collectives go--since coming to Romney.
Found lead on 1928--art open tomorrow. You in? Short and to the point while maintaining full spelling fits PAC's usual style, and they're the only one you share the codename 1928 with. It's a fairly basic but adequate way to mask discussions involving Ricky Thompson, and PAC is a source who's been helpful with gathering some info here and there, more with word on the street than hard hacking ability.
Michelle:
It's about 3 PM, and you're in your room, going over some of your latest drawings with a critical eye after classes this morning. You have a lab this evening where something's due, and you aren't sure just what to turn in as of yet. You're sure that several of your pieces are definitely of the right quality, but it seems that your subject consistently turns toward the strange. Whether it starts as a portrait of a man on Romney's bus system, a woman in a coffee shop, or a landscape look of Ash Valley Avenue, there seems to be something a little off or dark, somewhere just out of the focus of the piece...
Your thoughts are interrupted by a chime from your computer, signaling a new email in your inbox. You open it up, figuring it may be important, or at least distract you from your own work. New Exhibit Opening Tomorrow--Please Read! The subject certainly suggests it might be important.
To All Our Students and Faculty: A new exhibit is opening at the P. Stroehmann Gallery downtown tomorrow night, Memory Warp, and we would like to officially invite all of Romney State's fine arts community to attend if they have the time and desire. While we always encourage our students to attend exhibits if possible, but in this particular case we believe there may be even more value than usual in attending. The exhibit is showcasing works of local artists, working individually and together to create a showcase of unique and varied pieces. Also of note is a recently announced addition to the exhibit which will relate to the life and memory of Ricky Thompson. We are all aware that our community still feels the disappearance of Ricky and its effects, and we would like to encourage everyone to participate in this special reflection.
As such, any classes tomorrow evening will be excused, and you should speak to your professors regarding possible extensions to any ongoing projects. We hope you will take this opportunity to view a special collection of local work and participate in an important community event.
Russel:
It's about 3 PM, and you're in your own office, going over some files. You don't have any actual appointments here for the rest of the day, and no classes in the evening either. For once you've got a bit of time off, if it can be called that. It sometimes feels like the work's never done lately, between the practice, the hospitals, the university... Still, it's fulfilling enough, and it keeps you engaged. Better than always finding nothing to do...
Your thoughts are interrupted by the office phone ringing, and you answer it to hear a familiar voice. "Hello, Doctor Wilcox." It's Detective Andrew Banner with the Romney PD, one of the detectives from the Thompson case who's worked with you on-and-off over the years, giving you what information he can when it's available. He's also worked with you on a couple of other cases since then. He tends to be serious to a fault, but he's gold where it counts. "Detective Banner here. I thought I'd let you know something came up in relation to the Richard Thompson case? We don't have anything solid, but we've gotten word there's an art exhibit opening tomorrow in town, with a piece relating to him somehow. I can't say any more than that, but I thought I'd let you know, in case you hadn't heard. Apparently the piece is a last-minute addition, so not a lot of people have heard about it yet."
Male Togruta Scout 4 | HP 39/47, Condition 0 | Fort 17, Ref 20, Will 14 | Init +11, Perception +7 (Echolocation) | Force Points: 6
Avizzi clambers out with the others, rifle in hand and the safety off. He casts a wary eye about, his montrals twitching with anticipation. "Would it be too obvious to say I have a bad feeling about this?"
It was said before, but it's Star Wars--it always bears saying again, at least once per "episode."
So, having just found this, I see somebody has been watching Extra History...
*said snootily, in an arrogant voice, while quickly trying to remove evidence of having watched Extra History in order to look more sagacious*
(Extra History is awesome. If you haven't seen it, you really should. :D)
I, uh... what? Extra... Would you believe I honestly didn't know what that was? I mean, it looks really neat and I'm going to check it out now, so thanks. But no, I don't know that I could really put my finger on how I started learning about the Sengoku Jidai and all that. I've always liked history, though, especially military history, so probably just through that.
My chief suggestions was covered by the Steel Refrain above, but it bears repeating: meaningless adjectives on the front of your actual title. Stack them. Have them recur on themselves. Bring it to the point where it no longer makes sense, and then keep it going a little longer. Make your players dread asking anyone their position, because they know it'll take forever and they still probably won't know who does what.
And then?
Then you add the epithets. Make it like depictions of ancient Greece, or Rome, or China. Think about it: your devils are so tied up in their own self-importance, they want to show off how badass and powerful they are with titles. Why not include ones based on their deeds? Have them scrabble for anything and everything they can include, put it all in there. Some if it'll be legitimately interesting or revealing or frightening, and some will be a case of Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking. Draw it out--there's probably some complicated system to determine just how long a given title is supposed to be, cross-referenced to your real rank in the hierarchy, but there are also doubtless loopholes around that so everyone exploits it. If they laugh at the end, note that the devil's face sours and now their interaction's going to be harder. "A chuckle? That's going to move back your application at least two days."
Example:
"Greetings, mortals, I am Junior Executive Assistant Senior Middle Managing Coordination Liaison Executive Junior Vice-Secretary to His Profane Middling Excellent Adversarial Chair, the Arch-Senior Vice-Counselor Junior Executive Second-Circle Lower-Middle Managing Executive Senior Agent, Fourth-Circle Executive Infernal Department of Fourth-Circle Transgressionary Soul Regulation and Reporting, Junior First-Rank Abyssal Relations Committee Support Division, Malictus(the devil's actual name), Devourer of the Mortal Mage Artus, Reaper of the Ten Thousand Souls, Most Exalted Infernal Scorcher of the Unholy Pagans of the Middle Mountain Summoning Circle, Feared Dark Lord of Flame amongst the Maaahl Nomads of the Southern Steppes, and Record-Holding Junior Exeuctive Assistant Senior Middle Managing Coordination Liaison Executive Junior Vice-Secretary to His Profane Middling Excellent Adversarial Chair, the Arch-Senior Vice-Counselor Junior Executive Second-Circle Lower-Middle Managing Executive Senior Agent, Fourth-Circle Executive Infernal Department of Fourth-Circle Transgressionary Soul Regulation and Reporting, Junior First-Rank Abyssal Relations Committee Support Division of the Century, seventeen times running. What services might I entice you to on this fine day?"
If you can get that all out in one breath, so much the better.
My apologies for not finishing my character. I just didn't finish making a good background for the character, and honestly that probably would have led to subpar playing and posting. I hope the game goes well and I get a chance to play with you again in the future!
Nah, I actually do have ideas and a little more than what I posted above, it's just been slow because I've been busy and had my mind on a lot of things. Thanks for the offer, though!
Just popping in to say that I'm still here and watching the thread, but I don't have any puns to add--certainly not of the caliber being slung about here--and I'm struggling with a good backstory for Maqli. It currently goes like this:
The Legacy of Maqli wrote:
Something something hobgoblins something didn't fit in blah blah learned on his own yada yada Irori? something hidden powers and then thrown into prison camp
Which obviously isn't very good, doesn't make sense, and isn't something I'd want to use. So I'm working on getting it all to make sense and, uh... be... better.
Male Togruta Scout 4 | HP 39/47, Condition 0 | Fort 17, Ref 20, Will 14 | Init +11, Perception +7 (Echolocation) | Force Points: 6
Avizzi smoothly draws his ion pistol and once more steps from behind cover, just long enough to fire a shot. He aims the ion blast at the nearest droid (blue), hoping to wreck its mechanics and shut it down for the time being.
Did someone say something about no source of magic damage? I mean, it's probably not exactly what you meant, but kinetic blasts count as magic for overcoming DR and all that, and they're about the most consistent option out there for it. If we're more worried on AoE, I can switch my build a bit to pick up fire as my element for easy, breezy burning hands about as often as needed. But earth provides a lot more defensive options and utility, especially at low levels, so it's kind of a crapshoot.
Air might be the best bet since I can pick up flying at level 6, but earth is a little cooler in my opinion. I dunno. Maybe I'll switch the build a little after all. I'm not sure yet.
