Luna C's page

Halanestra's scream of pain, then of shock, fills the cavern. She blinks away the pain, tries to ignore the worrying amount of blood she's spilled herself, and dashes over to Dyrm Stride ◆. She takes a minor healing potion out of her bag Interact ◆ and feeds it to him. Interact ◆

Calling out to the rest of the group, "I know you've all got fancy tricks and flashy spells; now's the time to use them!"

Minor Healing Potion: 1d8 ⇒ 1 ... of sodding course. Not that it matters much

That is definitely a tumblr post :D I'm quite curious about one of the books mentioned in the reblogs, Year of the Griffin by Diana Wynne Jones.

Nyandra nods and introduces herself with curtsies as before, giving everyone the same ready, warm smile.

To Ignaci, she inclines her head with a thoughtful expression. "No need of alchemical supplies presently--but I imagine that will change with my studies! The game night sounds lovely, when is that? I had something similar back at bard college and it was very helpful to relax after a long day of classes."

She offers the same gentle smile to Anchor Root, but doesn't approach or otherwise interact. Best to let them get comfortable with this sudden large group of new people than to impose. She doesn't understand the language Ikto and the kholo speak, but isn't too surprised either--playing in big cities she's gotten a lot of exposure to tongues she doesn't recognize. She's still curious, but has learned to be polite and not rude.

She takes the remaining room, one that she finds rather fitting with the pink, blue, and white carpet. Yes, this will do nicely, she thinks, with a private grin no one else can see. She unpacks her things and flops backward on the bed, arms spread. Well, here we go again. Except this time I know who I am!

Nyandra freezes, eyes wide as the vibration grips her. She learns in just a moment what has, until now, taken her months, or even years, to master, absorbed in less time it takes to cast one of those same spells. It feels intrinsically part of her, as though it always has been. She finds herself more than a bit dazed by the experience--stupefied, even. As the shock fades, she reflects on the nature of magic, her magic, and her muse, Nethys. Your enigmas, your mysteries, they grow more as my knowledge of magic grows. Will I graduate knowing less than I knew when I started?

Teacher Ot's gentle voice finds a way into her head, despite her daydreaming--a useful, and no doubt practiced, skill for a teacher to have, rousing the daydreamer back to attention. The bit about shapechangers not fitting in their own skin almost makes her jump. Could he know? No... That will not be the secret I share today. It doesn't define me, anyway, just part of who I am.

She listens to the others' responses, hands folded in front of her. She tends to do this when listening, as finding something to do with her hands otherwise is always such a struggle. M'baba is direct, like he says, few words but the ones he does share are powerful in their way. Iovia's a tale of coming of age, of lost innocence. She feels for the young woman. Some stories a stage cannot properly respect... like hers. She smiles warmly at Ikto's honesty, the vulnerability and strength he shows with it. She finds the earnest humanity charming, despite herself. Ntuni's words remind the elf of the importance of staying grounded--both in the very literal sense and in all endeavours, artistic or otherwise. Often she has let her ideas run away with themselves and she finds she cannot form a coherent work as a result. While not the soaring rhetoric of an experienced performer, there's still a beauty to the dwarf's response that she finds worthy of keeping in mind.

Then it's her turn. Not usually intimidated by the idea of speaking in public--particularly for such a small audience--the wisdom and intelligence of those who came before give her pause. She considers the question seriously here for the first time, having paid considerable attention to everyone's response before her. What doesdefine me, anyway? I could say my curiosity or my love of the arts or ... And then the answer shocks her with its sudden appearance in her mind, rather like the spell she just learned. Of course! She does visibly start as the realization hits her, but takes a breath and assures everyone she's okay.

As she speaks, she makes what appears to be eye contact with each member of the group individually, rotating between the group. "I am Nyandra Ravenheart, and the thing that defines me is my desire for connection. My studies, my art, my coming here, all of these things serve my desire to know and connect with and understand those around me. I think that's why I immediately fell in love with this city, why I gave up a steady job with the theatre troupe to be here. Nantambu is a city of connection, and the Magaambaya provides a foundation for it to build on. People here don't starve, people here don't suffer the elements. I have seen many places in my travels and none have I seen such connection among the people as I do here. My cousin Halanestra is from Absalom and people there are so... closed-off. It's a beautiful city and so diverse, but... no one connects there."

She pauses to contain the swelling emotion, takes a few steadying breaths. "Who am I, and how will I be guided to grow? That's why people go to school, I'd say, to learn who they are. I thought I knew when I finished bard college. I thought I wanted to be in a theater troupe. But all that changed a year ago. I guess I'll learn the answers to those questions as I go." This last she says without eye contact, staring off into the rain. She gratefully takes the bead and threads it into her hair near the flowers to create a colorful contrast.

Waiting for anyone else to give their response, she picks up her bag, again presenting the image that it's way too big for her.

Assembled among the group is a tiny, pale, blonde elf. Her hair is parted behind her, slightly longer than shoulder length, as it rests loose on said shoulders. Small blue and purple flowers provide pops of color in her hair. She is dressed comfortably in colorfully-dyed leathers, though her comfort seems to end there--she shoulders a pack almost as large as she with a rapier on one hip and a flute on the other. While not quite so gobsmacked by Nantambu as those who are here for the first time--she fell in love with the city a year ago--she nevertheless finds herself distracted by the architecture, the music, the life, the pulse, of the city. The air smells sweeter to her, it carries tunes better. The sky seems brighter, even in the rain. Everything feels more vibrant. This is the pulse of a city that cares for its citizens. Absalom and all the rest would do well to learn from her example.

As she always does when feeling particularly inspired, she finds a way to work minor magic into her environment to create some small beauty. She sets her pack down, takes her flute from her hip, and plays quietly, as if only to herself. It's part prayer to Shelyn, part exploration of the mysteries of magic put forth by Nethys, part plain, simple fun. The rain animates around her, dancing to the rhythm of the song as if under its own will.

Teacher Ot's greeting immediately cuts the song, and the magic, short--both from recognition and respect. It was just a year ago when she performed with her traveling theater troupe here, just a short year ago when Ot sought her out personally to ask her about attending the Magaambya. Of course, that year of arranging everything with the school and the troupe passed quite slowly. But that mission--the mission he repeated just now, of magic being a responsibility to help others--still makes her heart swell with such force her eyes begin to water.

She stands rigidly at attention, all pretense of fun brushed suddenly and entirely aside.

"Teacher Ot." She almost chokes on the first words. She swallows the emotion and continues, her awareness of her reddening eyes and cheeks making it worse. "I am Nyandra Ravenheart, and I am come to serve. I am honored to be here, to participate in the tradition of the Magaambya. I am a storyteller, a servant of Nethys, of Shelyn--and now a student once more."

She clears her throat and looks around nervously. Wow, lighten up, sis!

"Sorry. Sometimes I get carried away with the, er, theatrics."

Going to address the mechanical issues first, then do the RP post. I think you're right, I did miscount the ability boosts. I'll drop the Wisdom down instead of the Int, because I'll be going into the Wizard archetype and want to keep on top of my spell DCs as much as I'm able. Additionally, languages are always helpful. That does drop my perception, but bards are one of the classes that start with it at expert so it shouldn't hurt that much.

As I'm keeping the Int at 2, I'll add a couple of skills. Can't go wrong with Medicine even with that lower Wisdom, and Crafting makes sense for a theater nerd--the show must go on and being able to make things or fix them on the spot is always helpful.

Yes, I took Survival because I get Performance as my class skill.

Having just made the first gameplay post, I love how I'm already seeing plots present themselves--Nyandra was a bit too distracted by her reverie and by Ot to notice Iovia's ancestry, but that'll definitely come up very soon. And I already stumbled upon an interesting arc for her: does she have too many loyalties? Creating art for Shelyn, exploring the mysteries of magic for her muse, Nethys, and now the Magaambya. How will she balance all of these?

I have always favored mechanically simple but narratively complex characters. You can certainly do both, to be clear, no Stormwind fallacy here, but that’s not been my focus. The options in the Core RulebookPlayer Core books provide so many possibilities that you’ll never exhaust them in a lifetime of gaming, even if you play a different game every day.

My observation is that folks who do PbP by choice—who care about the medium per se rather than as their only choice for a game—do tend to lean into the narrative. There are some stickied threads on the general PbP forums extolling the virtue of the format and I wholeheartedly agree with them on that point.

I don’t think I need to convince people here of those merits. Not being able to play a character is certainly frustrating, but I try to look at that kind of situation positively: in developing those characters, planning their arcs (best done with an AP or other long campaign rather than a module or organized play scenarios), watching them grow, you become a better writer, a better artist. That’s what matters most to me, the creativity and the artistry.

Indeed, I’ve been working on the bard I plan to make for my application. I also strongly favor building the character around the AP I’m applying for and using that to provide the essential structure for the character—see what I did with Talindra and Halanestra—but this time I set myself a challenge and am building without that. This means I’ve needed to be a bit more generic and may need to change some details depending on the game in applying to, but that’s the challenge and right now it’s been interesting :) Fine arts practitioners, especially painters, do what’s called studies, which are really just practice works meant to explore a medium or technique. I think writers can benefit from exactly the same kind of practice, and that’s what this has been.

omg omg omg you guys

omg

Curtain Call AP!

the theater kid in me is vibrating in excitement (so much so I got the URL formatting code wrong)

I want to run this but I don't have a lot of experience and I think it'd be a terrible idea but I want to run this

It's the three rows of grey/blue tiles directly north of Joli. I have put red squares on the map to indicate the corners of the SquareRectangle of Suffering. If anyone has trouble making out where the Danger Zone is, please let me know. You can try to jump over them, but as your speed is 25 feet, you don't quite have the movement to clear them--it'd need an Athletics check for a Long Jump.

The elf listens again and goes along with the group decision, despite misgivings. Sure, it's a long way, but then we don't have armor-clad dwarves clank-clank-clanking and ruining our attempts at moving undetected. But this is what everyone wants, so... Even if it's foolish, I guess it is best if the group moves as one.

Instead of ruminating on her annoyance, she tries her best to lead by example so those less inured to the shadows find better purchase into the realm of silence. She finds herself surprised at the group's skill this time round: no one's walking on gravel or standing in front of glowing mushrooms. They're learning! If they keep this up they can apply for entry into the local thieves' guild! Despite her earlier misgivings, a (perhaps proud?) smile graces her features.

Ninja'd by Dyrm. I was so happy with that paragraph, too... Don't feel bad, Dyrm, you're the third person with the hero point curse (that exact thing, rolling 1 lower on a hero point roll, has happened several times here). I'm afraid it's contagious and terminal. :(

Despite her best efforts, it's clear she needs to redouble her efforts as a teacher. Every patch of gravel, clank clank clank. Every glowing mushroom, a spotlight. She even hears Dyrm's breathing. At a complete loss, she sighs. Some people just cannot be taught.

Stealth: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28

To be clear, I'm in favor of keeping the party together, but Halanestra has other, strong, opinions :)

Similarly, I almost certainly won't be able to post this weekend; will be too busy with Pride stuff :)

Using me as an example is rather useful, coincidentally, for this discussion, because this exact thing has been on my mind a lot with this character in particular. I don't have a lot of experience with PF2. I've played a few VTT sessions, played in two PbPs, just started running the Beginner Box, and that's it. So I don't have the seasoned perspective that folks who have been playing for years do.

I have two opinions on this. The first is that, you're right, it's very traditionally the rogue's job to go ahead and scout for everything. As you say, I can't do that without switching my exploration activity every "turn" (which doesn't exist in exploration mode). As you said above, older editions did have turns that were more amenable to exploration mode, and they were indeed ten minutes. In sum, I agree with everything you've said. That I can't do so runs contrary to the fantasy of the class and the heritage of the game.

But there's also the designer's perspective, where the goal is to create a design space in which there is no single best choice. We see this perhaps most concretely and most simply with the way PF2 handles weapons, especially compared to D&D 5e: each weapon has a reason for using it. There are traits and critical specialization feats and ... which means you need to make a meaningful choice about which one you want to use. I initially struggled with this with my champion, wanting to use a shield with my glaive to embrace all the class features the champion offers and to fulfill my own fantasy of the class. There's some initial gratification of making the best™ choice, but there's no depth when there's a single best choice. PF2 limits what you can do, deliberately, based on the belief that choices are interesting.

Both positions have merit, and both have their value. As I start to approach games, and TTRPGs in particular, from a design mindset, the choices Paizo has made here make sense. There's an element of restraint that is a welcome respite after the indulgence of 3.5/PF1. Do I find it annoying at times that I can't do all those things? Sure. But when I think about it more realistically, how would I be able to split my time between all those activities while still performing them commensurate with my heroic levels of competence?

Separately to this, halving movement speed seems very reasonable to me; I'm not going out on adventures in the countryside, but when exploring a new city, I certainly walk a lot more slowly than I do when I'm walking around my home city. This is homologous to the Search activity, where I'm not so much looking for traps or the like, but rather checking the map on my phone, comparing that to street signs and landmarks, and so on. I don't do this when I'm home because I know the layout of the city, I know where things are, I know how to read the street signs and what their locations are relative to one another. In trackless territory, it makes even more sense to not move full speed.

Hello!

It's been a week, almost to the minute, and so the time of choosing is upon us. I know folks are eager to know, so I'll eschew the paragraphs I was going to type here. :P I would like to welcome Tama, Diggou, Grolugh, and Risk Zil to the game! Please make introductory posts for your characters (appearance, what brings you to Otari, anything else you find interesting about your character) in the gameplay thread.

Orcs orcs orcs!

Got some questions that came in while I was at work, let's get to those and summarize what we've got so far! :)

First, for Jolinaxus, the Beginner Box will see you to level 2 (which fits into Troubles in Otari). I'm going to be doing milestone XP to keep things easier.

Aeshuura, for the backgrounds, there aren't any that specifically tie to this area / adventure. There are a few listed in the Hero's Handbook, but I'm fine with opening it up to anything that's in Player Core. In the future I'll be happy putting something custom together for you, but for now, feel free to reskin something if you'd like. :)

Degnax, one character per person, please. If you'd like to withdraw a character and submit something else, that's fine, but please limit it to one. I understand the eagerness to want to get into a game, but creating six characters to try to guarantee yourself a spot isn't fair to everyone else.

Daniel Stewart, please do submit something!

I think that's everyone's queries addressed, please let me know if I've missed something!

Please don't hesitate to submit if someone submitted a character like yours! I will be evaluating choices based on uniqueness and character backstories, so please feel free to embellish there. I get that working up a backstory can be a lot of work--it takes me several days of dedicated thought! If you've created a character for another instance of the Beginner Box that didn't get chosen, or some other campaign that wasn't selected, I'm happy to look at them, too, so long as they meet the requirements.

With that housekeeping out of the way, let's summarize what we've got.

Divine
Grolugh - Warpriest Cleric

Martial
Tama - Fighter
Xulgag - Ranger
Jolinaxus - Monastic Weapons Monk

Arcane
Diggou - Necromancer Wizard

Skill
{∅}

Degnax, I've not included you in the above list because I don't know which single character you'll submit. Other than that, please let me know if I've missed anyone!

Hi, all! Just to be clear up front, this recruitment thread is not part of the Beginner Box event that Paizo is organizing.

For this game, I'm going to use the full rules rather than the Beginner Box rules. I also think it'd be cool if everyone played an orc to go along with the ORC remaster. If people think that's a stupid idea, that's fine, too. :) This is my first time running PF2, my first time running something PbP, and my first time running something in about five years, so I'm restricting options to what's in Player Core 1. I am only recruiting four players so I don't have to rebalance combats while learning the game. I also have a player I met in another game who already has a spot, so I'm recruiting three people here. Recruitment will run for a week, longer if I don't get enough applications.

Standard PbP stuff applies: please use the discussion thread if something makes you uncomfortable. One person being uncomfortable is enough to stop the scene. Try for one post per day when possible. Sometimes it won't be, sometimes your turn in combat doesn't come up every day. If I don't hear from you in 24 hours in a combat, your character will delay or I will bot them given instructions.

For recruitment, please post your player name or how you'd like people to refer to you OOC, your character name, pronouns for both, and your character's ABCs: ancestry, background, and class. Create a profile alias for the character and set up the stats like the characters on my account. It doesn't have to be exactly like that, please just keep it organized and include everything you'd put on your character sheet. Yes, it's a lot, but it will make things move more quickly.

Now for what you can expect from me: as I said, I'm a first time GM. I also work full time and, if everything goes well, I'll be taking a university class in the fall. I'll do my best to keep up with the same one post per day pace that I expect from you, and hopefully more. But life has this annoying habit of getting in the way of hobbies, and I'll do my best to post about that.

I adore the play by post format for its focus on narrative, and if you can't already tell from this post, I'll be emphasizing that in the game. I'll be using Google Drawings and other Google Docs apps for tracking combat and other things. I'll be rolling initiative for players. When there's a group of players in initiative between enemies, you can post whenever you want and I'll resolve things in order.

I think I've covered everything. As always with recruitment threads, please post if you have any questions. Thank you for reading :)

Fort save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (18) + 6 = 24
Fort save: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (17) + 6 = 23

Wow yes I will keep those rolls thank you very much

Claw Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (10) + 6 = 16
Void Fort: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (8) + 6 = 14

Battered and ripped by too many plants, Halanestra still stands, defiantly. She drops her rapier Release, pulls a minor healing potion out of her bag Interact >, drinks it Interact >, and resumes her defensive posture Parry >. Her resolve and confidence has softened a bit, but seeing her wound stop bleeding, feeling the warmth of the potion, has restored some of her determination.

"I've had salads spicier than you!" The cry of resistance doesn't have quite the same panache as earlier, but still the elf continues fighting.

Minor healing potion: 1d8 ⇒ 3
Bleed save: 1d20 ⇒ 7
Hero point! AFAIU I can't make it worse, so...
Bleed save: 1d20 ⇒ 15

Yes, I do want the zombie to fall prone!

I figured I'm not up given the wording "the rest of the party is up" immediately after I took my turn. I would absolutely relish an opportunity to eliminate the rust monster. I know they're not as scary as in earlier editions, but still! I spent half my starting money on that rapier and I will be livid if it breaks :<

Hi, folks! Lia recently asked if I'd like to join this game and I'm super excited to join in! That'll be happening sometime soon ... :)

I will be playing Halanestra Ravenheart, a disillusioned Pathfinder. She got her start in the Society when she tried to filch a purse from a high-ranking member who decided her talents would be put to better use as a Pathfinder. Initially, she rather liked being part of something bigger than herself, working for good, but she soon saw how unscrupulous many Pathfinder agents are and resigned.

Mechanically, she's an elf mastermind rogue. This does mean that, like Zothan, I will be using Recall Knowledge on every. single. creature. we meet, so we should definitely figure out a way to handle that smoothly :) Additionally, I'm going to be investing pretty heavily in the ranger archetype to enhance my martial abilities. Twin Parry and Ranger Resiliency in particular will be quite helpful to keep me alive.

Thank you! Here's hoping it actually works the way I intend :D

Sorry for the delay, got my hair dyed for the first time today (purple purple!) and it took rather longer (and more spoons) than I expected, came home and needed to recharge.

Talindra stares, mouth agape, at Billi. We were doing such a good job... practically had him home and asleep... She raises her hands, palms open and facing Grau. Dropping the vocal fry, "No more games. You're right, I'm not Neffi, I was just trying to get you home to get some rest. We heard you're not doing well so I wanted to help out. I don't want any trouble. Any responsibility for what happened here is mine alone."

Damnitdamnitdamnitdamnitdamnit

If I get a diplomacy check to make an impression or request, feel free to roll for me (+6, trained).

Sitting quietly, her gaze alternating between her hands folded on her lap and her teacup, Talindra finds herself in tension. While there's no weapons drawn, no threat of physical danger, nevertheless she finds the situation harder to navigate than a battlefield. Even the encounter with the imps earlier in the day seemed easier than this quagmire of faux politeness and propriety. She was desperate not to upset Perivolt or her friends, but also wanted to please her gracious--if ill-mannered--hosts.

Times like these she would turn to Elora and seek guidance. She'd take Elora's hand and she'd remind Talindra that it's going to be okay. She'd remind her to breathe. She'd help her focus on the tangible things in her environment to ground herself. Yet in this lavishly appointed estate, she was alone. Her thoughts spiraled: she was alone, navigating the streets of Korvosa, still numb from the news that Elora had been taken; she was in the temple in Korvosa, stumbling over words and finding her voice evading her; she was in a river, her life flashing before her eyes in a fight with a shark. Anxiety taking hold, she stood up and realized that others had already left.

"I'm--I'm sorry." That's all she manages to say as she heads to a changing room. She finds her things, escapes from the ostentatious finery that suddenly feels terribly itchy and ill-fitting, and escapes from the building as quickly as she can. Her breathing is heavy, her hair's a mess, and her eyes dart around randomly. In a few minutes it's as if nothing happened.

Alyyra is similarly stunned, gobsmacked even, beholding the dragon. She's speechless, just staring dumbfounded like a child. "Th--thank you!" is all she manages to get out, then she hugs Kyomi tight as she regains consciousness. "I--that is--thank you again! Is there anything else we can do for you? I mean, I don't want to suggest that you can't do whatever you want yourself, it's just--" as she realizes she's babbling, she slaps a hand over her mouth and stops.

I am... really surprised at how consistently and how terribly the dice are treating the PCs in this adventure.

The flowers on the minotaur's hooves, though! So pretty! I want to play one just so I can have hoof-flowers. :D

To quote the most important man in Starfleet, in a similar situation: Surprised? I'm astonished!

I saw! Sadly, dwarven was not one of the languages I chose :( I'll get a post up later tonight. Today was moving day for me and I am exhausted. Still have a few more things to do that I'll be taking care of later after I've had a chance to recover.

Kyomi, please share the link for the comic, or at least send me a message! I don't just play bards, I love supporting artists :)

On the topic of the game... it is my turn right now... suggestions for Alyyra? Kyomi is down and as far as I know we don't have any resources to get her to a point where she can make attacks. I'm utterly useless in a fight as I mentioned, and I'm having no luck with my spells. Move over and use Aid for Torgen? I'm lost, here, I didn't build Alyyra to be a frontliner!

Well, that didn't work... time for another tactic. Alyyra starts playing her flute. She weaves a spell into the song, targetting Richelle. It's a soft, soothing song, almost like a lullaby. We don't want to hurt you...!

Casting Sleep on Richelle, Will DC 14 to negate.

Whatever it is, it's important; Torgen wouldn't be making this big of a deal about it if not! After pleading her case to Kyomi, Alyyra jogs back up to Torgen and follows him to the stone. She tries to get some sense of what he sees in it, but it's just a big rock in her eyes. They're big, and heavy, and sure, they can be so colorful! But she doesn't have the dwarven talent for making beautiful stonework, doesn't have the dwarven affinity for rocks and other things found deep in the earth. Her heart echoes the songs of trees and other things that grow in the light of day, not in the dark of caves. So she merely listens and nods her head at appropriate points. I wish I could think of a question to ask or something, even if just to be polite...

"I can sort of see in the cave--though not as well as yourself, of course! I did bring some torches in case Kyomi and Tuke need some help there, and beyond that I'm able to conjure magical light. Though I'd sooner not announce our presence that way if possible! I'm afraid that if completely dark deeper inside, I will need to have some light to see by. My eyes aren't quite as good as yours, master dwarf."

Can Alyyra survive?: 1d20 + 0 ⇒ (10) + 0 = 10 Yes! Can I determine with that roll how many sets of footprints there are?
Intelligence: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (11) + 2 = 13 E=mc²! I actually had a chance to work with this equation in university. Gives you a whole new appreciation for scientific notation.

Alyyra blushes at the compliment. "Th-thank you! It's nothing special, just something I learned at the Bard college. Figured it'd get use when I'm out exploring!"

She takes a look at the hut and examines the footprints, then the marks in the dirt. Careful not to disturb them, she confers with Torgen. "Hmm... I'm not really sure. As you know, we got some basic training on creatures to expect in our travels at the Academy, but philosophy isn't where I'm strongest, I'm afraid. Still, dragons don't know everything, they can't be everywhere at once, so I think it's possible something like that could be here." Can I make a knowledge roll to see if I know of any other two-headed humanoids? She shrugs, her brow furrowed, as she follows Torgen to the rocks. While not her favorite scenery, she still appreciates the beauty, taking it all in. "A bit colder than I'd like, but still pretty!"

The fortune teller purses her lips and looks at the elven woman. "Another card of woe, this symbolizes the taking of dear items or loved ones. I was a victim of both, at Lamm's hands. I feel that you also have seen the loss of one close to you. As have many of you."

Talindra grits her teeth at this, nodding grimly. "Lamm is a coward and a thief, among other crimes. Justice comes for him." She quietly observes the other cards, not really knowing what to expect. She's seen Harrow readings before, though never in a group setting like this. All the cards fit together to tell a story... albeit an ongoing story, incomplete. A puzzle but some of the pieces haven't been put in place yet. Her father would find this fascinating, though her own appreciation for the dramatic arts is more oriented toward reading and watching rather than creation of narrative. Oooh, irony!

Turning to Lenrelle, she gives a bit of a shrug. "I'm no Harrow reader. Maybe, maybe not. The cards tend to be figurative rather than literal. What I can say is that Shelyn--and indeed Sarenrae--will keep us safe." The words aren't quite so confident as they would have been a scant few weeks ago. Then, to reassure herself, more resolutely: "We leave tonight!"

This is just making me giggle. Please be kind to your warehouse workers; like your first edition books say, you wouldn't exist without them!

You don't need to write a novel (unless you want to) for backstory. For recruitment, just broad strokes are fine. Enough to get a sense of where you are heading. Don't let that dissuade you from creating a detailed background, but hate to see it wasted if not chosen.

I wouldn't say they're wasted; you can always adjust a good backstory to fit into another story. Campaign traits help a lot here, though they're more a starting point than a full solution. I originally created Talindra as a PFS character, hoping to try out PF2e that way, but this PbP specifically seeking new players gave me the confidence to apply. So I made some quick changes. Elora was originally an unnamed NPC, though now she plays a far more important role in Talindra's life. Still working on the specifics, but I'd like that to be a bit of a surprise as the adventure unfolds. :)

Divine

Talindra - Champion of Shelyn

While Talindra is definitely starting as a champion (not a paladin as I said above; 25 years of habit there, sorry!), I should point out that there is a nonzero possibility that she will end up taking some bard archetype feats. I have an arc in mind for her where she uses her mellifluous voice to bolster her allies while she defends them with her shield and her faith. Kind of like what I want her to be when she grows up; whether she takes that path really depends on where life takes her.

A t-shirt with an orc ripping up a contract (ogl) or slaying a dragon

No, an orc slaying a wizard. By the sea. It's satire, it's legally protected speech. :)