Everything is in the alias, but here's the 5 questions just for convenience:
The 5 Questions:
1) I'd like 5+ points that capture the concept and story of the character. More are welcome, but no less than five.
- Has a tendency to rough language (I can avoid this in game if it offends anyone, but the phrase "swear like a sailor" has some basis in fact and I find the occasional salty language does add colour to his speech).
- Hates to "dress up", which he considers wearing anything fancier than his stained and burnt work clothes.
- Considers most landsmen weak and tends to look down on them as soft.
- Can be inconsiderate of manners and other common social contracts, but due to ignorance rather than thoughtlessness or rudeness. He's working on it :)
- Is well aware of his lack of social graces and will happily let others take the lead in social situations, but sometimes can't help the occasional quip or smartass remark which might land him in trouble.
- Considers himself "alchemist by trade, sailor by calling"
2) Two goals that you'd like the character to accomplish in-game.
- Prove himself worthy of Saphron Kalmeralm (see below).
- Acquire his own ship and crew (this is more Morley the character's goal than mine as the player).
3) Two secrets, one the PC keeps to himself, and one kept from the PC. I'll come up with a third that both the character and player aren't aware of, in hopes of shocking surprises within the storytelling.
- (Morley knows) Most of his years spent on the sea weren't with a merchant vessel, but as a pirate. He went by many different names during those years and Morley may or may not be his real name.
- (Morley doesn't know) One of the ships he plundered was owned by Zakthal Mardu, who runs a major mercantile organization in Magnimar.
4) 3-5 people that are tied to your PC by blood, love, rivalry, honor, etc. I'd like at least one enemy in a set of three or four, with no more than two for a set of five. PLEASE consider the players reference guide for ideas.
- Zakthal Mardu is a leading figure in Magnimar commerce, and has ties to the Sczarni. He was a contact of Morley's in the city in the past, and doesn't know that Morley sacked one of his ships. However he has been investigating who did it and is getting close.
- Jaster Frallino, leader of a Sczarni gang. He and Morley have been enemies since a tavern brawl a few years back where Morley hit him with a bottle and gave him an ugly scar that runs down the left side of his face from temple to jawline. This was before he came to lead the Gallowed, his gang.
- Saphron Kalmeralm, daughter of Sabriyya Kalmeralm, who runs the Bazaar of Sails in Magnimar. They became very close over the course of many stopovers in the city and Morley once thought they might get married until Sabriyya put an end to the relationship. She wouldn't have her daughter married to a lowly sailor, after all.
- Black Jack Jensen, a friendly rival of Morley from his days as a pirate. Black Jack still plies the seas around Magnimar but rarely comes in to port there due to having a price on his head. There are many debts owed both ways and either would do anything for the other despite outward appearances.
5) Three key memories that define your character as the person they are at the time of submission.
- The smell of sea air is the first memory he has. He feels homesick any time he's too far from open water to smell the salt in the air.
- The first time he ever felt at home was when he was accepted as part of the crew of the Red Raven, the ship he had stowed aboard to run away from his mother at 10 years old. The sense of finally belonging is a powerful feeling.
- The heartbreak and humiliation after Saphron broke off their relationship on her mother's orders. The feeling that he wasn't good enough for her has pushed him to prove himself to the world.
6) Finally, I'd like you to include with your submission a fear or paranoia that causes your character to shiver, cower, or panic.
- Morley has spent his life on the open sea, and feels claustrophobic when in small enclosed spaces. The fact that he originally stowed away in a small storage hold with biting rats may add to that fear.
Please take a look and make sure everything is right. I adapted this character from a dead campaign so it's possible something got missed in translation.
Morley Hastings, grenadier alchemist, reporting for duty!
This character was in a campaign that died just a month in. I'll redo the crunch to fit this campaign, but all of the fluff regarding who he is as a person will be the same.
Background:
Morley was born to a dockside whore in the port town of Duxchan. He doesn’t consider this the beginning of his life, though. His first ten years were nothing but scrabbling with the other dock rats for the bare essentials of life, and avoiding this mother’s fists and feet when she’d been drinking – which was all the time.
No, his life begins at about ten years old (he isn’t sure exactly) when he was caught hiding among the bags and barrels of foodstuffs aboard a trading ship bound for the Azure Sea. He had slipped aboard to see if anything was worth pilfering and was below deck when the rest of the crew came back aboard. Unable to sneak off with all the activity up top, he hid and hoped for a miracle. Soon the ship put out to sea, and he was found hiding in a corner of the hold gnawing on a piece of ship’s biscuit. His miracle came in the form of a sick cabin boy. When he was dragged before the captain, it was decided that rather than throw him overboard he would fill in for the boy, who had been bedridden for a week. When the former cabin boy died retching in his bed a few days later, Morley had what he’d never had before: a place where he belonged. Thus began the real life of Morley Hastings.
Nobody survives long on the streets unless they’re quick witted, so it didn’t take him long to learn the ways of the ship. Before long Morley was indispensable to the captain, doing all the little things that let him focus on the bigger picture of sailing the ship. The next few years were filled with excitement for the boy, and he grew into a young man while doing the rounds of the Azure Sea aboard a sailing vessel. As a commoner, he would never be able to become an officer on the ship, and by his mid twenties he had already climbed to the peak of his career, and the position of boatswain. As the man in charge of the maintenance and stores of the ship, he found a talent for tinkering and working with his hands.
He recently retired from sailing, after about 40 years at sea. He had enough savings to set himself up as an apothecary in a small town on the coast of Idee, where he fixes remedies for the local populace as well as the garrison of the nearby fort. All was going well until one of his medicines reacted badly for the commander of the garrison, and he was dragged in chains into the cells, ready to be tried and hanged for murder. By using a small vial of acid he had secreted in his clothes, he was able to dissolve his manacles as well as the lock on his door and escape while the guards were drunkenly snoring at their post. He’s been on the move ever since.
The Six Questions:
1) I'd like 5+ points that capture the concept and story of the character. More are welcome, but no less than five.
- Has a tendency to rough language (I can avoid this in game if it offends anyone, but the phrase "swear like a sailor" has some basis in fact and I find the occasional salty language does add colour to his speech).
- Hates to "dress up", which he considers wearing anything fancier than his stained and burnt work clothes.
- Considers most landsmen weak and tends to look down on them as soft.
- Can be inconsiderate of manners and other common social contracts, but due to ignorance rather than thoughtlessness or rudeness. He's working on it :)
- Is well aware of his lack of social graces and will happily let others take the lead in social situations, but sometimes can't help the occasional quip or smartass remark which might land him in trouble.
- Considers himself "alchemist by trade, sailor by calling"
2) Two goals that you'd like the character to accomplish in-game.
- Prove himself worthy of Saphron Kalmeralm (see below).
- Acquire his own ship and crew (this is more Morley the character's goal than mine as the player).
3) Two secrets, one the PC keeps to himself, and one kept from the PC. I'll come up with a third that both the character and player aren't aware of, in hopes of shocking surprises within the storytelling.
- (Morley knows) Most of his years spent on the sea weren't with a merchant vessel, but as a pirate. He went by many different names during those years and Morley may or may not be his real name.
- (Morley doesn't know) One of the ships he plundered was owned by Zakthal Mardu, who runs a major mercantile organization in Magnimar.
4) 3-5 people that are tied to your PC by blood, love, rivalry, honor, etc. I'd like at least one enemy in a set of three or four, with no more than two for a set of five. PLEASE consider the players reference guide for ideas.
- Zakthal Mardu is a leading figure in Magnimar commerce, and has ties to the Sczarni. He was a contact of Morley's in the city in the past, and doesn't know that Morley sacked one of his ships. However he has been investigating who did it and is getting close.
- Jaster Frallino, leader of a Sczarni gang. He and Morley have been enemies since a tavern brawl a few years back where Morley hit him with a bottle and gave him an ugly scar that runs down the left side of his face from temple to jawline. This was before he came to lead the Gallowed, his gang.
- Saphron Kalmeralm, daughter of Sabriyya Kalmeralm, who runs the Bazaar of Sails in Magnimar. They became very close over the course of many stopovers in the city and Morley once thought they might get married until Sabriyya put an end to the relationship. She wouldn't have her daughter married to a lowly sailor, after all.
- Black Jack Jensen, a friendly rival of Morley from his days as a pirate. Black Jack still plies the seas around Magnimar but rarely comes in to port there due to having a price on his head. There are many debts owed both ways and either would do anything for the other despite outward appearances.
5) Three key memories that define your character as the person they are at the time of submission.
- The smell of sea air is the first memory he has. He feels homesick any time he's too far from open water to smell the salt in the air.
- The first time he ever felt at home was when he was accepted as part of the crew of the Red Raven, the ship he had stowed aboard to run away from his mother at 10 years old. The sense of finally belonging is a powerful feeling.
- The heartbreak and humiliation after Saphron broke off their relationship on her mother's orders. The feeling that he wasn't good enough for her has pushed him to prove himself to the world.
6) Finally, I'd like you to include with your submission a fear or paranoia that causes your character to shiver, cower, or panic.
- Morley has spent his life on the open sea, and feels claustrophobic when in small enclosed spaces. The fact that he originally stowed away in a small storage hold with biting rats may add to that fear.
Posting my first turn here in case I'm not around when it gets to me.
Seeing the situation going sideways, Morley takes a bomb out of his pouch and throws it at the biggest group of enemies. "Eat that, ya little bastards! Ye stole from a grape farm and didn't even take their wine! How dumb are ya?
Initiative:1d20 + 3 ⇒ (16) + 3 = 19 Frost Bomb:1d20 + 5 ⇒ (7) + 5 = 12 vs touch
Direct Hit Damage:1d6 + 4 ⇒ (4) + 4 = 8 cold damage, 1 turn stagger (Con DC 15)
splash damage to all surrounding the target square = 5 cold (ref DC 15)
Bomb Attack Details:
Bombs: Range 20, AB +5 (3 dex, 1 throw anything, 1 point blank shot) 5/day
Splash Attack, 5 foot radius
Standard: 1d6+4 fire damage, splash damage 5 fire (Ref DC 15)
Frost: 1d6+4 cold damage, + staggered on next turn (Fort DC 15), splash damage 5 cold (Ref DC 15)
Sorry I haven't been able to check in for a few days. I'll put up a quick post but I won't be around much till probably Monday. In the future feel free to roll my initiative for me if needed, and act for me in battle if I've disappeared for more than a day or so. I'd hate to hold up the game.
Holding up a lit torch in his off hand, Morley sticks his right hand in his pouch and gets ready to pull out a combustible flask. Now that there's the possibility of danger, his easygoing demeanor has dropped off him completely and his eyes dart around quickly, looking for threats.
Perception:1d20 + 4 ⇒ (12) + 4 = 16
"Well, looks like we might'a found what we been lookin' for. I'm right behind ya ladies and gents."
Morley looks at the mangled cow in disgust. He idly prods at some bones with his foot, shaking his head."What the hell! What a waste of good beef. If yer gonna butcher a cow it's a damn shame to do a half-assed job like this; it wastes the meat. I assume flint knives with feathers on 'em is a normal kobold type o' weapon? I ain't that familiar with the little buggers myself. It's weird that they stopped to butcher this one before they got to where they was goin' though. I wonder why they'd do that?"
Morley continues to wipe his foot on the grass as he listens to the others talk. Finally getting his boot somewhat clean of the cow manure, he falls in behind the others as they follow the tracks. "Great. Kobolds. I was kinda hopin' that the cows just smartened up and took off because they didn't like becomin' beef." He looks around at the others and throws them a big grin. "I know, I know. It'd be interestin' though, wouldn't it?"
Continuing along behind the others, he smirks to himself as he rummages through his pack to ensure the safety of his alchemical materials.
Morley looks around as the others make their way out to the pasture. "I think this is where they were taken from, but I'll be keelhauled if I can pick out any specific tracks in this grass. It's a bloody cow pasture, there's tracks everywhere. Not to mention cow crap. Damn, those things are really full of s%~#!"
He stands back out of the way as the others make their inspection. "So d'ya see anythin'?"
Morley straps on his backpack and licks his lips eagerly. "'Suitable reward' has a nice ring to it, don't ye think? Now, ye said that it disappeared from the pasture, right? I'll see which way it went while you answer some of their questions!" He marches confidently out to the grassy area where the cow was last seen, and looks around for tracks.
Morley paces around for a while, occasionally rubbing his chin thoughtfully and hmming to himself. He walks around the perimeter of the field, eyes trained on the ground.Once he gets down on his hands and knees to brush the grass aside for a closer look at something. Eventually he gets up, brushes the dirt off his knees, and turns to look at the others.
"So, uh, I got nothin'."
I'm not even going to try rolling to find these tracks lol. Others are better suited for that.
Morley's bored demeanor quickly disappears as they come up to the farm. He looks around at the rows and rows of wine on the vine and the corners of his mouth slowly begin to creep upwards. "Grapes! I was expectin' cows and pigs and chickens, but they're doin' the gods' work here!" His face drops as he remembers why he's here. Reaching across and grabbing Zahk by the shoulder, he practically yells in his face. "By the gods, we gotta help these people! They make booze! We can't let anythin' stop 'em from doin' such important work!"
"And, maybe, y'know, we can get in a little 'taste testin'' while we're here." He grins widely and hops down from the cart, rushing to find someone to talk to about the problem that needs solving.
Morley climbs nimbly up into the back of the cart and settles himself in comfortably. "Alright, now this is what I call travelin' in style! No more steppin' in horse crap fer ol' Morley." He reaches down, ready to lend a hand to the next person getting in.
Morley walks up and pats a horse hesitantly. "So does one o' you know how to drive these things? Sorry to say it, but unless it floats on water I'm better as ballast than pilot."
Morley looks back and forth the street multiple times, as if looking for landmarks he remembers. Suddenly his furrowed brow straightens, and with a relieved sigh he starts down the street. "Ah, right, it's this way. I remember a place next to that guildhall with the sellswords an' all that. We can get a cart or somethin' there to haul us all out to that farm."
As he looks back to wave at the others to join him, he accidently steps in horse droppings in the middle of the road. "Ugh, no wonder all these city folk is so grumpy all the time. You can't walk down the bloody street without pickin' up somethin' fragrant on yer boots. On a ship the only time you worry about that is if someone's dumb enough to go to the crap lines in a gale. Come on, let's get outta this place." He continues down the road, step-scrape, step-scrape, trying to clean his boot.
"O'course, cooked! What'd ya think I am, a savage? I mean, yeah, raw eggs c'n help with a hangover sometimes, but I'm not hung over every mornin'." He looks up and down the street. "I think I saw a place to git horses just t'other day. Now where was that again?"
"Aye, let's get goin'. I wonder if they'll feed us there? Nothin' like fresh eggs jus' plucked out from under the hen." Morley licks his lips delightedly.
"Alright then, let's go help the farmer. Best to start off with something easy, 'n work out how to work together in a scuffle." Morley tosses his backpack over his shoulder, careful not to rattle the vials and flasks too much. Despite the careless and messy nature of everything else about him, the bag is packed carefully so as not to break any of his volatile and expensive ingredients. "Anyway, worst case scenario is that them cattle is already dead, and we'll get some beef outta the deal. Sounds great to me!" He grins widely and steps back from the message board, ready to head out.
He grimaces, spits, then heads back inside the inn. "Jus' a sec, I gotta get somethin' to wash me mouth out. Hair o' the dog what bit me sounds pretty good!" He comes out a minute later, wiping foam from his beard and belching. "Ok, let's get this ship sailin'. So Cinch, is it true you was in the circus? That musta been some good times. You said you got some stories for the road?"
Sense Motive on "Bitterleaf" 1d20 ⇒ 11
If I pass:
"Bitterleaf, huh? I gotta say, there's nothin' strange about a person havin' a nickname, but they usually let someone else give it to 'em instead o' makin' it up on the spot. Whatever fills yer sails, lass."
If I fail:
"Well nice to meetcha lass, me name's Morley. Haven't you been here the past week too? I'm terrible with names, so I 'pologize if we already been introduced."
Morley glances at the others, one eyebrow raising. "So the jobs available are to either work fer a company what named itself after a milk cow, go on an adventure they admit you have to be dumb 'n' crazy to take, or go find an actual cow what some elf farmer lost? I think I'm startin' to remember why I never got into the adventurin' business before."
He stops abruptly, hand over his mouth and eyes going back to where he's vomited once already. "Ugh. False alarm. So, what d'you fellas think sounds least likely to kill us while weighin' down our coin pouches?"
Morley slumps out of the inn, wincing and covering his eyes. "Bloody hell, why's it gotta be so damn bright out here? Is a coupla clouds too much to ask fer?"
He squints around at his surroundings, finally catching sight of the others. His eyes widen with anger, before wincing with pain at the bright light. "Oi! You! You almost knocked me damn teeth out last night! That's a cheap shot, smackin' someone with a mug, and a waste o' good drink besides! I oughtta kick yer damn a-"
Suddenly he stops, closes his mouth, and rushes to bend over near the door, the sound (and smell) of his retching causing passers by to wrinkle their noses in disgust. He waves dismissively in Baldwin's general direction, still bent at the waist. "Ok, ok, it's possible I had it comin' to me. I been told before that I kin get a bit rambunctious, as it were, when I'm drinkin'. Sorry if I was rufflin' yer feathers last night."
He slowly straightens up, spitting out the last of his vomit. Noticing the message board for the first time, he ambles over, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. Hmm, what's this? I could use some more jingle in my pockets. Saving up money to open a new shop is going to take a long time, especially if there are many more nights like last night.
The sailor you were talking about fighting last night might not have been meant to be Morley, I just thought it was a chance to make a better intro than a simple "I'm hungover, why am I not still sleeping" type of thing I originally had in mind. Sorry if this intrudes in any way.
Well, I think I have the crunchy stuff done except for gear, so here goes my money roll:
Starting Gold:3d6 ⇒ (2, 3, 4) = 9
Ah well, let's see what I can get for 90 gold.
Also just an FYI, Morley isn't a front line fighter, he's more of a stand in the back and chuck status-effect bombs kind of guy. I hope nobody expects him to down a mutagen and hulk out lol.
"Hey there lubbers, I hear ye be recruitin' adventurers an' such! I'm to be puttin' me name for'ard fer the position. They calls me Morley Hastings, an' I'm yer man fer when ye needs somethin' blowed up. An alchemist by trade, a sailor by experience, and needin' a job by, uh, tomorrow!."
Hey everyone! I'm just sliding in before the deadline here with Morley, a grenadier alchemist. I've never played in Greyhawk before, and I'm looking forward to knowing the world as well as Morley does.
I don't have the crunch done on this alias yet (everything in here is just copy-pasted from another character for purposes of format), but here's his background:
Background:
Morley was born to a dockside whore in the port town of Duxchan. He doesn’t consider this the beginning of his life, though. His first ten years were nothing but scrabbling with the other dock rats for the bare essentials of life, and avoiding this mother’s fists and feet when she’d been drinking – which was all the time.
No, his life begins at about ten years old (he isn’t sure exactly) when he was caught hiding among the bags and barrels of foodstuffs aboard a trading ship bound for the Azure Sea. He had slipped aboard to see if anything was worth pilfering and was belowdecks when the rest of the crew came back aboard. Unable to sneak off with all the activity up top, he hid and hoped for a miracle. Soon the ship put out to sea, and he was found hiding in a corner of the hold gnawing on a piece of ship’s biscuit. His miracle came in the form of a sick cabin boy. When he was dragged before the captain, it was decided that rather than throw him overboard he would fill in for the boy, who had been bedridden for a week. When the former cabin boy died retching in his bed a few days later, Morley had what he’d never had before: a place where he belonged. Thus began the real life of Morley Hastings.
Nobody survives long on the streets unless they’re quick witted, so it didn’t take him long to learn the ways of the ship. Before long Morley was indispensable to the captain, doing all the little things that let him focus on the bigger picture of sailing the ship. The next few years were filled with excitement for the boy, and he grew into a young man while doing the rounds of the Azure Sea aboard a sailing vessel. As a commoner, he would never be able to become an officer on the ship, and by his mid twenties he had already climbed to the peak of his career, and the position of boatswain. As the man in charge of the maintenance and stores of the ship, he found a talent for tinkering and working with his hands.
He recently retired from sailing, after about 40 years at sea. He had enough savings to set himself up as an apothecary in a small town on the coast of Idee, where he fixes remedies for the local populace as well as the garrison of the nearby fort. All was going well until one of his medicines reacted badly for the commander of the garrison, and he was dragged in chains into the cells, ready to be tried and hanged for murder. By using a small vial of acid he had secreted in his clothes, he was able to dissolve his manacles as well as the lock on his door and escape while the guards were drunkenly snoring at their post. He’s been on the move ever since, looking for another place to settle down. First, though, he has to raise enough money to open another shop. Maybe by joining a group of adventurers he could strike it big?
Yeah, I used to be a pirate, what of it? Of course you don't recognize my name, you think I'd use my real name for pirating? "Oh no, it's Morley, the terrible pirate!" "You sure? sounds like somebody's butler..."
I'm not an evil guy, I just fell into that life as a kid - ran away from home, y'see, my old man was a real piece of work - and couldn't find a way out. Now I've been retired for a few years and I miss the smell of salt air and the wind on my face, so here I am again, looking to set sail. Let's have some fun!
This is a very short, roughed out backstory, but it gives you a general idea of who Morley Hastings is. I actually have no idea of what class just yet, I just thought the crusty old sailor would be a fun character in this type of campaign. Some type of buffing character I'd think, to go with the idea of being an old sea captain who's used to pumping up his crew for a fight.
