Niall of Ferndale's page

Thanks again for running it! Could you mark me inactive?

I'm sorry, but the system's not really clicking for me, and neither is my character. Since the parties are (or seem to be) together, I'm going to go ahead and drop out. That way Finn won't be going it alone. Thanks for letting me give the system a try!

I think that Nathaniel being dead or an injury could be interesting. I'd be okay with breaking an arm or a bad cut. Thoughts, Finn?

Sorry for the poor rate of posting. I'm going through some crap in real life, and sometimes I forget about my games, or read them, then decide I'll post later, and then never do.

I'll spend the fate. We'll see what happens.

Fate Rerolls: 2d6 ⇒ (5, 1) = 6

Forum Problems have been messing with me. Sure, let's roll ALL THE DICE!

Attack (ALL THE DICE): 10d6 ⇒ (2, 4, 3, 2, 2, 1, 1, 5, 6, 2) = 28

Good thing I rolled ALL THE DICE! 3 successes.

Niall's skinny frame helps him move through the brambles as he goes after the weasel, and Finn. Its dagger is bigger than Niall's sword, but between Finn's squirming distraction and his injuries, Niall thinks he can get an edge on him. He swings his blade, hoping it won't get caught on any of the brambles as he strikes!

Rule #2 of any RPG is "You're the GM. Do what you think is best".

Sounds good to me.

This is a really foreign system to me, and I appreciate your help understanding what's going on. Let's use that Fate to try for a re-roll.

Fate Reroll: 1d6 ⇒ 5

Fate, for seemingly the first time since Ferndale, is on Niall's side...

Attack (Fighter): 5d6 ⇒ (1, 1, 3, 4, 1) = 10
Swordwise: 1d6 ⇒ 3
Claymore (gear): 1d6 ⇒ 6
Finn: 1d6 ⇒ 1

I don't think that's going to be enough...

Niall's had lots of training with the sword, so when the weasel scout shows up outside their camp, he understands how to kill it, not just that he can Swordwise. He draws his big sword and asks Finn to distract the weasel, hoping for an opening before bringing his blade around. Unfortunately, once the fighting starts, everything fails Niall except his blade.

Defend (survivalist): 5d6 ⇒ (3, 4, 4, 5, 6) = 22 (I get a bonus for the flint and tinder and an extra bonus because you said so, right? If not, disregard the last roll. 4 successes.)

There's not enough cover, but Niall's used to making a fire in the open. He pulls out his flint and tinder and gets to work on making a fire out of the nearby twigs and leaves.

So we should probably use Defend once with my flint and tinder, since it gives us so much value. I feel like Feint would be good too. This is all opposed rolls, and you have a big Pathfinder, so that might be pretty good too. I'm not sure the order, though.

Fighter: 5d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 3, 6, 1) = 16

After his sparring with Finn, Niall's blood is up, and that's no mood to play sword games with a stranger. "If I pass through again, I'll take you up on that offer, but for now, we have Guard business and can't risk failing to complete it." Instead, he goes about applying poultices to Finn's wounds from the fight.

Healer: 2d6 ⇒ (2, 5) = 7

If I'm overstepping my turn's limits, let me know.

So Niall could do something like...

Niall had spent the rest of their journey to Ironwood watching the half-feral, wondering how he'd gotten to that point. Attempts at...conversation? No, attempts at interrogation hadn't revealed much, and as they arrived at Ironwood, he hoped to find some sort of law higher than himself. It wasn't that he didn't want to see the half-feral dealt with, and his crimes were clearly worthy of any punishment no matter how harsh. It was more that, somewhere in the mouse's crazy eyes, Niall could see how me might've ended up after Ferndale.'

In the end, Niall decides that a military authority might be the best option for the half-feral. They might execute him, or they might have need of him somewhere...maybe somewhere south.

Militarist: 3d6 ⇒ (5, 2, 2) = 9

Once Finn's clear of danger, Niall stops to watch his attacker for a moment. It takes a bit, but he decides he's not likely to be a danger in a fight. He pulls his sword off his back and moves forward, swinging the flat of the blade toward the matted mouse's head!

Fighter: 5d6 ⇒ (5, 1, 4, 2, 5) = 17

Going to knock him out if I can. Is that a viable option?

Okay. Gear. 2-handed sword, flint and tinder (from Survivalist), map of the Ferndale region (Cartographer), and bandages (Healer).

Loss is always avoidable and I always look before I leap. (I can make one up, right?)

Weather Watcher (again): 1d6 ⇒ 3

Niall stares at the sky for a few minutes. As he does, he mumbles to himself. "Clouds in the distance, could be rain, or snow, or they could miss us completely. They'll probably have gone into the Darkheather, you know."

Thanks for being patient with me here.

"I was thinking something similar, actually." Niall walks in a bit late, catching only the chance of survival and the "two mice" part. Unlike Finn, he doesn't smile, or show much of any emotion at all. Instead, he stares ahead, looking over Quinn's shoulder and avoiding eye contact. "Can we hear what our sisty-four percent survival rating is all about?"

Something I should mention is that in the last couple of months, there's been two deaths in my family (Grandpa in July, brother in August). Starting now, I'll be unlikely to post until Monday, most likely. Also, let's go with those traits listed up above.

I'd like to know more about Bigpaw, Longtail, and Skinny. They sound right, but is there more to them or anything? I'll have a RP post up later.

1. In winter, do you still practice a trade for the Guard?

No. He's had enough of trying and failing to do things in winter.

2. Are your parents Smiths, politicians, merchants, or Apiarists?

Mother was a cartographer, which I guess could be a merchant if she sold her maps.

3. Do you like to buy gifts for yourself and your friends?

No. Niall is too focused on the practical aspects of buying to buy gifts.

4. Are you thrifty?

Niall is thrifty now, but wasn't before Ferndale.

5: Have you ever been in debt, or otherwise generally bad with money?

When Ferndale was relatively prosperous, Niall liked to gamble.

6: Do you always pack carefully for a journey, making sure you have everything you need.

Yes. Niall is too used to not having what he needs to want that again.

A: Are you gregarious? Do they have lots of friends or could make them easily?

No. Niall doesn't relate as well to others as he might like.

B: Do you have strong ties to the Guard, like a family tradition or allies within the Guard?

Niall's only ties to the Guard are his training and the fact that they found him after Ferndale.

C: Have you accomplished something memorable or have an established reputation as a Guard?

Niall doesn't have a reputation one way or another within the Guard.

D: Do you have powerful enemies in the territories?

Not that Niall is aware of, but they could be out there.

E: Have you been convicted of a crime?

Committed? Yes. Convicted? No. While Ferndale was falling, Niall was taking what he thought he'd need from wherever he could get it.

F: Are you generally a loner: tough and cool?

Niall is generally a loner, though the stereotype of tough and cool isn't quite right. He just doesn't 'get' other mice.

How about Sword-wise and Snow-wise? Sticl with the "s" words!

Sorry. I've been dealing with some life s$*@ that's made me unfocused, and Tuesdays are my roughest day anyways.

Fighter 3, Survivalist 1, Weather Watcher 1, Healer 1. Does that work?

For my specialty, probably Fighter, unless someone on the other side's already grabbed it, in which case, Survivalist would be best.

I'd be fine with Seyth as a mentor. I'm not sure about the cloaks, and for some reason, it seems really important that it be right, but I'm just not sure about it. I'm also good with whatever starting mission, just to see how the system works and stuff.

I'd be down to share an artisan. Niall should probably go with Cartographer in honor of his mother, since it was one of the two I rolled and the food thing seems covered.

6d6 ⇒ (6, 1, 3, 1, 4, 1) = 16 Hope I'm doing this right.

Niall shivered as he pushed his way through another pile of snow. There had to be some dry grass, or a leaf, under one of them, and if he could find one, maybe he could get a fire going. That had been easy back in Ferndale, but in the little cave his mother and he had scratched out of dry creekbank, it wasn't. None of the twigs were dry enough, and there wasn't enough tinder to go around.

Not that their hole in the creekbank was their first stop after Ferndale. When the fighting went sourest, Niall left his place and went to his mother's house. He'd bundled the old mouse in whatever they could and set off into the woods. Their first hiding place was a hollow below a tree, which turned out to be a dozen other families' first place as well. Food ran low, and Niall and Becca left. Then there'd been a series of lean-to camps. They'd followed other refugees, staying where they'd stayed a night or two before.

But back to the task at hand. He pulled on a tuft of grass that was only damp, not soaked, and hustled back to his hole in the creekbank. His mother's cough was worse, but all he could do until thaw was keep her warm, and even that was proving to be a struggle. He looked out the cave's entrance, sighed, and started banging two rocks together. If all went well, he'd have a fire for the first time in three nights.

Sorry, GM. Lemme get on that. Niall would probably be scarred from the things he saw and did at Ferndale, and he's almost certainly a militarist rather than a laborer, just because it's what he'd know. Probably blackish-grey fur, but is there anywhere where they discuss the significance of the cloak colors? I'd like to know a little more about that before making a decision. As for my pick-a-skill that's not related to the others, I'd go with survivalist, because his situation after Ferndale left him isolated away from his patrol and what was left of the town and he had to make it on his own. Ever since, he's been trying to get better at that.

1. Niall used to spend as he got, but he's turned into an obsessive saver. He often goes with less food than he should just so he's sure to have some tomorrow.

2. Niall fights. The mice who didn't died just as well as those who did.

3. Niall fears weasels and wolves. He claims to be a lot more fatalistic about owls, but in truth, he's just never seen one.