Finally have my fluff done! Two-Hands here, presenting the complete profile for Helmund Rieger. I'll paste the backstory stuff below for ease of reference.
Good luck to all the applicants, definitely see some stiff competition out here!
Origins & Early Life:
Helmund Rieger was born in the north of Vieland, a land balanced on the edge of the Holds of Belkzen and the Worldwound. His father was a wandering Kellid warrior, a relic of a dying tribe, and his mother an provincial peasant—a woman who feared the dark with good reason. Helmund grew up in a household where monsters were not bedtime stories, but a very real threat.
One fateful winter, a wandering hedge-witch came to their village, offering trinkets and charms in exchange for odd favours. The fields had been unkind to the Rieger family; the cold nights were almost unbearable on an empty stomach, and Helmund's father had been absent on a hunt for weeks. Desperate to change her fate, Helmund’s mother turned to the witch for aid. At first, the magic seemed to work—fortune smiled, and hope flickered anew. But soon after the witch vanished from town, darkness took root. She began to wither, her strength slowly fading. The villagers whispered of misfortune, but his father knew better. This was no mere twist of fate—this was the price of dealing with something that should never have been trusted.
One night, Helmund awoke to the sound of steel rasping against stone, his father sharpening his greatsword by firelight. The old warrior’s face was carved from fury and grief as he muttered, “That witch stole from us. But she will pay her price in blood.” Together, father and son tracked the hedge-witch to a decrepit roadside hovel. His father confronted her—Helmund still remembers the way the fire cast her shadow too long on the stones.
The fight was brutal. His father cut the witch down, driving her to her knees with steel and fury—but he did not grant the final blow. Instead, he thrust the bloodied sword into Helmund’s hands, his voice a low growl: “Finish it. This is the price of dealing with monsters.”
They never went home. The village was a memory, swallowed by the past like footprints in the mire. Instead, Helmund and his father became wandering hunters, stalking the things that lurked in the dark. His father trained him in the only lessons that mattered—how to fight, how to kill, how to survive.
But it was never enough. No matter how many monsters they cut down, his father was never satisfied. He took greater and greater risks, as if trying to outrun something unseen.
In the end, the darkness caught up. One hunt went wrong, the kind that leaves no second chances. Helmund could only watch as his father fell, dragged into the abyss by the very horrors he had spent his life fighting.
Alone, Helmund carried on. Because that was what his father had taught him. Because if he stopped, the monsters won.
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A Tie to Professor Lorrimor:
Helmund first met Professor Petros Lorrimor in the back alleys of Lepistadt, on a night thick with rain. The scholar had taken a wrong turn, and the desperate men who surrounded him had no interest in books or reason—only blood and coin.
Helmund stepped from the shadows before the first knife could fall. What followed was quick and brutal—bones breaking, bodies hitting the mud, and the professor left standing, bemused but unharmed. Lorrimor, ever the inquisitive mind, did not look at Helmund with fear, but with fascination. He saw something beyond brute force—a hunter’s instincts, a disciplined rage honed for a purpose.
Curious, the professor offered work. Helmund, wary of scholars and their endless fascination with things best left buried, nearly refused. But Lorrimor sought knowledge not to wield it, but to use it as a weapon against the dark. That, at least, Helmund could respect.
Over the years, their paths crossed again. Lorrimor aided Helmund in preparing for all manner of hunts, while Helmund protected the professor on some of his more dangerous investigations where able. Though he distrusted magic, he trusted the professor’s wisdom.
Now, with Lorrimor dead, Helmund has come to Ravengro—not out of sentiment, but out of duty. He owes the man that much.
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Personality & Beliefs:
Superstitious but Pragmatic: He loathes magic but knows when it must be used.
No Blind Faith, Only Steel: He places no trust in gods, clergy, or noblemen—titles and prayers do not make a man just. The world is cruel, and only those willing to stand against its horrors can carve their own justice.
The Shield Between Darkness and the Weak: He does not fight for glory, but because someone must. The things that lurk in the shadows do not care for prayers or laws—only for prey. Helmund ensures that, where he stands, the innocent will not be hunted.
A Hunter’s Mindset: He fights with cold, methodical fury. His rage is not mindless—it is a calculated storm that strikes with ruthless efficiency.
I hope you guys don't feel that I'm rushing you by posting. I just had some extra time this evening and wanted to give you all something to react to / discuss as a group before moving ahead. I may be time-limited tomorrow, so feel free to post actions / discuss plans with each other/ do proper introductions etc if I'm unable to put something down here.
Also, from this point I'll be tracking your provision points. This represents the level of supplies you scavenge, and will come into play layer on. I'll be putting them next to the roll20 link on my alias for ease of viewing.
The Roll20 page has been updated to show the map of Phaendar for your reference.
Also, I've forgotten to narrate it so far but the NPCs in the room are still in shock. They've been moving toward the back room to hide, I've been too caught up in the combat to include that little bit of ambient action!
To clear the air on this one too, I'm perfectly fine with how Valtyra handled the roll. By rolling the dice any OOC questions are implied, and I can give an appropriate response either in the next enemy turn post, or in the discussion thread if we're still waiting for people to finish their actions. I think we have to trust that everyone is doing the right thing here; if any has gripes or concerns within the game I'd ask that you please message me about it privately first.
I'd like to leave it there for now, let's just move past it and try to have some fun. I'm so excited that this is finally off the ground, I've wanted to get involved in PbP for a long time now and I'd hate to kick things off on a sour note.
@AJM / Aelethea, Great suggestion, I'll throw the link into my bio for ease of access. Also, token permissions should be good to go :)
Craig wrote:
"Tern" One? I don't know if that word play was intentional, but I do know it's awesome :)
I agree with this so hard, I'm a sucker for puns. Well played there Tern :)
Also, FYI with the enemy tokens, the red dot notes a damaged enemy and the snail icon represents movement being somehow impaired (in this case he is currently down in Tern's 5ft ditch, regretting skipping out on long jump practice).
Hobgoblin #1 falls to Valtyra's crit. Congrats on the first kill of the game!
Valtyra reacts instantly, surging forward with shield raised, her sword carving through the first hobgoblin in a powerful arc.
Craig weaves through the chaos of the crowd of townsfolk to reach Aubrin, murmuring a prayer as he staunches her wounds. Her bleeding visibly slows, and her breath becomes steady.
Aelethea vaults over the bar with elven grace, knocking an arrow while commanding her companion to join the battle.
Moragul roars his challenge, his towering frame and imposing orcish presence turning heads even amid the battle. He lumbers toward the fray menacingly, axe in hand.
As the remaining hobgoblins press forward, Tern conjures a pit just outside the entrance, forcing them to scramble. The first dodges out of the way, landing just in front of Shi'ra. The second vaults over the pit with ease, lunging out at Valtyra who expertly deflects the blow with her shield. The last stumbles as he attempts the same, tumbling into the hole with a sharp cry.
Shi'ra lunges at the hobgoblin in front, her powerful jaws closing with a sickening crunch around his knee.
BLOCK 3 (Macharius, Reknar) you guys are up! Once you've taken your turn I'll narrate the result before BLOCK 1 comes around again.
@Moragul, I'm gonna assume you've made your way to the tavern by now :)
With that, the first gameplay post is up!
Roll20 link is here! Once everyone joins I assume I can give you individual token permissions? Also, I've never run a VTT offline before, does anyone know if there are certain permissions I have o give for you guys to access it when I'm not online?
If you can see the map, the colour code is;
Blue frame for PCs
Red frame for enemies
Brown frame w/yellow dot for unnamed NPCs (@Craig, the token behind yours represents your sister)
Brown frame w/green dot for named NPCs.
Sorry if this is messy guys, hopefully I can figure it out right quick and clean the whole process up a little.
Sounds good Mac. Once Moragul checks in with his answers I'll post a final outline of all of the data from your answers and a rough guideline of how things will play out. From there, it'll be on to the first gameplay post! I'm going to kick it off in media res with everybody having just arrived at the tavern. I've taken some liberties adjusting the introductory section of the module for what I think will be a lot more streamlined for PbP format. So, if you're familiar with the module, you're in for a surprise!
While we wait for that, feel free to jump into the gameplay thread and post a little intro, maybe outline what your character did on during the busy day at the market festival. I'd appreciate it if you do take the opportunity to post something, that you just close it off with your character heading to the Taproot Inn for some R&R.
For suggestions on what you might get up to, the module suggests the following;
a scholarly party might be conducting research or brewing potions at Oreld’s Fine Shop (owned by a middle aged human male, Vane Oreld).
A military or mercantile party could be at the Phaendar Trading Company (a trading post with a wide assortment of good, currently owned by a cantakerous female dwarven blacksmith named Kining Blondebeard).
Religious PCs might be drawn to the Riverwood Shrine (The shrine is intended for any worshipers to use, but most people in town venerate Erastil or Desna, and so statues and symbols of these two faiths decorate the walls in the form of homemade amulets, artwork, and offerings. The current caretaker of the shrine is a humble old man named Noelan).
Of course, if you're a party animal feel free to have spent the day at the Taproot Inn, listening to local hero Aubrin the Green (a Chernasardo Ranger-turned-Caydenite cleric) regale the crowds with tales from her glory days.
Welcome all! Before we begin, I'd like to pick your brains to hopefully answer some questions I have regarding the running of the game;
1. How would you prefer we handle battle maps? Outside of theater of the mind or a shared google drive map, I really have no idea how else to approach this.
2. Any tips for information to keep in your character descriptions? I've trawled through some games and seen people that include current HP, initiative, AC, etc. I like the visibility it provides at a glance, so it would be cool if we could standardize that.
3. Is everyone happy for me to pre-roll initiative, perception, insight, saving throws when they apply? I feel like that might save some time when it comes to combat, thought I don't want to take agency away from you guys if you'd prefer to roll.
4. Any other tips or tricks you can offer would be swell.
Looking forward to jamming this out with you guys!
This was an absolutely grueling decision. Everybody put fantastic characters forward, and it was truly difficult to sort through them and put together a group that I think would work. To everyone that applied, I'm truly grateful that you took the time to throw your hat in for this, especially as I'm an unproven GM. I appreciate the effort that everybody went to, and I wish I could have selected all of the characters!
I had to settle for 7 characters. I added one extra as I don't think it'll unbalance the game, and it made the selection process a little easier. So, without further ado, here are the PC's for the module:
AJM4885 - Aelethea Callandriil
Albion, The Eye - Reknar
Crisischild - Moragul Bearskin
Dragoncat - Macharius Fallstar
Mark Thomas 66 - Valtyra Slate
Ridge - Craig Lawrence
SqueezeMeNow - Tern Bismeth
Please check in on the discussion thread for the game; I'm going to hit you guys up for some questions/preferences before the first post goes up. Once again, thanks to everyone who chipped in and helped me out throughout the recruitment process.
And that's all, folks! Recruitment is officially closed! I'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who chipped in with ideas, advice, lists, questions and most importantly characters! You guys have given me a mammoth task, I've seen some great characters here already so making a decision is going to be rough for sure.
I'm going to give 72hrs as my cut-off, so expect a decision by Sat 15th May, 2100hrs AEST. I really want to dig into everyone's sheet and try to build the party I think will fit best, and be most fun for us all to follow on this adventure.
For those who haven't yet, feel free to throw your fluff post it. Or, save it for your first gameplay post if chosen. Good luck everyone, I'll probably go silent here until the decision is made.
Hey gang, big thanks to RHMG Animator and AJM4885 for the list updates. I'm not going to beat a dead horse and replicate their good work, just checking in to announce we are coming up to the 24hr mark. Just to reiterate, submissions will close Wednesday 12th March at 2100hrs Australian Eastern Standard Time.
@RHMG, tracking your statement reference the NPCs; I've had a few players reach out with a similar question. I figure once the group is selected we can spend a day or so making those connections prior to the first gameplay post.
Same goes for inter-party relations. I'm hopefuly that we can find some synergy between members and establish links once the group composition is firm.
@Nebuzaradan, I've noted your submission, looks good. I'm going to post a final updated list tomorrow night, I'll make sure to add you on.
@Craig Lawrence, good call with the prior connections idea. The sense of community for Phaendar feels really important in this module, having investment in and a bit of foreknowledge
about each other would definitely smooth things along!
Roughly 48hrs to go gang, time to get pumped!I hope you're all as excited about this as I am!
@RHMG, apologies also, I'll throw your elven warpriest on the list when I next update it (I can't edit the previous post so I assume it timed out). As I said to Squeeze, must've passed you over as I was focused on looking for aliases specifically.
@SqueezeMeNow, so sorry, I find it hard to cut through the noise and I was too focused on looking for ready-made aliases. Also, regarding your rage question; I would consider healing as a full round action to be something that requires intense concentration, so rage would impact your ability to do it.
@Dragoncat, Mark Thomas 66, John Woodford apologies for the errors guys, I've had a quick re-read and you guys are good to go. I'll update the list again tonight to reflect.
@@Albion, The Eye, crunch isn't necessary but it's definitely preferred. I'd like to be able to cast an eye over the character sheets, it helps me put together a picture for what your character can bring to the party.
@RHMG, encumbrance rules will definitely come into play during the module
@Crisischild, happy for players to drag the stats from the monster manual or whatever respective source book they require.
@all, the list is coming! I've just finished work for the day, I'm about to smack in a quick workout then head home. Should be sorted in the next 2ish hours
@RHMG, I'd prefer if you stick with the races outlined in the initial recruitment post.
@Profession Smith, Gotcha. I'll get back to you once I finish work and have time to write up in detail.
@Everyone else, I'm seeing some great characters so far. I plan to scrub through the post after work and start compiling a list, so we can see in one place who has completed their application and what classes are in the ring. I figure this might make it easier for new arrivals (or anyone who has stalled) to come up with ideas.
@Crisischild, gonna go with no variant multiclassing and no archetypes for this one unfortunately.
@Zahir, To clarify; we will be using the Elephant in the Room rules. Apologies for the vague use of language.
@AJM4885, I'm going to stick with APG traits and campaign traits from the players guide only. Sorry, I should have been clearer. I like your Herolab sheet so far, keen to see some fluff.
To all, please don't get hung up on the stats you roll. As I said, we will balance things out once we have a final pick, I just wanted players to have to opportunity to kick off with some rolls because to me that is a very exciting part of the creation process. Stat rolls are not going to be held against you; I'm looking for well thought out characters whom I think would be interesting to follow on this adventure.
I forgot to note too, at this stage the plan is to finish the first book then make a decision as a group whether or not to continue. This is my first game, and I don't want to overcommit to something that I've never done before, so chunking it down into manageable pieces (i.e. module by module) seems to be the best idea to me.
Our adventure begins as artisans, farmers, miners, shepherds, traders, and trappers from across the region gather in Phaendar for the seasonal Market Festival to send their raw materials to market in the “big city” of Tamran and trade for those essentials — finished goods,clothing, magic, and alcohol — that make surviving the next season easier. You find yourself here for one reason or another; are you a local? A military veteran from the Molthuni front far to the south or perhaps even a militia deserter passing through while fleeing the nation. You may even be a refugee from Nidal, or a grizzled orc escaping the nearby Hold of Belkzen. Even elven game hunters from Kyonin find reason to travel to Nirmathas, seeking to challenge their skills against the wildlife of the Fangwood. More unusual characters are often found here as well - Nirmathas’s wilds are seen as a refuge by many considered monsters by society—and all manner of creatures and criminals might flee to the relative isolation of the Nesmian Plains and the Mindspin Mountains to escape their past.
This recruitment will be for 4-6 players to take on the first module in the Ironfang Invasion AP.
Character Creation Guidelines:
Level 1
Roll for stats! 4d6 drop lowest, If the combined total of your rolls (NOT modifiers) is less than 70, reroll. The group may have stats adjusted to address balancing issues if necessary once recruitment is finalised, so please be flexible here.
PHB races only. I know this might sound boring to some, but I like to keep it a little vanilla for immersion's sake.
Classes: Any PHB, APG or ACG classes are fine. I'm happy for players to use unchained variants of existing classes.
2 x traits of your choosing.
Check out the players guide for free here or on Archives of Nethys for a good take on the types of characters to suit the adventure. I'm aware that some of the recommended classes in the Players Guide stretch beyond what I've outlined; if one of the concepts presented in the guide speaks to you, feel free to hit me up and we can work something out.
As the adventure begins with the Market festival in Phaendar, feel free to include an in-character introductory post to show off your skills! Show me how your character arrived in Phaendar, or their first impressions of the town. If they are local, what did they get up to during the market festival? Who did they visit, or what did they buy? This isn't mandatory, just an opportunity to flex those creative writing muscles.
If you are making a local character, feel free to include some information regarding your connections in the area. Childhood sweetheart, family members, best friends etc.
Posting Status and key information:
I'm going to stipulate a preference for daily posts on weekdays. If a character is AWOL for more than 48hrs, especially during combat and/or without prior warning, I may take some liberties in accounting for their turn (i.e. act defensively, strategic positioning etc.) This isn't a firm rule, just something I'm considering so that we can keep a decent pace.
Recruitment will close March 12th AEST. I'll probably take at least 24hrs to finalise the team, and notify all applicants via these means no later that March 14th AEST. The game will commence within the week following.
We will decide administrative points in finer detail once we have a group together, however things like perception/sense motive will likely be spoilered in relevant posts. I'll probably roll initiative for players when combat commences as well, just to save time. Any other little things are up for discussion once the game finds its feet.
Please feel free to ask any questions here in order to share the information with the group.
@Mark Thomas 66, it's on its way. I'm still going to wait another 48hrs or so to throw it up, just making sure my I'm happy with what I've written for creation guidelines prior to a final post. I want to try and get things right on the first try :)
@RHMG Animator, I think I'll stick with the rolls for stats; I'm fairly comfortable adjusting the results for the final picks to ensure balance across the board. I had a look at the archetype rules briefly, and I think I'll just kept the lid closed there. I believe there are enough options for classes across the PHB and APG to make an interesting character. I'm open to alternate classes on a case-by-case basis; if you desperately need to use a specific alternate to give your vision life then I'm happy to discuss.
@AJM4885 point duly noted. I forgot about background skills, I'm a huge fan and will definitely include. I've had a bit of a read up on the unchained stuff, and it looks pretty streamlined. I'm coming around to the idea.
@Zahir same goes for the feat taxes, I'm likely going to include these as they just make sense.
I'm developing my recruitment post now; it'll likely go live on Friday (or Thursday for those of you in the US). Seems like a comfortable length of time is 2 weeks, so expect it to be open that long. In the meantime, feel free to check out the players guide and familiarise yourselves with the content there. I'm really looking forward to this, thanks to everyone who has reached out so far!
