Rogue 2 | Init +6 | AC 18 | HP 26 / 26 | conditions: none
M'baba listens to to Za and tries hard not to show emotions in his face. He wants to know if they can squish insects with their leaves by flexing them like he does it with his butt cheeks, but he cannot for the life of him put this question in a non-offending way. He just says "Thanks for explaining. Let me know if you need help getting hard to reach places."
Later, as Chizire shows up, M'baba is curious about what the new brew would be, but he doesn't want to screw up his task and just says "We'll just drop something off and will be on our way to complete our task. After that, I'll help no problem, you got me curious." He tries ushering the group forward and not engage.
Rogue 2 | Init +6 | AC 18 | HP 26 / 26 | conditions: none
M'baba feels weird to do tasks with an audience. But he thinks to try and kill two birds with one stone. He takes one of the vials that the group brought thinking to capture insects. After a quick look at it, he decides he's not going to chase the insects randomly with it.
Instead, he raises his voice so the gathering crowd hears him. He speaks as though reciting a rehearsed speech "Magic! Magic! You've surely heard of the great feats of conjuring, learned and performed by the great Magaambya professors and students. But, magic is just another craft! A great spellcaster is no different from a great artist, woodsworker or smith."
He pulls out his backpack and takes out his rope. From the tip, he starts disentangling the rope into smaller and smaller threads. He does so a bit dramatically so everyone can both laugh at him but also be curious about what he's doing.
He proclaims "Today you do not see a performance of a drama or a comedy. But you do see a feat that is not different from magic if you think of the results. I am going to capture a handful of insects!"
He uses the fine thread to improvise a net using his rapier as a pole.
Craft using Improvise Tool skill feat to create a fine net:1d20 + 10 ⇒ (3) + 10 = 13 Thievery, hopefully with a reduced DC from the net:1d20 + 7 ⇒ (19) + 7 = 26 Performance, untrained:1d20 + 1 ⇒ (8) + 1 = 9
Although the net is awkward and doesn't close properly, M'baba is able to capture a handful of insects. He promptly puts them in the jar and closes it, poking tiny holes for the insects to breathe.
He doesn't care if people don't like his performance. If they get disinterested, all the better, so he can work in peace.
M Human Wizard 3 | AC 17 | HP 29 / 29 | Saves +6 +7 +9 | Hero points: 2 | Perception +9 | conditions: none
Markus gets in last. He notices that Cranky has his ears pointing down. He says softly "See, buddy? There was no one here to find. You did a great job!" The fox perks up and rubs his forehead on the wizard's leg.
Markus takes notice of the entrance and says "Judging by how this place is, it looks like all the staff has cleared up this place of valuables and left. But as Kiilo says, it doesn't mean this place is safe. They'd have no reason to shut down any security system they had implemented. So be extra careful of traps and defensive mechanisms that would be too heavy to take."
Markus is thinking of a golem. He'd love to see a working one for the first time. However, he thinks it's unlikely the owner of a small book shop would be wealthy enough to have one. He stops his line of thought. Knowing himself, he could spend a few hours considering all possibilities, and he doesn't want to ask his companions to wait as he ponders.
He says "As much as I love architecture, I've never studied traps much. Anyone here know how to disable them?"
Brodert is visibly upset that Donimah said to go to bed. He reminds the two women of a child being told to go to sleep in the middle of their favorite playtime.
In Thistletop...
As the group stops and listens, the instructions continue. Juriya can make out someone trying to make their students (?) meditate. They are not having a good time.
Male Dwarf druid (Nature Fang) 5 | AC 17/19 T 13 FF 15/17 | Saves +9 +4 +9 | CMD 17 | HP 52/52 | Perception +12 Storm Burst 7/7 | conditions: none
Vinni approaches, using his new quarterstaff a bit as a walking stick, but more because he thinks it looks cool than any actual usefulness. He hears the discussion with the chief and admires how Saoirse is able with diplomacy. He wonders how he would approach this and realizes he would much more direct, which would be stupid.
He decides to observe the lizardfolk's way of living and how it would differ from a typical human town.
M Human Wizard 3 | AC 17 | HP 29 / 29 | Saves +6 +7 +9 | Hero points: 2 | Perception +9 | conditions: none
Markus stops himself from going on a tangent about risky businesses, that the law doesn't care whether or not you know you committed a crime, and bad choices. Instead he says "Enough. Now you know. Now, we'll be going to report our findings. If you want to make a case, do it to the council. We are not responsible for such judgement."
He makes his way out bringing the rest of the party with him. He says "Come, Cranky, we're leaving. And you! You don't get to pet Cranky." to Roxie.
Male Dwarf druid (Nature Fang) 5 | AC 17/19 T 13 FF 15/17 | Saves +9 +4 +9 | CMD 17 | HP 52/52 | Perception +12 Storm Burst 7/7 | conditions: none
Adding some fluff to give my character some stuffing.
As they travel, Vinni thinks a bit about life. He is impressed at how far humans can get with so short a lifespan. He tries guessing Andreas' age and imagines he must not be more than 30 years old. He then remembers where he was at that age.
His parents were very busy running a shop, so he spent most of his time with his uncle Peddah, who was more of a free spirit. He was the crafter in the family and his role was to produce the weapons that the family sold in the business. But his crafting dedication was more for pride in his production than an actual sense of duty.
Just by being this way, uncle Peddah taught Vinni that it's impossible to judge a person's motives just by watching what they're doing. His uncle was an extremely focused crafter. But to any outsider, this could be easily mistaken as the typical dwarven sense of duty to his family, when in reality uncle Peddah couldn't care less about the business.
These lessons were strengthened in his time with the druids. There are many limitations to the druidic life, regarding how one interacts with nature. There are even limitations regarding what type of armor a druid wears and teaching the secret druidic language. The typical person believes that druids follow these tenets due to their extreme dedication to nature. However, most druids he met only follow these rules because they would otherwise lose many of their powers. Only the most powerful druids and leaders actually revered nature fevorously. That made him wonder if these things are related.
He wakes from his daydream to look again at Andreas. All these lessons he has learned when he was about twice the man's age. Still, the baron seems to carry much wisdom. He wonders if humans experience life faster than a dwarf, or if there's more suffering, which expedites learning. He takes a sip of water, breaking his train of thoughts. He's sure he's going to learn these secrets with time.
M Human Wizard 3 | AC 17 | HP 29 / 29 | Saves +6 +7 +9 | Hero points: 2 | Perception +9 | conditions: none
Markus puts on his best official face and says "We're investigating the Hellknight citadel, where we found the culprit for setting loose those fire creatures during the Call for Heroes. There we found a tunnel that led to your storeroom. It is a possible way the culprit took there. I have two questions for you. Did you know about the existence of this tunnel? Did you have anything to do with the attack?"
Male Dwarf druid (Nature Fang) 5 | AC 17/19 T 13 FF 15/17 | Saves +9 +4 +9 | CMD 17 | HP 52/52 | Perception +12 Storm Burst 7/7 | conditions: none
Before I forget, when we go see about this will-o-wisp (I assume it is due to the comments about lightning attacks and vulnerability to magic missile), an excellent cleric spell is Spiritual Weapon. It deals force damage as well.
I liked a lot of the characters and some of the backgrounds made me laugh out loud. In the end, the tiebreaker was sort of weird and impossible to predict.
Ethan Sower, please post on the discussion thread.
Everyone else, thank you very much for the effort, I hope your characters find a game soon.
Orik answers Arrian "Well, there's that goblin druid, you probably ran into him when coming in, he has that nasty cat of his. But he rarely gets in here, he's been at odds with Ripnugget lately, so he keeps in the wild, more as a guard than a proper spiritual leader."
Orik then says "Ok, I'll go get my things. I'll meet you guys back here in a sec, then we can go." He starts heading north, where the fight with Nualia took place.
Wisdom DC 15:
Something doesn't add up. He mentioned this is the level where his chamber is, but the way he's going doesn't have any more rooms, just the way back up the group used to come down, and the secret door that goes down, but he already said he never goes down.
The man clearly wasn't expecting to be recognized. He is immediately embarrassed, with his face turning all red. After a moment collecting his thoughts, he changes the subject "So, I can help you with the layout of this complex, my friend. Upstairs is where the goblins hang out. They only come down once a week for Nualia's special ritual." he points to the ominous double doors to the north.
Note, I moved everyone to where you are, which is past the door to the south. I can't update the map in my trip, but it's the room I described to Zeldrith some posts ago."
He continues "Either that or the occasional goblin that Lyrie feeds the cave thing to the east. For documenting purposes, she says."
Juriya notices that he also shivers when he notices Nualia's rituals, and lets out a minor sigh when he mentions the name Lyrie.
He goes on "In this level, there's some chambers like mine, Lyrie's and Bruthazmus', the goblin nursery and their wives. And, of course, the temple to Lamashtu where the rituals take place." He forces himself to continue "Below is where Nualia stays. I'm not allowed down there and... I wouldn't go if I were anyway. I don't know much about what she does all day, but apart from planning her raid, she's trying to solve some sort of puzzle. Whatever comes out of the puzzle can't be good if you ask me."
Sorry Mia, I know these optional rules, but they're not a thing here.
So, because of the time differences (I live in Europe), I will leave this recruitment open until tomorrow at this time. Then I'll start reviewing everything. We already have some thoughts about who we'd like to join the party (mechanically speaking), but I have to review the fluffs to make a decision. I am travelling at the moment and don't have as much available time for this, so a decision may have to wait until early next week.
Any submission after this time tomorrow will not be considered.
M Half-elf Ranger 1 | 10/10 HP | AC 17 T 14 FF 13 | CMD 17 | Perception +8
Lariel thinks "They are clearly a bunch of nobodies, their icons on the map are the same henchman icon with different colors. These are clearly thieves. Maybe even of the horses. I don't think we're going to just let them go. But better to let Cora ease the tension, it's better if we have more information."
I haven't had time to review all submissions yet, but I remind you that we're using Elephant in the Room optional rules. I took a look at Ethan Sower's sheet and noticed the Point Blank Shot feat. In this optional ruleset, it's not a pre-requisite for Precise Shot.
The man comes down. He looks a bit confused. Juriya's spell still affects him, but he seems sad about what happened. He has his sword sheathed. It's like he thought of leaving but stopped for some reason. And now he isn't sure where to go, which means that each of his steps is taken with uncertainty.
Our Rise of the Runelords game is in need of 2 extra players, one of which must be a healer. We are currently in the final part of book 1, so I recommend you stop reading if you don't want any spoilers.
We are in the middle of Thistletop and the party has just hit level 4. Nualia has already been fought off (she managed to escape, apparently), but the dungeon may have... other terrors... and loot!
So, character making rules are:
- 20 point buy
- Level 4
- 3 traits, one of which can be from the RotRl player's guide, anniversary edition
- 6000gp to use as you like. You may start with items you're crafted yourself if you have crafting features built into your character
We are using Background skills, Hero Points and Elephant in the Room additional rules.
The current party is described below. I may have maimed some descriptions in my attempt to summarize them.
- Ano Clovermark: An urban bloodrager (Dex based) born and raised in Sandpoint, with family issues.
- Juriya Arima: Our resident rogue/investigator/(future) alchemist waiting to bloom from under her parents' shadow.
- Zeldrith Angothane: An eldritch scion magus that comes from the simpler parts of Magnimar, hoping to find stability in a new town.
- Donimah Southlander: A thassilonian specialist transmuter that studied due to her father's extraordinary efforts in Riddleport. She is fond of Thassilonian culture, but Sandpoint has been growing on her.
I will let this recruitment go for a week or until we have enough candidates, whichever comes last.
M Human Wizard 3 | AC 17 | HP 29 / 29 | Saves +6 +7 +9 | Hero points: 2 | Perception +9 | conditions: none
Markus bows his head slightly at Alak as he takes his leave.
Finally the mage says "If everyone's ready, let's finish cleaning up the basement. Alak said we should reclaim this citadel and I think he's right. We could even make it livable if we like!"
Of course, Markus is already thinking about how he can rearrange the structure and decoration to make it pleasant to live. Although he had to study magic, architecture is really his heart's desire. He promises to give as much honor to Shelyn if they ever choose to work on the building.
All right, here is my submission. Given the focus on old gods, I decided to change him from Sarenrae to Ra.
Character concept:
This is an undead scourge paladin, which is one of the options the player's guide suggests to match the campaign's theme. I realize that a paladin can trivialize some of the challenges, being immune to fear and diseases (Divine Health even mentions mummy rot by name), and Mercy being able to heal fatigue. I still went with the Endurance feat to make him handle the desert a bit better. But I see this as a strategic choice, not a game breaking one.
In any case, there aren't that many opportunities to go an ifrit paladin and stay in the campaign's theme. This means that whenever I use the burning hands spell-like ability, I will definitely be shouting "By fire be purged!".
Character sheet:
STR 18, DEX 13, CON 14, INT 8, WIS 9, CHA 16
Male Ifrit (native outsider)
Medium Size
LG (Undead Scourge) Paladin of Ra 1
BaB +1
Init +1; Senses: Perception -1, Sense Motive -1 Darkvision
CMB +5 (1BaB +4str)
CMD 16 (1BaB +4str +1dex)
Favored Class Paladin
FC bonus: +1 HP
Defense
AC 19, touch 11 flat-footed 18 (+6 Armor +2 Shield +1 Dex)
HP 13 (10 +2 (1*2Con) + 1 (1*1FCbonus))
Fort +4 (+2 base +2 Con) (+2 vs death effects) (add Endurance bonuses)
Ref +1 (+0 base +1 Dex) (+2 vs death effects)
Will +1 (+2 base -1 Wis) (+2 vs death effects)
Fire resistance 5
Dies only when negative HP is Con score + 4
Offense
Speed 30 ft
Melee Longsword +5 (1d8+4/19-20x2)
Melee Power attack Longsword +4 (1d8+6/19-20x2)
Ranged Longbow +2 (1d8/20x3)
Space 5 ft, Reach 5 ft
Smite Evil 1/day +3/+1
Other abilities and SQ Aura of Good (Ex):
The power of a paladin’s aura of good (see the detect good spell) is equal to her paladin level.
Detect Evil (Sp):
At will, a paladin can use detect evil, as the spell. A paladin can, as a move action, concentrate on a single item or individual within 60 feet and determine if it is evil, learning the strength of its aura as if having studied it for 3 rounds. While focusing on one individual or object, the paladin does not detect evil in any other object or individual within range.
Smite Evil (Su):
Once per day, a paladin can call out to the powers of good to aid her in her struggle against evil. As a swift action, the paladin chooses one target within sight to smite. If this target is evil, the paladin adds her Cha bonus (if any) to her attack rolls and adds her paladin level to all damage rolls made against the target of her smite. If the target of smite evil is an outsider with the evil subtype, an evil-aligned dragon, or an undead creature, the bonus to damage on the first successful attack increases to 2 points of damage per level the paladin possesses. Regardless of the target, smite evil attacks automatically bypass any DR the creature might possess.
In addition, while smite evil is in effect, the paladin gains a deflection bonus equal to her Charisma modifier (if any) to her AC against attacks made by the target of the smite. If the paladin targets a creature that is not evil, the smite is wasted with no effect.
The smite evil effect remains until the target of the smite is dead or the next time the paladin rests and regains her uses of this ability. At 4th level, and at every three levels thereafter, the paladin may smite evil one additional time per day, as indicated on Table: Paladin, to a maximum of seven times per day at 19th level.
Smite Evil (Su) (1/day):
This functions as the paladin ability of the same name, but the undead scourge does not deal 2 points of damage per level on the first successful attack against evil dragons and evil outsiders. She does deal 2 points of damage per level on all smite attacks made against evil undead creatures.
Equipment:
Wealth: 39gp 4sp
Common items
Longsword, Heavy Steel Shield, Chainmail Armor
Dagger, Backpack, Bedroll, Belt pouch, Trail rations x10, Hemp rope, Sewing needle, Soap, Waterskin
Alchemical items
Alchemist's fire x2
Holy water
Background:
"Who are you?", a voice entoned. "I... I don't know. Who are y..." the ifrit started to answer, but was cut off by the original voice asking in the same tone as before "Who are you?"
The ifrit shouted "I don't know!" The voice entoned once again, without changing the tone "Who are you?" The Ifrit paused this time. He managed to remember his name and said "Ozain! Ozain Brimstone is my name." The voice asked again, but this time louder and aggressively "Who are you?"
Ozain was scared. He started to make an effort to remember. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to remember, but he did an effort nonetheless. Slowly his memories started to come. Memories of his life. He was born in a small town in the Osirian desert and lived unremarkably until he reached adulthood. His outsider family never wanted to draw attention to themselves and feel any prejudice from humans. He answered the voice "I'm nobody." The voice calmly asked "What will you do?"
Ozain made an effort to remember all the things he did up to that point. He remembered trying to be useful and helping people. He acted without caring much for himself, acting first and asking questions later. He grew physically strong and people rallied behind him. He faced stronger and more powerful opponents. He doesn't know how he survived fighting gnolls, giant scorpions and snakes. Or did he? He remembers now, he was stung! The fever lasted days. Who took care of him? Who healed him? Nobody! He remembers now, he died! Ozain is dead! Is this the afterlife? Is he talking to Pharasma? No, this is not the river Styx. But if he still had the consciousness to remember all that, then he could make choices for himself. He said "I will continue to fight injustice." The voice paused, then asked "What do you feel?"
Ozain was suddenly aware that he wasn't feeling anything. In fact, he wasn't seeing anything! Was he blind? Panic started to set into his mind. Instinctively, he tried waving his arms, but he didn't feel any arms or legs, or a body for that matter. Then, he felt a presence. It was the source of the voice. He couldn't explain it, but he felt it there. Its presence was soothing and warm. He felt safe, relaxing under the sun. The sun! Could this be...? He remembered learning about the old gods of Osirion, the undying legacy of the old cult. He started to understand what was happening. He said "I feel resolve." The voice asked "Who am I?"
Ozain could obviously not remember this, but something came to his mind all the same. If this isn't a memory, then... It is obvious, it is a vision from the entity. A vision of undead creatures rising and tearing apart the people of the city of Wati, in Osirion. And the only thing that destroyed the undead was the sun itself. Ozain replied "You are Ra, the sun."
The voice finally asked again "Who are you?" The ifrit answered matching Ra's tone "I am Ozain Brimstone, paladin of Ra, bane of the undead." Ozain opened his eyes. His body was hurt and weak, but he was alive. He picked himself up and started walking. He knew exactly where to go.
Rogue 2 | Init +6 | AC 18 | HP 26 / 26 | conditions: none
M'baba enjoys the storytelling very much. He makes extra effort with his part, not caring much how it looks like, just moving with the flow as he feels like it. By the end, he adds his learning experience, which he had discussed with Esi the night before "There's much to be learned about participating in and serving a community. Nothing can make you feel part of something greater."
Afterwards, he joins Iovia in searching for proper clothing for the next day. He even echoes a phrase he once read in a novel about a woman who worked with renovation and preservation of parks in Absalom, "Let's treat ourselves!"
M Human Wizard 3 | AC 17 | HP 29 / 29 | Saves +6 +7 +9 | Hero points: 2 | Perception +9 | conditions: none
Markus points the door to the others and says "Well, this is ominous. I'm very curious, but given everything we've witnessed here so far, I don't want my nose to be the first thing through the door. Here, Cranky, do you smell something?"
Cranky will sniff the door and report what he thinks.
Rogue 2 | Init +6 | AC 18 | HP 26 / 26 | conditions: none
I am loving the exercise in theoretical neighborhood. All in all, I think Ntuni's argument would be the best, however, it would be Diplomacy which is already rolled.
M'baba plays along in Ikto's gambit and whispers back "That's true, but if you remember the professor's words, this is exactly the situation when the curse is amplified. And we can't predict what's going to set it off..."
Let's go with a +4 Deception.
In case this fails, we go with Iovia, which smells like Intimidation.
After Iovia says her warning, M'baba rubs his temples and looks genuinely saddened before saying "Additionally, if they come to us for help, the next time we knock will not be so friendly."
M Human Wizard 3 | AC 17 | HP 29 / 29 | Saves +6 +7 +9 | Hero points: 2 | Perception +9 | conditions: none
Markus doesn't want to kill Mosquito's mood at first, but he can't stop himself and says "Hey, Mosquito, that uhm... that table was recently used for a necromancy ritual. I don't know how safe it is to be on it right now... sorry".
Regardless of Mosquito's reaction, he proceeds to look for other hidden things in the room.
M Half-elf Ranger 1 | 10/10 HP | AC 17 T 14 FF 13 | CMD 17 | Perception +8
WTF, that's a creepy looking gnome.
Lariel thinks a bit and realizes he has enough money to pay for the horses now, and they could retrieve the same money from said man... If they could find him.
M Human Wizard 3 | AC 17 | HP 29 / 29 | Saves +6 +7 +9 | Hero points: 2 | Perception +9 | conditions: none
1st level spells stay the same, but I switched out Daze for Needle Darts
Markus proposes to the others that they should continue exploring the citadel undergrounds. He avoids talking to his sister for now, there's no room in his mind for drama. He doesn't eat much for breakfast, but packs a sandwich for later.
Cranky comes to try to talk to him, but he just answers monosyllabically. Cranky eventually gets bored and goes play with Mosquito.
M Human Wizard 3 | AC 17 | HP 29 / 29 | Saves +6 +7 +9 | Hero points: 2 | Perception +9 | conditions: none
Markus checks in on his sister to make sure she is all right. Both physically and mentally. While she is happy to see him, they end up arguing again about his decision to become join the Call for Heroes. Markus ends up in a foul mood for the rest of the day, even Cranky goes away hunting to be away from his bad attitude.
M Human Wizard 3 | AC 17 | HP 29 / 29 | Saves +6 +7 +9 | Hero points: 2 | Perception +9 | conditions: none
Markus finds the items curious but is also not interested in any of them. Back in open air, Markus suggests the group waits until all are well again before going back in.
I suggest we do Medicine checks until we're full then go back in. We could also rest to recover spell slots, up to you.
I can set up two tables for the same campaign if I have to.
Ok, I apologize if I'm overstepping. With respect, do not be afraid to let people down. From the little experience I've had in these forums, AP recruitment will inevitably let people down. My advice is that it's better to let more people down than to try to juggle more than you can handle. That is to say, make sure you are comfortable running two tables before committing to it just to avoid displeasing some extra folks.
Now, since the deadline is a bit far, I have more time to flesh out my investigator, and I imagine quite a few people are also taking their time to build their characters. That means that you can expect a lot more character submissions. It also means that you will have to shut down quite a lot of people and really well built and interesting characters. So, it would be a good idea to be at peace with that from early on.
M Human Wizard 3 | AC 17 | HP 29 / 29 | Saves +6 +7 +9 | Hero points: 2 | Perception +9 | conditions: none
I reset my spell slots. I also prepare a bunch of Pummeling Rubbles. I remember that undead are expected, so I suppose Command and Dizzying Colors will be sort of useless. Cranky's abilities stay the same.
Penflower looks at the group a bit embarrassed and says "Thank you. I don't know what came over me."
I know what came over me. I was in my trip and had little time to post, so I skimmed through the text and thought Mac had charged in, so I came to have another body share the damage. I apologize. Won't happen again.
M Human Wizard 3 | AC 17 | HP 29 / 29 | Saves +6 +7 +9 | Hero points: 2 | Perception +9 | conditions: none
Sorry for the delay everyone. Just got back home from the trip and we're still organizing things. Don't count on me for 2 or 3 days. If all goes well, I'll manage to post.
