I was looking forward to this one. Hopefully Indraea is ok.
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I really want to see how Indraea does the map. Nice to see you all are about to set out.
That is cool. You guys get to be the original colonists of the Lost Coast. Nice inclusion of a Kaijutsu, Indraea. I see where you're going with this. Pretty neat.
I plan to follow this campaign because the APs are so interesting. I want to see how Indraea runs it. Do any of you care if I comment on the discussion thread on occasion if I find something interesting?
Damn. I really wanted to join this campaign. I enjoy both of those adventure paths. Good choice with Zindelo. That is an interesting background for a DM to play with.
I don't normally categorize Magus as arcane casters. I put them more with the skill monkeys/rogue-types. The only difference being they use spells. They are more of a martial damage dealing class than a versatile arcane caster. Even without the Magus, there are five arcane casters. When I submitted my idea, I was the only one. I don't regret it. That was the concept that came to mind. A scholarly wizard capable of providing informational support along with his arcane abilities. In a story he would be the professorial-type answering all the questions for the main action star.
I bet Indraea is sifting the characters having a hard time choosing. This is quite the turnout. I'm sure the Lord-Mayor and Council of Ushers did not expect so many candidates.
Nice. You even did a hex map for The Lost Coast. Very cool.
Indraea, My character is ready for you to look over. Let me know if you want any changes made. I can post quite a lot. This campaign sounds like it would be a blast. I'm looking forward to it. I hope I make the cut and you pick a good party so we can have a campaign that lasts and proceeds at a good pace. You're combining two of the best APs Paizo produced. I really want to be a part of that.
I'm going to apply with Xavian. Background:
Xavian is a practitioner of the arcane and a scholar. He spends a great deal of time in libraries public and private. His father Harper Graves is a powerful wizard in Magnimar that trained his young son in his craft. Though his father is not a lord or noble by choice (He does not enjoy being distracted from his arcane studies), he is a respected man in Magniamr whose counsel on all matters is often sought.
Xavian having come of age recently and being a restless man has received the blessing of his father to set forth on an adventure to the Lost Coast to seek out knowledge and practice his craft. His father is a firm believer that you cannot become a master of the arcane arts until you have learnd to apply your skill in the real world, not necessarily in battle, but in situations that require creative use of the arcane. Xavian's father is particularly interested in ancient Thassilon. It is said that there is still much arcane information to be gleaned fromt the ancient ruins that dapple Varisia's landscape. He feels this would be a perfect opportunity for furthering his knowledge of the former Empire by sending his son on this expedition. Xavian has been entrusted with a charter due to the status of his father in Magnimar. Campaign Trait: Scholar of the Ancients I picture Xavian as the gruff scholar in the group. He isn't interested in public rulership. He is an enormous asset to any ruler given his breadth of knowledge and his aptitude with the arcane.
Geriatric, You want to play the cleric and let me play my Sword of Storms idea? I don't mind if you had a good idea for a cleric.
So the paladin is in. That's a melee warrior. I think I can save the magus for another campaign. If the paladin is in, I think I'll go with the Cleric of Sarenrae since he is a paladin of Sarenrae. That should work well with the paladin. So I'll go with: Hamzah Hamas Al Dajannah (Fire of Heaven) Male Aasimar Cleric of Sarenrae Hamzah is descended from a family dedicated to Sarenrae. They are priests and paladins who spread the word of Sarenrae with voice and blade. They hunt down evil wherever it may hide and cleanse it with the light of the sun. It is said that Sarenrae blesses some of the children of Hamzah's family with the blood of angels. If she should bestow such a blessing upon a child, that child will aspire to greatness in her name. Hamzah is such a blessed child. He has passed all the tests that show he has the blood of angels in him. He has been named Hamzah Hamas Al Dajinnah (Fire of Heaven). He is held to higher moral expectations than others and expected to go forth into the world and do great deeds in the name of Sarenrae. Campaign Trait: Missionary I figure the Magus concept would work if we're lacking some damage dealing or an arcane caster. The cleric would work if a healer is lacking. Either concept would be fun to play. I don't like to create aliases I don't use. I'll work out the mechanical details if I'm chosen. Either concept I can write up very quickly.
I have two concepts. Concept 1: Ali Saif Al Awasef (Sword of Storms) Male Sylph Magus (Bladebound) Ali is descended from the djinn. He is from a noble family of warriors that train to harness the power of the storm into their blades. He is very confident in his abilities and proud of his ancestry. Many in his family are famous heroes. He seeks to follow the path of the hero that is expected of his family. Ali's sword was passed onto him from his father. It is said his blade was created by a powerful wish granted by a djinni king. His ancestor wished for the power of a storm in his blade. The djinni plucked a lightning elemental from the plane of air and turned it into a blade. That is the blade that has been handed down from father to son within his family for ages. Campaign Trait: Finding Haleen (Magus): The others that take this trait can be his adopted siblings since he is from a famous family of heroes. Concept 2: Hamzah Hamas Al Dajannah (Fire of Heaven) Male Aasimar Cleric of Sarenrae Hamzah is descended from a family dedicated to Sarenrae. They are priests and paladins who spread the word of Sarenrae with voice and blade. They hunt down evil wherever it may hide and cleanse it with the light of the sun. It is said that Sarenrae blesses some of the children of Hamzah's family with the blood of angels. If she should bestow such a blessing upon a child, that child will aspire to greatness in her name. Hamzah is such a blessed child. He has passed all the tests that show he has the blood of angels in him. He has been named Hamzah Hamas Al Dajinnah (Fire of Heaven). He is held to higher moral expectations than others and expected to go forth into the world and do great deeds in the name of Sarenrae. Campaign Trait: Missionary I figure the Magus concept would work if we're lacking some damage dealing or an arcane caster. The cleric would work if a healer is lacking. Either concept would be fun to play. I don't like to create aliases I don't use. I'll work out the mechanical details if I'm chosen. Either concept I can write up very quickly.
Legacy of Fire is one I haven't tried before. I'll do some thinking on a concept.
How are you handling spells without full round actions? Is every spell a standard action? The initiative and AoOs are fine. DMs usually roll initiative for the players on PbP to speed things up. If a player does anything to provoke an AoO, he rolls his own AoO roll and the DM calculates whether the monster hits. So that works fine too. Sounds like you're wanting to run it kind of old school.
Yea that might work, we'll see. If you're going to do a high volume of posting. You should stick to a low number of players with proven posting track records. I know you may feel uncomfortable excluding some people. I'll understand if you don't. But I've been in quite a few campaigns that died and died quickly because of too many players. More players slows posting way, way down, especially if they are not up to posting like you want. If you want to play a very active game, you vet your players carefully to ensure they post a lot during the hours you plan to run it. Then you don't have two players and yourself posting a lot with two players that show up whenever they feel like it slowing everyone else down. You should make sure the people commit to the posting rate. If they know they can't post, they shouldn't join. You also want to make sure the party composition is right. Just giving my two cents. I don't care if I get in. I just know from experience a high post count campaign won't go very well with too many players. You're talking a campaign that will require quite a commitment. You should vet players and keep it focused.
I'd love to get in a high post count campaign. Check my credentials. I post a lot. I have consistent access to the internet at home and at work. I'll post up a ton if I get in.
Posted in the wrong thread. Sorry, I was reading over the campaign to get a feel for the players and DM. I know I'm late to the thread. I'll toss in with a wizard (diviner) from another campaign that went kaput. Xavian is an intellectual. He is focused on the accumulation and application of knowledge in the pursuit of arcane power. He would work well in a city environment. He's built with 20 points. I can easily raise him to lvl 6. I intend to play him as a straight wizard with no prestige class. I'm an experienced player that won't slow the game down. Looking over the composition of the party, a straight wizard seems like a good fit. Xavian is not much of a glory hound. He's more of a chess player seeking to use the pieces around him to take down the king.
I know I'm late to the thread. I'll toss in with a wizard (diviner) from another campaign that went kaput. Xavian is an intellectual. He is focused on the accumulation and application of knowledge in the pursuit of arcane power. He would work well in a city environment. He's built with 20 points. I can easily raise him to lvl 6. I intend to play him as a straight wizard with no prestige class. I'm an experienced player that won't slow the game down. Looking over the composition of the party, a straight wizard seems like a good fit. Xavian is not much of a glory hound. He's more of a chess player seeking to use the pieces around him to take down the king.
I may redo this wizard's background and toss him into the pot. He's a Sherlock Holmes type, at least that is how I picture him. He's already from Ustalas as well. Was made for a Carrion Crown AP that didn't survive. I'll flesh him out and toss him up this week.
Xavian follows Alessa, "Something I cannot quite put my finger on about this place, some lingering magical aura not easily discerned. That house is rather uninviting. The roof does not appear too stable either. At least the door is not locked."
Xavian chants a few words enacting a detect magic to scan the area as they explore at a cautious pace. He pays especial attention to unusual details as well.
"East side it will be. You have been very helpful, Lady Lorrimor. I thank you", says Xavian. "A bit of supper, study, and sleep will have me ready to enter Harrowstone tomorrow." He will assist Kendra with supper, study some of The Professor's tomes on the local history, sleep, and be ready to venture the prison at sunrise.
"Given the circumstances, I would say the townsfolk are the least of our worries. I would prefer to enter the prison while we have daylight. The only one amongst us that can see quite clearly night or day is Cassandra. Even with preparation the lack of light will work against us should we choose to venture into a possibly haunted prison under cover of darkness. If I recall my lessons correctly, darkness does not impede the undead at all. In fact, it empowers and emboldens them as well as gives them an advantage. My preference is to venture it during the day, where we will at least stand as equals on one term. Tactically speaking, venturing the prison during the day is much wiser than at night. The townsfolk may grumble a bit if they see us. But if there is no law preventing us from entering the prison, then grumble is all they will do. If we find some evidence to suggest nightly activity, then necessity may drive us to venture prison at night. For now, I think day is best." Xavian relaxes into a chair.
"Thank you for the information, Lady Lorrimor. Very helpful. If you could possibly collect the V names for us and be our eyes and ears about town while we are in the prison, that would be extraordinarily helpful." Xavian smiles at Kendra. "As to the continuation of our discussion of Professor Ferman, all that I know for certain is that he spelled his victim's name out completely before taking his prey. I believe he focused on the first name. There is the possibility of a male victim, we cannot rule that out, especially if it is The Cult. So every name with V and what is occurring with such persons should be monitored as closely as possible. Unless we find information to the contrary, we must conclude Vesorianna is dead and look for other victims." "I think it would be wiser to venture into Harrowstone during the day. That would allow us to avoid encountering undead with an aversion to sunlight or at the very least allow us to flee to sunlight should we need to. Tomorrow at sunrise would be an ideal time to visit Harrowstone. Give us all day to thoroughly search the place with adequate light, at least for searching the exterior."
"Understandable. Though odd to me that both you and Shanoa have taken greater interest in attacking my position of this as an adventure rather than focusing on the revealed information concerning The Splatter Man. Both of your objections to my terming this an adventure are noted, as is Cassandra's, if she should share them. No matter how abundantly your objections are voiced, I shall not take on your grim view of the matters at hand. So it is pointless to discuss it. I am neither brash nor foolhardy, which should be obvious. And you need not worry about my dedication to the task, I shall do my best no matter how we term it. So let us get back to the task. Shall we?" Xavian speaks with the same analytical surety as always with no apparent irritation in his voice or expression. He moves about observing the room attempting to note any minute changes that may have occurred since he last was here.
"I talk about adventure because that is exactly what this is. We are called upon to undertake an adventure to solve this mystery. We will not be able to solve it by discovery and trial. I apologize if I do not seem quite as perturbed as yourself. But I cannot help but smile at the thought The Professor has sent us on a bonafide adventure. I am quite sure The Professor knew the risks and dangers of such an undertaking, yet he still called upon us four to undertake it. Young and inexperienced as we are. I find it invigorating to be included in the type of adventure The Professor often involved himself in. I think he rather enjoyed himself, otherwise I believe he would have chosen a more stable and cautious profession. I am sorry if my viewpoint offends. I find this whole affair interesting and exhilirating." "We will be pitting ourselves against an evil cult, a killer, the walking dead, and venturing into a possibly haunted prison, and rather than feel frightened, I am beginning to see the appeal of such activities to The Professor. Books and study make for a good student, but nothing teaches or informs like experience and conflict. But I do hope you found the information I conveyed more useful than the final words you seemed to have keyed upon. That was the important part of my previous statements."
"That would be a good question to ask, Cassandra." Xavian waits until all are gathered. "It seems the letter is associated with a man named Professor Feramin, a scholar in the field of anthroponomastics. The study of human names and their meaning and associations. Professor Feramin became rather obsessed with names. In particular what occurs to a name when a living person dies. This obsession led him to ruin and increasingly sinister paths of scholarship. After losing tenure at the University he was employed at, he entered a new profession: murderer. The Professor would choose a victim, all women from what I understand, and place a letter of their name written in blood where they could easily see it. His obvious intent to use the power of the victim's own name to incite fear, paranoia, and hopelessness. He was quite aware of the emotions he would inspire by associating the victim's name with blood. Once he had spelled out the victim's name, he would arrange a gruesome death. Perhaps a springing blade trap to decapitate or a runaway coach to trample. Each instance a carefully planned event that in his mind allowed him to take the power of the victim's name and increase the power of his own much like a vampire. A name vampire. But he could not be obvious, so he chose the sobriquet The Splatter Man." "His name did for a time become synonymous with fear, growing in power as he had surmised. Yet eventually he was captured and the power of his name imprisoned in Harrowstone. The Sheriff is quite sure no prisoner ever escaped. Yet the coincidence of the bloody letter and the presence of The Whispering Way cannot be overlooked. They may have found a way to revive The Splatter Man or they may be using his modus operandi for a purpose we are not yet aware of. Either way, someone may be reviving the name of The Splatter Man. That means we should keep a careful eye on the monument and an ear about town so we are informed if another bloody letter should appear." "We should determine how many women in and about Harrowstone have names that start with V. Forgetful as I am at times, I did not ask the Sheriff the first names of the warden or his wife. That should be rectified. A foray into Harrowstone should be on our agenda as Alessa has suggested. It seems our stay in Harrowstone has presented us with an interesting adventure." Xavian smiles. "Let us do our best to solve it as the Professor would have encouraged."
"I fear, Shanoa, your bad feeling shall be confirmed when we return to Lady Lorrimor's to discuss the matter of the bloody letter." Xavian crosses his hands behind his back. He says quietly to Shanoa, "Did you happen to find any blood trails or evidence as to how the bloody letter came to be upon the monument?"
Xavian asks, "Sheriff, This is an intriguing monument. I have read a bit about the fall of Harrowstone Prison. Books do not provide the same experience as seeing for yourself. I was wondering. Did any infamous prisoners escape Harrowstone Prison?"
"As long as the Lady Lorrimor has need or want of our company, Sheriff." Xavian studies the letter and surroundings.
Xavian nods agreement. "I am relieved you are showing proper caution, Lady Lorrimor. We will return momentarily."
"Lady Lorrimor, you have alleviated my consternation. It seems the local citizens caused some alarm. Their gesticulations and whispering led us to believe there was some trouble your home." Xavian waits for the other ladies to enter the house.
Xavian runs to the Professor's house.
After our thorough search, Xavian will follow Alessa.
"Precisely", says Xavian.
"Well, if we are supposing The Whispering Way to have entered the tomb and spent enough time here to animate four skeletons, then we should analyze the articles found within the sarcophagus for dangerous elements such as poison or curses. Given the ease of finding and opening the sarcophagus, then we must also suppose the items are trapped. I would not think a cult such as The Whispering Way would leave weapons as potent as these for us to discover and utilize against them. I will further analyze them at the Professor's home before we put them to use. If we find the articles to be as their initial auras indicate, then we must conclude the skeletons were animated by a yet unforseen power." Xavian searches the sarcophagus for hidden compartments.
Xavian speaks as he studies the items, "Alessa, Do you see any footprints that lead you to believe the Cult entered the tomb? We should endeavor to gather as much data as possible to determine their numbers and what their activities were if they were in this tomb. Can you determine how long ago the skeletons were animated? That might be helpful information. How did they find this place if it was as well-hidden as it appeared to be." He holds up a haunt siphon. "These are interesting. Haunt Siphons. A device capable of trapping the spiritual residue that causes a haunt to form. Should be quite useful. Have any of you used a ouija board?"
Xavian conveys the information as he discerns it to the ladies. "Need a little more time with a few of these scrolls.". He studies the case with the symbol of The Order of the Palatine Eye.
As Xavian approaches the sarcophagus, he says, "Surprisingly, there was no necromantic aura lingering in the bones. If magic were used to animate them, there would be a lingering aura. I find the lack of a lingering aura very strange." After they slide the lid back, Xavian peers in, "Well, it seems the Professor is still helping us. Good Old Lorrimor, a fine fellow. Let us see if we can figure out what all this is." He continues to study the items with detect magic.
" You need not look with such concern, Alessa. It is not to become a 'Necromancer'. The Professor taught me that to fight an enemy, you must know them. He spent his entire life dedicated to seeking knowledge of 'evil' and the powers the servants of evil wield. Necromancy is one of 'evil's' most powerful tools. If I can learn how necromantic magic animates bones, I can possibly learn how to lay them to rest more effectively. Though it does appear a mace does the job. Apparently you have all had more experience with animate bones than myself, so you do not find these specimens quite as interesting as I do." Xavian stands up. "Well, back to our current business."
"Very interesting. No wonder the dead fear priests. An ability to call power directly from the Positive Energy Plane." Xavian stands up once Alessa has taken all the bones back to their proper resting places, "I hope my curiousity has not offended you, Alessa. I have never encountered animate bones prior to this day. I have not spent much time studying necromancy. This seemed a convenient time to start."
Xavian descends the stairs. He utters a few arcane words focusing on the bones. "Animate skeletons. I have heard tell of such a creature, but this is the first I have seen them with my own eyes. Rather dangerous creatures." He pokes the bones with his dagger while he studies them." "Cassandra, were you channeling positive energy? You can channel merely by concentrating? A blessing from your goddess I presume."
Spellcraft:
Xavian continues to dodge an incoming attack.
AC 15/CMD 15
Xavian blurts out, "A first hand glimpse of the walking dead. Extraordinary." He gathers himself, steps behind Cassandra, points his right hand at the skeleton attacking Cassandra, crisply incants a few arcane words unleashing a small glowing missile of force that flies through the air unerringly striking the skeleton.
"There is a touch of the arcane emanating from the sarcophagus. I do not think I can accurately determine its nature from this angle through the stone. That clacking is ominous. I surmise another of the giant centipedes awaits us." Xavian takes a defensive posture looking towards the clacking in the dark.
Xavian moves as quietly as possible behind the ladies observing his surroundings with his sight and detect magic.
Xavian takes the torch, "Thank you kindly, Shanoa. It seems at least one of us did come prepared.". He follows Shanoa.
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