Jason Bulmahn DMs Eberron


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Dark Archive Contributor

Last night we had another session of Jason Bulmahn's every-other-Wednesday Eberron game. In attendence were Amber Scott (Medesha on these boards), James Jacobs (James Jacobs on these boards), Tim Nightingale (uh...not on these boards?), and me (obviously).

Rather than go into all the gruesome details (actually, we roleplayed all night with nary an initiative check), I figured some at least mildly humorous quotes would be in order (they aren't necessarily exact quotes, since I didn't actually write any of these down, but they give you the gist of what was said). To place these at least a little in context, we finally arrived in Sharn on the lightning rail. None of us had ever been to Sharn (except Tim's character, who has amnesia and doesn't remember being there).

Amber (as Ursula, a shifter barbarian), as we approached Sharn on the lightning rail: "I think I'm going to be afraid of heights."

James (as Chuko, a kenku scout): "Wark!"

Mike (as Sim, a changeling brd/sor/rog of questionable morals), trying to get his sword identified: "And what about my sword?"
Jason (as the geezerly identifier): "Oh my! This sword is evil."
Mike, eyes gleaming: "So it's intelligent?"
Jason: "I don't know. I won't touch it. I recommend you take it to a temple and have it destroyed."
Mike, as Sim sheathes the sword: "Like hell."

James, as Chuko and the others are whisked around in an air chariot: "Wark wark wark wark wark wark!"

Amber, after we picked up some crazy stone square: "It looks Incan."
Jason: "Yes, very much so."
Mike: "Wait. They have Incans but no ninjas?"
Jason: "Yes."
Mike: "This world sucks."

James, at random intervals: "Wark!"

I invite James, Amber, Jason, and Tim to toss in any others they remember. Everyone else, feel free to comment. :)

Contributor

I remember the Morgrave University fellow telling us that the chick we wanted to see was an expert on Xen'drik.

Me/Ursula: "This woman is an expert on Xen'drik?"
Scholar: "Yes."
Me/Ursula: "'kay, cause we've got a big Xen'drik rock!"

And James stealing the skycar-summoning flag.

James: "Can I steal the flag as we climb onto the skycar?"
Jason: "Roll Sleight of Hand."
James: "Sleight of Hand...cannot be used untrained! Can I just grab it?"
Jason: "With everyone watching? Sure, you can grab the flag as you jump onto the skycar."
James: "Ok, I do that. It's red, right?"
Mike: "Is it on a nice pole or anything? Does it have a cutout of a skycar on the flag?"
James: "Is it shiny? It's shiny red, right?"
Jason: "It's just a red rag tied to a stick."
James: "Sweet." *writes it down on his character sheet*

Dark Archive

It's just like in any other D&D-campaign.
I always had the vision that, with players like these, there'd be more serious roleplaying...:)
Another illusion hopelessly destroyed...
On the other hand, it's cool to know, that mistakes like the one with the 'Sleight Of Hand'-check happens to the pro's too.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

I wouldn't call the Sleight of Hand thing a mistake... Chuko's a kleptomaniac and a pathological liar, but I'm pretty sure I'm never going to take any ranks in Sleight of Hand OR Bluff. Wouldn't fit his character! :-)

Dark Archive

This seems to be a kind of masochistic take on "roleplaying-opportunities"...:)


Absinth wrote:
I always had the vision that, with players like these, there'd be more serious roleplaying...:)

I always feel that folks who are deeply interested in the role-playing aspect and are not satisfied by the typical gaming experience should seriously consider getting involved in theatre. Or even improvisational theatre.

There are whole worlds to explore out there. : )

cheers!
- rob

Dark Archive

Well, i'm sometimes a little sad as a DM, when i try to create an athmosphere of tension and adventure and my players loose themselves in endless and seemingly funny conversations.
I hope this wasn't the case in Jason Bulmahn's game.
Don't get me wrong, I'm always for a good laugh at the gaming table, as long as the game itself doesn't suffer from it.

I hope you folks get what i mean, 'cause my english is not the best.

Absinth
Hamburg, Germany

Contributor

I understand what you mean, Absinth. As both a DM and a player I've dealt with a lot of bad, frustrating, and boring games. Fortunately Jason B's game is none of those things.

Just because we don't roleplay serious characters doesn't mean we don't take roleplaying seriously. I think Mike does a fantastic job portraying his "bard of questionable morals", and Jason B. was fabulous enough to roll with it and let Mike's roleplaying lead us in to some really fun sessions.

James's kenku is the least serious of all the characters but he roleplays him so well, complete with hand-motions, facial expressions, and voices. He even demonstrates how Chuko walks and drinks, which is hysterical but also great roleplaying.

I like to think I do a good job of roleplaying Ursula, which is a bit of a challenge. She has an Int and Cha of 7 but I didn't want her to be all "smite this" and "act rudely that." She's more like a little kid than a big dumb barbarian, and I even have a dictionary to keep track of the words she misinterprets. :-)

Tim I think we kind of overwhelm sometimes with our eagerness to roleplay, but he does a great job - sometimes I think he's like our "straight man", rolling his eyes and giving passers-by desperate looks as if to say, "I don't really know them." His character does, too.

So just because we cut loose and have a good time doesn't mean we're not taking the game seriously. We're EXTREME, just like Eberron. :-D

-Amber S.

Paizo Employee Director of Game Design

Absinth wrote:

Well, i'm sometimes a little sad as a DM, when i try to create an athmosphere of tension and adventure and my players loose themselves in endless and seemingly funny conversations.

I hope this wasn't the case in Jason Bulmahn's game.
Don't get me wrong, I'm always for a good laugh at the gaming table, as long as the game itself doesn't suffer from it.

I hope you folks get what i mean, 'cause my english is not the best.

Absinth
Hamburg, Germany

For me as DM there are different tones presented as a campaign progresses. While I may drift toward sillyness at times, there are other times when the situation is grim, the prospects poor, and the hope for better days seem distant. Right now in the campaign, the PCs just finished up a long murder mystery on the lightning rail heading toward sharn, and although that lended itself to a bit of levity, Sharn is a different environment, so the tone will change with it.

All a matter of style...

Dark Archive Contributor

Jason Bulmahn wrote:
... and although that lended itself to a bit of levity, Sharn is a different environment, so the tone will change with it.

I don't know, man...Sim is still alive. Levity is sure to ensue! :D

Jason Bulmahn wrote:
His character does, too.

Ha! Awesome! :D

What you need to remember Absinth is that we're just gamer geeks too. In fact, we're professional gamer geeks. How uber-geeky is that? :D

I'm pretty light-hearted all the time, even when I game, but as Jason said the tone of the situation determines how we roleplay. If something intense is going on, my jokes stop. ;) James, on the other hand... ;D


Mike McArtor wrote:
I don't know, man...Sim is still alive....

Only a matter of time, my friend. Only a matter of time. Dice never forget. :p

/gigz
Founder of the m.k.mcartor Fanclub

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Need I remind you, Mike, that when the combat started a few weeks ago, it ended with my character clenching an eyeball in his pointy beak? What I'm saying is that Chuko the Kenku isn't all fun and games... }:-)

Or is it, "It's all fun and games until someone loses an eye?" That's probably what I'm trying to say.

Wark!

Dark Archive Contributor

Oh yeah, and there was this exchange as well:

Jason: "You see Sharn off in the distance. It is miles tall. You see hundreds of lifts, elevators, blah blah..." (By this point I had stopped paying attention, preparing myself for my next line...)
Mike: "So you're saying we're in England?"
Jason, looking warily surprised (he knows me too well...): "Wha--what?"
Mike: "You said there were lifts. So we're in England."
Jason: "When I say 'lifts' I mean platforms without walls used for lifting goods, you monkey."
Mike: "So do they call their apartments 'flats'?"
James: "Do they call their french fries 'chips'?"
Jason: "What? No! Shut up!"
Tim: "And if we catch a taxi do they call it a lorry?"
Amber: "And then we'd put our luggage..."
Tim: "...in the boot?"
Jason, resigned: "Yes, that's right. Now shut up!"
Mike writes down "Sharn = London" in his notebook (yes...it's true).


Hey whats good for the goose is good for the Kenku.

Jason can pull out a villain modeled after Top Dollar from The Crow movie.

"Let me do an impression for ya."...pulls out his wand of fireballs, "Ka-caw, Ka-caw, boom your dead!"

Paizo Employee Director of Game Design

Mike McArtor wrote:

Oh yeah, and there was this exchange as well:

Jason: "You see Sharn off in the distance. It is miles tall. You see hundreds of lifts, elevators, blah blah..." (By this point I had stopped paying attention, preparing myself for my next line...)
Mike: "So you're saying we're in England?"
Jason, looking warily surprised (he knows me too well...): "Wha--what?"
Mike: "You said there were lifts. So we're in England."
Jason: "When I say 'lifts' I mean platforms without walls used for lifting goods, you monkey."
Mike: "So do they call their apartments 'flats'?"
James: "Do they call their french fries 'chips'?"
Jason: "What? No! Shut up!"
Tim: "And if we catch a taxi do they call it a lorry?"
Amber: "And then we'd put our luggage..."
Tim: "...in the boot?"
Jason, resigned: "Yes, that's right. Now shut up!"
Mike writes down "Sharn = London" in his notebook (yes...it's true).

Driving your DM insane... It's what D&D is all about!!!!!

Contributor

At least we didn't do terrible British accents all night. :-D

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Craig Clark wrote:
"Ka-caw, Ka-caw, boom your dead!"

Awesome!

Jason, can Chuko have a wand of fireballs?

Paizo Employee Director of Game Design

James Jacobs wrote:
Craig Clark wrote:
"Ka-caw, Ka-caw, boom your dead!"

Awesome!

Jason, can Chuko have a wand of fireballs?

Ohhh no... that's far too dangerous...

Dark Archive Contributor

James Jacobs wrote:
Jason, can Chuko have a wand of fireballs?

Dude, we'd have to call that a wand of TPK. ;)


I had to miss the game because I had to write a paper for my communication class. The sad thing is I have missed the last three sessions becuase of a tooth issue and a car issue.

All I know is never make Sim mad at you are he will do bad things to you.

Mike McArtor wrote:

Last night we had another session of Jason Bulmahn's every-other-Wednesday Eberron game. In attendence were Amber Scott (Medesha on these boards), James Jacobs (James Jacobs on these boards), Tim Nightingale (uh...not on these boards?), and me (obviously).

Rather than go into all the gruesome details (actually, we roleplayed all night with nary an initiative check), I figured some at least mildly humorous quotes would be in order (they aren't necessarily exact quotes, since I didn't actually write any of these down, but they give you the gist of what was said). To place these at least a little in context, we finally arrived in Sharn on the lightning rail. None of us had ever been to Sharn (except Tim's character, who has amnesia and doesn't remember being there).

Amber (as Ursula, a shifter barbarian), as we approached Sharn on the lightning rail: "I think I'm going to be afraid of heights."

James (as Chuko, a kenku scout): "Wark!"

Mike (as Sim, a changeling brd/sor/rog of questionable morals),...


He he he, Oh... It gives me such pleasure to see that the guys (and girls) who make this delightful magazine are just as crazy (and uber-geeky) as the rest of us. It gives me hope for the future.

Contributor

I have to say one of my favourite moments in the game so far was session-before-last, on the lightning rail. The group was suspicious of a creepy elf named Vo and wanted to search his room. Ursula was elected to "distract" the elf by engaging him in conversation in the dining car.

The PCs didn't find anything suspicious in the elf's quarters - in fact, he turned out to be totally innocent. But by the time they'd finished the searching and come back to collect me, Ursula had converted to worship of the Undying Court. :-D

Moral of the story: don't leave the barbarian alone with priests.

-Amber S.

Dark Archive

James Jacobs wrote:

...it ended with my character clenching an eyeball in his pointy beak?

Why does this remind me of a certain article by a certain author about a certain demon-prince?

:)


Absinth wrote:


I hope you folks get what i mean, 'cause my english is not the best.

Au contraire! Your English is excellent.

Dark Archive

Thanks for these kind words, Robert.
In real life i don't have many opportunities to practice speaking english so i was happy in multiple ways to discover these boards.

Absinth
Hamburg, Germany


Mike McArtor wrote:
James (as Chuko, a kenku scout): "Wark!",...

So, he's a Chocobo?

Dark Archive Contributor

Justin Fritts wrote:
So, he's a Chocobo?

He plays one on TV.

;D

Contributor

I can't wait for the game this week! I get all anxious when faced with cliffhangers.

*bites nails*

Also I made a mini for Ursula and brought her last week, but she came out looking more cat-woman than bear-woman. I have a new mini now that I'm going to try and put together. When I figure out how to get pics of them online I'll post them. :-)

-Amber S.

Paizo Employee Director of Game Design

Medesha wrote:

I can't wait for the game this week! I get all anxious when faced with cliffhangers.

*bites nails*

Also I made a mini for Ursula and brought her last week, but she came out looking more cat-woman than bear-woman. I have a new mini now that I'm going to try and put together. When I figure out how to get pics of them online I'll post them. :-)

-Amber S.

Ohh.. I am sure it nothing to be worried about :-)

Jason
- DM


Medesha wrote:

I can't wait for the game this week! I get all anxious when faced with cliffhangers.

*bites nails*

Also I made a mini for Ursula and brought her last week, but she came out looking more cat-woman than bear-woman. I have a new mini now that I'm going to try and put together. When I figure out how to get pics of them online I'll post them. :-)

-Amber S.

I am looking forward to play as well and yes Jason I will be there.

Dark Archive Contributor

Last night found us continuing to bother Jason. The venue, once again, was Sharn.

Mike, after using a suggestion from Amber and getting razzed for metagaming: "Sim is much more intelligent than I am, and Amber is much more intelligent than I am, so... you know..."

Amber, offering me... uh... sympathy?: "You already died first. You're going to die second, too."

Amber to James, after a bad guy jumped off a bridge to escape us: "If Ursula throws you can you fly?"

James to Amber, after a food malfunction: "That ain't no breathin' cookie, you know."

Tim (as Visaka) after we read a threat from some unnamed foe: "Oooo... Emerald Claw... scary..."

Stephen (as Adso) to James (as Chuko) after Chuko swiped yet another taxi flag: "Black bird, red flag, bad luck."

Jason (as Lalta, our annoying gnome guide): "The ghost is terrible! It comes every night and kills one of the guests."
Amber (as Ursula): "Do we get to choose who?"

Jason (as the barkeep in Manticore's Cup): "Well I never go there. I'm married."
James (as Chuko): "What's that got to do with anything?"
...a few seconds pass...
James (as Chuko): "Oh."
Tim, as an aside: "For some good seed call..."

Tim (as Visoka), after a guard assumed the rest of the party was Visoka's servants: "Yes, I'm high maintenence."

Amber (as Ursula) to Mike (Sim), after Chuko mentioned liking the color red (as in blood): "Don't buy me anything red."

Amber (as Ursula) to Mike (as Sim) after Sim hands Ursula a crystal and tells her it compliments her eyes: "I can't hear it."
Mike, perplexed: "Huh?"
Amber: "I can't hear it compliment me."

Jason (as a sky cap driver), regarding the Manticore's Cup: "I heard that it was haunted."
James (as Chuko): "Haunted... by quality!"

Contributor

I know how to eat cookies!

Mike wrote:
Last night found us continuing to bother Jason. The venue, once again, was Sharn.

You mean London. ;-)

Other highlights I recall:

Jason (as the Watch Commander): "We've finished our investigation and concluded it was indeed suicide. We found a torn cloak."
Stephen (as Adso): "Nothing says suicide as conclusively as a torn cloak."

Me (as Ursula): "Shift! Rage! CHARGE!"

Mike: "You're just jealous cause you don't have a magic sword!"
Stephen: "Actually I'm jealous cause I don't have bard levels."
Mike: "Well yeah, there is that."

Paizo Employee Creative Director

And, of course, the most harrowing development of the night: the kenku purchased a pole arm. MWA HA HA HA WARK HA!

Contributor

Yaaay, Mike was a total angel and took pics of my new mini for me! Ok, here's how she looked to start:

http://paizo.com/image/product/catalog/RPR/RPR02708_180.jpeg

And here she is in all her new painted glory! Behold Ursula Bear, shifter barbarian of doom!

http://www.verylargehats.com/ursula1.jpg
http://www.verylargehats.com/ursula2.jpg

Dark Archive Contributor

Medesha wrote:
Yaaay, Mike was a total angel and took pics of my new mini for me!

Yay, I'm an angel. :)

Here are more pics of last night's game, since Amber totally beat me to putting some up and shamed me into it. ;)

Jason points out something. Or maybe he's moving the hobgoblins. Who remembers?

Ursula pauses during the fight to strike a pose. Anvil's got her back.

Stephen blurrily stretches. Adso blurrily gets ready to kick some. Hobgoblins fear Chuko in perfect focus.

A blurry look at the bridge fight circa round 3, after we had already broken their resolve.

Ursula strikes a victory pose. Chuko looks on.

Chuko and Ursula pose.

Chuko, Ursula, and Adso wonder why they bothered to pay a photographer when all he provides are these blurry pictures.

Sovereign Court Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder

Wow. Here you were discussing the game and not telling me I could too? (We'll fix THAT!)

Actually, yes, I AM trying to play the straight man. A rogue is a huge departure from what I usually play...a loud, brash swashbuckler. To me, rogues are trying to play it down, & keep themselves from standing out. Playing a character that doesn't remember who he is/was, or what sort of enemies he had, being noticed isn't high on the list. It's hard sometimes NOT to regress into the swashbuckling braggart, but I am having fun trying to play something less...well, less.

Medesha wrote:
Tim I think we kind of overwhelm sometimes with our eagerness to roleplay, but he does a great job - sometimes I think he's like our "straight man", rolling his eyes and giving passers-by desperate looks as if to say, "I don't really know them." His character does, too.

Contributor

Oh sure, show off how you're able to make your URLs into spiffy links. :-p

I remembered another exchange from last night.

Tim (as Visaka): *gets shot in the neck with a crossbow bolt* "Ow!"
James (as Chuko): *points* "I see him! There's the murderer!"
Visaka: "Hey, I'm not dead."
Chuko: "MURDERER!"

Sovereign Court Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder

I was amused by the whole Manticore Cup fiasco, particularly with Chuko. For those not in our EXTREME Eberron game, the Manticore Cup is like the present-day fishbowl drink in bars, but with EXTREME booze. The challenge is to drink the whole thing in less than 2 min. and stay conscious. Ursula the Shifter, actually shifts to help down it (heh, heh, I'm still chuckling at that one). And FAILS.

Chuko....well, the last time Chuko touched alcohol, he didn't do so well. Visoka attempts to reason with Chuko:

"Drink it? You couldn't even lick the rim without passing out!"

Chuko drinks. Chuko OUT. However, for the next 5 minutes, James makes groaning drunk miserable bird sounds. Classic.

OH, but how I wish Chuko would have been awake to mimic the twins voices in his room...Sim would have freaked!

Dark Archive Contributor

Medesha wrote:
Oh sure, show off how you're able to make your URLs into spiffy links. :-p

I had to ask our web guy how to do it. You do this: (URL="xxx") text (/URL)

Except you replace ( and ) with the square brackets (to the right of the P).

Dark Archive Contributor

Last night we finally played again. Pictures whenever I get a chance to upload them to my site.

Quotes NOW!

Mike (as Sim) after Sim successfully bull-rushed a burning skeleton off the ledge: "I'm the one who takes down the first one. Now who's smack talkin'?"
James (as Chuko): "Me. You're on fire."

James, after Chuko stole a sixth red flag: "Swipe."

Jason: "Dwarves do not sleep-mine!"

James (as Chuko) to Mike (as Sim) after Chuko mistook Sim's comments as referring to kenku prostitution: "Are you some kind of feather merchant?"

Stephen (as Stephen): "Brains make good deoderant."

The session ended with Chuko, Adso, and Ursula stepping into a terrible pit fight against an unknown foe. The foe turned out to be an otyugh! :\

Paizo Employee Director of Game Design

Mike McArtor wrote:
The session ended with Chuko, Adso, and Ursula stepping into a terrible pit fight against an unknown foe. The foe turned out to be an otyugh! :\

Otyugh: "I am gonna EAT YOU!"


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Jason Bulmahn wrote:
Mike McArtor wrote:
The session ended with Chuko, Adso, and Ursula stepping into a terrible pit fight against an unknown foe. The foe turned out to be an otyugh! :\
Otyugh: "I am gonna EAT YOU!"

I wish I was there last night but I wasn't. I was helping my son with his spelling words and working on my home work for my class. It seems I miss all the fun. I would have enjoyed beating down a few skeltons, but it seems like Anvil has to fight a Otyugh next time.

Contributor

No, the pit master ("Hoss") would only allow 3 of us in the pit. So Ursula, Adso, and Chuko are taking it on. :-D

I dropped to -9 last night! Scary!

I also remember this:

Willip (NPC): "He's a changeling."
Ursula: "What's a changeling?"
Sim: "Someone who changes shape, like me."
Ursula: "Wait, there are more of you?"


Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Medesha wrote:

No, the pit master ("Hoss") would only allow 3 of us in the pit. So Ursula, Adso, and Chuko are taking it on. :-D

Darn, Anvil would have loved to have fought it. Now he has to stay on the sidelines and watch. He will avenge you all if you don't beat it which I know you will.

I dropped to -9 last night! Scary!

That is scary, would hate to lose Ursula.

I also remember this:

Willip (NPC): "He's a changeling."
Ursula: "What's a changeling?"
Sim: "Someone who changes shape, like me."
Ursula: "Wait, there are more of you?"

Dark Archive Contributor

Medesha wrote:
No, the pit master ("Hoss") would only allow 3 of us in the pit. So Ursula, Adso, and Chuko are taking it on. :-D

Yeah, Sim tried to get in as well, but Chuko told him he's too frail. ;D

Medesha wrote:

Willip (NPC): "He's a changeling."

Ursula: "What's a changeling?"
Sim: "Someone who changes shape, like me."
Ursula: "Wait, there are more of you?"

I had forgotten that exchange! I'm glad you remembered. :) Ursula and Sim's little side conversations are always pretty funny. At least, to me. ;D

Sovereign Court Wayfinder, PaizoCon Founder

Mike McArtor wrote:
Medesha wrote:
No, the pit master ("Hoss") would only allow 3 of us in the pit. So Ursula, Adso, and Chuko are taking it on. :-D
Yeah, Sim tried to get in as well, but Chuko told him he's too frail. ;D

Visoka wanted NOTHING to do with a pit fight. He'd last one round, what with his amazing 13 HP. Whoo HOO! Now, pickpocketing the crowd....

Contributor

Mike McArtor wrote:
Yeah, Sim tried to get in as well, but Chuko told him he's too frail. ;D

And after Sim totally saved our butts from the burning skeletons, too.

Dark Archive Contributor

Medesha wrote:
And after Sim totally saved our butts from the burning skeletons, too.

YEAH! Of course, since there's no OSHA-violating high platform without guardrails nearby, I think Chuko might actually have a point. ;)

Contributor

Indeed. :D

And I believe you said something a while back about pictures..? O:-)

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Mike McArtor wrote:
YEAH! Of course, since there's no OSHA-violating high platform without guardrails nearby, I think Chuko might actually have a point. ;)

You're right! Chuko does have a point! It's on his face... you'd probably call it a beak, but he calls it the Plucker.

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