Welcome!
Basics
Please feel free to build characters fresh or tweak, but in any case, could you post them on this thread for easy reference.
There's quite a lot of you, so I'll try and make sure there's scope for you all to try stuff out, which is after all the point of this adventure. It's new to me as well, so there will be an element of muddling through.
I'm happy (and eager) to discuss rules, issues and interpretation, but for all our sanity, can we keep those mainly on this thread or spoilered in the game thread when it goes up.
Players
Jonventus
Amelia
Tieren
Twiceborn
Rambling Scribe
Pat o' the Ninth Power
FabesMinis
Thrugnipp
Keoki
Constraints
PHB basics only, unless you can convince me otherwise. I've got core books and not much else.
All races except Warforged which really don't fit.
No evil pcs.
Basic PHB build (22 point).
I tend to award XP for role play as much as encounters.
Setting
Generic 4E world
Background
You've been hired by a slightly loopy druid to go and make copies of some rune stones on a remote island. You'll start on a boat (because it's a good way to force you together). It's probably helpful if some of you at least know each other. A decent hook for you might well be that the druid has over-hired. A party of eight to go and look at rune stones seems a tad excessive - why has he done that? Some of you might plausibly know each other, others not. If anyone wants help with background build, I'm happy to provide once character outlines are up.
I'll get more stuff up tonight, but this should get you started. Thanks to all of you for letting me test drive my GMing skills :D
Looks awesome! was wondering two things, one would be whether or not I could try the playtest artificer class from the dnd insider page
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/drfe/20080702
If not that's totally fine, just been interested in getting the class into one of my games. Also with the races, are you allowing the ones from the back of the MM?
Races from back of MM is fine by me.
Artificer I'm going to say no to, mainly because I'm new to the class myself and don't really know enough about how it works to give you enough in game to play with. Sorry.
I'm heading off to work now, but will be back in about 8 hours and catch up on what's happening then.
Races from back of MM is fine by me.
Artificer I'm going to say no to, mainly because I'm new to the class myself and don't really know enough about how it works to give you enough in game to play with. Sorry.
I'm heading off to work now, but will be back in about 8 hours and catch up on what's happening then.
No worries, I totally understand!
Pat here. I'm planning to just bring Vel over from the Evil's game, because I'm a pessimist. Her background will need to be new, though.
She's a controller wizard, pretty straight up. Rosey, do you mind an illusion spell from the Dragon article? Illusory Ambush, notes in the profile.
I don't have much on her personality, but I imagine she's a bit stiff and officious. Perhaps she's taken the job solely because she's almost out of money, and would rather be doing almost anything else. Perhaps another PC of her acquaintance urged her to come along.
Connections?
Thanks for letting me play.
I'm tempted by an eladrin-type character. Wizard if there aren't too many of them already otherwise something else (warlord?).
Norse feel you said - how cool!
I think that means I'm going to totally redo Ky, turn her into a fighter, or maybe a battle cleric, I'm thinking with a kind of Valkyrie feel. Probably rename her too :) I'll get the new version up later today, need to brainstorm a bit.
More mechanics
Rolls via Invisible Castle please. I know it has a nasty tendency to go bum up when you least want it to, but in general it rolls better for me than my real life dice.
I cannot count. This party has nine members, not eight. Doh. I don't have a problem with that, except that it may slow play down to an unacceptable level particularly in combat. I can see a couple of options.
(a) You all post a set of 10 initiative rolls in your PC profiles. I'll use these randomly as necessary. Please also post a set of attack/power rolls with either/or options if you need to (Warlords and casters may have to do this). I'll use my discretion, but if I have to I will ruthlessly DMPC anyone who doesn't post within 24 hours of a combat starting.
(b) I split you into two parties. That doesn't resolve the slowing down issues particularly, but it might feel more manageable. I'd still like the init/attack/power/either/or rolls anyway.
I will not force any PC to act in a way contrary to the player's inclinations and role play, but I'm also anxious that we don't fall into the black hole of waiting for someone to post in order to move things along.
If anyone has ideas and suggestions for keeping things moving, please - share!
Looking forward to seeing what you all come up with. I'll add stuff as I think of it.
Pat here. I'm planning to just bring Vel over from the Evil's game, because I'm a pessimist. Her background will need to be new, though.
She's a controller wizard, pretty straight up. Rosey, do you mind an illusion spell from the Dragon article? Illusory Ambush, notes in the profile.
I don't have much on her personality, but I imagine she's a bit stiff and officious. Perhaps she's taken the job solely because she's almost out of money, and would rather be doing almost anything else. Perhaps another PC of her acquaintance urged her to come along.
Connections?
Pat, I'm fine with Illusory Ambush. Be interesting to see how that one plays out.
Let me see who comes up with what before I start thinking too hard about connections. Vel could certainly be in it for the money, or if one of the others has a huge interest in the runes, maybe they've talked her into coming along. There will be a way, never fear!
I don't have much on her personality, but I imagine she's a bit stiff and officious. Perhaps she's taken the job solely because she's almost out of money, and would rather be doing almost anything else. Perhaps another PC of her acquaintance urged her to come along.
Connections?
Pat, I'm fine with Illusory Ambush. Be interesting to see how that one plays out.
Let me see who comes up with what before I start thinking too hard about connections. Vel could certainly be in it for the money, or if one of the others has a huge interest in the runes, maybe they've talked her into coming along. There will be a way, never fear!
Good deal. The "connections" question was actually to the other players!
Oops. Sorry Pat!
I think I am going to settle on an eladrin warlord (warlady?). Kia Rubarka is very focused and goal oriented (how I hate that phrase!). She also doesn't suffer fools (or people not as oriented to her goals) gladly. But she does approve of Doing Good and generally manages to get on with others despite her goaliness.
I'll create her details shortly.
She'll probably join the party because she was asked and she has a love of arcane and historical stuff. Probably wasn't expecting so many people though.
Kia is the warlord. From her profile:
...she is now on an extended tour of the world avidly seeking anything that will add to her store of historical arcana. She ran into Loopy D. as he was soliciting help with the runes thing and told him that she would be going along too.
She may well have already got to know Vel because of her knowledge of arcana which would have caught her attention.... (possibly?)
Hey Rosey,
Thanks for getting things rolling -- the initial premise sounds fun!
My vote is to split the party in two. If that's too much work(and I understand that it could very well be), then I might just bow out of this game.
How does everyone else feel about a party of nine vs. two smaller parties?
Hey Rosey,
Thanks for getting things rolling -- the initial premise sounds fun!
My vote is to split the party in two. If that's too much work(and I understand that it could very well be), then I might just bow out of this game.
How does everyone else feel about a party of nine vs. two smaller parties?
I'm ok either way. Nine is quite large, but as long as Rosey is firm about the 24-hour mark (and I have no doubt) it should be workable.
Rosey, I have a question. You said in your character generation rules that all races were allowed except warforged, and that MM races could be used. Does that include the humanoid monsters? If so, I'd like to play a gnoll, a worshiper of the Raven Queen.
If not, I'll use a traditional race.
As for the group size, I'm happy with whatever is easiest for our DM.
Twiceborn/Pat - after sleeping on it, I'm going to split you up I think. It will be easier in the long run. Less scaling for one thing. I'll still hold to the ruthless DMPCing as necessary though.
Amelia - sure, go with the gnoll if you like. My problem with Warforged (as with Artificer) is that I just don't know those classes/races well enough yet and I'll have enough on my plate.
Rambling Scribe - I totally understand, not a problem. If the party splits (which after sleeping on it, I'm going to do), do you want back in?
Radavel - hi yourself, good to see you :D
So, the new deal is this. There will be two parties (unless more decide to drop in which case back to plan A). Same adventure, but I know from experience that they will play out very differently, so no worries there.
I'll aim to split you up so you have a reasonable balance - which with 4-5 per group is going to matter more.
Can you let me know if you're all good with that?
So far we have confirmed
Pat - Vel the snooty wizard
Thrugnipp - Kia the equally arctic Eladrin Warlord
Amelia - toying with a gnoll (fighter/cleric?)
Jonventus - Anarak the dragonborn fighter
Twiceborn - is coming up with something brain bending
Tieren - as above
Unconfirmed, but welcome if they're still interested
Keoki
FabesMinis
Could the above please post soon so we all know where we are with this one?
I'd still want the init rolls and so on discussed above.
I shall absent myself and see if Verdant Shadow gets going.
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Hi Rosey,
The last thing I need is another pbp, but I am quite keen to give the 4e rules a try, particularly for a one-shot. So, if there's room left after dropouts, please keep me in consideration. If you've got enough for one group and adding me would cause the split, don't worry about it. But if you need someone to fill in a space, count me in! I'll be keeping an eye on the thread in any case.
Thanks.
Fabes No problem. Thanks for clarifying. We probably torment each other enough over the rl gaming table :D
SargonX Thanks for the interest - and will certainly keep you on an alternates list.
Torment? Speaking of which... see you in 30 mins.
Split or no split? I will bow to your wishes in this case (as I usually do). Although two smaller parties would be easier to manage - I suspect you would be doing a lot of DMPCing with a party of 9.
I will play with however many players you think you can handle, but my opinion is that 9 is too much. I already thought 7 was pushing it. So my vote is to split the party. Groups of 5 or so would be best imo.
Anarak's background for the other game was to be an off-and-on caravan guard for a dwarven merchant company. Would something like that be possible in your game? That might be difficult if we aren't starting in the city, although maybe the druid visited a town for recruitment purposes. Speaking of which, what does a 4E druid look like :)
If that background works, Anarak has a lot of respect for the dwarven race and their dedication to various crafts. If someone makes a dwarf, we could be former travelling companions if you want. Perhaps your character introduced me to the company. I'll work more on forging connections once the groups are established.
Hey Rev,
Thanks for agreeing to split the party.
For the sake of simplicity, I think I'll keep the shifter ranger (Baldrech the Unkind) I had originally created for Evil Genius's game. I'll just change his background... does this qualify as something "mindbending"? If it does, I would gladly make a race from the PHB, likely an elf or half-elf given the background you've provided (I only made a shifter because all of the other PHB races had already been spoken for in EG's game).
I will play with however many players you think you can handle, but my opinion is that 9 is too much. I already thought 7 was pushing it. So my vote is to split the party. Groups of 5 or so would be best imo.
Anarak's background for the other game was to be an off-and-on caravan guard for a dwarven merchant company. Would something like that be possible in your game? That might be difficult if we aren't starting in the city, although maybe the druid visited a town for recruitment purposes. Speaking of which, what does a 4E druid look like :)
If that background works, Anarak has a lot of respect for the dwarven race and their dedication to various crafts. If someone makes a dwarf, we could be former travelling companions if you want. Perhaps your character introduced me to the company. I'll work more on forging connections once the groups are established.
I'm going to give it to tomorrow morning my time (which would be about 14 hours or so from now since I'm an early riser) and see how many we've got. At present it's a possible 7 max, dependant on whether Keoki wants in. If Keoki isn't interested, I will run with 6 and keep SargonX as an alternate if needed.
For game purposes I am assuming that a 4E druid is simply a job description rather than a class, since your employer is the only one mentioned and he is not an NPC, merely a purveyor of information. I did think of changing it but just think of him as an arcanist with an interest in the old gods and nature.
Anarak could well have been hired to find at least some of the party members. There are good game reasons which I'll spoiler up for you if you want to pursue that line.
So, tomorrow morning my time is deadline for participants and then we just need to get sorted on mechanics and fluff. I will be good to go once all the PCs are posted, checked and folks are happy.
EDIT (Twiceborn posted at the same time as I was writing the essay above).
Shifter ranger works fine. I have no problem with that at all. Split may not be necessary as my unique GMing charm seems to have caused enough to fall by the wayside to make it unnecessary :D.
Hey everyone. My gnoll tank - er fighter - is done.
Stats are all done up in the profile along with a very simple background.
Kia is the warlord. From her profile:
...she is now on an extended tour of the world avidly seeking anything that will add to her store of historical arcana. She ran into Loopy D. as he was soliciting help with the runes thing and told him that she would be going along too.
She may well have already got to know Vel because of her knowledge of arcana which would have caught her attention.... (possibly?)
Sure. Kia is actually interested in Loopy D's quest, but knows Vel would be useful to have along for her arcana theory and practice. Vel isn't likely to be excited about the trip, but Kia also knows that Vel is down to her last few coins.
That's enough to get Vel on the boat, anyway.
Rolls and either/ors posted.
I'm going with a ranger, and I'm deciding the race and such now. It should be up very soon, had sort of a longer work day than anticipated.
I'm going with a ranger, and I'm deciding the race and such now. It should be up very soon, had sort of a longer work day than anticipated.
If Tieren is making a ranger, then I might have to modify my character so that he becomes a rogue instead, if only to cover all the bases in the party (and so that we can test a maximum of classes). Tieren, you wouldn't consider making a rogue, would you (since my ranger was rolled up a while ago)? If it's too much of a hassle, no worries... I'll make the rogue...
I'm going with a ranger, and I'm deciding the race and such now. It should be up very soon, had sort of a longer work day than anticipated.If Tieren is making a ranger, then I might have to modify my character so that he becomes a rogue instead, if only to cover all the bases in the party (and so that we can test a maximum of classes). Tieren, you wouldn't consider making a rogue, would you (since my ranger was rolled up a while ago)? If it's too much of a hassle, no worries... I'll make the rogue...
Oh, sorry I didn't even see that you had a ranger. I'll cook up something new then. no worries.
If that background works, Anarak has a lot of respect for the dwarven race and their dedication to various crafts. If someone makes a dwarf, we could be former travelling companions if you want. Perhaps your character introduced me to the company. I'll work more on forging connections once the groups are established.
I will make a dwarf to fill this connection, It seems like a good one to me. I'm off to work on the class setup
Rambling Scribe - party number is back to seven if you are in. Is this a problem for you? It works for me, but I think Jonventus is right and any more means the party must (and will) split. Invisible Castle is pretty easy. Once you've made your rolls, click pretty well anywhere on the results page and it will automatically cut your rolls to your clip board and you just paste in into your post here. If you'd rather not, I will happily add you to the alternate list along with SargonX if that's acceptable.
Amelia- The furball tank looks good. I'll be doing a final check on stats and such to make sure nobody has done themselves out of anything vital. Just so you know, the loopy druid won't be going himself. This would be your first outing away from the order, which might add to your challenges. I do think it's likely that he'd ask another party member to keep an eye on you as a mentor, so you could maybe work that idea in somehow.
Twiceborn/Tieren - thanks for spotting the two rangers and sorting it out.
We have:
Vel - human wizard (Pat)
Whiteclaw - gnoll fighter (Amelia)
Anarak - dragonborn fighter (Jonventus)
Baldrech the Unkind - shifter ranger (Twiceborn)
Kia Rubarka - eladrin warlord (Thrugnipp)
???? - ???? dwarf (Tieren)
Rambling Scribe's pc if still required.
That looks a decently balanced party from the point of view of mixing it up with ranged and melee attacks. I do agree that a rogue would be useful though. I think you can probably do without a straight cleric more easily in 4E, but we'll see. Part of the point of this is finding that stuff out.
Thank you all very much for your patience. I'm on a steep learning curve here.
Anarak could well have been hired to find at least some of the party members. There are good game reasons which I'll spoiler up for you if you want to pursue that line.
I don't understand this motivation. Do you literally mean someone hired me to find PCs? If we are starting together on a boat, wouldn't I have already succeeded?
btw stats in profile
still need to do rolls - how many attack, power, damage rolls do you want? Would it be easier if I just agree that it's fine for you to roll for me if I miss an update?
Rosey, is it a problem that Amelia and I are both fighters? I suppose I could remodel mine, but I'm a little slow with character creation and don't want to hold up the start of the game. Let me know if you would prefer I change.
Tieren, it's great that you're making a dwarf. Feel free to add to our connection. I'm flexible on Anarak's background, so we can create a bit of history if you like. Or we could just do that in the game thread...
It's not a problem at all. In fact it might be helpful. I was thinking your employer (if that's a hook you can use) would have asked you to keep an eye on Amelia's gnoll on her first trip to the outside world.
Since Dragonborn are notoriously honourable and loyal, your employer would be happy to take some recommendations from you on party members. With Anarak's respect for dwarfs, that brings in Tieren's character very neatly.
I'm just throwing ideas out here, please ignore them if they don't fit with how you see Anarak behaving.
As far as the rolls go, I'm happy to make them for you if you prefer it. I would be grateful if you'd post up a set of preferred actions though, so I don't end up making Anarak do something he'd never contemplate.
Alright, so here is my dwarf. I'm still working on the fluff but I figure he is a very young dwarf, setting out into the world to kind of make his name away from the traveling merchant company he normally works with. As far as my deity goes, I went with avandra to match up with the traveling company idea but if there is another deity you think might be better. I'm all open for suggestions as well as backstory ideas.
I'm more than fine with the little tweak to Whiteclaw's admittedly vague background. And, personally, I like the idea of two fighters, as it gives us better options to keep the baddies under control and off the others
Gobi looks great.
Love the idea of the young dwarf seeking adventure.
The whole group seems young - even allowing for Anarak being Dragonborn and maturing slightly earlier than other races.
This works well. The errand you're being sent on is not superficially hard and it makes sense to rope in some youngsters eager for experience, a bit of treasure and adventuring credibility.
More later. Piecing things together.
Amelia, I'd like to make some kind of background connection to your gnoll. My less than friendly, somewhat hairy (lycanthrope blood) and quasi-hermit of a shifter might have some common ground with a gnoll.
Rosey, I also think that Baldrech, being a woodsman, might already know the loopy druid, so he might have been hired directly by him. Would that work for you?
Note to all: the background I currently have for Baldrech in my profile is still the previous version (from EG's game).
Amelia, I'd like to make some kind of background connection to your gnoll. My less than friendly, somewhat hairy (lycanthrope blood) and quasi-hermit of a shifter might have some common ground with a gnoll.
Rosey, I also think that Baldrech, being a woodsman, might already know the loopy druid, so he might have been hired directly by him. Would that work for you?
Note to all: the background I currently have for Baldrech in my profile is still the previous version (from EG's game).
Works for me - I can see a shifter easily connecting with a druid group, so Baldrech could have met Whiteclaw and probably relates to her better than then typical duidical follower.
Twiceborn - Works very well. I think Hroaldr (the loopy druid) could well know you and could easily have hired you. Try this for size:
Baldrech
Loopy D (Hroaldr to his friends) has indeed hired you to go on this island jaunt for him. What you didn't know, until you turned up at your final meeting with him, is that he'd hired some others as well. You thought it was just you. So now you're lumbered with a wizard, a eladrin warlord, a beefy young dragonborn, a noble dwarf and a confused gnoll. Suddenly Hroaldr's simple little job doesn't look that simple any more. You thought as well that you might be charge of Whiteclaw on her first trip into the wider world. Looks like Anarak got that job instead.
Amelia - absolutely fine - did you have anything like the below in mind?
Whiteclaw/Baldrech
If you like, part of your connection with Hroaldr can be that Baldrech has taken a kindness to Whiteclaw. Taken her hunting a few times, shown her (although he's probably not going to mention this) how to brew lethal booze in a woods still - that kind of thing. Outsiders bonding. Use if you like.
Whiteclaw
You have known for a while that you'd have a sort of trial outing away from the woodsy boys. In your secret heart, you really hoped Baldrech would be your mentor. Some of your joy at heading out to the wilds on what was basically going to be a camping trip is blighted by the addition of a bunch of others, lots of them with very noble ideals. You don't have to hate the noble ideals, but it's all suddenly seeming a lot less fun.
I'm notoriously prone to using British slang and colloquialisms. If I write anything that makes no sense to you - tell me - I'll translate.
More spoilers
Serving suggestions really - use these if they're useful. Just stuff that occurred to me as possible linking background now I've seen the character sheets. Also some background you all know about.
Anarak
You are honoured to have guardianship of young Whiteclaw the gnoll. You feel she can learn much from you and hope to build a good relationship with her. Hroaldr (the loopy druid) is anxious for a full report on how she interacts with the others and has asked you discreetly to provide one.
Gobi
You are very young and have not been out in the world very long. It might be of some importance to you that dwarfs be seen in a good light. You are interested in the rune-stones you're being asked to copy because they may possibly have some connection to a bit of very ancient dwarf history. If you want to take this hook, I'll grant you a History bonus on certain rolls.
Kia Rubarka
Your passion for doing good is combined with a historian's nose for ancient trouble. You are in Riggarth because your researches suggest the woodsy boys may know things about the ancient gods. You dragged Vel along because there could be magic involved.
Vel
You're along for the ride with Kia because although you don't have any interest in Hroaldr's quest, you are very broke and Kia's mentioned that there may be magical information or items involved. You didn't expect to be part of a group also containing a shifter and a gnoll.
Riggarth
Your base at the moment is Riggarth. It's just a small northerly coastal town. It's never been very important, but there's been a slightly mysterious druidic cult associated with it for many years. You can sail to most places from here and it offers pretty standard facilities. The druids (known locally as the Woodsy Boys) have a decent archive, and travellers do often stop by asking them for information.
The Island of Pharoe
This is where you're going. It has a slightly strange reputation. Nobody goes there much. Nothing grows there worth growing and it's not strategically important in any way. Nonetheless (and maybe because it's isolated and uninhabited) a few odd stories are told about it.
Hroaldr
Your employer (the loopy druid). He's a well-known figure in Riggarth. He's a jovial sort of chap, a good historian and a good drinker and companion somewhere in his 50s. People are wishing him luck with his "raise a gnoll" experiment, but aren't too optimistic it's going to work out well. He is the most accessible of the Woodsy Boys and anything they need doing by others is usually arranged by him.
Looks great to me! I'll take that hook definitely, can't wait to get rolling :)
Looks great to me! I'll take that hook definitely, can't wait to get rolling :)
Glad you can use it.
Gobi
That'll be a +5 bonus you'll be getting then. The catch is that it only applies to dwarf legendary history.
Yup, those connections sound great. I'd be happy to babysit the puppy, and would certainly recommend my good friend Gobi for the job. I probably wouldn't have recruited any elven-types. They are a little too wishy-washy for my taste.
The hook is good and will make for some good interplay. I think Kia will be happy with the party because she is sure they are all motivated by the same goals as she is. If she finds out otherwise she may adjust her attitude - but always with the view to 'doing good'.
I have posted all her pre-rolls and strategy as well.