Hmmmm given your background it'd be difficult to justify it. Alchemy to mix paints and things on the other hadn might not be a bad idea. I'll think on it. I have a rather logn downtime post to make for that group and im running a game tonight so it might not be up until tomorrow.
Hmmmm given your background it'd be difficult to justify it. Alchemy to mix paints and things on the other hadn might not be a bad idea. I'll think on it. I have a rather logn downtime post to make for that group and im running a game tonight so it might not be up until tomorrow.
I was thinking tratior lady or leader of spirits might know somone they can send Pollux to. A paint mixer would be perfect. An out of the way job that is not depentant on the Opera's schedule, perfect. I can see Pollux in a little room in the basement mixing strange chemicals. Could be nifty.
I know I'm going to regret having LeVash step away...such are the difficulties of a double identity. (Note, LeVash will show up at the safe house in late afternoon if not otherwise prevented).
Oh well, at least Pavo has a horse now :)
Work's been a bit brutal this week, and then I've got family visiting over the weekend, so I may not be posting much until Monday (though I'll try to pop in as I can in the interim). Feel free to DMPC me if need be.
Call will, I'm sure, roll her eyes in exasperation at her player.
I know I'm going to regret having LeVash step away...such are the difficulties of a double identity. (Note, LeVash will show up at the safe house in late afternoon if not otherwise prevented).
Oh well, at least Pavo has a horse now :)
No reason for you to be completely bored. It might seem a bit masturbatory but you can always describe your home, what few servants if any you have and all that. It'll be a bit before the party gets back to the hideout.
you can always describe your home, what few servants if any you have and all that. It'll be a bit before the party gets back to the hideout.
No worries, I have no real issue being silent in this case. I'll amuse myself reading the posts, and return once appropriate. (essentially, don't take lack of activity on my part to mean anything other than LeVash is not there.)
We scare bloodless off?
I hope not, as he's been an active player so far and, again, I enjoy his early interactions with Calla. He did post yesterday under another alias, though. I'd say give him a little more time. I guess it's best to know now so if we have to replace a couple players, we can do it all at once.
(Just checking in; will be back for real on Monday, but feel free to DMPC Calla if you want.)
Heyas,
I had actually said in my second last post (the last was an acknowledgment of a post, rude not to) that for me, that was the end of the campaign.
The reason I came to that decision was that:
Based on the initial encounters, there seemed to be a discrepancy between Bloodless as a good guy, and the party, who don't seem terribly benevolent at all. Not insurmountable, and indeed reasonable fodder for character and story development. not going to get my nose out of joint on that alone, but I just kept thinking 'why would these guys even sign up when they appear to be so self protecting and not very ambivalent towards others?'
So I play along, and decide to be the 'voice of reason' and play the game. I spent my points in Dip and Cha, and was happy to flesh out the interactions; much better than simply saying 'I diplomacy at them' and just chucking dice.
What I then get is a series of very lacklustre results off some pretty solid rolls, backed with (what I consider) sufficient dialogue that should be driving the sort of results checks like that would warrant.
I didn't really think he was being Bloodless the Pally, but certainly the NG Ranger with a high CHA and Dip skill, and a Racial Adjustment to Dip, as well as spending Traits making sure it was as good as it was going to get (that's a lot of investment).
Similarly no one else seemed keen on discussing much past killing the witnesses and dumping bodies, I thought we were revloutionaries of the light, not Cosa Nostra, so it should all be in line to start questioning. I always said I was playing a good guy, I just found the party were at best good willed.
Anyhow, to see all that Dip stuff just simply falling over, and then added to that a well natured comment about 'making speeches' I just started taking that as a sign that my build was pretty much wasted and I might well have just made a 2d killer.
If you built a fighter then you couldn't hit any of the creatures you encountered, you might feel the same way.
So when it became a trend of his 'crunch' seemingly being bypassed (in game as well as OOC) and the group looked set to go fishing the forums for a replacement with notionally 'more face skills' that was kind of the end of it for me.
I'm not saying I have to be the centre of the universe of the party, but I'm not really content with having a character 'seen and not heard' and even when able to both 'make all the pretty words' AND the dice check see it go nowhere then to me it stops being fun pretty quickly.
So on that basis I was hapy just to call it 'musical differences', or 'differing expectations' and leave it at that.
Now if going forward it might be a bit different, then that could be a different story, and if it was a legit oversight that having the highest Cha AND Dip skill, and traits into it was overlooked then righto.
** spoiler omitted **...
Oh no bad feelings, my particular issues aside, the game was running well and was certainly interesting enough and ticked the right boxes. I had no other complaints to make and everything seemed otherwise fair, well run, and consistent - with a pretty good post rate. Couldn't expect more to be honest.
I think the party needs to put aside their snarkiness for a minute and agree to be the 'heroes' the campaign demands of them though, or its going to be incredibly slow and painfull going. Reluctant or otherwise, I take it the expectation is to actually step up to the plate, which seems contra to whats happening. It was with this in mind I figured I'd try rally up the party a bit and give them the opportunity to put up their hands and come on board, but there didn't seem to be a great amount of enthusiasm, and indeed I just took it that people were being a bit critical about it.
Unfortunately I think they'd already made up their minds to argue for arguments sake after the prisoner debacle, which is why I put up the ooc correct sequence of events and whose decisions were whose - wasn't my chain of screw ups, yet I was the one copping the heat over it, and seemingly still do.
Added to what appeared to be at the time a bit of a GM railroading I think I just stopped feelin the love.
I'm happy to hear it was just an oversight, I was just frustrated at putting in the time and effort to post up and try and get things rolling only to see it not really going anywhere.
In short, happy enough to be in now that we are all on the same page, though like you would like to feel some sense of reward/satisfaction for putting in the time and effort to try and make it a good game for everyone.
** spoiler omitted **
Like I said there will be opportunities for bloodless to strut his stuff to less complicated folk in much more suitable situations. Just understand that people are both more complicated and way simpler than they appear. I tend to apply bonuses and penalties quite liberally depending as much abut the situation and the appearance as what's being said. Brandishing a large weapon being covered in blood will have a different impact on people than if you're dressed in regal or performing attire. This doesn't mean having a high score is meaningless, only that it's not magical and doesn't auto succeed. If anything it'll reward your extra effort since you'll not just be auto rolling.
Besides someone's going to have to explain to Arael why there's a dead tied up woman in his church.
As for the rest of the group. Well, that's an in-character issue mostly I'm afraid. Does bloodless match with the rest of the group? I see no reason why he can't. Not with the other group boasting a Cleric of Rovagug and an Inquisitor of Milani (CG god of freedom) being relatively friendly in their mutual desire to bring down the establishment (which will be funny to see what happens when they get to that point).
The group is rather fatalistic, doesn't help that Calla is about as cuddly as a cactus. But maybe that's what bloodless needs to be, the voice of good and reason in a group so downtrodden and oppressed they tend to react much more darkly then what their goal might require. Beyond that any sort of complaints have to be brought up with them as theire's little I can legitimately do in this regard.
I would ask those of you still with us in the Rebel group to please check the recruitment thread I posted on the gamer connection to look over applicants and state an opinion/vote on who'd you like to see join the group. Thank you.
Bloodless, I'd also add that while Calla's a b++%* who doesn't think much of your character at the moment, that doesn't mean I (as a player) agree with her. Right now, I'm very going with a Sawyer (from "Lost") vibe with her, in that she could grow to be a hero, but at the start, she's far more pain in the ass.
I really loved the exchange we had over the tied-up armiger, since I had to think fast on my feet. (And in fact, I think you probably won the debate, not that Calla would ever admit that.) It's probably the best role-playing experience I've been involved with in PBP so far.
Calla's definitely a little shoe-horned into the idea of being a revolutionary, since she doesn't see a need to overthrow the system as much as she's lashing back at the things that have hurt her. I'm not sure if I completely understand what role the AP would have us in when I created her, especially since she segued from the original inquisitor of Calistria concept, and that change made me back away a bit from the revenge aspect I'd originally thought of for the character, where I thought revenge against the system would be her main motivator. That still works to a degree obviously, but just seemed like it needed to be less important for the character if she wasn't going to be a priestess of some sort. I'm kind of struggling to figure out a motivation for her to be involved in the group that feels organic to the character but hopefully I'll get something that works.
Anyway, I hope you'll reconsider leaving, though obviously it's up to you. (And I'll update the in-character thread in the morning, all.)
I've also really enjoyed that role play scene, (although it got a bit redundant). I also hope Bloodless will continue to play.
Of the two complete apps in the recruitment thread, I'd say Asmodia. Mulitple Chelaxian Aasimar strains the boundaries of probability.
OK guys,
Points taken, matters resolved, lets go ahead and press on :p
Cheers :)
***
For replacements, I'm in favour of Bilbo Bang-Bang. Have some experience with the guy, and he has a good track record in other PbP's.
On a side note...
I noticed (at least on the Aasimar) that we might want to talk about starting gear, I think guys rolling in with their full L2-WBL are going to be a fair whack in front of us otherwise, think I have about 150ish gp value - basically L1 start wealth. Leave that in your hands, but I notice the AP's are craptacular at wealth distribution.
I think I have yet to earn a copper, and the only loot was a handfull of Joe Genero weapons (not that I'm complaining, just looking at balance).
OK guys,
Points taken, matters resolved, lets go ahead and press on :p
Cheers :)
***
For replacements, I'm in favour of Bilbo Bang-Bang. Have some experience with the guy, and he has a good track record in other PbP's.On a side note...
I noticed (at least on the Aasimar) that we might want to talk about starting gear, I think guys rolling in with their full L2-WBL are going to be a fair whack in front of us otherwise, think I have about 150ish gp value - basically L1 start wealth. Leave that in your hands, but I notice the AP's are craptacular at wealth distribution.
I think I have yet to earn a copper, and the only loot was a handfull of Joe Genero weapons (not that I'm complaining, just looking at balance).
I agree. Was planning on lvl1 average anyway.
OK cool, I just thought I'd raise it, but was wary of being the fun police... I've just seen a few too many instances where replacement players were miles better off than the people they were joining who had being doing the hard yards :)
Glad you're sticking around, Bloodless (though Calla mutters "Great, Grandpa Whiteface still wants to tell me what's right" and grumbles as she wanders away). : )
I agree Asmodia seems the best so far, though I wonder if she might be too similar in details (obviously not personality) to Calla, considering they both have somewhat ironic names and family issues. That's a pretty minor thing, though. Also agree having more than one Aasimar would feel odd.
I think maybe give people a deadline of a day or two to get some characters up, though, since it seems mostly dotted for interest at this point. (Maybe also say we'd consider any rogues?)
Did Bilbo apply? I've also seen him be very active and he's just missed the cut on my Kingmaker game a couple times. I'm about to start (as soon as I finish this post) a Realm of the Fellknight Queen PBP and made sure to pick him when he applied. Very curious to see him in action.
He said he was going monk/2cleric whatever of Irori. in another thread. The concept is interesting im jsut not sure how it'll jazz with the group. It was tough getting the monk from the other group in creatively.
Perhaps if Asmodia changed her race? I'd love to see a tiefling in this game and the book does provide sme great alternate tiefling rules.
But look how wonderful it is now that one's in the game? Right? Right? Is this thing on? Hello?
Perhaps if Asmodia changed her race? I'd love to see a tiefling in this game and the book does provide sme great alternate tiefling rules.
With Bloodless favoured enemy race being Tiefling? and you reckon a Monk might gel funny :p
Perhaps if Asmodia changed her race? I'd love to see a tiefling in this game and the book does provide sme great alternate tiefling rules.With Bloodless favoured enemy race being Tiefling? and you reckon a Monk might gel funny :p
favored enemy doesn't necessarily represent hatred. It can very easily represent an intimate knowledge based on study and practice. Heck it could be because the ranger loves something just that much. Food for thought.
Other than that we have a cleric that's going to be playing an alignment he can't with his god being two steps removed from it. So far I'm leaning towards asmodia myself if they're willing to change race. The other concept is certainly interesting but the frontlines are crowded as it is between the meat blender that's calla/bejic/bloodless.
We also have tiefling healy witch which actually covers two things. So that's soemthign to consider.
Asmodia or Phaedra seem like the best options to me, depending on whether Bloodless can co-exist with a tiefling... I don't mind Asmodia being human, though.
"Choose the witch, I may need a new gig soon."
"Then again Pollux seems to be contagious....."
Ok I think we got some confusion going.
Galen is the Aasimar Cleric.
Asmodia is the Human Summoner.
Phaedra is there also but we have ot talk about her personality first.
Looks like the choice is between those three for now so I'm going to throw up a final call for a voice now.
As to Calla's "motivation". Well she cna still be jsut takign vengeance on the system jsut as passionately as ever. Inquisitor's are merely a method, not a statement of intent. Heck even the inquisitor i have runnign in a carrion crown game doesn't hunt undead out of hate, more like pity.
While her post says "Concept is a support summoner, using Celestial beasties to bring down diabolic baddies!", the actual profile is for a Cleric of Cayden Cailean, with Spell Focus (conjuration) and Summon Monster I as part of her standard memorization...so I assumed she is a 'summoner', but not a 'Summoner'.Ok I think we got some confusion going.
Galen is the Aasimar Cleric.
Asmodia is the Human Summoner.
Phaedra is there also but we have ot talk about her personality first.
Looks like the choice is between those three for now so I'm going to throw up a final call for a voice now.
That said, I vote for Asmodia.
While her post says "Concept is a support summoner, using Celestial beasties to bring down diabolic baddies!", the actual profile is for a Cleric of Cayden Cailean, with Spell Focus (conjuration) and Summon Monster I as part of her standard memorization...so I assumed she is a 'summoner', but not a 'Summoner'.Ok I think we got some confusion going.
Galen is the Aasimar Cleric.
Asmodia is the Human Summoner.
Phaedra is there also but we have ot talk about her personality first.
Looks like the choice is between those three for now so I'm going to throw up a final call for a voice now.
That said, I vote for Asmodia.
Ah good of you to clear that up. My coffee is apparently too weak for me.
On that ntoe is anyone else noticing a trend of female clerics of Cayden Cailean lately? You'd think the patron god of wenching would have fewer fangirls.
Eh, if the god's a good wencher, I think it makes sense he'd have wenches following him. Not to imply Asmodia is a wench, of course. ; )
Asmodia or Phaedra still seem the most interesting to me. No strong proference for either, though I guess at this point Asmodia seems to have a little more of her character figured out.
Calla struts up to the arguing trio and, ignoring the stranger, addresses the person she assumes is Gorvio's father. She casually lets one hand fall to her sword hilt as she speaks.
(really inflammatory stuff)
Ha! I bet you all thought it was a foolish for LeVash to go home after the fight. Looking like a pretty good option now :)
Might be a good time for Pavo to show up. But he's an actor. Like I can't stick him with a sword if I need to! : )
Hmm, if I kill him now, do I break part 2 of the adventure path. : )
And have I mentioned how much fun I'm having playing Calla. I may have to find a way to introduce her into some other games.
Hmm, if I kill him now, do I break part 2 of the adventure path. : )
Nnnnoooo~ but you might end up having to play a new character as Calla has to flee the city after murdering a person like this in broad daylight in front of witnesses. Wouldn't begrudge you much for it as the guy could probably do with a ruthless stabbing to help his character.
I must note at this juncture that the Nobles Without a House appear to be considerably more stable, by sheer examination of the OOC thread.
Ironic in the extreme considering the skeletons in that closet.
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I must note at this juncture that the Nobles Without a House appear to be considerably more stable, by sheer examination of the OOC thread.Ironic in the extreme considering the skeletons in that closet.
Well, my cloest-held skeletons have been surgically removed by the Hellknights, thus rendering the remaining skeleton within my flesh utterly blameless.
I don't see anything odd.
you might end up having to play a new character as Calla has to flee the city after murdering a person like this in broad daylight in front of witnesses.
Noooo!
Wait, can I kill all the witnesses too?
(Kidding; I'm not that disruptive a player. I'd only cut out their eyes and tongues for the most part.}
: )
As to the knowledge thing I tend to scale my knowledge's in such a way so there are multiple DC's but if you make the higher one you get all the information from that and down.
I don't see anything odd.
^
I don't see anything odd.Yes, we hid the mirrors just to be sure.
Never trust mirrors, they show you what is there.
Good call on the Witch. I'll vote for any character concept who is not a fatalistic emo kid :)
Bilbo sadly pulled out so I think the decision has been made and I will inform Asmodia of the decision.
*strides up to new crew, tankard firmly in hand*
Good evening, lovelies. Fancy the taste of revolution in your cups?
Edit: Oh yes, the family stuff that someone mentioned above that might be grating with existing characters is not a large factor in Asmodia's motivations. She was born, and named, but she is living her purpose, or, at least intends to.
I made her a bit older, and even though she has a little less charisma that most clerics at first level, she is determined and willful. She's her own woman, and has been for years now.
So now that we're comign to a point wher ethe nobles group is heading towards the first books climax and the rebels group is going to have a short thingy to do before their downtime I think I can talk a bit honestly about the book and the two groups so far and why I'm glad I did it this way.
0-The Groups: So with the groups I tried to go alon two different themes. With the first I tried to put characters tgether that are more "down with the system" or "against the man" than other groups. I had hoped that Rhys/Edgar/Calla would have interesting interactions but with tw of them gone we're left with Calla basically standing the street calling people horse f*@*ers. The nobles wrked out better than I hoped. I expected issues t come along before they left the sewers but to date they've been one big happy dysfunctional family.
1-The Tavern: I think what caught me off guard was the fatalism and lack of confidence the relbel group had in Janiven. I think the first group had a hard time trying to figure out what the group was trying to do. Overall I think this had an effect on Janiven's personality. With the nobles group she felt more confident and sure of herself particularly in the conflicts ahead. In the rebel group she felt she had somehting to prove particularly after Rhy adn Edgar simply disappeared into the darkness. I think it's an effective scene if a bit easy to screw up. Thsi section is pretty long in the book simply because the writer tries to cover all the possibilities. And I don't think he even managed that.
2-The sewers: I find it interesting to think that even though the nobles group ended up meeting the most armigers and killing them it was the rebels who got impacted the most by encountering them. I honestly can't say I liked the random dungeon aspect of it. In a pbp I found myself basically describing what ahppened which make for a long boring post for you to read. At the table I think it would work okay but alot f it cmes down to the GM basically saying "yes, you've suffered the sewer level long enough, you may now leave the dungeon. It was oaky but I think it coudl have been better.
3-The rescue. This is the first real opportunity characters got to get Fame points (each group has 1 right now). I think it should have been harder to be honest. You'll be going into this fight at level 2 and more to the point you dictate the terms, place, and timing of the fight. Add to this that the most threatening character takes the least threatening choice of manning the ballista (his penalties for firing it were ridiculous) I would have run the fight differently. But it does do a good job of giving the characters a chance to feel awesome so I'm not opposed to that.
4-Thesing I think both groups handled this creatively. The encounter is certainly a change of pace and does herald things to come where characters have to stop thinking with their BAB.
Overall none of this is a bad start and look forward to seeing where the groups go with the end of the book.
Add to this that the most threatening character takes the least threatening choice of manning the ballista (his penalties for firing it were ridiculous)
Heh - Merax might disagree with that, what with the ballista bolt sticking out of his chest and all ;)
I'm enjoying the mix that we have in the Noble's group and it's amusing to find that the Inquisitor of Milani and Closet Priest of Rovagug seem to get along quite well! I mean after all Rovagug is being imprisoned against his will - surely Milani would prefer to see him free than kept in bondage... right?.... *crickets*
We seem to have the Chaotic duo (Caldazar and Merax) on the left, Lawful pair (Tok and Ruttle) on the right and Pollux hanging over us all delivering vapor induced wisdom.
Hmmm now that we have Asmodia how do we get her in.....
Thoughts?
Wrapped up in a rug, like Cleopatra! :) or, I'm sorry, I guess I do not get a vote.
You know I think Calla's just having a bad day. She goes to a tavern for a quiet drink then suddenly she's part of a revolution with a guy she just met who may or may not be good in the sack. Then that guy disappears with his older brother or some crap in the sewers, which is totally nasty by the way, gets assaultsed by skeltons and has to step over ooze bugs to have to deal with a goodie two shoes aasimar and a bunch of college kids.
Then she gets up at the ass crack of dawn to deal with a woman whose dim witted as all hell and looks more attractive then her to rescue a glorious leader but get this; she can't kill anyone. Nope they have to make it look all glorious and daring but nonviolent. Yeah, whatever. So she does that as best she can and has a really hard time of that but get this; the aasimar kills a guy anyway the hypocritical little... So she's already cranky and kids keep bugging her when some blonde dude is spraying his haterade all over the place. But she's got this, she;s going to take him down a notch and possibly without testicles when the aasimar comes in and makes her look like a circus freak. The nerve.
Then she politely suggests disposing the bodies of a woman she neither captured nor killed in any way into the sewers and now the leader gets all uppity.
Calla needs a nap.
the aasimar kills a guy anyway the hypocritical little...
Nah thats 100% consistent :)