Okay guys, welcome to the game! I'm going to go ahead and start the game thread in a few minutes - post as soon as you like. I think there are still a few last-minute mechanical tweaks to make, and if anyone wishes to tie backgrounds together or the like (as was suggested for Lamsfel and Tybus, for instance), go ahead and do that as well - we can get things moving as the last details come together. I'm really looking forward to this!
Oh, I've been on pins and needles! I'm here, I'm here!
I'm here as well, looking forward to getting this started. :)
I had a question... How strict are you with tracking basic adventuring gear? I mean things like bedrolls, blankets, extra clothes, rations, etc. I only ask because when I GM I typically just allow everyone to assume that they have all the basics, and only specificly pay for the unusual (either in type or amount).
Just wondering how specific I need to be in buying the rest of her gear since she's not going to have anything special right now.
Also, are you using sub-dialects, such as Varisian as their own language? If so, I'd better change one of mine to that since I am, after all, Varisian. :)
For those of you who are wondering: yes, the prologue is Burnt Offerings... but not *all* of Burnt Offerings. I've made some edits to focus on the bits that matter for the purposes of Jade Regent.
Hey guys, very excited for this. Thanks for picking me Shisumo! FYI, I finally decided upon Trickery Patron.
*ahem* Sorry, got a little carried away.
I've been thinking that Lamsfel has been wandering for a bit. He's a 'forlorn' and has been looking for his place in the world. He's generally gone wherever the wind blew, but he got word of Sandpoint's annual Swallowtail Festival. For the first time in a long time, he's actually been traveling with a goal in mind.
And that's how he finds himself in the home of the Old Light.
Not a detailed background, I realize, but he's not that kind of character -- and it allows others to provide hooks.
By the way, congratulations to those chosen - I'm looking forward to sharing the virtual table with you!
I had a question... How strict are you with tracking basic adventuring gear? I mean things like bedrolls, blankets, extra clothes, rations, etc. I only ask because when I GM I typically just allow everyone to assume that they have all the basics, and only specificly pay for the unusual (either in type or amount).
I've spent enough time in PFS that my first instinct is to have you buy it, but it's honestly a rare moment when it actually matters. If you wish, you can simply dedicate 15 gold to "standard adventuring gear," and that will cover pretty much everything you describe above, plus a fairly cheap light source (pick a type, such as torch, sunrod, etc.) and some rope. Anything you want to make sure you have, though, you should buy or at least ask about, just to be sure.
Also, are you using sub-dialects, such as Varisian as their own language? If so, I'd better change one of mine to that since I am, after all, Varisian. :)
Varisian is indeed its own language, but as of the Inner Sea World Guide (and yay for sanity kicking in!), Varisians get Varisian as a bonus language.
Sweet and Sweet.. :) Thanks for the info.
Just one question before I post on the game thread--are there any certain posting conventions you want us to follow (my first time doing PBP here)? Like, if my character does something I post in italics, he says something I post in bold, etc?
Dotting for reference. It doesn't seem that Tristan knows any of you before, but that's fine I guess. Looking forward to this.
Just one question before I post on the game thread--are there any certain posting conventions you want us to follow (my first time doing PBP here)? Like, if my character does something I post in italics, he says something I post in bold, etc?
I generally suggest that you describe any actual game-mechanics-relevant action in OOC blue, just to make sure it's clear to me what you are doing. We'll use the board's dice roller (and by we I mean me too - I usually prefer to roll in the open). For speech, if you don't use quotation marks, please use bold; give me something to help me figure it out. Otherwise, I'm a fairly bright guy - I imagine I can figure out what you're trying to get at. ;)
Just one question before I post on the game thread--are there any certain posting conventions you want us to follow (my first time doing PBP here)? Like, if my character does something I post in italics, he says something I post in bold, etc?I generally suggest that you describe any actual game-mechanics-relevant action in OOC blue, just to make sure it's clear to me what you are doing. We'll use the board's dice roller (and by we I mean me too - I usually prefer to roll in the open). For speech, if you don't use quotation marks, please use bold; give me something to help me figure it out. Otherwise, I'm a fairly bright guy - I imagine I can figure out what you're trying to get at. ;)
Sounds good. Haven't used the dice roller here yet either, so here's my test run.
Initiative
Just one question before I post on the game thread--are there any certain posting conventions you want us to follow (my first time doing PBP here)? Like, if my character does something I post in italics, he says something I post in bold, etc?I generally suggest that you describe any actual game-mechanics-relevant action in OOC blue, just to make sure it's clear to me what you are doing. We'll use the board's dice roller (and by we I mean me too - I usually prefer to roll in the open). For speech, if you don't use quotation marks, please use bold; give me something to help me figure it out. Otherwise, I'm a fairly bright guy - I imagine I can figure out what you're trying to get at. ;)Sounds good. Haven't used the dice roller here yet either, so here's my test run.
1d20 + 1 Initiative
Whoa, hope that's not an indication of how my rolling is going to be during this campaign, hehe.
I'm here as well. The earlier talk about languages made me realize I forgot to pick mine.
I figure I'll go with Elven and Varisian for bonus languages.
I'm here as well. The earlier talk about languages made me realize I forgot to pick mine.
I figure I'll go with Elven and Varisian for bonus languages.
"Tybus, my friend, feel free to join me along the edges of the throng, the good Father's about to speak!"
"I'll join you just as soon as I get some more of that chowder! The last Varisian reel worked up my appetite again!"
Are we carrying weapons? I'm pretty sure that Tristan will be out of armor, but he might have his sword with him.
You may be both armed and armored if you feel it appropriate. Belor Hemlock is in his armor, if that helps settle the question.
Book, bow, and quiver are stashed someplace safe, or back at the inn if I've had a chance to procure a room.
and grease, obscuring mist
back at the inn if I've had a chance to procure a room.
You can safely assume you have. In addition to the aforementioned Rusty Dragon, Hagfish, White Deer, and Fatman's Feedbag, there is also Risa's Place, though Risa's id a mostly-local joint that kind of goies out of its way not to attract the attention of outsiders. The Rusty Dragon is the most likely place for you to have taken an inn, as the owner, Ameiko Kaijitsu, offers a 10% discount on rooms to anyone who tells a good story (preferably true or believable enough to pass for same) of their personal adventures...
"Tybus, we should be roommates. It would let us save some coin."
Lamsfel would love to share some stories of his travels. His perform check, if necessary, would be an untrained +2.
The Rusty Dragon's standards for a good story are not high. ;)
Tybus, did you settle on a reason why you disembarked in Sandpoint?
Interestingly, I had chosen Desna as his deity -- which would be probably a good enough reason to stick around for the Swallowtail Festival, perhaps then traveling overland and hoping to catch up with the Cloud at another port.
I did have a thought that perhaps Marcelina had tried to take Tybus' job as ship's mage, and the two of us challenged each other to a number of friendly 'duels', constantly one-upping each other until we go with a drinking contest, both of us passing out. Captain Creesy, fed up, sails off without either of us while we're sleeping it off.
Not sure if that's what Marcelina has in mind for her character, but I could see an oracle of the waves being pretty handy on a ship.
I did have a thought that perhaps Marcelina had tried to take Tybus' job as ship's mage, and the two of us challenged each other to a number of friendly 'duels', constantly one-upping each other until we go with a drinking contest, both of us passing out. Captain Creesy, fed up, sails off without either of us while we're sleeping it off.
Not sure if that's what Marcelina has in mind for her character, but I could see an oracle of the waves being pretty handy on a ship.
An interesting thought, but Marcelina's not the drinking contest type. :) I had been thinking of her as having just arrived the same day, taken a bit by surprise by the party. I'm open to something else that would be more IC for her though. She's a pretty face... maybe he was trying to woo her and lost track of time. :)
That totally works. He's not so committed to the Cloud that he wouldn't stick around for a little while in Sandpoint.
Sounds good. I'll play it as them having met each other, spent some time with each other, little flirting, but nothing else. Cool?
Cool.
Err, you've got cold powers, right? Hopefully, it wasn't too frosty of a reception. Brrrrr
Nah, she's pretty friendly. :)
Question--So I have +4 int bonus and I'm a human. Do I get Common and four additional languages, or do I get Common and Tien and 4 additional languages?
The latter.
Nice! Don't worry, I won't be cheap and add Aquan :-)
There's always a Linguistics buy at level 2...
There's always a Linguistics buy at level 2...
Yep, I was already planning on doing that. Since this is a prologue I'm assuming we'll have down time between this and the actual start of Jade Regent. So I was thinking in that time maybe Marcelina can teach me Aquan to represent me getting a rank in Linguistics (instead of just randomly learning a language)
What's so bad about not being able to understand anyone else during the most life-critical moments of the game? :)
Funny, I can't see Marcelina's last post here...
I've had the same issue come up. In fact I can't see that post either.
Btw, I'm playing the language thing as though this is the first time it's happened to her. She's led a pretty sheltered life so far so this is the first time she's been under this much stress. I think it just makes for more fun RP.
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FYI everybody, if I am a little bit spacey at the moment (and I feel like I am), I'm going to blame it on being a Campaign Admin for Heroes of Rokugan and all the fun and games of trying to get ready for GenCon next week. (And getting my PDFs of Ultimate Combat and Inner Sea Magic isn't helping either.) I promise to be about 63% more sane by about two weeks from now.
Or dead, I suppose. But I'm aiming for sane. :D
Tristan did indeed turn out more of a combat monster than I intended (at least at level 1). I picked up a few tricks from a certain barbarian princess, though. :)
Who's complaining? Not me! My build is one that will have to develop over time, but with the right equipment and feats, I think he could be a lot of fun, too.
Tristan did indeed turn out more of a combat monster than I intended (at least at level 1). I picked up a few tricks from a certain barbarian princess, though. :)
Learn from the best, say I.
I'm not too worried about it. Combats at 1st level are extremely swingy no matter what. While I imagine he will continue to be a hefty threat for the forseeable future, the fights as a whole will level out soon enough.
Who's complaining? Not me! My build is one that will have to develop over time, but with the right equipment and feats, I think he could be a lot of fun, too.
Now that I've had a chance to read (most of) Ultimate Combat and digest it a little, I have some more thoughts on the fighter archetype we were talking about before. I'll see if I can't get something actually typed up before you level and the promised rebuild option kicks in, in case you want to use what I come up with instead of going forward with what you have.
Also, for everyone: I've also got my PDF of Brinewall Legacy, and I'm starting to get a feel for how I'll use this prologue to lead into the main storyline. It actually should work fairly well, but there will be at least two issues with the game I'd like to bring up for discussion.
First, it would seem that the campaign traits will tie the PCs to one of four NPCs from Sandpoint, two of whom you are already scheduled to meet and two more that I will be looking for ways to bring into the game. The traits offer specific relationships with these NPCs, and for the most part I'll probably reinterpret those relationships as reflecting how your connection to the NPCs develops over time between the end of the prologue and when we kick off Jade Regent proper (a gap that I plan to be about 4 years). So when the Jade Regent PG becomes available, likely the end of this week or beginning of next, I'd read the traits with that thought in mind.
Second, those same NPCs are going to be around the campaign... a lot. I'm interested in hearing what role you'd like them to play in your explorations, particularly since (at least at first) they will be at least a couple levels higher than you guys. Do you want them tagging along, or should I be looking for reasons to keep them out of the way? If they are participating in combats, should I run them or would you rather I gave you their stats and let you do so? Let me know what you think.
I'm not sure how much of a powerhouse Marcelina will be, but she'll be fun to play regardless. :)
After my experience GMing Serpent's Skull, I'd vote for keeping them out of the way. But that's just me. Course if the campaign is written assuming that they'll be in combats with us, we may need their help. Unless Tristan keeps up his slughterfest. :)
Also, for everyone: I've also got my PDF of Brinewall Legacy, and I'm starting to get a feel for how I'll use this prologue to lead into the main storyline. It actually should work fairly well, but there will be at least two issues with the game I'd like to bring up for discussion.
First, it would seem that the campaign traits will tie the PCs to one of four NPCs from Sandpoint, two of whom you are already scheduled to meet and two more that I will be looking for ways to bring into the game. The traits offer specific relationships with these NPCs, and for the most part I'll probably reinterpret those relationships as reflecting how your connection to the NPCs develops over time between the end of the prologue and when we kick off Jade Regent proper (a gap that I plan to be about 4 years). So when the Jade Regent PG becomes available, likely the end of this week or beginning of next, I'd read the traits with that thought in mind.
Second, those same NPCs are going to be around the campaign... a lot. I'm interested in hearing what role you'd like them to play in your explorations, particularly since (at least at first) they will be at least a couple levels higher than you guys. Do you want them tagging along, or should I be looking for reasons to keep them out of the way? If they are participating in combats, should I run them or would you rather I gave you their stats and let you do so? Let me know what you think.
Personally I'd rather have NPCs not participate much in combat, unless there is a really good story reason to have them there (and the difficulty of the encounter matches the added help of the NPCs). As far as I know, most APs are geared towards 15 point buy, 4 party characters. It seems that you'll probably already have to ramp up the combat difficulty without taking into account NPC help, right?
It seems that you'll probably already have to ramp up the combat difficulty without taking into account NPC help, right?
I plan to let XP lag take care of that problem for me, actually. :D And in the first chapter at least, the combats don't seem to be written with the assumption that the NPCs will be involved in the fight - though it does say something about "if you think the party could use the help So-and-so can join them."
I'm also planning on raising the issue in the JR forum, to see what James Jacobs and the other authors think of the question from their perspective.
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So when the Jade Regent PG becomes available, likely the end of this week or beginning of next,
And when I say "the end of this week or the beginning of next," what I apparently actually mean is right now...