Wecome to the following:
Hu5tru - Imperia Sarini, LN Human Bard
PirateDevon - Irina Kayzeld, CG Human Ranger
Groth - Arkadi Spektor, LG Dhampir Inquisitor
There should be two to three other players also joining us. For the moment though, I'd like to go over a few things.
What I expect:
- I expect my players to post at least once a day during the weekdays, with allowances for life during the weekends. During combat, if it takes you more than 24 hours to post, I may take control of your character so that we can move things along.
- Please type your posts in this format: Thoughts = italics, Speech = bold
- Don't ruin the fun for everyone else. I love in party conflict, I really do, but please try to keep in mind that there are other people sitting behind the avatars you see, and they want to enjoy the game as much as you do. Don't make it your mission to ruin everyone elses day. I'm going to trust you guys on this.
- IC =/= OOC If a character says something hurtful to your character, please don't assume that the player has something wrong with you. On the flipside, if you have a problem with another player, don't use your character to passive-aggressively make jabs at said player. We should act like adults here. That's what the OOC thread is for.
- Please keep in mind that I'm fairly new at this. If I had loads of experience and ideas of my own, I probably wouldn't be running this AP. I'm going to try my hardest not to railroad you, but I'd appreciate it if you would be...gentle. If somehow you guys do manage to completely jump the rails though, the game -will- continue. I just may need to take some time to think of what exactly I'm going to do with you.
- Track your hit points on your sheet. I will be tracking them as well, but I may need to reference your sheets if I have to post from another computer.
- I prefer players to type at least a paragraph or two every post. One liners make me sad. I'll allow them every now and then, but if they are all you post, I may have a stern talking to you. If things don't improve after that, then I may have you leave the group.
- With that in mind, posting a one liner is better than not posting at all. If your character isn't doing anything, at least pop in and let us know that they're still there.
- If you can't post for more than a day, please let us know in the OOC thread!
- Have fun!
What to expect from me:
- I will be checking the thread multiple times a day, and posting at least once a day, though I may be a bit more erratic in my posting during the weekends.
- My timezone is EST, which is UTC - 5 hours. I post mainly during the day and night, though as my sleep schedule becomes more set in stone, I may post during the morning and night.
- I will be making maps in either maptools, photoshop, or a combination of both.
- If things aren't moving along due to the absence of a player, I may assume that their character simply isn't paying attention/doesn't have anything to say at the moment, and move on.
- If things are moving TOO fast, I may ask you to slow down. This may occur if I notice two of you posting back and forth rapid fire at each other, without allowing the rest of the party time to react.
- I am new at this. I may make mistakes. If I do, I will apologize, profusely. That said, what I say goes. I will not spend post after post arguing over a ruling. PBP games move far too slowly for use to waste time on that.
- I plan to run this game to 20th level, under the assumption that I will have enough experience by the end of the AP to come up with more ideas after said 'end' occurs.
- I have a secret. I draw. I draw other people's characters. I might draw the entire party at one point if everyone gives me permission.
- And finally, if at any point I find myself unable to post for a while, I will let you know. If for some horrifying reason I find myself unable to continue the game, I will let you know. I'll consider this a sort of 'social contract' that I have signed.
What I need from you now:
- I need a completed character sheet on your profile. If you need an example of how to do this, look at my character Rica Hismar. Please include appearance, personality, and history. Starting gold is average for your class, and you start with maximum hp. If you have any questions or concerns, post them here. I -will- be checking your sheets, so please don't try to get anything past me.
- Your character's campaign trait.
- A way other than these forums to contact you. This can be an email (which I'll need anyway if I decide to do maps with googledocs), an im screen name, or whatever. I understand if you're uncomfortable with giving me any of those though.
- Your time zone.
- A detailed description of your characters appearance, along with whether or not you're comfortable with me drawing your character.
Thank you for reading all of that, and thank you so much for being a part of this! I apologize for my long-windedness, but I wanted to get all of that out there at the beginning to avoid any possible conflicts/problems later on. If you have a problem with any of that, let me know and we can talk it out. :)
I will probably need at least a day or two to finish reading the first book of the AP. During this time, we'll get character sheets, questions, ect in order.
This is Hu5tru's LN Bard as she was originally intended for CC, an Ustalavian
As you've already chosen a couple of strikers to add to the party, is it all right if I switch one of my combat heavy feats out to pick up Noble Scion at first level for more social flavor?
Ah, yes, should warn, based on the above, that I get heavily invested in my characters, so please, if you have a problem with something I post IC, bring it up here. I can't guarantee that I will explain it to you fully, but I'm really not a bad lady, I promise.
I say this because I am currently in a game with a player who has no prior roleplaying experience and... well, the way she built and continues to play her character is abhorrent to me, and she takes quite a few things my character suggests to assist her as personal attacks and it has created some friction over time which we're trying to get past now.
Her character appears to me to believe that every soldier has an innate desire to rape hers if she comes near them, and she has this fascist idea of building a perfect utopia where girls won't ever be raped, which presumes falsely I may add, that all men are rapists and inherently evil.
She also metas heavily, if someone gives her a bad look, and it's written why in the post above, she automatically knows why and adjusts her speech and actions, I cannot stand such blatant meta.
All that said, and being equal, I am more than willing to work with the group, in my own way. I have considered absolutely no level progression, as I would rather follow the story, adapt to the challenges, and how your characters interact with mine.
As it is fairly early in my morning, I will consider carefully the requests you have made above before posting again.
Congrats to all who make it in, I am looking forward to gaming with you.
Oh, also I tend to post a lot, and quite lengthy posts as well. It is rare that I will leave a single "paragraph" of dialog, and I rather dislike having to do so.
my email is la_monja_loca at yahoo.com, this is the mail I check most frequently.
Do'oh, forgot to add my contact info!
1. Post in this thread.
2. Failing that, email linacrow at yahoo dot com
3. Failing that, bug her at uberacid over aim.
Failure to follow said order will result in a stern look from me.
Oye, I've played with people that do that. I really dislike it when players meta, but I tend to overly trust players not to for exactly that reason. The concept of it just boggles my mind.
I tend to average about two to three paragraphs a post when I play, but I expect my posts will be...a lot longer when I DM, if only because I feel like I need to describe everything to the best of my ability (I'll do my best to avoid teal deers though).
But yes, communication is great! If anyone has a problem, don't hesitate to bring it up here. If someone has a serious problem (such as another player harassing them or something), then you're free to contact me privately, and I'll look into it like woah. If it's not something serious like that though, I'd prefer to have everything out in the open, to avoid the old 'he said she said' drama.
I'm currently working on getting my sleep schedule fixed, so I should be posting more during the day than...the horrific hours of the night I have been posting.
I have updated Anca to make her more of a "social" character at first level. I don't feel the need to rearrange her stats at this time. As peachy keen as the flavor of a willowy, weak bard is it doesn't fit my vision of Anca.
Noble Scion (Of war) Feat for Charisma mod to initiative, fit with backstory.
Skill Focus: Perform (Sing) to assist the only thing I have planned thus far, the first Versatile performance I will be taking at second level.
Trained Skills
I do not see Anca as a particularly diplomatic character, or a party leader. She is more invested in her studies, but she can intimidate the stuffing out of someone if they make her uncomfortable, or act the fool. Thus far, most of her scars can be hidden by clothing, so I do not know if you will require any manner of disguise roll for that. She's not one that would pretend to be anything other than what she is, for any reason. For now I am going to leave stealth in as an option, because, well, sometimes you just gotta sneak.
When I flesh out appearance, I will add it to the appropriate section in the profile, and will likely spend some time in game as well describing what the characters see, to reduce temptation to peak looks at things.
I'll get to work on a completed character sheet now. Pro tip. If you've been writing for two hours and it's midnight, it's a bad idea to say to yourself "oh hey I should just finish the sheet and submit it tonight, how hard can a Level 1 character be." You could, let's say, be missing a skill point. Or not have looked at the Inquisitor specific domain list, which have a more character defining effect than you expect.
What I'm saying is, expect some corrections and a couple tweaks. Nothing that actual effects the background. But Arkadi will have a decent set of social skills, so don't force Anca where she doesn't naturally go.
Also, I take it as a high complement that I got you to like a character type that's usually annoying. My philosophy of writing is that cliches are popular enough to become cliche because they're really cool ideas. But too many people just go through the motions and copy the surface details, which is why they mostly suck. So instead of twisting myself in knots to avoid cliches I grab them head on and use them to their maximum potential. Or at least I try to. It's nice when I succeed.
I should have a more complete and correct character sheet in my profile now. I took out Disguise and Stealth because Arkadi didn't really want to be skulking around in the shadows like some, well, vampire. Though I did add Bluff so he can lie about his heritage if he wants to avoid trouble. Also added another paragraph to the Personality section, cleaned up some typos, added basic gear. Let me know if I still flubbed anything, or if there's anything you want me to expand on further. I do well having to figure answers to specific questions.
And yes, Devon is the one who was chatting before his game about how nice the Paizo board PbP culture was. So if I make any faux pas you can direct the blame at him.
So you won't be playing Blade then? That is a relief! *laughs*
I am still thinking on a more detailed appearance section, and how detailed it should be... I know charisma doesn't equal physical attractiveness per se, but, I should think...
I am also consciously avoiding peaking, coz I want things to be as new to me as they will be to my character, although I don't know how you want to handle say, the knowledge check to recognize that the damphir isn't human, etc, etc.
Aah, this might be relevant. Acid, to help us visualize, what manner of setting do you see this AP taking place in? I sorta think 1920s art neuvo that's just... darker, but you might be thinking Gothic in the 1850s dark Jane Eyre type way, or... heck, I dunno... As an artist, do you have any visual cues you readily identify with this campaign?
I have some things I want to polish with backstory, appearance and I want to review the crunch...I obviously need to get gear but *click heels together and salutes* Irina Kayzled reporting.
I know much of Golarion has a real world cultural analog, what is Cheliax? Italian?
It is supposed to be, yes. But Taldor is supposed to be like Rome, so it doesn't really fit. Osirion is supposed to be Egypt... But yeah, a lot of the littler, not really APed until recently places don't really have that kinda fluff just yet.
My husband and his friends say Ustalav is like the old Castlevania games for the NES and SNES, but I read more and watch Hammer films, so I'm thinking like all those provincial towns like in the old movies with Dracula vs. Van Helsing. NOT the abomination with the Wolverine wielding a crossbow, mind you, but the Peter Cushing Van Helsings of the 60s.
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It is supposed to be, yes. But Taldor is supposed to be like Rome, so it doesn't really fit. Osirion is supposed to be Egypt... But yeah, a lot of the littler, not really APed until recently places don't really have that kinda fluff just yet.
My husband and his friends say Ustalav is like the old Castlevania games for the NES and SNES, but I read more and watch Hammer films, so I'm thinking like all those provincial towns like in the old movies with Dracula vs. Van Helsing. NOT the abomination with the Wolverine wielding a crossbow, mind you, but the Peter Cushing Van Helsings of the 60s.
What you don't find Kate Beckinsale as a Transylvanian gypsy princess believable? That movie has a bumbling monk version of "Q" from the Bond films! What's not to love?!? Oh Van Helsing...you are *so* bad.
Sorry for my absence, guys. I've been napping most of the day, and will probably go to bed early tonight as I have a doctor's appointment in the morning.
I don't have any problem with you two knowing each other. :)
To be honest, I'm still reading through the first book of the AP, so really at this point I can only agree with the 'Castlevania' feel of it.
Roger that. As I typically do when I make my bards, I will be looking at vintage photos for inspiration, and get an updated appearance up and unspoilered for people to view in the profile.
Decided to modify Irina to also take on the "Guide" archetype. Helps with a group focus and cuts out the bond ability which along with the spells lost from Skirmisher helps me feel like Irina is more earthly and removed from the supernatural ranger elements. I lose Favored Enemy but I hated having to select a type of enemy where with the guide abilities I can pick immediate foes of concern (which feels more in keeping with her life before traveling)
Still hashing out gear but that should be done by morning.
I've updated Anca with appearance and what not. Will finalize concept at first level when Acid has decided on other characters. Thus far, it seems that she'll be going social, haven't really decided on spells yet, either. Will see.
Sorry for my slowness today guys, I went through some rough stuff with medication and my doctor at my appointment this morning, so my head has been pretty scattered. I'll be working on this and my other game the rest of the night though, so don't worry about things pausing.
Don't strain yourself. We're all here to have fun, right?
Welcome, Balodek and jlord!
Final Roster for Carrion Crown
Hu5tru - Imperia Sarini, LN Human Bard
PirateDevon - Irina Kayzeld, CG Human Ranger
Groth - Arkadi Spektor, LG Dhampir Inquisitor
jlord - Davor Sandman, CG Half-Orc Cleric of Desna
Balodek - Uriah Hays, Human Gunslinger
In the end, I decided to restrict this party to 5 characters, so that I won't have to do as much work with trying to change the encounters.
I'm still finishing the first book, but I should be ready to start either tomorrow or the next day. In the meantime, I'll also look over everyone's stats, and answer questions.
*demurs*
Oh my, what is a lawful girl to do with so many chaotic elements among the party?
'ello 'ello. Thank you for the invite. I am really looking forward to this game, and I love the idea of a gunslinger, so I'm excited to see how they play. I should note that I am NG, so I'll provide a nice balance point for the group in case Anca feels overwhelmed. ;)
I do have a question for you DM Acid. The Gunsmithing Feat allows for the creation of bullets and powder at 10% of the list cost. Would this be allowed before the game starts? It is no problem if it doesn't, but starting gold leaves me with 5 shots so if I can craft the ammunition instead to gain some extra I won't object.
The profile has my character sheet in it. The only changes I may make are drop wisdom and increase intelligence for that extra skill, but I haven't decided yet, I will do so tonight after Zynvaded! if that's alright.
I've posted this in my other PbP but I will be leaving town some time on Saturday and returning Sunday. I will be with my fiance digging up crocodile fossils and unable to post. Other than that I post several times a day, with the caveat that I try not to post more than twice until everybody has had a chance.
I am CST and post from 7:00am to about 10:00pm. Email sent to your contact GM Acid.
Campaign trait is Chance Savior.
You have permission to draw my character, I'll be writing up a full description tonight. Potentially I may ask my fiance to draw him as well.
Anca is... special. Is all I am going to say for now. Unless you've peaked. Probably for a good while there'll be a bit of spoiler elements in things posted to the DM, depending on how things go.
I'm looking forward to finding her voice properly.
Welcome, welcome. Certainly an interesting lot we have here. I look forward to starting.
I can be contacted via Kurotowa at gmail dot com, if need be.
All I see missing is a full arcane Sorc/Wizard type. Davor's a cleric with full divine casting, Anca and Arkadi both get spells from the start. We just won't be getting the heavy artillery spells.
Still, interesting group. Fast, light, and hard hitting.
No dedicated caster....he he heeee. Fun. And Irina is dropping her casting ability...that should be amusing.
I don't recall Velma dropping blasty spells in Scooby Doo. Or Daphne, for that matter.
Whatcha gettin' at, bub? *laughs*
Oh, crocodile fossils? Sounds awesome.
Yes, I'll allow you to factor in the gunsmithing before the start of the game. I figure your character has been level 1 for a while now, and 5 shots starting out is kind of...meh. Makes me nervous. Just pay %10 for ammunition and I'll consider you good.
If jlord doesn't show up for some reason, I'll probably ask Tilnar if he can play his fighter/cleric for us. Backup plans! I have them. :D
I will appraise such things as a challenge. There is no reason why we can not get along perfectly well without a strict arcanist, it is just a matter of playing appropriate to our strengths, rather than to what we are missing.
Don't get me wrong, I love full spell casters, but bards are my absolute favorite class in the game. And I love puzzles and talking to PCs and NPCs in game, so they're pretty good fun for me to play as well.
I haven't peaked at anything Anca, I prefer to learn about other characters through the game. Doesn't mean I don't want to of course.
Sheet is updated, ammo is updated, 40 shots now, in-game macros added, two different encumbrance modes for skills and movement.
Uriah is 5'9" 175 pounds, whip cord lean and packed with muscle. Not the heavy muscle of a warrior, but the lean build of a gun fighter. Clint Eastwood in the old Westerns would be accurate. His right hand has several scars from early firearm accidents, and his fingertips are permanently stained black from handling black powder.
His left eye is a startling blue while the right is a deep green. His hair is black and cut short to his ears. His face is ruggedly handsome, but has been beaten several times, and the scar running from his lip to his right ear marks where his jaw has been broken once and set again.
Uriah's hat is old, and shades his eyes without obscuring his vision. His long coat is likewise finely crafted but older, well cared for but clearly starting to feel it's age. The pouches along his belt and powder horns hold is ammunition and powder, the pistol itself riding on his left hip with the handle to the right. A short sword is belted on his right hip and a kukri is concealed at his back.
@Anxa: Oh don't get me wrong, I am quite.happy we are " missing" an arcanist. I've wanted to play in a party without one for a long time but I usaully GM so I don't play often and when I do someone plays a wizard. I like the composition we have, seems like a Lovecraftia/Gothic Horror SWAT team.
@Uriah I recall your original backstory for COT had you from Westcrown, did you keep that? I ask because Irina is from there too and.though.its a big enough place that we might not know.each other I was thinking they might and wanted to see what you thought.
Edit: Apologies for any weird typing I am currently using my phone and my fingers are too big for the keyboard.
I kept that part. Instead of fighting crime in Westcrown he had to leave town before dying since he wasn't strong enough alone. I've no objections to us knowing each other as long as Acid is ok with it.
I have no problem with you guys knowing each other. :)
Balodek: My whole thing with Irina is that she worked hard growing up in Westcrown to get strong enough to get out of a place where she saw complacency with an order that was rotten at it's core. She raged against that to a certain extent but like Uriah there was only so much she could do at her current skill level. Ultimately the Professors death happened at a time when she was evaluating her next step.
Considering the nature of Westcrown and that most people would probably disappear if they were too "rage against the order" in public or in large groups perhaps it might make sense that Irina and Uriah met each other on the road, noting the similar point of origin and destination? In that way they might have a beginning trust but not know too much about each other so it makes sense in our dialog at the start of the adventure?
Just quit a game that was preying on my patience and my good will. Really looking forward to testing my abilities of a role player with you fine folks.
I am so excited you don't even know. It's great to have you all, it really is. Still reading, it's slow going since I only have my pdf, and it's really easy to get distracted from it. About half way done though.
It's cool. I've really been struggling with that one for weeks. My husband's been telling me to quit for a long time. As I said above, the Meta-Druid was just abominable, and saying "well, you didn't say you cast Light when you're riding out in the nighttime, so you didn't do it" was the last straw. That GM has recently driven away the fighter player, as well, so I saw the signs that I was going to be his new whipping girl. Since I made a bard who worships Zon Kuthon, in any way, I'm clearly interested in it, but that is not what I want for my noble bright characters. It's not cool to take an icon of good and force that sort of crap on her. I did not see it as a motivation for character development, but method for him to punish me as a player.
And it seems to me that the people here are experienced and reasonable. One of the reasons I couldn't gel with that group is that Meta-druid is a first time player, and a Sue, and gets handled with kid gloves. If you make a suggestion to her in game, she throws a tantrum like a child, and everyone comes to defend her, because she doesn't know any better. She didn't even bother to learn how her spells worked.
Anyway, it was toxic. And I thank you for not holding it against me. I am a really hard core role player, I've been known to cry when bad things happen to my characters, that's how attached and immersed I get. And I am glad that that came across to you while you were keeping up with what was going on.
Also, I think I should mention that I am also a newbie GM. I run a game for my husband over IM. I've made more than a few mistakes myself already. Having been on the other side of the screen, I know how much fun it is, but also the amount of work in it, and I recognize that you wouldn't be doing it if you didn't feel passionate about it.
Irina: That makes sense. Uriah left Westcrown and went to Absalom for a while, which is where he met the Professor. Looking at the timing, if we say Irina and Uriah knew each other in Westcrown as fellow agitators/vigilantes, and then Uriah met her again while scraping up the cash to get to the funeral, they could've easily interacted and caught up on the trip to the funeral, without knowing everything about each other.
It looks like you also had the chance to save the Professor's life. Poor guy needed saving a lot.
I must concede that I too had to trail back and see what game was causing you grief Anca. I generally get irritated at that level of nitpicking in GM and try not to do it myself. I suppose Groth/Arkadi can comment on whether I succeed :-) Hopefully we can create a better experience for you here.
Uriah: Sounds great. Yeah that Professor got himself into way more trouble that any person should. I guess we will see if that is how he met his end.
There was more to it, and the group does not appear to be phased by losing another player. I'm letting it pass.
And yes, I am excited to join a game and will try to keep the character drama to a minimum. Playing a LN personality, it should be really easy to remain poised, reflected, and gracious.
Ok I generally hate clicking spoiler tags but after the last few posts I peeked at the last two. Yeah, that PbP is schizophrenic. Even reading the last 5 pages or so I've no idea how anybody knew what was going on.
As a related note if we're having a lot of RP posts and I'm not online or posting just assume my character is standing around looking mysterious/grim/sexy/angsty and going along with the party. :D
I generally prefer a slower paced game. In that one, if you did NOT post, you were completely ignored. Even then, sometimes yours would be lost in a sea of rapid fire posts. Quantity does not equal quality.
I generally like to post several times a day, but if it is slower and I can spend more time actually thinking about what is going on and get out something lengthier and better developed, I would love to be able to do that. I tend to include a lot of private thoughts in my post so that players can get an idea of what the character is thinking for motivation, rather than just assume "Hey, this lady is a snarky b#@!*, let's passive aggressively react negatively towards her because of it."
But, as I said above, some things will be spoiler tagged until character development is initiated and gradually progresses.
Like I said in my first post, I'll try my best to make sure characters don't get ignored or lost in a ton of posts made by just a few players. I wouldn't be able to keep up with a game that fast, and I don't expect you guys too.
I have characters that might assume another character is being snarky, and then react like that, but if that ever happened I'd make sure to add a note saying that my character is...just a drama-monger/silly/ect.
I am typically very good about allowing characters to express their opinions. If anything Anca would probably be the sort to allow the party to discuss things before she speaks.
Hmm, has the selected cleric checked in in any manner?
He hasn't, though he's still active on the boards from what I've seen. I'll give him today to check in, and if he doesn't, then Tilnar has agreed to be our fighter/cleric.
Is there a PM function on these forums? He might not have noticed that he got accepted, since he was the last to be cleared.
Sadly, there isn't. I'll post again in the recruitment thread and see if he doesn't see that.
Just noticed that I was selected. Sorry about that. I understand If you already promised my spot to Tilnar, but assuming I'm still in, I'm going to start answering the questions. I will try to have a profile up tonight, if not tomorrow.
EST, UTC - 5 h. I usually post between 11-pm and 3am.
Campaign Feat: Chance Savior
Ok with you drawing the character, appearance will be in the profile.
Hallo, Mister Cleric. How'da do?