Rise of the Runelords by DM KLS

[DM KLS]

Alrighty guys, if I can get a response back for those still interested, the sooner I get confirmation, the faster we can get playing! There are some things that I know a few characters need to have sorted out before gameplay, but I'll address those once I know people are still interested.

[Farumph Iusltine]

Dotting In.

[Yeda]

Yeda Wolfspirit reporting.

[Galeas Rinn]

Looking forward to this so much, thanks for the opportunity DM

[Eloen Tamlyranth]

Hello! A pleasure to meet you all.

While our illustrious DM went out of the way to recruit new players, I am a bit of an experienced hand with PBP. If I can help you out at all, don't hesitate to ask!

Also, this particular character has lived in Sandpoint (the starting town) for the last twenty years. If your character is a Sandpoint resident, we probably know of each other! At the very least we'd have crossed paths in the streets at some point (Sandpoint is a town and of pretty good size for a medieval-style settlement, but not that big.)

[Yeda]

I'm not new to RP'ing, but relatively new to PbP (currently in my first two PbP sessions). I'm pretty open to feedback if I could do anything differently to better help push the story and/or weave a better story about our characters.

I've been reading up on the backgrounds of the selected characters. I'm looking forward to this.

[Yeda]

Eloen Tamlyranth wrote:

Also, this particular character has lived in Sandpoint (the starting town) for the last twenty years. If your character is a Sandpoint resident, we probably know of each other! At the very least we'd have crossed paths in the streets at some point (Sandpoint is a town and of pretty good size for a medieval-style settlement, but not that big.)

Yeda has not lived in Sandpoint long, but in her short time she has taken up some patrol duty with Shalelu, so I would imagine our characters might have done some small amount of goblin stomping together with her and at least be acquainted.

[Eloen Tamlyranth]

Yeda wrote:

Eloen Tamlyranth wrote:

Also, this particular character has lived in Sandpoint (the starting town) for the last twenty years. If your character is a Sandpoint resident, we probably know of each other! At the very least we'd have crossed paths in the streets at some point (Sandpoint is a town and of pretty good size for a medieval-style settlement, but not that big.)

Yeda has not lived in Sandpoint long, but in her short time she has taken up some patrol duty with Shalelu, so I would imagine our characters might have done some small amount of goblin stomping together with her and at least be acquainted.

Goblin-hunting in the woods is certainly a possibility!

Eloen is chatty and congenial, not as reserved as some elves are around humans. She prefers to use her bow but is not completely inept in close combat. It's likely that Yeda and Eloen have a bit to talk about since they are both people who didn't "fit in" back in their respective homes.

[DM KLS]

Okay then, now that I've got 5 out 6 here, I can get started. Yes, 5 because one is my girlfriend who I've been trying to get in a game for the last 4 or 5 months now at this point. That's the one new person I mentioned in my recruitment post. I'm still waiting on one person, but hopefully that should be soon. Anyways, for those who've familiarized yourself with Sandpoint, I need some background to work with so that I can respond accordingly. Most will obviously be improv, but some preparation would be nice. So if you wanna work together or separately, that's fine with me, a little heads up for me would be appreciated lol. Any questions you have for me?

[Eloen Tamlyranth]

No particular questions... as noted in Eloen's background, she makes a living by providing arrows and bows for hunters and archers who frequent Savah's Armory, and by assisting with mundane healing at Hannah's. She is an occasional visitor of the Rusty Dragon, having come there from time to time with Shalelu, the local elf ranger with whom she occasionally goes goblin-hunting in the woods. She also has a connection to the Goblin Squash Stables (due to her campaign trait) which is probably a result of her history of helping to keep Sandpoint safe from goblins.

Also, someone made a handy listing of every NPC in Sandpoint, so you can quickly look up who runs what businesses and what kinds of shops are around.

[DM KLS]

I do love that list lol

[Galeas Rinn]

I've had a super brief look at everyone else's profiles and I've got a few ideas as to how Galeas might be able to fit in with some of the other characters. I'll post my ideas up after work today, I'm a little bit excited for this campaign. Can't wait to get started!

[Farumph Iusltine]

Farumph just arrived in Sandpoint to see the cathedral, but stayed the night in the Rusty Dragon, so someone else could have met him there. Maybe a drinking buddy or such.

[Yeda]

UPDATED

Yeda recently arrived in Sandpoint with a Varisian caravan. While she made some friends on that caravan, she decided to stay in Sandpoint at least for a while.

She checked with Sheriff Hemlock for any help needed with the Sandpoint garrison. She did a bit of muscle work for him, rounding up or dealing with trouble makers. He seems happy to get the surprise factor out of an imposing out-of-town Shoanti warrior while it lasts. He also directed her to Shalelu, a local Ranger who seems willing to take help on her patrols outside of town. It was on these patrols that she's already met Eloen and become fast friends with her.

She frequents the Rusty Dragon and is generally exploring what she might do in the long term while meeting new people and observing life outside of a Shoanti clan. The social gathering within the pubs is vaguely familiar to her, although why people let themselves be goaded into drinking hagfish grog is beyond her. She's delighted as a little girl watching the glass blowers. She's intrigued by the theatre but doesn't entirely "get it" yet. She's amazed by the existence of shops with such variety that wouldn't fit into a single trade caravan.

[DM KLS]

Just so that everyone knows if you haven't seen (or experienced), the site is going through some rough times right now. So I will do what I can to try and get this game going the best that I can do, but it's gonna be a rough start this week until things can get fixed because they're still working on things.

[Eloen Tamlyranth]

The site outages have been quite annoying. :(

[Farumph Iusltine]

Yeah, hope they get fixed soon.

[Galeas Rinn]

Alright, time to take advantage of the fact that the boards haven’t gone down for maintenance yet! I’ve written up a some ideas for how I see Galeas interacting with everyone else. None of this is set in stone, I’m just spitballing ideas here so feel free to hit me back with some feedback

DM KLS:

So after taking a look at the list of NPC’s in Sandpoint and the timeline, I’m thinking Galeas would be pretty familiar with Father Zantus. I’m picturing him as a kind of kindly Uncle-type figure, as I daresay he would have had a decent level of involvement in caring for Gal alongside the other priests/priestesses of Desna.

Farumph:

Gal has been back in Sandpoint for about a week now, and he’s also rented a room at the Rusty Dragon. Every evening he comes down to the common room, orders a meal and an ale and quietly sits near the fireplace to eat. He is a fairly reserved man, and wouldn’t have approached Farumph unless given cause. He certainly wouldn’t turn down the offer of company though, and if Farumph was inclined to join Galeas for a meal and a drink he would be welcomed. He has had little to do with gnomes, but he appreciates a good joke so if Farumph has a sense of humour they may fast become friends.

Yeda:

Galeas has also been working for Belor Hemlock in the last week or so. Though most of his time has been spent lending a hand to set up for the swallowtail festival, he may well have had the opportunity to help Yeda deal with some local thugs or even join in on a patrol.

Eloen:

Galeas would recall Eloen from his youth spent running amok in Sandpoint. She would probably remember him from the incident which occurred at Junk Beach where Gal’s young friend was snatched away by a goblins from the Seven Tooth tribe. Since returning to Sandpoint Galeas has been helping out Belor Hemlock and as such may have been tasked to assist Eloen on her patrols.

[DM KLS]

Okay, Caryyn backed out, so when I get home, I'll send message to the other person I had in mind.

[Farumph Iusltine]

Galeas Rinn wrote:

** spoiler omitted **

Galeas:

Farumph would likely mistake you for a town native, or at the very least a frequent visitor, and thus would pepper you with questions. Upon realizing you are not as he thought you were, he would graciously apologize and make a quip at his own foolishness, remarking that "I judged a book too much like its cover, and have yet to read it." Farumph would stay and talk for some time over a drink, making no secret of his interest in the cathedral. He would retire early and still sober, for he would not want to awaken late or hungover.

Yeda:

Farumph would likely try out the hagfish grog on the (rather sarcastic) recommendations by the tavern customers, before spewing said grog onto the floor in distaste. He is clearly a foreigner to the town, asking many questions about local stores and locations. Yeda may be interested in his different customs and purpose in Sandpoint.

Eloen:

Farumph may be little more than an acquaintance, but he knows that elves tend to have gather a lot of wisdom and knowledge in their many years. Farumph would likely approach Eloen first for questions about places to stay in the town and information on the cathedral.

[Yeda]

I like this format. I'll fill in some more notes on Yeda's interactions with everyone.

Farumph:

I agree she would be intrigued by the gnome. She doesn't think too much about her inherited faith, Gorum, so Farumph's religious aspect will cause her to recall it and reconsider it's place in her life (not that this would become the overriding curiosity for her in interacting with and learning from him).

Galeas:

Yeda likely has only met Galeas in passing. Given that he likely carried himself well in jobs that they did together for Sheriff Hemlock she would definitely invite his approach and, on learning that he's native to Sandpoint, would ask him all of the questions about the town that she's built up over her first week. Initially, at least, he's still a passing acquaintance. If he tells her the story of the beach she would share in his sorrow and grow a bit goblin hatred. For her, there is a familiarity in how her clan had specific threats that it would constantly fight off, and she's expanding her own clan and sharing in their enemies, so to speak.

Eloen:

This has been discussed above, but Yeda and Eloen both joined Shalelu on goblin and general scouting patrols in the wilderness surrounding Sandpoint. While the other two had Elven heritage to bond over, Yeda still felt a warrior's kinship to them both. She was eager learn of their upbringings, customs, and in particular the details of their combat training. She looks up to Shalelu and made fast friends with Eloen, bonding around what they want to find in life in Sandpoint and why they had to leave their previous lives behind. I suspect this could become an interesting on-battlefield friendship with the two coordinating their melee and ranged attacks as they deepen trust.

[Galeas Rinn]

I'm glad you like the format Yeda, I was just playing around with the format for posting here :)

I think the information both you and Farumph have thrown in here works well in relation to Galeas, seems like we've already got some synergy developing between characters. I can't wait to kick off, I swear I've been checking this thread every 5 minutes! :P

[Yeda]

DM KLS wrote:

Okay, Caryyn backed out, so when I get home, I'll send message to the other person I had in mind.

Of course background is most important, but it appears we are without an arcane caster (until Yeda gains some levels).

[Farumph Iusltine]

Yeda wrote:

DM KLS wrote:

Okay, Caryyn backed out, so when I get home, I'll send message to the other person I had in mind.

Of course background is most important, but it appears we are without an arcane caster (until Yeda gains some levels).

Indeed. With three martial characters, as single casting of a spell such as haste will have many benefits.

Although, having a character such as a bard or skald would be helpful in the same manner. They both have some spellcasting to assist as well.

[Yeda]

Unrelated: I've seen others refer to "background skills". I don't know what they are. Is this something I need to resolve for this character? I did two traits and a drawback.

[Farumph Iusltine]

Background skills are something from Unchained that people tend to use often. I'm unsure if they are being used in this game or not (I recall some people asking back in recruitment, unsure if there was a response).

Effectively, it gives an extra 2 skill ranks that can be placed in only Appraise, Craft, Handle Animal, Knowledge(engineering, geography, history, nobility), Linguistics, Perform, Profession, and Sleight of Hand.

Basically, it gives a few skill ranks to be put in less frequently used skills, in order to round out or flesh out a character without mechanical losses. Personally, I think they tend to be fun, but do think Sleight of Hand is somewhat usable.

[DM KLS]

Sorry about yesterday, I got caught up with Stranger Things 2 last night after work, and I was frustrated with the forums all day. I'm hoping that they got things fixed finally. Thank you guys for being patient, and I'm glad you guys are coming together on party meeting ideas, really cool to see. I should hopefully get Arya to join in the conversation tonight as well. I'm about to message the next person in a few moments, so hopefully I'll hear back from them by the end of the day. All in all, because of that shed of light (and the wonderful goblins that popped up in the site) I will post the first gameplay thread Friday evening when I get home from work and we can start this weekend for sure, site issues be damned!

As for the background skills, I did forget to comment on that one. But the reasoning I didn't go with it is because I've tried on two occasions to implement them with people new to Pathfinder and RPG's in general, and it didn't end well. I had to spend an extra 30 minutes just trying to convey the concept of how it worked. And there were still questions. I didn't want to run them in a new person friendly campaign. There are things I will run from the Unchained book, such as the tiered leveling (because of the PbP format does go longer) as well as the tiered health, but I'm gonna hold that one until later when there's more hit points to work with, otherwise that would more than likely kill you guys lol.

[Kera Mvashti]

Hi all,

Thanks to DM KLS for the invitation, and a warm hello to everyone. I'm happy to be here. I am at work all evening so will work on reading everyone's background and catching up in discussion over the next day or two, but I wanted to pop in and say hello. My crunch is largely complete for review, though I am built with background skills so will need to adjust those. I will also put my stats in my tagline. Please let me know if you spot any other issues.

Kera is great niece to and seasonal ward of Madame Niska Mvashti and Niska's daughter Koya. She has been a winter visitor to Sandpoint for most of her life, so will be well-known (certainly thanks to her famous aunt) to any who have spent a deal of time in town. She is sweet and mischievous, though a bit naive. I welcome potential connections and will brainstorm a bit when I have time to sit down and read.

Cheers!

*Edit: How about: Yeda arrived on the same caravan that brought Kera into town most recently, so Yeda has met many of Kera's relatives and friends as well. Both enjoy the playhouse.

[Eloen Tamlyranth]

Ok, I'll remove background skills from my character. That does change my character story slightly, as I no longer have any skill as a bowyer; Eloen has to make her living as a militia woman who also helps at Hannah's with mundane healing tasks.

I notice there's some commentary above about "two traits and a drawback." This is a little unclear to me, as many DMs on the boards use this language to mean "you get two traits, and you may choose a background in order to take an additional trait." Is that the intent here, or is the intent "You get two traits, and you must take a drawback as well and you get nothing for it"?

[DM KLS]

Yeah, just two traits and one drawback. I don't like the whole getting another trait for a drawback because it becomes way too easy to just start a walking stat block. Take the Paranoia drawback for instance. If you stat the character to never need the aid of anyone else, then adding Paranoia just means it's an easy way to get another trait for more initiative or a class skill that's not in your list already. If the character has no reason to be helped, how does the paranoia drawback become worthwhile as a character story? It's one thing to just say that your character is paranoid, and just easily ignore that line, but it's a different one to say that your character is paranoid and then actually have it show and become something that leads for character development. Does any of that make sense?

As towards the having to take a drawback, I do it only to give characters some sort of flaw to over come. Take a paladin for instance. It's one thing for a paladin to just be the standard "He worships an evil deity, there for he must be taken out. It's certainly a good thing that I don't lose my cool no matter what!" But a paladin with the zealous drawback? Totally changes the approach of that paladin. Maybe even a paladin with the doubt drawback? So yeah, those are just my thoughts.

[Eloen Tamlyranth]

Ok, so mandatory drawback. I will have to consider this.

[Yeda]

Kera Mvashti wrote:

*Edit: How about: Yeda arrived on the same caravan that brought Kera into town most recently, so Yeda has met many of Kera's relatives and friends as well. Both enjoy the playhouse.

Welcome!

Yes, I like this connection. So on the caravan Yeda would have focused on her arcane background (contrasting it with her other Sorcerer friends, or maybe we even say it was Kera who helped her learn her elemental weapon strikes) and asking her all about Sandpoint. Over her week or so in town they would have caught several shows together in the playhouse and discussed those a lot. They would probably have a growing friendship and likely would have invited Eloen to come along to a show, so the three of them could have a solid small circle (basically those who Yeda has spent significant time with).

[Kera Mvashti]

A few notes for now...

Gal:

Galeas - Kera may not know Gal as he's only recently moved back from Magnimar, as she's been gone for the past six months. I expect she might quickly develop a not-so-secret crush on him. Gal is also what draws her interest in Farumph, as she wants to know who Gal spend time with. Gal's quiet manner is vexing to her. They're both followers of Desna.

Eloen:

Eloen - she has known Kera since the latter was first brought to Sandpoint as a young girl. Eloen is timeless to Kera, of course, who views the elf as an "adult" or "elder" and might feel a little nervous around her.

Yeda:

Yeda - I like your ideas about traveling together in the caravan. Kera is intrigued by Yeda's stories of goblin hunting, but feels bad for the creatures (they can't be all bad, can they?) Kera dreams of bringing a goblin home to raise as a pet, though her cat Thimble would probably be jealous. She would like to tag along into the woods, but knows Sheriff Hemlock probably wouldn't approve. But who's going to tell him?

Farumph:

Farumph - Kera visits The Rusty Dragon often and enjoys the music, particularly Ameiko's performances, though she hasn't developed a taste for ale or mead, though she doesn't mind spiced wine. Ameiko's teas are top notch as well. Attracted to Gal, she's naturally curious about you, his apparent cohort. Raised by Desnans, it's hard for her to understand why anyone would worship any other deity.

[Eloen Tamlyranth]

Ok, I took the Meticulous drawback. This now makes me complete garbage as far as skills go, so I hope everyone else can pick up the slack. :)

Yeda:

Eloen finds the Shoanti people interesting and likes spending time with Yeda, who is a sort of "lost sister," but sometimes gets exasperated at how Yeda is impulsive like her old elf family.

Kera:

Eloen has known the Mvashtis since before Koya Mvashti was elderly. Relations with them are cordial but a bit distant, as the paladin is not an adherent with Desna and has doctrinal differences with them, but is not generally hostile.

Farumph:

Eloen spends a significant amount of time at the Sandpoint Cathedral, where there is a shrine to Erastil. She probably crosses paths with Farumph while he's debating theology with Father Zantus. She is generally neutral to him, considering him a town neighbor and acquaintance.

Galeas:

Eloen has crossed paths with Galeas during some of his military service. She occasionally encourages him to be more disciplined. She encourages his good behavior but respects his boundaries as a quiet person and lets him alone when he doesn't want to be bothered.

[Kera Mvashti]

Yeda:

Fantastic, I have amended my background to state that the caravan came from Riddleport, so we can assume we had the entire journey from your homeland to get to know one another. It makes sense that the two young women would bond, given their age similarity and shared wanderlust. I agree that Kera's arcane powers would be a convenient way to help explain Yeda's increased magic, and vice versa. We stand to learn a great deal from one another.

Eloen:

Yes, I believe that Kera and Yeda are both impulsive, so if you are drawn into their friendship you may indeed get frustrated with the young girls at times. It might be fun to see Eloen temper their rash decisions with her worldly wisdom and experience.

[Farumph Iusltine]

Yeda:

Farumph has never met a Shoanti before, and would probably have some interest in their religious methods. One question, off the top of my head, would be their depiction of Gorum: he is usually depicted as being metal armor, but as the Shoanti usually do not wear such apparel in battle, would their depiction be different? Farumph would likely pepper Yeda in questions such as these, likely not waiting for much response.

Kera:

Farumph would enjoy matching wits and philosophy from a fellow worshiper, especially one who follows a different god. Farumph, in that light, would warm up to Kera very quickly.

Eloen:

That sounds pretty good! Although Farumph isn't much of a neighbor - he just arrived into the town. Meeting at the Cathedral makes sense, considering that is Farumph's main reason to want to go there.

[Yeda]

I've updated my background and worked Kera and Eloen explicitly into it. There are probably more tweaks to come, but she's only met Gal in passing and has not yet met Farumph. It should be fun to leave some of the meetings for in-gameplay.

[Galeas Rinn]

I agree, it'll be fun to play out the introductions. I'll reply to everyone's posts when I get home tonight, I'm really digging everything I've read so far though

[Kera Mvashti]

GM, what do you say the range of the ward hex should be ? There seems to be disagreement on the boards. I'm fine with whatever you decide.

All, since we have a paladin and a cleric, should I drop my archetype in favor of vanilla witch? I can see advantages to both. This is my first time playing a witch so open to advice.

[DM KLS]

Okay, so for the archetype Kera, it's entirely up to you. If you want to make a different choice, I'll be okay with that. I just want everyone to be able to play a character that they want to play. As for the ward, I can definitely see the issue there. I'm gonna go ahead and rule that the intended target be visible within 30 feet, as that distance matches up with the rest of the wards so far.

[Kera Mvashti]

GM, thanks for the feedback. If there are no strong feelings about it from Farumph or Eloen, I think I will switch to plain old, ordinary witch. This doesn't change much, really, as I'll keep the healing hex and have my cure spells stored in my familiar, so I can still provide support as needed. This way, I can focus more on the arcane and crowd-control side of things. I like that we appear to be an exceptionally balanced group.

Also GM, how do you want to handle loot? Do you want us to keep track of our wealth and inventories, do you prefer to handle those things on your end, or something in between?

[Farumph Iusltine]

I don´t think it should matter too much. If you think there is a better archetype that would fit your character, I would encourage you to take it, but as is having more healing is fine. Hedge Witch trades away only a small amount for healing abilities, so it plays very similar to a normal Witch with debuffing and control spells.

[DM KLS]

First game play thread is up!

[DM KLS]

Sorry about the weekend lag guys, will be posting tonight!

[Kera Mvashti]

DM KLS wrote:

Sorry about the weekend lag guys, will be posting tonight!

No worries, weekends are like that. Looking forward to it!

[DM KLS]

My apologies if this feels like a slow start. This piece here is of my own crafted design that I've had people like before. It just doesn't really allow for a fast start because I have to wait for everyone to respond.

[Yeda]

DM KLS wrote:

My apologies if this feels like a slow start. This piece here is of my own crafted design that I've had people like before. It just doesn't really allow for a fast start because I have to wait for everyone to respond.

I'm intrigued by it :)

[DM KLS]

Well I'm glad to hear that! Thank you!

[Yeda]

My only note about it is that it's vague to roleplay against, and know what checks or actions would even be effective, but I assume that's kind of the point (for it to be somewhat disorienting), so that's how I'm playing/enjoying it.

[DM KLS]

Pretty much lol. Don't worry, it all comes together. Just takes time and a moment is all.