Let's do some brainstorming here!
Ok, here's some preliminary ideas on a PC I'm bouncing around in my head:
- Jacobus Varadin (human inquisitor of Abadar)
- Second son of wealthy merchant
- Being groomed to help out in family business
- Family business deals with transport of goods (food from New Stetven to Port Ice)
- Trained as Abadar inquisitor and has heard about 'teams' that are being formed to tame a wild frontier (i.e., bring laws and civilization to wild lands)
- Younger sister was killed by bandits when on a trip to the River Kingdoms (potential tie-in); he hates bandits
- Diplomacy first and bring them in later
- Cautious thought and not impulsiveness
- No gambling or excessive drinking
- Abadar provides ‘opportunities’
- Dressed in white and gold, golden key is holy symbol
- ‘golden’ weapons
- Thanks Abadar for profitable negotiation
- Knowledge local, history, nobility
- Travel domain
- Use light crossbow and also 2H weapon (power attack, judgement surge)
A family member (uncle?) was a 'justicar'
Abadar's clerics (and inquisitors) are the agents of civilization, turning trails into roads and towns into cities while always enforcing law. They eliminate monsters and troublemakers in urban and rural areas, adjudicate disputes, make legal rulings, and reassure law-abiding people that the forces of order are watching over them.
In wilder areas, clerics act as judge and jury, seeking out threats to civilization and eliminating them. Younger priests who are physically fit do many tours through smaller towns and frontier areas to carry news and make sure order leaves its footprint.
I know I have a lot of work but...
Initial thoughts?
Good character concept Fabian, Abadar is one of the most prominent deities in Brevoy so it makes sense to have an inquisitor of Abadar in the party. Also, Abadar's goal are particularly fitting this adventure, as everyone knows.
I'm currently working on the recruitment thread, but I think it would be best for me to wait until Wolfspirit's recruitment ends before creating our own recruitment thread.
To be honest, I was considering an Abadar type character for another game and it just occurred to me that Abadar is VERY thematically correct for this Kingmaker AP.
Now I need to flesh him out so he's not a cookie-cutter Abadar worshiper. I think I'll make him young and idealistic and then gets a big wake-up call once he's in bandit territory. I imagine that we'll have to make deals with bandit lords and such and that will just rub him the wrong way big time.
It should be fun.
I agree that you should wait for Wolfspirit recruitment to run through. Take a look at his thread as he's coming up with some neat ideas that may help you as a GM.
As Serolt is something of a guide/bodyguard in the Stolen Lands, and has been for some years before the AP begins, I can have easily met you under-hire. You may have paid me to provide some guidance through the region at some point and we became friends through the journey - working together from time to time since.
Not firmly joined at the hip mind you, but two adventurers circling through the same turf would naturally encounter each other from time to time and be in a position to help each other out. It may have even been you who first heard of the opportunity to forge a kingdom and convinced me it was a good idea to join up, rather than continue to work at the fringes of society.
- - -
Serolt is a Shoanti warrior with all that implies. He’s not particularly tall, for a Shoanti, but he is broad and well built. He wears black leather amor and has two deep quivers along with a bow strapped to his back. A bulging sling bag rests over one shoulder, and a dagger and long sword stick out from his belt.
Though bristling with weapons, he doesn’t come across as intimidating as he often seen playing with his Fire Pelt, a friendly nuzzling creature named Regin. (A black-and-red-furred mountain lion known to stalk much of northwestern Varisia. The color of their pelts changes from predominantly black to a range of autumnal colors with the seasons.)
He has a few tattoos, nothing terribly obvious (upper arms and back mostly - a natural patterned design) but he’s interested in getting more if he finds a skilled artisan. Not readily noticed, but certainly distinguishing, Serolt is missing his left pinky finger at the knuckle of his hand.
Also, guys, what kind of leadership roles do you think are best suited for your characters?
Well, I assumed I'd be the Marshal as I can provide the most benefit there (+4). I am however, also willing to take on the roll of Counsellor, High Priest, or Treasurer (+2). With only four players we'll be stretched pretty thin, so we should probably go with our strengths.
Not sure what the difference is between a Marshal and a General either, but I'll roll with it. :)
Fabian, I started a Spreadsheet (link) for the game to track the kingdom specific stuff. It's pretty rough, but does a lot of math for us already.
Yes, I definitely think that Jacobus and Serolt could have worked together in the past.
My family business sees me in charge of caravans transporting goods all over Brevoy so I could have hired you. If you want, you could have been a permanent hire in the company.
I'll admit that I know very little about 'kingdom making' but I'll learn. Looking at the roles, Jacobus would enjoy best being either treasurer or councilor but he could also fill in the role for high priest.
I think that stats in the alias are correct. I'll work on a proper fluff over the weekend.
Did we decide on four players? I always found five to be optimal because people will go on vacation, slow down for particular real life reasons, etc. With five you can pretty much count on at least three players being active (very?) all the time.
So Giuseppe, when do we start? :)
I know, five players can be amazing, but can also slow things down in certain situations. Above all, is really difficult to find 5 good players and also consistent posters. This is a matter I still have to decide: if I have enough players to recruit a party of 5 members, maybe I will end up doing so.
As far as the starting date is concerned: I'm still struggling with the idea of starting the recruitment now that another Kingmaker game is going to open its official recruitment. On the other hand, though, I don't want to wait too long to get this started. I've read through all the 1st module, and I'm continuing doing that as days go by. I'm almost ready, I just need to do some prep work, but I suppose that I can always work on it during the recruitment.
My greatest fear is that if I open a recruitment thread now, people will be just submitting their character to both of the recruitments. That could be a problem, especially if I and the other GM plan on recruiting the same player. It's not an easy matter to solve. My campaign will be faster-paced for sure, and that I hope will discourage the most infrequent posters. Also, I have a much more strict sources list, and that also may narrow our applicants. Furthermore, I plan to run the game in a much more vanilla way than the other GM. Even taking all of these factors into account, I still think that opening a recruitment now would be a mistake, especially considering the hype that usually a Kingmaker recruitment generates. It would create a strange form of competition between the two recruitments that I'm not sure I'm willing to create.
Please feel free to share your opinions on this matter.
Yeah, the other recruitment thread is a bummer. Hopefully, it will open very soon and not be too long.
I say that if the deadline for the other AP is more than one week, you go ahead and open up yours with a deadline of one week.
As you pointed out, your requirements are different so that should weed out some players.
When you do open up the recruitment I would phrase your posting requirement as 'minimum of two posts per day' because I'm afraid that asking for more than that will just scare a lot of people away.
You do want the players that post in the mornings and then in the evenings because not everyone sits behind a computer all day (like I do sometimes).
BTW, you should consider allowing Euan to play a 'hunter' because if he's going to multiclass ranger/druid, it will be a nightmare to keep track of spells, abilities for animal companion, etc. I think the hunter class is well balanced and ties well with his theme. We're all adults here so if you feel that something is too powerful, you can bring it up.
Euan is a nice guy even if he didn't let Dimitrio have all the swashbuckler abilities. :)
Game on!
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First of all, Euan is not a nice guy at all, because he didn't recruited my character for his wonderful Second Darkness campaign :p Just joking of course.
Serious, though, I would have no troubles at all to allow Euan to play a hunter. I'm not restricting the classes to the Core and APG ones because I fear some options are too powerful. I'm doing that because here in Italy we still don't have a translated Advanced Class Guide: I'm not that familiar with that handbook, and I would fail in properly supporting Euan in the game if I don't know his class. Furthermore, I've provided a list of reasons why I prefer my own format. It just helps me to be in control of the game, to feel that I know every single aspect of the game and can help my players as needed in every situation. I know that Euan is an experienced player and as such won't probably need my help, but if I allow him to use a class from ACG, then I must do the same with all of the other applicants and I fear that things could get a little out of my control then. Let's just say that limiting the sources helps me to be confident in my knowledge of the rules, allowing me to focus more on RP and other game aspects.
Naw, I'm fine with the blend. No need to go hunter - I can make do with this and a few feats to tie things off. I like having limited options, and it WILL make your GMing easier Giuseppe.
...and No, I'm not a nice man. heheheh.
The other Kingmaker campaign has set a week on recruitment - even though he's been recruiting for weeks now already. I say give him his week and let's all be patient. If he doesn't finish it off then though, no reason to wait further.
For what it's worth, I think a week is too long. I knew within a few days who I was interested in and none of the late arrivals surprised me as I recall. I say make it a 5 day recruitment and include a weekend. So if the other GM plans to close his out a week from tomorrow say, start yours on Thursday the 10th and end it Tuesday the 15th. That's a lot of time already.
I'm happy to help you weed out the pool if you like, but ultimately it's your decision Giuseppe. Pick the players you'll have fun with! DON'T PICK THE BUILD. You an always ask the character to rebuild.
That said, you should tell them what we're playing (a Marshal Outdoorsy Archer and a Councilor Citified Divine). I wouldn't be more specific than that though because it doesn't matter, other than to say we need a Ruler-Charisma type person. The other role really can be anyone, but we need at least one person with a good Diplomacy/Charisma combo.
Also, Serolt won't be a permanent hire to Jacobus' company, but I could be a regular hire. He likes his freedom too much to be tied down to a 'job' with just one employer. At least at this phase of his life.
I'm good with the suggestions above and the resolution of whether to allow the 'hunter class' r not.
I just wanted to bring it up so you would consider it.
I'll work into my background that Jacobus would have hired Serolt for specific trips and always on a job-by-job basis, but he was not a permanent employee of the firm (Varadin & Sons).
Is there any particular area that Serolt would have specific knowledge of or a definite advantage over other 'guides'?
I can also be consulted on player selection if you want/need my input.
BTW, did I tell you guys about my last recruitment? There was this guy who was VERY accommodating during the entire process (came up with kick-ass character) and then disappeared in less than a week of playing. Why even bother?
Anyway, enough rambling.
Game on!
So guys, we only need one more week and I'll open the recruitment. Of course, your experienced hand would be most appreciated if you would like to give me some suggestions about who to recruit, especially because you are both great GMs and I deeply respect you. Of course, it would be useful also because it will tell me who would you like to play with. I must say, however, that I deserve the right to totally ignore your suggestions if there's someone out there that I really want to recruit.
@Euan: I NEVER pick the build! I would tell them what you're playing without going into too much details.
@Fabian: Was it your Demon Hunters recruitment? Well, maybe RL issues. I still cannot understand people who just disappear. It's like when you need to close a home game. You HAVE TO tell your players you aren't going to play anymore; you can't just turn off your phone and disappear never to be seen again. Even if PbP is online, I think that you're still dealing with people, not automatons, and as such one should always show respect to people who have devoted part of their time to play with you, to read your background and so on. A simple "I'm not going to be able to post anymore" would do. But disappearing without any notice just feels bad.
Excellent Giuseppe! I'm eagerly looking forward to the campaign.
Is there any particular area that Serolt would have specific knowledge of or a definite advantage over other 'guides'?
Not to any great degree, but there are a few small things. I'm a very good tracker (+7 already) and wealthy for my level (already have a horse for example, so I can keep up with any mounted work without the loan of a horse) so I'm well equipped.
I am also very good with my bow. Not many guides are combatants and not many bodyguards can track - or so I'd assume. So it's not that I excel in any particular way, it's just that I'm 'easy' to hire, 'easy' to work with, and fill more than one role so you don't need to hire as many men to do the same tasks.
@Giuseppe:
Yes, it was my Demon Hunter game; the guy even gave me two great PCs (Roan was who I chose). And I understand about real life issues but there's always time to say goodbye. My first GM for the Serpent's Skull game also disappeared without a trace.
So according to Euan's suggestion, you could open up recruitment on Thursday December 10th and close it on Tuesday December 15th; is this your plan?
So you applied to play in the other Kingmaker game?
@Serolt:
I'll add something more or less generic that will tie both PCs as having worked together in the past.
Game on!
Yes, I applied especially because it would feature a lot of homebrew elements. And above all else, I also want a chance to actually be a player, since my Second Darkness campaign is very slow. I had the character ready from the other recruitment, and since I think it's a good character I decided to submit it for consideration. With so many applicants, though, the chances of being selected are poor.
The timeline Euan has suggested sound fine to me too, even though I fear 5 days may not be enough to come up with a well developed character.
Hey guys, how is your characters' development going? I'm going to post in this thread in the next few days with the first post for my campaign's recruitment so as to receive some useful tips to further improve it.
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Serolt is ready, I think.
Giuseppe, as everyone can read this public thread, it might be better to chat about some things offline - via email or chat. Up to you of course, but I like to keep my sausage making private. :)
I just got back from out of town and will work (finish?) on my PC this afternoon.
Gisueppe: It's hard to keep track of this thread as it doesn't show on the 'campaign' page, would you mind making a Gameplay Thread?
All we would have to do is post and then delete it to have the campaign appear in our summary.
Depending on what you want advice on, I'm Ok doing it either public or private. Up to you.
For example, any preferences on potential players/PCs should be done in private in my opinion.
Ok, Jacobus is finished and ready to go.
Please let me know if you have any comments and/or edits.
Game on!
I was monitoring the other Kingmaker campaign recruitment, and I don't have good news.
Even though submission deadline is a little over 36 hours away, it sounds like selection may take 'several days'.
So that throws a big monkey wrench on our plans to start recruitment this Thursday.
Of course, it's up to you, but I would continue with our plan to open recruitment on Thursday, close it next Tuesday, and make a selection shortly after that. If you keep up with the applicants, there really is no reason to delay selection. If you do this, you will probably end up selecting PCs before the other game.
Heck, knowing this you may want to open up recruitment sooner.
I think your requirements for a fast-paced game will weed out a lot of the applicants.
Are you going to ask for 'exclusive' participation (meaning only one Kingmaker campaign)?
Thoughts?