Welcome to Kenabres, Mendev, and the Worldwound, legends-to-be! This is where we'll be doing most of our OOC discussions. I have a bit of a laundry list of things to clear up before we start up on the game.
First, and foremost among them - I ask that you add your status line to your posts - the area where I've got the link to our geographic maps. I'm pretty sure most of you have that already, but I want to make sure it's clear.
Second - these are questions for Verene and Elliot. Namely, that both of you are specialized in not only divination, but Foresight in particular. I don't overly mind the overlap, but I do want ask whether you two are alright with the overlap. If not, let's discuss how to fix it.
The other question is that for Riftwarden Orphans, if there are repeats, it recommends/commands that those who share the trait be siblings. Now, it's definitely possible that Elliot and Verene's parents are the same people, what with him being an aasimar and humans being quite capable of producing those. That said, she's fourteen years his senior, which means that if this is so, her parents would have to survive until she was at least 14. This would, of course, impact Verene's backstory - rather more than it would impact Elliot's.
Elliot, I recommend that you switch Skald out for Hallit in your languages.
Verene, I wanted to ask you about your stats - there're a few places where you treat your Dex bonus as though it's one less than it would otherwise be - I suspect as a result of switching from being middle-aged and losing the penalty? But I thought we should look into that.
Thesius, a couple things - I generally run without counting ammunition, especially if the party's been in a settlement where you could buy more recently. When I judge it appropriate, usually after a while outside of such a place, I start counting down as your theoretical reserves run low. In light of this, you probably want to reassess your spells known. Also, you have a free language unassigned - I'd like you to assign it.
Elyda, Merixia, I... don't have a whole lot to ask you two.
For everyone, though, I encourage you to discuss whether your characters have met or if they're just meeting for the first time, etc.
To Worldwound GM, thank you for the opportunity to take part in this campaign. I've updated the various fields in my profile to help fill in the status bar. There is still some tweaking to be done to add in stats. Edit: I've worked on fitting in what I thought to be relevant information into the status line. Is there anything else you would like added? Languages perhaps?
In regards to your concerns, I have swapped out abundant ammunition with comprehend languages. This thematically fits my character's want to for knowledge to help bring the threat of the Worldwound to an end.
I have also added Celestial to Thesius' known languages. Please let me know if there is one that you think better fits the setting, but I figured the language may be prevalent in the area with the crusaders.
To my fellow players, I look forward to playing with you and I would be happy to work with you to incorporate our backstories together. Thesius definitely makes his way through the city of Kenabres as he can, whether it be in seeking out obscure knowledge or joining in on a game of cards or dice.
Your stat line works for me, I think. I mostly ask my players to update things like "active conditions" and hp, etc. after an encounter so that I can make sure my stats are up to date when the next encounter happens, at which point I start tracking them again.
I put this at the bottom of every post I make combat - just so people can see how I format it.
Spells are in your hands, though - I trust you guys to keep track of them, etc.
With regards to the languages, Thesius, Celestial, Abyssal, and Hallit are good choices, in my opinion. Maybe leaning towards Abyssal or Hallit a tad, but all will probably see use.
I plan on updating the stat line as circumstances change, whether that be losing hit points, equipping/unequipping a shield, and so forth. If you find you wish for me to modify it in some fashion later on, just let me know.
Currently the AC is one less because I'm assuming he does not have his buckler currently equipped.
I have no problems keeping track of my spells. They are fairly limited and spontaneous so that makes it fairly easy at this point in the game.
I'll switch the language over to Abyssal, it makes sense he would work to learn the language of the enemy.
Hey there, everyone! Thanks for selecting me, Worldwound GM. And nice to see Merixia again as well :)
Regarding the Wizard overlap, I think I'll alter my build a bit then, also knowing the rest of the party now. While it's definitely a fun prospect of two foresight diviners trying to cheat the other in a friendly game of cards and wondering why their sixth sense is going haywire all over, party balance matters a bit too. :) I think Verene is going for a control wizard build?
If so, I think I'll shift Elliot a bit into my first concept for an evoker/blaster arcanist, playing into the pyromania aspect of the emberkin Aasimar. I think I might then go for Aeromancer as the arcanist specialization with the evocation admixture wizard school discovery. Essentially, he can change the damage types of his spells and is unusually powerful in raising caster levels of evocation spells. I had an idea for there being an unplained link between Elliot and Kharroumzadeh the storm King and him being good at wind (and all elemental magic) which I dropped during creation, which could be added back in?
I'd also, if allowed, would like to go variant multiclass into bard since we didn't get one with inspire courage in the final lineup, and we might need a bit more buffing there since we're a bit light on martial capacity. Would that be all right?
On the shared backstory of us wizards, would that mean that Elliot is Unaware in general that he has an older sister? Were they placed in different foster families on purpose and met during training later in the supposed headquarters of the Riftwardens in Kenabres (I believe the Librarium of the Black)? From reading her backstory, it seems Verene left for a large number of years to go into her journey of faith-introspection. Would she knowlingly leave her much younger brother behind in Kenrabes for all these years?
Regarding whether or not I met anyone before, Elliot's backstory is that he's been in trouble with the inquisition for a long time, but was locked away out of sight most of the time for his teenage years studying magic. There's a good chance I might have met Elyda as the party inquisitor before in less than favorable conditions. I suppose our relationship depends on her stance on discrimination/racism against persons portraying demon-like characteristics, like Elliot's fallen-angel ancestry and his penchant growing up for setting things on fire accidentally.
Outside of that, he's recently been a bit more active socially in doing stage magic with a theatre group. I might have met someone there before, or at Kenabres' large celebration? @Merixia, what do you think? Have we met before, other than in a parallel universe once? :)
Hey there, everyone! Thanks for selecting me, Worldwound GM. And nice to see Merixia again as well :)
Regarding the Wizard overlap, I think I'll alter my build a bit then, also knowing the rest of the party now. While it's definitely a fun prospect of two foresight diviners trying to cheat the other in a friendly game of cards and wondering why their sixth sense is going haywire all over, party balance matters a bit too. :) I think Verene is going for a control wizard build? If so, I think I'll shift Elliot a bit into my first concept for an evoker/blaster arcanist, playing into the pyromania aspect of the emberkin Aasimar and just taking the base arcanist class, foregoing the school specialization.
I'd also, if allowed, would like to go variant multiclass into bard since we didn't get one with inspire courage in the final lineup, and we might need a bit more buffing there since we're a bit light on martial capacity. Would that be all right?
I have no issue with it, if that's what you'd like to do. I mean, you were already heading into a performer with the stage magic bit.
On the shared backstory of us wizards, would that mean that Elliot is Unaware in general that he has an older sister? Were they placed in different foster families on purpose and met during training later in the supposed headquarters of the Riftwardens in Kenabres (I believe the Librarium of the Black)? From reading her backstory, it seems Verene left for a large number of years to go into her journey of faith-introspection. Would she knowlingly leave her much younger brother behind in Kenrabes for all these years?
That's mostly up to Verene, but I'll put my two cents in here - if you want to keep your backstories as close to what they are right now as you can (but want to pursue the sibling relationship), then I'd say that their foster parents were different for each of them, and that Verene probably knows she was going to have a younger sibling, but thinks that the parents died before the child was born, or something. I think that I can manage if you guys don't want to be related - or if you want to be cousins, or something - but I'll probably figure such out more completely once the reveals plotted into the AP come out.
Sure, that sounds reasonable!
I edited my above post slightly; I'd forgotten the arcanist archetype I took originally for the evoker build was Aeromancer with the intent of taking the evocation wizard school arcane discovery (school understanding) at level 3. This would allow him to change any evocation school spell to other elemental types such as fire. I had an idea for there being some unclear potential link between Elliot and Kharroumzadeh the Storm king and that he might have gotten some unexplained evocation powers relating to him, which I eventually scrapped in favor of going to the other school. That said, while Aeromancer is probably 'best' for an evocation Arcanist and that wind control adds to fire potential, the archetype's flavor text names the Shory, who are otherwise not involved with the worldwound at all. So... would an alternate explanation as above still be enough to be allowed to take that?
Aeromancers are originally from Shory Empire, which was in Southern Garund and had a whole lot of flying cities. It's rather far afield, but it's a possible archetype. I like the whole pyromania angle, though I'm unclear on how it relates to the Aeromancer school. Unless that was the part that tied him with the Storm King?
Ah, wait, now I see your edits. Okay, hm. I mean, arcanists study their own natural talents, so I don't see why something similar couldn't crop up in Mendev.
Yeah, that exactly. Kharroumzadeh is named the storm king. Not knowing anything else about him, I assume he is a major entity with control over storm evocation. Perhaps one of Elliot's dead parents managed to syphon some part of his power away from him, or something among those lines?
Alternatively, Peri-blooded arcanists are often stated of having horrible nightmares of inflicting cruelties on others. Perhaps in these visions, he sees things from the point of Kharroumzadeh and gleans some of his knowledge from these bouts, or instinctively knows it without understanding why. As to why there's such a link... well, no idea? But it's fun for me as the player to not know :)
A more simple explanation is that his angelic Peri ancestor,
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/peri/
has limited control over wind as well as fire. Their whirlwind dance ability literally makes whirlwinds. It's stated as a dance that keeps increasing in speed until it's a tornado. I guess that implies some inherant control over wind?
Khorramzadeh is a balor that is essentially Deskari's commander in the Worldwound - the most powerful of the demon warlords of the Worldwound. Just before the Fourth Crusade (in 4692), he launched an attack on Kenabres that damaged the wardstone, and prompted the Fourth Crusade. He's pretty infamous - mostly for that, but he's also covered in/associated with lightning rather than fire, which is atypical for balors.
And yes, peris are associated with wind and fire, I imagine. That seems more predictable, if not as interesting.
Ah, I see. Well, either works for me. Could make for a nice twist, too. Elliot just assumes he can do it because he has innate Peri blood, but it's actually because... :)
Thanks for selecting us for the campaign, GM! Lots of strong writers in this group! I'm excited to play with you all and see where the story takes us.
Worldwound GM: The places in Verene's stat block where her numbers were too low by 1 were a result of changing from a 20-point-buy build to a 25-point-buy. Her starting Int went up to 19, so no change in stats there, and her Dex went up by 2. I forgot to adjust a couple of secondary stats up by 1 to account for the increased Dex, and by the time I realized, it was too late to change the submission post. However, I made the corrections as I saw inconsistencies in her character profile, and I think everything should be properly added up there now, including on the stat line. I also initially had removed her skill point in Perception because I wasn't sure where an extra skill point was coming from, but then I realized - favored class bonus! Duh. So she starts with a total of 10 skill points - 2 (class) + 4 (Int bonus) + 1 (human racial) + 1 (favored class) + 2 (background). And her Perception and Sense Motive account for the Alertness feat granted by her familiar. I'm glad you're reading the stat blocks closely enough to notice things like that!
I've updated my stat line so it includes statuses on uses of prescience, Diviner's Fortune, and Thamyris. If conditions happen, I'll put them there too. If something's ever missing that you'd like to see there, just let me know.
GM and Elliot: I could definitely change Verene to be more of a blaster than a control build if necessary, but it does seem Elliot's concept has more synergy with evocation than hers does. The Foresight school you were originally going with seems really strong, with that 8th-level Foretell buff for the whole party as a free action! I'm tempted to switch to Foresight over vanilla Divination. However, Diviner's Fortune is a decent buff for lower levels that stacks with Guidance, so I suppose I'll keep her as is, pending something I've missed.
As far as their relationship to each other, here's a way they could be blood siblings but keep the backstories relatively intact: there's a 14-year age gap. If I have the timeline right, Khorramzadeh last attacked Kenabres when Verene was 14. She could believe her baby brother was killed along with her blood parents in that attack, when in truth he was saved but raised by other people who didn't know who he was or that he still had living family. And she left Kenabres on her doomed Bildungsroman only 4 years later, before they had a chance to meet again. How does that sound? All we would have to decide is if they've met each other again in Kenabres in the past few years, before the story starts, and how awkward that is on a scale of 1 to Extremely. :)
Indeed! I'll see what I settle on.
That said, I would ask that you put your stat line up - as Thesius has done (though your formatting there is up to you).
The stat line is the line of gray text right under the character name for each post, right? Edited under the "Classes/levels" field in the character profile? This is what it looks like for me right now:
Female Human Wizard (Diviner) 1 | HP 7/7 | AC 12 (T 12 FF 10) | Prescience 7/7 | Diviner's Fortune 7/7 | CMD 12 | Fort +1 Ref +2 Will +3 | Init +7 | Perc +4 (+8 Thamyris). Thamyris: HP 3/3; AC 17, T 16, FF 15
Is that formatting okay?
Yeah, that's what I've decided to call it, lacking as I do a formal name for it. And yeah, that looks fine to me, Verene.
GM and Elliot: I could definitely change Verene to be more of a blaster than a control build if necessary, but it does seem Elliot's concept has more synergy with evocation than hers does. The Foresight school you were originally going with seems really strong, with that 8th-level Foretell buff for the whole party as a free action! I'm tempted to switch to Foresight over vanilla Divination. However, Diviner's Fortune is a decent buff for lower levels that stacks with Guidance, so I suppose I'll keep her as is, pending something I've missed.
As far as their relationship to each other, here's a way they could be blood siblings but keep the backstories relatively intact: there's a 14-year age gap. If I have the timeline right, Khorramzadeh last attacked Kenabres when Verene was 14. She could believe her baby brother was killed along with her blood parents in that attack, when in truth he was saved but raised by other people who didn't know who he was or that he still had living family. How does that sound? All we would have to decide is if they've met each other again in Kenabres, before the story starts, and how awkward that is on a scale of 1 to Extremely. :)
Yeah, foresight is awesome :) What can i say except I like teamwork abilities and party buffs! I don't think foresight it is a free action, though? But at mythic tier 2 you get the option to spend a mythic point to take a non-spell extra standard action during your turn. My plan was to cast spells normally and use that mythic ability to activate foretell on the same turn before casting it if necessary (lowering all enemy saves by 2 among other debuffs) or just buffing the party instead.
The level 1 foresight power, prescience, is really good as well, as it's a free action to use, and you then know exactly what you'll roll beforehand for any one d20 roll that turn! Aka Legal Cheating! In the past, I played a wizard with it for 2 levels and that was *extremely* useful to know. If he rolled high, he could shoot something with a bow or use a spell that relied on an attack roll (hydraulic push, thunderstomp etc). If low, he instead used a save or suck effect. Black tentacles, to name an example for later game, also becomes even more deadly if you know you will roll high before casting it. I imagine it's even better in a demon-heavy campaign to know if you'll roll high enough to pierce spell resistance beforehand.
On their background, the problem I see with that explanation is that Elliot is very visually distinct. There can't be that many peri-blooded aasimar with golden eyes and flaming hair around :) However, the presumed death angle from that attack could still definitely work! Maybe the assumed loss of both her parents and baby brother triggered Verene quickly setting out in a crisis of faith, running away from home style, and by leaving prematurely she missed Elliot still being alive? I guess you'd definitely recognize Elliot or at least strongly suspect it could be hima, but since he'd have been a baby, he'd have no idea who Verene is. I guess it doesn't have to be awkward until Verene tells him?
@Worldwound GM I'll get to that, brb.
Edit @Verene I guess it's fitting we have virtually identical stats, being siblings :)
Ah, shoot, I missed your first post somehow, Verene. Uh, let's see... Are you not a Foresight focused school diviner? I could swear that that's on your sheet. If you're planning on going plain diviner, that's fine too. I just want to be sure.
Khorramzadeh (Thank you, auto-correct. Somehow, you managed to get that without me having to look it up.) attacked Kenabres in 4692, which would have been... 21 years ago? Terendalev, the silver dragon guardian of Kenabres nearly killed him and pushed his forces back.
Her parents probably also survived, given that they went out on some sort of mission that they didn't return from - in terms of the trait's story, which will come up as mythic trials once you guys get out of the first adventure.
Oh, I was fooled by Foretell not mentioning the type of action it takes to "utter" your prediction. I didn't read it closely and just thought "well, talking is a free action!" But since it's a supernatural ability, and supernatural abilities are a standard action unless otherwise stated, that must take precedence. Makes sense. Still, if you can do it right before combat or in the first round, it would definitely be worth it, even with a very action-economy-crunched 8th-level wizard.
I also think I may have added in a school power that doesn't apply, and Prescience is only attached to the Foresight school, which means it conflicts with Diviner's Fortune. In that case I'll remove Diviner's Fortune. I wondered why she didn't have it listed before! So she is already a Foresight focused diviner, not vanilla. Sorry for the confusion!
Re: their backstory, it could be possible that either: Elliot's aasimar traits became more pronounced as he aged, or that Verene was immediately sent away to live with her foster parents, who were still devout Iomedae worshipers but perhaps were retired and didn't live in Kenabres. Or both! It wouldn't make sense for a fourteen-year-old to start traveling the world on her own, I think, but it could be that she hadn't been back to Kenabres since she was fourteen.
Edit for GM: I see, I didn't realize that the parents dying on a mission into the Worldwound was important to the adventure. Perhaps it could go something like: parents sent on mission while 13/14-year-old Verene and baby Elliot remained behind. Parents do not return, Khorramzadeh attacks, Elliot is lost in a burning/collapsed building or something so she believes him dead (but his peri-blooded powers protect him!). She is sent to live with family friends or distant relations who are devout worshipers of Iomedae in another part of Mendev. Relevant authorities, who might try to reunite them if they knew Elliot's identity, either don't realize exactly who his parents were, or have lost track of where Verene went in the confusion. Maybe they even believe she was also killed! So he's sent to a different foster family and his backstory can stay the same.
Yeah, that can work too. It could indeed manifest gradually, and Flaming hair also isn't very distinct if you have virtually no hair as a baby to begin with. Perhaps Verene wouldn't know her baby brother even was an aasimar then? Going by that angle, there doesn't seem to be a way for them to know or recognize the other, except for the same Riftwarden birthmark. Which, being the campaign trait, seems to fit perfectly.
You're flip-flopping avatars/profiles, Elliot. Something to watch out for.
I updated the post above, sorry for the confusion. Verene is indeed a Foresight specialized diviner, I just forgot that because it's been a while since making her. Let me know if that version of their history works with the campaign's events and Elliot's backstory.
It could indeed be that she didn't ever even know her brother was an aasimar, which would be kind of incredible for RP when they meet up later and discover how similar they are. I could see her being terrifically guilty for 'abandoning' him, or incredibly jealous of his celestial nature. Or both at once!
Yeah, all the traits have ties to hooks throughout the AP. I think that the revised backstory works - if it works for Elliot, I'm perfectly okay with it.
Also, good to know you're in the Foresight focused school. I'll update my notes accordingly.
Hello, all!
Apologies for the slow entrance - time zone differences and a COVID lock down where I live has contributed to this. However, I'm here now and excited to play! I am going to go read through each character backstory, as I haven't done that as yet, and then I can see if there are hooks that could help Elyda connect with other characters.
Worldwound GM: Thank you for selecting Elyda to be in your game. I am looking forward to playing. :)
Elliot Worthane:
Elliot's backstory is that he's been in trouble with the inquisition for a long time, but was locked away out of sight most of the time for his teenage years studying magic. There's a good chance I might have met Elyda as the party inquisitor before in less than favorable conditions. I suppose our relationship depends on her stance on discrimination/racism against persons portraying demon-like characteristics, like Elliot's fallen-angel ancestry and his penchant growing up for setting things on fire accidentally.
Elyda is from Vigil in Lastwall. While Vigil is fairly homogeneous ideologically, it is quite ethnically and racially diverse, so I don't believe that Elliot's Peri ancestry will be a point of contention or a source of racial discrimination for her. With Archons belief that chaos is the root of all mortal suffering and a Peri's inner conflict with their good and evil urges - perhaps that might prove a sore point if Elyda believes Elliot is making rash, reckless, selfish decisions etc that may put them all at unnecessary risk. I will need to read his backstory to see what kind of trouble Elliot's been in to add any more to their possible connection. :)
One of the themes of this particular game is how truly united the crusaders are (or aren't), and how the crusaders themselves have impacted the locals. Specifically, the Kellids and their druidic pantheism.
Your mention or ethnic and racial diversity reminded me to share that. xD
Thanks for mentioning that, Worldwound GM. That's good to know.
===
Okay, I've now had the chance to read through each backstory.
Elliot: The accusation of heresy, attempted murder of a high inquisitor and consorting with the enemy when Elliot was only 10 years old would not cause Elyda to be prejudiced against him for he was only a child. However, if Elliot believes he is being watched/followed by the inquisitors and city watch, then perhaps Elyda has been warned about him by fellow lawkeepers, so, I believe she would only know of his "reputation" with the local inquisitors/watch and be cautious/watchful until he proves (through his actions/deeds) the accusations are unfounded. (She'd know of him through hearsay, but not know him personally - so they wouldn't have met formally.)
As for the other characters, if any one of them have some connection/interaction with the local Iomedaean priests, then she would have briefly met them (at least remember their names/faces). The only one I'm unsure of is Verene - Elyda may not have crossed paths with her before the group comes together. Merixia, being a Tiefling, may draw more of Elyda's keen attention/curiosity to determine if she is trustworthy, however there would no immediate animosity coming from Elyda.
I think it would be an interesting dynamic if Elyda were to formally meet the others for the first time when they come together with their united goals/missions (through the GM"s story/plot hook).
Out of curiosity, how many people are familiar with the AP? I know that two players - Elliot and Merixia - have played at least a little of the AP before, and I know some folks have had access to the CRPG beta, but...
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I live! Sorry for the late post, it's been a hard day. But I got in, and so did Elliot, so things are looking up!
@GM: We only got two forum pages into the previous game. There was another game before that, years ago, that I got into, but that one died quickly too. Hopefully third time is the charm!
@Elliot: I'm down to have Merixia and Elliot know each other ahead of time. Maybe they met at a performance?
@Elyda: If Elyda is hanging out with the priests of Iomedae, she's probably encountered Merixia at least in passing. Merixia enjoys sparring in her downtime, so if Elyda does too, they could have met that way.
Not sure about Verene or Thesius.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
GM: Eight years ago I started playing in a WotR campaign, but I didn't play for very long and do not remember much of what I did participate in.
Merixia: First seeing your character in passing at the Iomedaean temple sounds good. I also like the further connection of them having sparred together - I can see Elyda and Merixia facing each other, practicing with their respective blades, perhaps under the watchful/expert mentoring eyes of the Iomedaean priests? Thank you for suggesting that! :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Yes, Merixia would most likely prefer sparring on temple grounds with priests watching. Less chance for a crusader with a grudge against tieflings to "accidentally" go too far. She doesn't mind aasimars unless they give her attitude for her ancestry, and it sounds like Elyda is pretty egalitarian as far as race goes.
As far as building a backstory with the other characters, I think Thesius and Verene would have had a lot of opportunities to meet: she spends much of her time in the library, doing research into old objects and making translations into Common/Taldane of texts and documents in other languages. She might also be called on to identify the properties of magic items sometimes. I don't know if she knows much about the secret(?) society of the Riftwardens, but it's possible that they could have worked on odd jobs for them together and met that way too.
For Elyda and Merixia, there might have been less opportunity to meet. It seems Merixia at least has just arrived in the city and may not have met anyone yet, which is fine. These days, Verene avoids temples and religious devotees on purpose. She doesn't attend services and lives a quiet, inconspicuous life that would not bring her to the attention of law enforcement. However, you never know - everyone might meet on market days and holidays. Or if one of them wanted the services of a scholar, translator (for Tien or Vudran, since both speak Abyssal), or magic-item-identifier, they might have run into her.
It does seem like I may have spoken too soon about the possible shared backstory for her and Elliot.
Unfortunately, you never knew your parents, for you were raised by a foster family in Kenabres. Your foster family has confirmed that both of your parents were Riftwardens, and has further confirmed that your parents went missing on a secret mission into the Worldwound less than a month after you were born.
Having now reread the Riftwarden Orphan campaign trait in the Player's Guide, I'm not sure that what we talked about above works. If it's important for the campaign that both Verene and Elliot never knew their parents, to the point of not even knowing their identities, and they have the same parents, the large age gap becomes more awkward. Here are some things we could do to resolve this:
Option 1: Elliot is older. Slight background change, no mechanical changes. They're the same age (fraternal twins), or close enough that neither remembers their parents or each other, and Elliot is older than before. They were placed with different foster families for some reason; we could figure out more details about whether they knew about each other growing up or not, but they definitely weren't brought up as siblings. Both keep the Riftwarden Orphan trait. Functionally, Elliot has been an adult for longer, but otherwise his background and appearance stay the same (since he's an aasimar, who by the usual rules age even slower than any race but elves and dhampir.) Verene's background stays mostly the same.
Option 2: Verene is younger. Significant background change, no mechanical changes. They're approximately the same age and Verene is younger than before. I am reluctant to do this because I would have to fully rewrite her backstory as a wanderer for over a decade, plus re-evaluating her party role, but it would certainly be possible to do it without changing the crunch at all.
Option 3: Verene takes the Child of the Crusade trait instead of Riftwarden Orphan. Slight mechanical change, slight background change. Almost no changes need to be made to her backstory and none to Elliot's. I like this trait better flavorfully for her than Riftwarden Orphan anyway, since it fits with her longing from an early age to serve Iomedae like her (foster) parents; the only reason I didn't take it in the first place is that the associated Marshal mythic path doesn't seem like a great fit for her, as obviously she'd be going Archmage. However, I truly don't know how important it is to have the "right" trait for your Mythic Path. Would need your advice here, Worldwound GM.
Option 4: Elliot takes another trait instead of Riftwarden Orphan. Slight mechanical change, significant background change. If Elliot's planning on multiclassing to bard, perhaps the Child of the Crusade and associated Marshal mythic abilities would actually be a good fit for him. However, Elliot's player has done a lot of work on the foster family NPCs for him, which don't seem to be a storied crusader family, and I don't want to discount that.
I guess my preference at this point would be Option 3, then 1>4>2, but any of them would be fine.
Edit: To answer your question, Worldwound GM, I've played a tiny bit of the AP before on these boards, ending after about 4 combat encounters. So, really no plot had taken place yet except the very intense opening scene and learning the names of several important NPCs. I'm looking forward to playing the Owlcat CRPG when it comes out, because I liked their version of Kingmaker, but I haven't played the Wrath beta at all.
@Verene: Just my two cents worth, after reading the backstory for Verene, I thought Child of the Crusade would be a good campaign trait for her to take based on the story. However, I hear you regarding going Archmage.
@Thesius Monteblanc: Hi! Looking over your char sheet, it seems you have one additional language you can give your guy... As a Half-Elf, you start with Common and Elven, you've picked up Abyssal and you have one more bonus language slot left as your INT is 14 (+2). :)
Worldwound GM, I played in what I believe was a highly modified version of the game years ago. Something about old D&D aspects being brought into the game led me to believe this.
I have also played part of the CRPG beta, but I will work to not make any decisions on previous information I've run across.
Elyda kindly pointed out I'm missing another language. I'm going to go with Hallit for that one. I think me and Verene can use that to help us spin together a cohesive backstory for how they came to know each other.
Elliot, I could see the two characters perhaps having crossed paths during one of Elliot's performances. However it's quite possible that they were caught up in their own activities at the time to really talk. Thesius perhaps making note of the Elliot's distinctive look.
Verene, I do feel like it makes sense for our two characters to have an existing relationship. Perhaps helping one another in translations, acting as sounding boards, and even tutors in new languages.
Elliot, Verene, and Worldwound GM, is it be possible that Verene was put into the care of another family as her birth parents continued their dangerous work?
That or perhaps Elliot and Verene only share one parent?
It's possible that the "patrol" Thesius' father died on might have included their parents as well depending on how much of a connection we would like to make between characters as well.
Elyda, thanks for pointing out the missing language.
Elyda and Merixia, again I don't necessarily see Thesius having much interaction with the two beyond maybe in passing while Thesius seeks out new sources of information about the Worldwound.
While having had a close encounter with a demon years ago, I think Thesius would be fairly open to judging everyone on their actions unless revealed to be a full demon. Tieflings are not unheard of in taking part in the crusades, so it quite possible he has run across them before having spent most of his life in Kenabres.
No problem, Thesius. Just didn't want you to miss out on a language. :)
As to the characters, I believe it makes sense (and doesn't seem forced) if we all haven't met before, and, in some cases this is our first meeting. It plays into the theme of unifying - of our group coming together and learning how to work together. I'm good with not having had any or much prior interaction with Verene and Thesius and meeting them for the first time.
All right! Catching back up a bit...
@Worldwound GM, I've played the Beta videogame up to roughly what I think the halfway point of the story is (I completed most of act 3, if you know what that means). Five or six years ago, I was invited to an ongoing campaign where we speedran parts of book 2 and 3, but that ended fairly quickly. It did only the main storyline in paraphrasing what happened and we fought important 'main' encounters at a rate of 2 or perhaps 3 sessions per book. I remember feeling disappointed that it seemed like almost everything was skipped and that I wanted to do it properly at some point, but also the start and finish.
@Merixia Sure! We could have met at a performance. I was going for that Elliot is a novice stage magician and that he's only very recently started doing so. Assisting the play of the Jolly Jousters at Kenabres' yearly celebration, where the module seems to begin, is probably his first major one. Perhaps you saw one of the rehearsals? Though there might also be something said meeting at that one, only just prior to hell breaking lose? :)
@Verene, Elliot being as old as Verene but aging more slowly due to being aasimar can work. I'd probably have to either rewrite his foster family or make them a longer-lived race to compensate. But... that probably works out well. If Aasimar age slowly, it makes sense to place them in a foster family that also ages slowly. It can work if they're half-elves or such. On the traits, the player's guide strongly hints that they change at some point during the story and I can remember that they were indeed tailor-made to be *really* good for the specific assumed role the mythic path has. To what narritive degree it matters, I don't know.
@Thesius What is your character currently doing in his every day life and what kind of personality does he have? It might help a bit for previous connections to know more about this. If Thesius is a skirt chaser bard, he might have tried to hit on Elliot's foster sister (I'll probably change his family to half-elves to match Vereena's backstory). I'd imagine the half-elf community in Kenabres is somewhat limited. Though I'm also fine not having met previously. It does indeed not make much sense for everyone to know eachother beforehand.
@Elayda All right, sure. Then we haven't met, but you know Elliot by reputation/alleged infamy among the inquisition?
Okay, uh... lots to digest.
Verene: There's a significant mechanical benefit to choosing the mythic path associated with your trait. To take an example that no one here has: Child of the Crusades, if one chooses the Marshal mythic path, gives you a flat +2 to Will saving throws. Further, when they succeed on a saving throw to resist a demon's mental influence, they can spend a use of mythic power to stagger the demon for 1 round/mythic tier, with a chance for the demon to half that with its own will save.
They're not insignificant benefits.
It's neat to see what you guys will find interesting and what plots and differences you'll notice between my GMing and others', as well as between me and Owlcat.
I'm planning on opening the gameplay thread up today, so once the question of our arcane casters' relationship is settled, I'll do so.
I'll also add that if you want to reflavor the Riftwarden Orphan, it's possible Verene might be Elliot's young aunt? Tying her to the Riftwardens through her sibling and their spouse, or something? Alternately, in that case, maybe both Elliot's parents and Verene's (who would be Elliot's grandparents) were Riftwardens, with the former seeking out the latter's mission in the aftermath of Khorramzadeh's attack twenty years ago. It could be finnagled, is what I'm saying.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Also, for our divine casters: this lists the additional spells you get as clerics and inquisitors for your deities.
Since I worked out a way to not immediately need the two arcane casters to interact, I figured I'd post the gameplay thread opener now rather than make people wait.
It's entirely likely I've been sitting on the post throughout the whole of yesterday, and got impatient to share it.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
@GM, thanks for getting back to me and trying to make it all work together. The only problem I see with Verene both being older than the orphaned Elliot and knowing they're related is that it makes it much less likely that she would set out on that long pilgrimage in the first place. As his aunt, she would feel responsible for him on some level.
@Elliot, if you're willing to make Elliot a bit older than originally described, I do think that would require the least changes for both of us. From what Worldwound GM said, it seems that taking the "right" trait for your planned Mythic Path is quite important. So if at least one of his foster parents could be of a long-lived race, or still human but getting on in years, then the two of them can just be blood siblings sent to different foster families as very young children. That seems the simplest to me.
Elliot, I don't know that he would have openly hit on Elliot's sister. While tending towards a light-hearted demeanor, Thesius tends to spend his time gambling or researching. It is possible he may have have bought the troupe a round out of appreciation being that he is a follower of Desna the Starsong.
A quick glance at Kenabres does show the majority of it's population to be human with a small population of other races. While half-elves number among one of the higher populations outside of humans it is still a fair small number in comparison to humans.
@Verene agreed, I'll make his foster family half-elves as discussed. They at least reach maturity around the same speed as Aasimar. Just in case, for clarity, that would mean you were placed in a different foster family than mine simply because you are a normal human and I would (eventually) age more slowly? And we don't know eachother since we were seperated at a very young age, and not told about the other as an additional safety measure of sorts? No one knows what mission our parents were on and what powerful demon they might have pissed off during it...
@Wordwound_GM
First Awesome first post!
Second, I've been looking through some of the mythic stuff planning out the build for later and I'd like to ask one thing before we begin, even though I realize it's a while off before this might become a thing.
The ability I'd like to ask about is Inspired Defense from the marshall path. This is game-mechanically the main reason Elliot would branch into marshall and his main mechanical benefit of being a variant multiclass bard. Taking it requires giving up 50% of all his feats and 20% of all his mythic abilties, so the cost for taking it is huge.
However, It's also arguably quite broken (even seemingly among mythic), adding (the inspire courage bonus + Elliot's mythic tier combined) to all saving throws for all members while inspire courage lasts. That's eventually a +14/+15 morale bonus on all saves at mythic rank 10 for everyone and practically ensures no one ever fails a save outside of a natural 1, long before we even reach endgame.
Are you ok with this being a thing? Is the module prepared for something like this? I'd find objections to this entirely understandable, in which case I'll instead drop the bard and marshall paths and go full arcane caster. Losing half your feats to VMC in the projection means a lot of other fun abilities or tricks cannot be used.
I'm going to work on getting up a post shortly. My availability will be somewhat low this evening as I have my niece's birthday to attend, but I will try to keep up and at least get another post in before the end of the night.
@Wordwound_GM
First Awesome first post!
Thanks!
Second, I've been looking through some of the mythic stuff planning out the build for later and I'd like to ask one thing before we begin, even though I realize it's a while off before this might become a thing.
The ability I'd like to ask about is Inspired Defense from the marshall path. This is game-mechanically the main reason Elliot would branch into marshall and his main mechanical benefit of being a variant multiclass bard. Taking it requires giving up 50% of all his feats and 20% of all his mythic abilties, so the cost for taking it is huge.
However, It's also arguably quite broken (even seemingly among mythic), adding (the inspire courage bonus + Elliot's mythic tier combined) to all saving throws for all members while inspire courage lasts. That's eventually a +14/+15 morale bonus on all saves at mythic rank 10 for everyone and practically ensures no one ever fails a save outside of a natural 1, long before we even reach endgame.
Are you ok with this being a thing? Is the module prepared for something like this? I'd find objections to this entirely understandable, in which case I'll instead drop the bard and marshall paths and go full arcane caster. Losing half your feats to VMC in the projection means a lot of other fun abilities or tricks cannot be used.
Hm... honestly, that's a little out of my expertise, but I'm pretty sure you can't "branch into" another mythic path - at least, that I can tell. They're similar to classes, but not exactly the same. If you have any info contradicting that, that's fair. Wait, scratch that, I'm almost positive you're stuck with only one mythic path when you get mythic power - the one you started with. If you want to go marshal, that's fine, but I don't think an archmage has any means of getting to that ability.
Beyond that, I'm not wholly comfortable with the projection you offer - I'm not wholly sure that the AP is built to handle that. It could be, but I am not very good at judging this sort of thing. In any case, with what you've pointed out, I'd say I'd like to avoid it if possible.
I will eventually check to see whether DCs get absurdly high in late mythic territory, but I am not sure they do.
Variant multiclassing into bard would not grant inspire courage until level 7, so it’s a long haul to that ability.
Worldwound GM, the Dual Path feat allows you to traverse into another mythic path. Not sure that that was the intention here, but it is one of at least two ways I’m aware of to get access to a power from another path.
Oh, hey, you're right. So it does!
I know the Trickster path has an option for it as well, but Mythic does have some interesting choices out there. I don’t think I realized/remembered just how broken a bard could be with it.
Yeah, that one looks pretty broken. Even by mythic standards.
@Thesius Yeah, I'm aware. It would be a long haul there. And yes, you're right that I was planning on taking the dual path mythic ability to be able to select some abilities from Marshall and Archmage. Dual path (and path dabbling, the Trickster ability) seem to allow for some pretty sweet combinations of abilities between mythic paths.
@Worldwound GM Got it. I'll refrain from going there. Thinking about it more in general, I think the game can't be balanced around assuming someone has it as that'd make saves impossible to make for teams not having it. And going for anything that stops anyone ever failing a save seems to break the game more than I'm comfortable with too.
Elliot, we should decide if Verene and Elliot know of their family tie by now. I imagine they would certainly know each other casually because both are students of magic in the same town, although it seems Elliot is being directly mentored by the Riftwardens in a way I don't think that Verene really is. Perhaps they might not have found out about the true connection yet? The Riftwarden birthmark is a pretty unmistakable clue, but there's no guarantee that either would have talked about it, and Verene's is hidden by her hair most of the time.
Verene: Prompting your familiar to look is fine by me in this context. Also, I take it you'd like to speak for him? I don't mind, I just want to know whether I should take that on.