So, originally I kept Ronen's background pretty brief in deference to the request to not write a novella. But I'm looking through some of these other submissions and that's some nice work you folks have done. So I think I'm gonna expand a bit. Also, this should address the samsaran 'controversy'. And to be extra mean I've got a multiple choice backstory! Depending on how the samsaran age goes, and a response to a trait reinterpretation, Ronen would use one of these. Assuming he's chosen anyway, if not then I suppose those questions won't matter. Also, I noticed that apparently Sandpoint was founded 40 years ago so doing things in Sandpoint farther back than that doesn't really make sense.
Even with three options it's still not a novella post. I'm not quite that big of a jerk.
Ronen was 'born' somewhere in the wilderness near Sandpoint. As a samsaran his 'birth' wasn't the usual affair. He appeared in the body of a teenager with fragmented memories of his last life. He thinks his last incarnation was an adventurer of some kind who died in Varisia, far away from home. Since he obviously had no camping gear, or any idea where he was, this was not a good start for a new life. He wondered around for some amount of time looking for civilization; he became delirious and doesn't remember how long. He finally found a trail and chose a direction but fell unconscious before finding help. Some time later he was awoken by a Varisian woman who nursed him back to health.
The woman turned out to be Koya Mvashti. After saving Ronen from dying of exposure she let him ride along with the caravan back to Sandpoint.
After a day or so of recuperating he remembered how to speak and that his last incarnation' s name was Ronen. He decided to continue using it. Koya helped him to find a place in Sandpoint and he has spent the last year living there. He found that he retained some skill with engineering and took on jobs as a handy man. The people of Sandpoint found him odd, especially his blank eyes and the fact that objects seem to move themselves in his presence, but his easy going personality kept people at ease around him.
Recently the spirits of his past lives have become more prominent and he began to have strange dreams. Shortly thereafter he began conjuring spells by accident. He talked to Koya and her mother about it and they helped him learn what he could about his burgeoning magical abilities, though it seemed to be an innate ability instead of coming from devotion.
Ronen has had a small desire to return to Tian Xia and find his people, but he's in no hurry. If he doesn't make it in this life perhaps he will in the next. For now he prefers to remain near the woman who showed him such kindness.
Ronen was 'born' somewhere in Varisia . As a samsaran his 'birth' wasn't the usual affair. He appeared in the body of a child with fragmented memories of his last life. He thinks his last incarnation was an adventurer of some kind who died in Varisia, far away from home.
Having no family, he was taken in by a fortune-teller named Niska Mvashti. Being a samsaran, he aged much slower than the other children around which actually didn't bother him much. He always got along better with adults. He seemed to understand things that most children don't.
When he was around 20 his younger sister, Koya, was born. She also grew much quicker than he and before long the older/younger sibling dynamic changed. Not in a direct flip due to Ronen's child sage personality but little things here and there. As strange as the pair's relationship was the two remained close throughout their lives.
Shortly after the Mvashti family helped found Sandpoint, Ronen began to manifest strange abilities. He saw glimpses of the future from time to time and gained the ability to cast spells. So, he started helping with the fortune telling business.
While grieving for Niska the spirits that have always followed Ronen around became more forceful. He doesn't know what this portends but he doubts it is good.
Ronen has heard that his people are from the far away land of Tian Xia. He figures that his previous incarnation must have died in Varisia for him to have been born so far from the Dragon Empires. Maybe someday he'll travel there to see his homeland but so far he enjoys Varisia.
Ronen lived in an orphanage as a young man. Until he gained the power of prophesy that is. Being the Age of Lost Omens his foresight is not terribly accurate but any amount is something the wrong type of people were willing to exploit. Fortunately for Ronen, samsarans have more life experience as children than most races, even if those experiences are poorly remembered dreams. So he was able to prevent being exploited overly much and eventually began travelling Varisia and exploiting his abilities himself.
About 50 years ago he met another fortune teller in his travels, Niska Mvashti. They became fast friends and Ronen visited her many times as he passed through Sandpoint.
Not long before Niska passed away he received a message from her asking for him to visit one last time. He hurried back to Sandpoint and was very relieved to make it in time. He stayed in town afterward to watch over little Koya, though she isn't little anymore.
So, originally I kept Ronen's background pretty brief in deference to the request to not write a novella. But I'm looking through some of these other submissions and that's some nice work you folks have done. So I think I'm gonna expand a bit. Also, this should address the samsaran 'controversy'. And to be extra mean I've got a multiple choice backstory! Depending on how the samsaran age goes, and a response to a trait reinterpretation, Ronen would use one of these. Assuming he's chosen anyway, if not then I suppose those questions won't matter. Also, I noticed that apparently Sandpoint was founded 40 years ago so doing things in Sandpoint farther back than that doesn't really make sense.
Even with three options it's still not a novella post. I'm not quite that big of a jerk.
** spoiler omitted **...
I'd prefer one of the two latter ones, if I'm honest, but I wouldn't mind the first one overmuch either.
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Whittling down to 4 (or perhaps 5-6) players is going to be hard, so many ways a party could be built with these submissions.
Yeah, I agree with FangDragon, you've got some real work ahead of you.
Also, I think I will leave my traits alone. I like the way I have it set up currently, screw optimizatioN! If I really wanted that i wouldn't be gunning for mystic theurge in the first place, and this makes for better story anyway.
I know, right? This is practically the hardest part of GMing a PbP on these forums. (It's not, but damn if it doesn't feel like it is sometimes.)
And just to hopefully make it all a bit harder, I'll add my character to the mix.
I stepped away from my purely martial concept and from being Shalelu's kid sister. Instead I present Roko Kaijitsu, Ameiko's little brother. He'd be 3 years her junior, a full sibling and a bit of an arse in the way only little brothers can.
He has been named after his grandfather so his full name is Rokuro, though everyone calls him Roko.
He's CN at the start but I envision him growing towards CG. At 19 he is still growing out of his teenage antics and I guess nothing would help doing that quite as quickly as the adventuring life.
Class-wise he's an Extemporaneous Channeler Occultist, meaning he slaps people with whatever happens to be handy and uses those same things to cast his spells. He also has some MacGyver-like tendencies and he's a very creative person.
While not overly religious he does have a love for trickster gods, especially Sun Wukong, even carrying a stone holy symbol of the Monkey King around his neck.
Ameiko His big sister. He loves her dearly, something that became so much clearer due to the actions of their father and half brother. Then again, she also is his sister and he feels free to be thoroughly annoyed by her, a feeling that is mutual.
Being quite handy, Roko often helps his sister around her inn. The downside for Ameiko is that because he knows he'll repair or replace them anyway Roko feels rather free to use the tavern's furniture in a bar brawl.
Sandru Occasional drinking buddy but mostly his sister's friend. Roko has a great deal of respect for the man, but he doesn't really know him too well.
Koya Roko adores Koya just like he adored Koya's mother. As a kid he called her mother 'auntie', a practice he has extended towards Koya. Sees Koya as a source of wisdom.
Shalelu A mystery and a curiosity to Roko. He knows her a bit, is thankful for the role she has played in saving Ameiko and Sandpoint in the past. Would like to know more but never got the chance.
Unlike his sister he never went to visit Tsuto, fearing he'd end up at the same academy if he disobeyed his father too much. He actually warned his sister against her attempt at reconciling their father and half brother. When, as a result of that attempt, their father struck Ameiko and she left to go adventuring Roko more or less turned away from his father and, to a lesser extent, his mother. Instead he spent most of his time on the streets or at the house of madame Niska Mvashti, only coming home to sleep. As a result he wasn't there when his mother died.
Despite the overwhelming sadness at his mother's death the event did bring his sister back to town and Roko was overjoyed when she decided to stay. When she once more abandoned him and their father a few years later he could only curse her. Once more he was stuck with his conservative, oppressive father, a bunch of dour servants and his boredom. Emulating his sister he left Sandpoint, but whereas she went adventuring he started an apprenticeship to a carpenter in Magnimar. While generally fairly skilled at the work he preferred making new, more exciting things than just another chair or table.
As a result he dropped his job almost instantly when he heard his sister had returned from adventuring and had moved out of the manor, buying a local inn. Convincing her he could use his newfound skill to help renovate and repair the Rusty Dragon he moved in to the inn. Initially he got one of the regular rooms but once the business started to flourish he instead moved to a small room in the basement. Roko paid for his stay by doing all kinds of odd jobs around the inn and around the rest of town. After the goblin raid his skill as a carpenter turned out to be in high demand.
Recently he has been working in the Sandpoint Glassworks, now also owned by his sister. While she closed it down he has been making repairs there in hopes of some day making it his own or, failing that, helping his sister sell it for a decent price.
I continue to be both profoundly grateful for and deeply distressed by the number of excellent submissions. xD
Teruko Kaijitsu: You seem to have captured Lonjiku’s abrasiveness very effectively. Made me want to have someone punch him in the face (again). I like the contrast between Teruko and Ameiko - also the fact that Teruko is LG where Ameiko is CG. Tell me, what was Teruko’s response to her mother’s death, when she was twelve?
As for your spoilered question, Tsuto's claim that Lonjiku murdered Atusii took root and at the time Teruko secretly wondered if it was true. She spent the next five years convincing herself it wasn't. If it was true, then she'd lost both parents that night. Lonjiku may have been cruel, but he was still her father. She didn't want to believe the man she respected, feared, and loved could be capable of such a thing.
Atsuii's murder is written into the backstory for RotR, but I don't think it was ever made public knowledge. That's the interpretation I've gone with anyway, unless you feel strongly that Teruko should know for sure. It's always possible that Lonjiku's spirit could accidentally spill the beans at [insert dramatic moment here].
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@Aganhei, wanted to ask something as a follow up to my previous post. I've been going back and forth a bit on designs for the character, and moved away from investigator to either a blind half-elf battle oracle as discussed previously (Jieran Cordant with altered background to suit the route direction), or a half-elf witcher type character based on a refluffed vivisectionist alchemist (he takes weapon proficiencies and armor proficiencies as feats and racial features and fights in melee aided by concoctions). Both are balanced melee combatants with reach weapons who bring a lot of party buffs either by magic or potions. I think the vivisectionist has better out of combat utility skills based on wilderness exploration and perception whereas the oracle is mainly social-based.
For roleplaying, the oracle would mainly apprentice himself to Koya to learn tarot reading and future prediction, while the witcher would act as a friend to Sandru and hired guide across his native mountains, stopping to collect monster parts on the way to use in his extracts.
Before I rework this into a full submission tomorrow, would you allow refluffing of vivisectionist alchemist and allow the toolkit to be used for a warrior-concept? Second, given the number of submissions, would you be willing to tell me if you like either concept better and which one would have a better chance of making it in? Or would that be considered cheating?
Thanks in advance, regardless!
@Aganhei, wanted to ask something as a follow up to my previous post. I've been going back and forth a bit on designs for the character, and moved away from investigator to either a blind half-elf battle oracle as discussed previously (Jieran Cordant with altered background to suit the route direction), or a half-elf witcher type character based on a refluffed vivisectionist alchemist (he takes weapon proficiencies and armor proficiencies as feats and racial features and fights in melee aided by concoctions). Both are balanced melee combatants with reach weapons who bring a lot of party buffs either by magic or potions. I think the vivisectionist has better out of combat utility skills based on wilderness exploration and perception whereas the oracle is mainly social-based.
For roleplaying, the oracle would mainly apprentice himself to Koya to learn tarot reading and future prediction, while the witcher would act as a friend to Sandru and hired guide across his native mountains, stopping to collect monster parts on the way to use in his extracts.
Before I rework this into a full submission tomorrow, would you allow refluffing of vivisectionist alchemist and allow the toolkit to be used for a warrior-concept? Second, given the number of submissions, would you be willing to tell me if you like either concept better and which one would have a better chance of making it in? Or would that be considered cheating?
Thanks in advance, regardless!
Huh, I could've sworn that vivisectionists needed to be nongood, but aonprd does not seem to indicate that. Weird... Anyways, as it stands, there's nothing preventing you from fluffing the vivisectionist in that way, in my opinion.
The last question is not one I'm going to answer, unfortunately. It would be a bit unfair to others for me to do that.
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Aganhei GM, I realized I had not redone Ting's personality when I first posted him and I wanted to let you know that I have updated it. I've included it here for convivence sake.
I realize we are around a day away from the dead line. So I if I don't get a chance to say it later, thank you for running the game. We players really appreciate it.
Good luck to everyone and good gaming.
Having been raised in the crowded slums of Kaer Maga's Warren district, Ting was used to being around folks all the time and he found that he liked it. He enjoyed the comradery he shared with family, or fellow adolescents, even the group of thieves he worked with before he became a member of Sandru's crew.
Free spirited he makes friends easily and is loyal and honest with them. He enjoys being on the road and the adventures of it. He is what one would call an adrenaline junky, enjoying the thrill of the action more for actions sake than the potential rewards. While not being physically attractive, due to his beak injury nor very well spoken because of his warren district accent; he enjoys talking to folks and is quick with a joke. Like other Avian he's very attracted to shiny objects and enjoys collecting things that glitter.
On the Myers Briggs scale ting is an Adventurer
The background that was on Tings page was six years old and outdated, compared to how I do backgrounds now. The Original Ting was a PFS character that I eventually played to sixth level. But I found the PFS format harder and harder to find a continuous group to play with and I eventually stopped playing PFS. But I really like Tings personality.
So I created a second Ting, hoping I could get him in an AP and eventually retire him after a fulfilling story. I think his background fits the flavor of jade Regent being a race from Tian Xia it's the reason I asked about 'Tengus' early in the recruitment.
I realize I have not been 'involved' in several of the conversations here on the recruitment thread, I hope that doesn't influence your decision. I'm a consistent and regular poster who generally puts time and energy in his posts.
Again I want to thank you for running the game. It has let me breath a little life into a character that I didn't think I would get to play again.
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As an extension of Ting Ting Ting's thanks, I would like to reinforce:
You need to pick the characters you want to watch. If the GMs choosing to run these games don't enjoy doing it, soon enough, nobody will get to play. It is more important to me that you enjoy running your game than it is that I get in it. The more happy GMs, the more chances I get to play, anyway!
I hope everyone selected manages to have fun, too.
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Good luck to everyone. It's the final countdown!
By the way, I've removed the "other PCs brainstorming" section on my sheet. It was a fun exercise! It was also, to be clear, me being extra and hyperfocused, and by no means a normal thing "expected" for a Recruitment thread. I don't want anyone to worry that their characters come across as less fleshed-out just because they didn't want to go speculating about PC relationships a little early! I think people who chose to wait to see who's in the party are using a perfectly sensible and, dare I say it, probably more grounded approach.
This is it folks! The last few hours until the big reveal get hyyyypppped!
There are soooo many amazing characters here I do not envy the DM right now this must be super stressful. Now all that's left to do is cross our fingers and hope~
I wish everyone the best of luck! <3
Ah, I said "big reveal" but really it's just the application cut off so poor choice pf words on my part. I have no idea when the reveal will actually be but I would rewrite your application as soon as possible as I don't know if our DM will be accepting any changes after the deadline so best not to tempt fate.
The application cutoff will be in about six hours (from my posting time), which should be about 5 PM CET, I think.
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Good luck to everyone. It's the final countdown!It's what you do.
Good luck everyone!
I know well the pain of having to whittle down a list of excellent applications, so I do not envy the GM. Regardless, I feel like this will be an excellent game. <3
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Because I don't mind too much, I'm giving a bit of an extension on the deadline - submissions will be accepted for another hour, until 12 PM GMT-5. Then I'll begin deliberating and such for an hour or two, reviewing, etc.
... this is gonna suck.
Best of luck, folks. :)
Aha! Perfect! Just enough time for me to submit my fourth entry, my goblin synthesis summoner melee tank with an entire backstory revolving around Arcadia who's sworn to slay all humanoids whose names start with "S"!
We await with bated breath. :)
Finally finished! This is Trevor86's finished submission. Thanks for the slight extension! :)
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I'm going to go angst reread the submissions and finalize my decisions. See you in an hour or two, folks!
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Good luck everybody!
Godspeed Aganhei :)
Good luck folks!
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Oof. Can I say oof. This was absurdly difficult, and I realized I was overthinking things when I started to feel literal distress at the thought of coming here and sharing. That being said, I want to thank you all for applying, and for your enthusiasm for the game. I really wish I could accept more of you, but I'm certain that that would be a bad idea.
All that out of the way, the applicants selected are:
Seishin of the Wheel
Hana Tenko
Teruko Kaijitsu
Torra Voliokerdam
and
Hirabashi Yuto
Please report to the Discussion thread at your earliest convenience.
Thanks for picking me, GM. :)
Congrats to those who made it in! I'm super excited to see this game unfold, and I'm really glad that the ones who made it in made it in—some of them I would've been heartbroken to see left out. I look forward to watching the Gameplay thread when it's launched!
Congrats to those who made it. Have fun.
Enjoy the game folks.
Yes congratulations to those who made it in.
Congratulations to the chosen
Cheers to everyone who participated in this! It was a blast reading y'all characters.
Looks like a game to watch for sure :)
Good luck to everyone that made it through you all earned it <3
In the meantime I think I'll just staty DMing a game of Kingmaker. Thanks for the excitement everyone~