| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
This post serves to open up the actual out of character thread for our Giantslayer Campaign.
Post here any updates, questions, concerns, or out of character discussions you wish to have.
While anyone is welcome to PM me, general points should be posted here, if they are to be shared with everyone. If you want to post something private or "eyes only", you may use spoilers, I think we can operate safely on the honor system. This is a game for everyone's enjoyment, cheating profits nothing in the end but stealing away that joy.
Welcome to Trunau and to the Giantslayer AP everyone.
Howdy all! Thanks for the invite.
I set Adir up as one of Halgra's children in his background. Is that okay? If so, the Ivory Hall it is. This also would have the side effect of Ruby being his sister(probably half-sister given Halgra's description).
Hey everyone, really excited to adventure with you all.
GM- in my background Morgrim finished growing up at his uncles house in Trunau and his brother died on a raid with some people from town, but in the initial gameplay post you have me much newer to town... Did you want me to rework that portion of my backstory?
Hello the forum! Who is Brinya Kelver? I didn't see that in the player's guide.
|
No, there is no mention of a Brinya Kelver in the player's guide; I haven't any idea who that is.
On a separate note, DM Darkblade, how do you want us to handle encumbrance with regard to coin weight? Count money as part of encumbrance or no? Different DMs have different policies on tracking how much gear you're carrying.
Hey guys, I am here. Sorry, busy night at work. Very excited for this!
Okay, reference your post in the gameplay thread, I found a place that I'd like to claim as the Everheart residence. It's on the Upper Tier, just south of the Hopespring. There is a group of homes surrounding a large tree, the home with the darker-colored roof to the west of the tree.
I figure with Everheart's long history with Trunau they would have been amongst the first families to build homes there. Given the nature of Trunau, I would guess most residences would have been built amidst the upper tier while leaving the bottom for defense structures. Not only that, but it also sits upon the western border of the town, giving the Everheart family a great vantage point from which they can watch for approaching enemy forces. Let me know what you think, Darkblade!
Hey everyone, really excited to adventure with you all.
GM- in my background Morgrim finished growing up at his uncles house in Trunau and his brother died on a raid with some people from town, but in the initial gameplay post you have me much newer to town... Did you want me to rework that portion of my backstory?
Nope, go with what you have. My notes were a bit jumbled and I had written down the uncle was in Janderhoff for some reason. My apologies. Everything else was write for the character, I just scribbled in the wrong town.
Hello the forum! Who is Brinya Kelver? I didn't see that in the player's guide.
Sorry, that is the Commons House, a boarding house were a few people stay for extended periods but is not considered a permanent residence. A bit of flash text in the AP stated "Brinya Kelver's boarding house," which is where Brinya Kelver is staying, not that she owns or runs it.
I am not sure why the Commons House was not listed in the Player's Guide. It is the pacman eating a dot shaped building to the left of the Commons amphitheater.
No, there is no mention of a Brinya Kelver in the player's guide; I haven't any idea who that is.
On a separate note, DM Darkblade, how do you want us to handle encumbrance with regard to coin weight? Count money as part of encumbrance or no? Different DMs have different policies on tracking how much gear you're carrying.
I usually use the standard 80 coins equals one pound, an old average of how many US quarters are there in one pound. Is this acceptable?
Adir, yes you may stay with Halgra if you wish. The AP discusses she allows her adult children and their families to reside at Ivory Hall, which is where her family gathers in times of attack. I assumed Adir would have moved out from under her roof, being still young and free. I will note you starting at Ivory Hall, with the responsibilities that come with it.
Okay, reference your post in the gameplay thread, I found a place that I'd like to claim as the Everheart residence. It's on the Upper Tier, just south of the Hopespring. There is a group of homes surrounding a large tree, the home with the darker-colored roof to the west of the tree.
I figure with Everheart's long history with Trunau they would have been amongst the first families to build homes there. Given the nature of Trunau, I would guess most residences would have been built amidst the upper tier while leaving the bottom for defense structures. Not only that, but it also sits upon the western border of the town, giving the Everheart family a great vantage point from which they can watch for approaching enemy forces. Let me know what you think, Darkblade!
Yes that home is unlisted, you may pick it off the market for a steal. Just watch out for giant catapults should an assault come your way.
Hello everyone!
I have had still no time to go through everybody profiles but I have checked Delia and Adir.
I see a great potential for the hunter and Leira to already be friends. Having only two year difference, being women and having connections to the guard, it might work good.
Adir is in a slightly different level, but should not be difficult to include as some kind of friend. By sure he is probably an acquaintance at least.
As for home, Leira lives in the middle platform. There is a small annex where her mother attends clients, and she also has a place at the weekly open market outside the walls, where she sells small remedies, tattoo materials, and the few magical objects that go through her hands.
I think it is better we all try to compact our actions an answers in a single post each time for multiple reasons but most importantly so there is no doubt when someone has finished posting, so less ninjaed posts, and it is easier to track how active is being the thread. You can use de Edit button until one hour later after your post, so it is always better that option than replying to your own post. Of course if it has already passed the 1 hour and you have to add some info, or want to be more precise about something, there is no other way than replying to your own post.
When there is a need to split into sections, I have seen to very good result the use of slash lines for time/scene splitting, and spoiler with name when answering or addressing a player in question. On the spoiler technique you can go even farther and use a @ for public spoiler, and # for private.
I really hope we all have great time playing the AP together! Go go go Giantslayers! :-D
Groin will stay at the Commons House, as it probably affords more privacy than the barracks style residence.
(Incidentally, why am I not on the player/character list yet?)
If uou haven't posted in the gameplay thread yet, you won't be listed. I dotted it, then deleted the post to check in before I was ready to post.
I also dotted/deleted right away when the gameplay thread opened.
Morgrim lives with his uncle, Dolgrym Forgehammer, in one of the small cliffside homes in the inner quarter. Dolgrym is a smith at Clamor's.
Morgrim has been in Trunau for about 15 years and came of age 4 years ago. Any longtime residents have probably served on watch with him or trained with him in the commons. There are two facts which may make him memorable to anyone with local knowledge (or an ear for gossip):
- his older brother was killed alongside Jagrin Grath's wife and some say the old man has a soft spot for the young dwarf.
- he has not taken the Standing Vow; he serves all his appointed watches and even signs on for patrols and raids when needed but whenever questioned about the Vow replies, "I'm not a man of Trunau, I'm a dwarf of the Mindspin Mountains."
If anyone would like to coordinate some shared background please let me know!
I think Morgrim can be friend of Leira's stepfather, Erik. Perhaps you often come home to have drinks with him and comment on recent Trunau events.
That way Leira and Morgrim will be close acquaintances at game start.
Erik is serving in Trunau's guard and has tough Leira on how to use the crossbow.
On a side note, not that fun as RP and background, we should perhaps have a look at our abilities and skills as a group, and perhaps make small changes so we are better prepared to survive out there.
I have went ahead by performing an analysis of our current skills.
: appraise, disguise, escape artist, fly, heal, intimidate, k. engineering, k. nobility, k. planes, k. religion, linguistics, ride, sleight of hand
: k. history, k. local, swim
Please, take all these comments as what they are, my humble opinion and suggestions. We don't need to maximize everything, and there might be something that is part of your background and your whole character will crumble without it. But please, consider the suggestions and ponder if you can help improve the party survivability in other ways. I will be very happy if you provide suggestions to Leira too.
I have rarely seen this on use. Eventually Leira will spend 1 rank for a total +6 and I think we will be more than covered.
Seems our bard is going to focus on this. I think it's a very good choice.
This is a strong skill, we want a second character spending some effort on it. Adir has spend some resources on it, I don't know if you plan to go very far with this choice. In my opinion there are other characters in the party with better synergies to invest on this, and Adir can invest in other areas he is better prepared where we have problems.
I don't know how important it will be in this AP, but we eventually will find a locked door or chest, and some traps (any hint Darkblade?). It seems Songan is focusing on this, and I think it will be enough.
We have no one on this. A very situational skill. If this was an urban adventure I will worry more, but currently I think we don't have to worry much.
This is very personal choice. It is nice we have at least one person able to scape from a captivity situation, or go through a small hole if needed.
I am considering to focus on this with Leira, as it might help the event she is grappled at some point, given her low CMD.
No worries. Leira will invest on this once she has the spell.
Our druid might also want to invest some points here if he plans to transform in flying creatures.
Delia already has it trained. For all others with an animal companion, or planning to have it, you will need it. Pushing him to do something he is not trained to do is a DC 20. And even using him to do trained tricks is a DC 10, so you want to have a +5 handle animal soon enough (+5 base, +4 animal companion bonus, +1 min. dice roll=10), so you don't have to be continuously rolling to do the more common tricks like asking to attack or follow you.
Leira is the one with the highest score, but having so many rangers and a druid, there is no sense to keep it. I already dropped the idea of Conjuration for summoning, we are 6 and have animal companions, no need for more pets.
Some people often oversee the relevance of this skill. In my opinion it is important to have someone investing a bit on it, specially on the beginning of the adventure, and even more not having a cleric.
The skill is needed to research dead bodies and injuries, and we might be faced to those things, analyse conditions affecting us, and most important, a DC 15 check, helps the party to heal double amount of hp and ability damage after a rest period.
I suggest one of the rangers or the druid, invests a skill point here at least, preferably someone with a high Wis. It doesn't need to be maxed out, but a skill point at level 1 really helps out being a class skill.
If no one wants to pick this, Leira can focus on it very easily. From level one she will have +8, which will allow her to help in combat demoralizing enemies, and on social encounters to interrogate enemies.
Songan will be our reference here, but he will have not enough capacity to focus in all knowledges and assist the party with all the other skills he is also the referent in.
We need to help him then, and we can do it quite good. The following knowledges he doesn't need to become the referent character as they can be well covered by others:
Knowledge (arcana): Leira
Knowledge (dungeoneering): Groin
Knowledge (geography): Groin
Knowledge (nature): Groin, Morgrim, Adir, Delia
There are a couple that have been taken by some characters without having good synergies with the skill:
Knowledge (history): Groin
Knowledge (local): Adir
How far are you guys going to take the focus on this skills? Were you thinking on something in particular to achieve? If you go seriously for it, I suggest you take a trait to make them class skills and explain by background why you are focusing on this.
The following have no one training on them:
Knowledge (engineering): Not super relevant, but sometimes comes handy. Perhaps Songan can keep with it alone.
Knowledge (nobility): Even less relevant than engineering.
Knowledge (planes): Can come handy if facing elementals or demons, but it seems it will not happen a lot. Probably Songan can keep with it alone. It might be a nice option for Adir if he plans to summon elementals.
Knowledge (religion): This one is always a strong choice, even if there are not a lot of undead in the campaign. I think we will find other deity followers and can help also with artifacts of other religions. We have only Songan to focus on this though.
Special note about:
knowledge (nature): we have 4 people with this skill, we probably don't need more than 1 person focusing on this, and a second one as a backup. Perhaps 2 of you might invest into other skills (heal, ride, linguistics, engineering/religion/planes/nobility)
knowledge (local): orcs and giants are assessed by K. (local), I think that is quite important to take it into account. I can focus Leira on this, unless Adir and Songan have very clear they will have a lot to spare on it.
The guide talks about artifacts. Artifacts often come with old stories, which often require to decipher ancient texts. The added functionality of having more languages is just a plus.
We need to spend some effort here. Do you Songan think you can keep up with this in addition with all the rest? I will not mind taking this area, it will fit my character fluff.
Among the most important skills. As a group I think we are more than covered. 4 people is just enough.
The guide says we will need mounts to easily navigate the giant’s lairs. We don’t need it now though.
Morgrim and Delia have trained it and Ardi has a good natural one. Someone can take a trait to make it class skill and be the referent on this freeing Songan of the responsibility. In my opinion the rest can free this skill and use that rank for something else which they have as class skill or we don’t have covered as a group.
Very situational. I don’t think we have to turn crazy to have it covered.
Leira can have this well covered, so Ardi and Songan can feel free of responsibility on this point. It is not bad if once all the other skills are covered you invest some points here as a backup. But identifying an object with Perception (potion) or Use Magic Device (scrolls) is just even better as a backup solution.
Delia shines here. Morgrim is backing her up and they can be our scouts if required.
We are overcrowded here, even more than k. nature.
I picked it up because it was given to me as my Bloodline skill, but with so many rangers I am dropping it immediately in behalf of more pressing needs.
In my opinion having a couple of the rangers focusing on this is just enough. So Ardi and Delia can focus in covering other areas. A point to get that +3 bonus at some point after level 1 is always nice though.
Not very relevant. Our druid can eventually transform into a fish ^_^
To cover some of the skills, training those no one is prepared for, or helping lowering the pressure over Songan, we can use traits that gives them as a class skill. A character with a trait to make a skill classy, +3, which is like having a Skill Focus on it, and a fair score on the related ability, can easily hit a +6 and start building up the skill from there and have a nice story to incorporate to their backgrounds.
There are other topics we shall treat as a group, being the most pressing one the healing in my opinion. Given our current setup we are counting only on our druid and hunter few spells. We have no channels, and we have no one able to spontaneously change spells to cast them as cures. We have to think on one solution to this, as eventually someone will be dropped to the negatives and we need also to restore the party wear after some combats. A wand will help eventually for between combat healing, but there might pass some levels before we get our hands over one.
I send this information only with the intention to help the group, and I hope no one takes it as a personal offence but on the contrary, as an attempt of collaboration.
I would like to hear your opinion on all this before making definitive changes to Leira's skill selection.
I'm planning on multi-classing as an inquisitor...
I was thinking I might take 2 levels of ranger to start, but now I'm thinking I may start inquisitor next level. That will give me monster lore to help some with knowledge checks, and I'm going to take CLW as a spell known to pitch in with healing (we should also plan to buy a CLW wand asap). Sense motive will also become a class skill for me at that point.
edit: I see that know[nature] is fairly crowded, but if I'm going to change my rank in that skill I'd rather put it into a different knowledge than heal... i'd like to collect a few +3 class bonuses to help out monster lore...
It is a busy day for me guys, won't be able to post up until late tonight. I'm called in early as we have a Winter Storm hitting, only 4-8 inches but for here that's a lot.
Take this time to sort out what you need amongst yourselves, I think Leira is doing well at juggling that ball. I will say two things about the skill choices. First, this book should see you guys reaching 4th level by the end of it, so you have time to boost skills you wish to improve. Second, the first part is going to be a murder mystery investigation, SUPRISE so Diplomacy, Perception, Sense Motive are the big three needed until the last third of the book.
Talk amongst yourselves, see how much you guys know about each other, how well you work together, and who is likely to become the party spokesman. As you are all pushing for deeper ties to the town and one another, it may be Songan is appointed your proxy, for the short term, as he has the least chance of being influenced by hometown bias.
Okay, so in reference to some of those presented skills... I was planning on putting a few points into Heal with Delia, so I can cover that situation. I also plan to put at least one point into both Swim and Ride eventually. That way at 7th level when Jace becomes large I can ride him outside of combat. I can help with Spellcraft perhaps by popping a few ranks in there. I could even take over Dungeoneering and Geography knowledge skills. As far as Sense Motive goes, Delia actually isn't trained in it. That's just her base bonus from stats and racial bonus. I could start putting skill points into it to keep boosting the skill since I have a base +4 bonus. And lastly, Delia is going to put at a minimum of 5 points into Bluff so she can qualify for Broken Wing Gambit and therefore.... Wounded Paw Gambit.
As far as changing skills around right now, I would rather not with Delia, because I always base my chosen skills around the character's background. I do not mind picking different skills as we level to help with the group dynamics. As far as traveling skills go (i.e. Geography and Survival) it might be good for Delia to continue investing in them, because I plan on having her associate with the Green Faith faction over any of the others. The way Darkblade was hinting, Green Faith faction bonuses will lean towards travel type skills like that. Just a thought.
As far as healing goes... that's going to be our main problem. Having some of the animal companions will help with that. Delia is purely a ranged character so that will assist with issues of combat healing. And Jace will have a pretty decent AC with his high Natural Armor bonuses. Wands and potions are definitely going to be our bread and butter when it comes to healing.
Also, given that we will all be working together, what do you guys think about looking into Teamwork feats? Broken Wing Gambit might be a really good investment for some of our melee guys if it looks like they will be focusing on the same target as Jace. Just something to ponder...
|
|
While it's true that concentrated, off-the-cuff healing that can be provided by the likes of a cleric will not be available, between the rangers and Songan himself we will be able to handle healing well enough once we have access to scrolls, wands, and the like, so I don't think healing is as big an issue as it might otherwise seem.
Based on Songan's background, I've already made a few changes to his initial skill load-out; namely, getting rid of UMD and putting that point in Sense Motive. I plan on giving Songan the favored class bonus for Catfolk bard of +1/2 to bardic knowledge for the six levels I'm sticking to Bard (Archaeologist), so I will eventually have a pretty good base for all the knowledge skills. I might put one rank in the skills that are already covered, like Nature, just for the +3 bonus, but I doubt more than that.
When I developed the character, I tried to be pretty organic and realistic about it. Even though he's a Bard by class, his initial skillset is going to be a lot closer to a Rogue based on his background; he just has never been interested in thieving for thieving's sake, only for survival, and his personal interests led him more in the archaeology direction. The only Knowledge I gave him was Arcane because that's really all he's tried to learn about at this point. As he adventures I'm sure that he'll be picking up the other Knowledges more related to adventuring, which is the same reason I removed a skill point from UMD and put it in Sense Motive; I just don't think he's had enough personal, real-world experience with magical devices to warrant the skill point but I think it makes perfect sense that an orphaned catfolk child would know who would be a good mark to get something out or who might be trying to take advantage of him.
I've also modified Songan's attributes so that he has a CON of 12 instead of 14 so that I can bump his INT from 10 to 13. Even though he might lead the party in terms of trapfinding or whatever eventually, I don't think he's going to be enough of a melee fighter to need the extra hit point and I feel like having a higher INT will prove more useful in the long run. Just gotta decide what I want Songan's bonus language to be now and you can stick a fork in him. While Orc might be useful, I don't think he'd have been in a position to learn that language based on his background. There hasn't really been a lot written about Firrine, either, so I'm not sure which of the possible bonus languages it would make the most sense to have, so if anyone has any thoughts, I'd be grateful. Bonus languages available to Catfolk are: Elven, Gnome, Halfing, Gnoll, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan. If I don't end up picking Orc up now I would definitely pick it up pretty quick in Trunau; it makes a great deal more sense to learn it there. I also get an extra skill point from that and I'm thinking either Stealth or K: Engineering since either of those would be realistic knowledge for him to have with the vagabond child background; either stealth for stealing what he needed to survive, or K: Engineering for when he'd have to navigate building roofs and what-not to escape pursuers when he got caught. I'd certainly be willing to listen to input on that.
Those are the only changes I intend to make to Songan's build for the moment. While I think it's important we do make sure we have enough of each skill going forward, our characters don't even know each other yet, so it doesn't make sense to me to coordinate their individual skillsets at this point. As we level up and the characters spend time together, that becomes less of an issue; they can suggest areas of focus for other party members, who can then take that advice and put in the necessary learning.
So...yeah. Those are my plans for the cuddly catfolk for right now. I welcome any input from the group regarding that planned direction.
Also, just wanted to say again, it's nice to meet all of you and I really look forward to playing in the campaign with y'all!
Leira, you put a lot of effort into the analysis and that is appreciated. It certainly can help to take a step back and look at the big picture. Kudos and thanks.
I think it is also useful to remember that we are level 1 and are not going to have every skill covered right now. Time will see our repertoire expanded. Another thing is that it might be mechanically superior to spread skills around more, but sometimes that just doesn't fit the character. For example, Adir without Survival would mess with my head.
There can be other considerations, too. For example, you seem to dislike Adir's investment in Diplomacy: "Adir has spend some resources on it, I don't know if you plan to go very far with this choice. In my opinion there are other characters in the party with better synergies to invest on this, and Adir can invest in other areas he is better prepared where we have problems." While it's true that Adir has a low charisma, he also is going to gain the ability to wild shape into giant forms. It's easy for me to imagine that being quite synergistic should we come across giants that we aren't trying to kill. Maybe it never comes up, maybe it turns out to be an awesome choice. Who knows? Besides the GM, of course. =)
It's a lot to throw out all at once, especially when you include skills that even you acknowledge aren't significant. It can feel very critical and micromanage-y even if it isn't intended that way. For example, Fly is neither a skill one needs to worry about at 1st level, nor does it have much group synergy. And yet, "Our druid might also want to invest some points here if he plans to transform in flying creatures." While it is a true statement, it seems unnecessary to bring it up.
Having said all that, I did tweak Adir's traits so that he gains Sense Motive as a skill.
Thanks for the time that you put into the analysis. In the long run, it very well might help.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Delia, re: teamwork feats: Broken Wing Gambit seems great, but it also requires a fair investment, 5 points in Bluff and a feat. That's rough. However, something like Precise Strike seems very doable.
Leira, thanks for taking the time to look over all that by the way! Also, I agree that Delia and Leira would be perfect pair for friendship.
As I mentioned in my previous post, my sense motive is going up.... It'll become a class skill as soon as I take my first level of inquisitor and when i start getting stern gaze bonuses on top of my pretty solid wisdom I'll have a good bonus... It looked like there were like 3 people who just made changes to pick it up and that seems pretty excessive...
Well...you never know when the RNG is gonna start hatin'.
lol- that's true, but if we're gonna operate under that theory we need 4 people on every important skill! (Plus sense motive is a rough one to have multiple 'experts' because you don't know whether or not you failed, so if one succeeds and the other doesn't you end up arguing about whether or not someone's telling the truth...)
|
|
Huh. Never considered it from that angle before. Never had it come up. Interesting to think about, though.
Also, just to be clear about it, I have no problem with Songan being the main party face/knowledge base/trapfinder; that's honestly the role that I created him to fill and always intended for him.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Thanks Songan.
I posted a bit of information on the Campaign page, news and rumors making the rounds of Trunau at this time. I included a bit of the personalities of the persons involved, as taken from the AP, to give them a more human feel.
Thanks Darkblade for being our GM :)
It's a lot to throw out all at once, especially when you include skills that even you acknowledge aren't significant. It can feel very critical and micromanage-y even if it isn't intended that way.
I could have done better on that certainly and spared you from non-useful comments and skills. I included them just for completeness. My main point is to generate discussion to better know each other characters and plans, while helping spot areas we might be weak as a group. I also think the time for the discussion is now, as they can provide cool ideas you would like to incorporate into your background, or that might change it, and that is much more difficult once the campaign is started.
After the skills discussion these are the ideas I got:
Morgrim
Multiclassing to inquisitor. Focus on knowledge for monster lore (I guess local and arcana mainly given the guide monsters advise: giants, orcs, dragons and magical beasts).
Delia
She will cover the heal skill on the basic level we need. From what I have read from the others, I think you don’t have to feel pressed to provide spellcraft, K. dungeoneering/geography, neither sense motives to the group.
She will like to have other members getting teamwork feats. She proposes to go for Broken Wing Gambit.
I will add the friendship to my background, we can work on previous events that built it up as we go on the game :)
Songan
Drops UMD on behalf of Sense motives (Adir and Morgrim are now covering this skill also). Will cover all the skills in a good basic level, and focus on those not covered by the rest of the party.
About stealth vs. engineering, although scouting is more covered than engineering in the group, I agree stealth perhaps fits better in your background and has more personal use.
Adir
The giant diplomat idea sounds a very cool idea, I hope to see it on play and Darkblade to find a nice mechanical bonus to reward it. Which reminds me having some disguise self/alter self spells for Songan and/or Leira might help us into future diplomatic encounters with orcs.
Adir is also investing into Sense motives.
He likes the teamwork feats idea, but will prefer something with an easier prerequisite as Precise strike.
Leira
After the discussion, I have decided to drop Handle animal and Survival, they were not that main to my background. I will pick instead Intimidate and K. local. The knowledge makes a lot more sense being from Trunau and will help us good I think. The intimidate mixes good with Leira’s orcish raising nature and his pride character. She can play a pretty decent ‘bad cop’ role along with Songan.
Groin
No input yet.
Some roles I can identify on the group (please add to the discussion, correct me), the idea is not to classify you, but rather to generate discussion so we get more insight on who is your character and what plans do you have for him. That way we can have a clearer expectation on the group and how to plan our mutual background and future levels:
Tracker
Morgrim, multiple helpers
Monster lore
Morgrim, multiple helpers
Knowledge
Songan. Some other referents for certain areas:
Arcana: Leira
Dungeoning: Groin
Geography: Groin and/or Delia
History: Groin?
Local: Morgrim, Leira (Adir?)
Nature: I guess most of you will end up having some skill here, but I don’t know if anyone has interest to focus on it.
Magic identifier
Leira, helped by Songan
Silvertongue
Songan, helped by Adir and Leira. Adir and Morgrim will help with Sense motives.
Healer
Mainly Adir, Delia and Songan. Eventually everybody in the group can use a CW wand or scroll. Main problem will be situations with character drops in the front line, with a giant and 15' reach, going there with a wand to touch the fallen will be a pain.
Party buffer
Songan and Leira. Once we level up we can talk about spells so we get good synergy.
Scout
Delia, some helpers
Climber
Songan will help us move through cliffs on the beginning. I think this will lose relevance later on, and some people will have pretty decent scores due to Strength bonuses.
Acrobat
Delia can help us move through gaps for now. I want to make a note here, which is also in the Guide. Giants have reach, so this skill might be interesting for melee fighters not expecting to have an overhelming AC. If some of you melees like the strategy, perhaps you find a fun reason for your character to have an acrobatics trait.
Trapfinder
Songan
Tank
It seems the main plan is to let the animal companions tank. I haven’t identified no one with heavy armor access, but Groin and Morgrim are using a shield and have access to middle armor so they might reach a decent AC.
Melee combat
Morgrim, Adir, Groin
Range combat
Delia, Leira, Songan
Blaster
Leira will eventually have resources to damage creatures with weird damage immunities.
Mobility/Knight
Delia wants to ride Jace.
Chronicler and Treasurer
We need someone to summarize the events, people and bits of information appearing in the campaign. We also need someone to work out an excel file and add treasure as we find or buy it.
Any volunteers? I have a treasure sheet which we can use as a base if you like.
I don’t know if you Darkblade have other tasks to hand us so your load is smaller and you can focus on pushing the game and make it interesting.
Have I left, or overseen anything?
I think we seem to be quite well prepared to handle an investigation adventure, so let’s see how it comes up :)
PD: If you are being overwhelmed by my info summaries, please let me know to push the break. I promise less walls of text will come up from me as we start moving xD
As far as I can tell, that's a good summation.
Druids don't get a crazy number of spells, but I will definitely try to help with out-of-combat healing.
Hmmm, maybe I should have submitted that alchemist door-to-door salesman instead. ;)
I'm not worried, the AP is Giantslayer, not CSI:Trunau.
(Which I would also totally be up for playing. Dibs on the red haired Gnome Investigator, Horatio. Eventually will get a bard follower to go YEAHHHHHHH after every pithy comment I make.)
Leira, thanks for all your in-depth analysis but you're currently the only one hasn't made a gameplay post... I think the GM might be waiting on that before he gets things moving?
Each of you will have a few days to finalize your characters, discuss your activities and backgrounds, get to know one another as you wish. I will be ready to begin full gameplay this Friday, but anything you want to do in the interim, within reason, we should be able to get rolling.
I was just trying to focus on the discussion he advised us. I thought Darkblade real kick off post will come tomorrow, which will place us in some location and situation. But perhaps I am wrong and he is waiting for all us to place a presentation post in Gameplay? :?
Discussion is fine, and generally preferred before the start. If everyone is ready, having found connections with each other and with the town, I can push up the start to this evening's festivities as soon as it is ready. I allowed a little time in case anyone wanted or needed to do anything in town before the start.
BTW, I posted the news board on the Campaign tab as a means of letting you all know a bit of local history and the gossip of the streets. Is it something I should stick with or scrap it?
Before Gameplay however, I would like three separate d20 rolls from each player in Discussion before we start. These will be used for a variety of skill checks, from Perception, Knowledge Local, etc. as the festivities are underway, without having to stop and roll at those times. I will take them in the order rolled for each player and add the appropriate modifiers at the time needed.
Those of you who consider yourselves an active part of the town milita, please state so in your Discussion & roll posts, otherwise I will consider you part of the townsfolk at large for the upcoming events. This will determine how Trunau sees you for the remainder of the first book, so think this over carefully. This will also determine teams if you choose to participate in the contests after the ceremony.
From your knowledge of the swearing ceremony, there are games to be held, exercises designed to teach the newest young person becoming a citizen how they are part of the adult world now and will need to come together as townsfolk, with whomever is handy nearby, to defend themselves against whatever army may attack Trunau.
If you wish to participate in any of the contests, please indicate that as well in your Discussion post. I will write in player involvements and ask for rolls as they are needed in gameplay. Remember, this is all about making Ruby feel like she is an adult and her first victories are fun; real, but still fun. The horrors of warfare, the starkness of what the Hopeknife represents, the sting of defeat, those are things for tomorrow. Tonight is to celebrate life, a last hurrah to childhood, a first huzzah for adulthood.
Yes to militia. I envision Adir as a scout for it, if that works for you.
Tug of War and Hammer Toss sound fun.
And I dig the news posting.
|
|
I personally like the little bit of background you gave on all the important people and the goings-on within Trunau; for me, it helps the feel of immersion and the flow of the game. I don't have to go back to the player's guide or ask if Songan would know those things; they're considered basic tidbits that most anyone should know.
Songan would not be part of the militia, but the townspeople at large; darn it, Jim, he's an explorer, not a fighter!
Of the festival events, Songan would most likely participate in the archery contest, and I'm sure he would do so, hoping that it would further his image as one of the regular townspeople showing up for the celebration.
Leira is not part of the guard. However she is training to become a member and her stepfather, Erik, already is part of it. She knows well most of the members.
I liked the idea of the rumors. I feel specially curious about the sword paintings and the man's dissappearence.
As for the contest, she would like to prove her crossbow. The tug o war can also be fun.
As mentioned in my gameplay post, Morgrim serves in the militia. He's up for participating in any of the competitions except the race (he has plenty of endurance, but he knows he's slower than humans and wouldn't want to hold his team back).
@Leira- sorry, i wasn't trying to rush you... I just wanted to make sure you knew the gameplay thread was up and running (I know sometimes we can get so caught up in one thing we miss something else).
Post is up. Still need a few rolls from Songan, Delia, and Groin but I think we are joining to be off to a good start.
Oh, don't worry I often miss things Morgrim, so thank you :-P
I will come up with a first post soon. Chills!
Delia would be considered militia, even though she has taken a little time off the raise Jace. She will partake I'm the archery contest, as well as the tug of war and hammer toss. I love the rumor and info in the campaign tab, that way locals can check it without taking up time asking questions we would already know the answer to.
I just noticed that the post I made yesterday morning had the wrong name for my uncle. Sorry. Dolgrym Forgehammer is an NPC in another game, everything else is right though...
- he lives with his uncle, Gundar Ironbeard, in one of the small cliffside homes in the inner quarter. Gundar is a smith at Clamor's.
- he's been in Trunau for a little over 15 years and came of age 4 years ago.
- a few months after they arrived, his older brother was killed alongside Jagrin Grath's wife and some say the old man has a soft spot for the young dwarf.
- he has not taken the Standing Vow.
Everyone who is part of the militia, be it known you are on the side against Ruby winning her first contests to prove herself an adult. It would seem none of you are supportive of a little girls dreams.
Shame, shame, shame on you all...Even her own half-brother stands against her.
/hangs head in shame
Bah, this world's a harsh place where often as not good folks finish last, or not at all... Sooner she learns that th'better off she'll be. Now, let's have some fun.
You know, you can always opt to throw the matches, or hope the heroes who aid her are at the least your equals, if not betters.