Shiny Doom Forum

[Jastermereel]

Hi all (or half, anyway).

While the other thread already has some questions about what's allowed/expected in the group I'll be running, I thought I'd start this thread to consolodate inquiries and compare ideas.

Also, while here, I figured I'd post a neat little guide from an older Dragon Magazine article on NPC creation. While I know that A. you guys aren't NPCs and B. at least half of the group may already have a ream or more of backstory and C. a PC should have more detail than an NPC, I like the simplicity of "The 7 Sentence NPC" as a starting point. Think of it as the bare-minimum for this game. I won't necessarly tie anything directly to it, but it'll help enhance character-to-character interaction (be they PCs or NPCs).

To clarify, I'm not saying you should limit yourself to this (far from it), but that it may help when dealing with others. Having an epic backstory is just fine, but when interacting with others, having a first cousin twice-removed (and once-removed from the throne) that has draconic blood and can turn into a dire Corgi, will matter less than some of these basic facts.

[Trool]

Taking a casual look at the races I've been looking at the following:

catfolk (Races of the Wild) LA - 1
killoren (Races of the Wild)
Raptoran (Races of the Wild)
Chaos Gnome (Races of Stone) LA - 1

I prefer catfolk as my first choice, but I'm not sure what you would do about the LA. I like the chaos gnome mostly cause it's named chaos gnome....

I've also been leaving toward bard as a way to do support and have some magic, but make it manageable.

How does level adjustment work. I get it for things that have a progression table, but if the race does not what does it mean for BAB and skills and such?
_________________
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, isn't 'Eureka!' but rather 'hmm....that's funny.'

--Isaac Asimov

[Trool]

Taking a casual look at the races I've been looking at the following:

catfolk (Races of the Wild) LA - 1
killoren (Races of the Wild)
Raptoran (Races of the Wild)
Chaos Gnome (Races of Stone) LA - 1

I prefer catfolk as my first choice, but I'm not sure what you would do about the LA. I like the chaos gnome mostly cause it's named chaos gnome....

I've also been leaving toward bard as a way to do support and have some magic, but make it manageable.

How does level adjustment work. I get it for things that have a progression table, but if the race does not what does it mean for BAB and skills and such?
_________________
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, isn't 'Eureka!' but rather 'hmm....that's funny.'

--Isaac Asimov

[Jastermereel]

It's good to be excited, but there's no need to post twice

From what I hear LA can be interesting for first few levels, but a bit of a dead-weight later on. Unearthed Arcana has rules for buying off the LA as you level up using XP, meaning you'd end up leveling a little more slowly than the rest of the group. However, I was hoping to do leveling without meticulous XP calculations, sticking to the way we've been doing it thus far. So, some alternatives might include the following:

Balance with Flaws: We could re-purpose Flaws from Unearthed Arcana. Under those rules, one or two flaws could be taken at first level to gain a bonus feat or two. We could counter-balance some of the LA bonuses with some extra penalties via flaws.

Raise the Others: We could give the other players small bonuses to compensate for stat and ability bonuses. Most races from the PHB have a net ability bonus of 0 and a few perks. Catfolk has a net bonus of +6. This would give players a slightly higher power level, but might not be too strong (and I might just need to up the world to compensate).

Instead of Equipment: We could start you out with a reduced set of bonuses (not the full +6 for Catfolk, or not the full spell-related abilities for Chaos Gnomes) and give them to you as you advance through the first few levels in place of advanced equipment players might receive. This could work the way Raptorans gain flight gradually, though I don't know quite what the counter-balances would be.

Classless Racial Hit Die: We could start you out with a Racial Hit Die. As a result you wouldn't be beneath the others in HP, but you wouldn't have any class abilities for that first level.

I'm open to other options, but we'll need to figure it out as a group to see how it works for all.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Also, instead of a pure point-allocation system (split 75 points 6 ways), are people game for trying a point-buy system?

There, you start out with basic scores and are given 22 points to upgrade them, but the upgrades aren't 1-to-1. That is, while going from 10 to 12 may cost 2 points, 10 to 15 is 7 points, and upgrading to an 18 costs 16 points.

We can review it more on Saturday when the books are handy, but for reference, here are some example scores ranging from the most average to the most extreme:

14 13 13 13 13 13
14 14 13 13 13 11
14 14 14 12 12 11
14 14 14 14 12 8
15 14 13 12 12 11
15 15 13 12 11 10
16 15 12 11 11 10
16 14 14 12 11 8
16 16 12 10 10 10
16 16 12 11 11 8
17 15 12 11 10 8
17 14 12 11 10 10
18 13 13 10 10 8
18 14 11 10 10 8
18 12 12 10 10 10

Note: this all happens before the racial modifiers are taken into account. Thus, while these scores range from 8 to 18, you can still end up with slightly higher or lower scores depending on what your race provides.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Trool]

what about if everyone picks a LA1 character? I know Miranda is looking into a Goliath witch is also LA1.
_________________
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, isn't 'Eureka!' but rather 'hmm....that's funny.'

--Isaac Asimov

[Jastermereel]

That might work. If everyone eyes an LA 1, I could just leave it as LA1+lvl1 to start and make the opening harder (maybe stretch the leveling out a little in the early game).

We'd need to see how others are aiming though.

Edit: A word of warning about Goliaths. While they are rather nifty, they are Monstrous Humanoids and, as such, a number of good buffing spells may not work on them.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

A notes on rule variations:

Healing: Unless there are strong objections, I'm planning to do healing the way we've been doing it rather than the way the books describe. Unless there are unusual circumstances, players will fully heal each night and rely on magical healing during the day. However, a game day may be longer than a session, so we'll have to keep better notes. We aren't taking fake naps in the middle of the day anymore By contrast the Rules As Written (RAW) players heal one hit point per level each night they rest. Thus, an unconscious first level barbarian would, without magical aid, need almost two weeks to be fully ready again - this doesn't work.

Crits: As I'm expecting encounters to be more in line with the normal guidelines for challenge ratings and whatnot, I'd like to try using the RAW version of Critical Hits.
A. A 20 is a guaranteed hit.
B. A roll within your weapon's crit range (be it 20, 19-20 or any other range) is a critical threat. If it hits, you roll again to find out if it was a critical. That is, if I roll a 19 with a weapon that threatens on 19-20, and I then roll low and would miss, I still do damage, but I don't do critical damage. Whereas if the second roll were higher and would hit, I do critical damage.
C. In exchange, a roll of a 1 on an attack is still a miss, but isn't a "critical failure". It always struck me a little silly that trained warriors would risk skewering their teammates (or them selves) one in every 20 strikes (Which is once every 5 turns for a skilled fighter - Every thirty seconds!). If people want some of that risk, I'd be interested in "confirmed critical failures", where two 1s in a row (regardless of the circumstances) has some appropriate penalty, but I'm not set on that idea.
D: Skill checks are unaffected by crits, and saving throws still guarantee failure with a 1 and success with a 20. Again, I'd be open to discussion on these points.

Note Taking: Would people be interested in using sticky notes for keeping track of battle information? In combat we could use them to keep track of your damage, your bonuses, and your penalties, instead of penciling in damage on your Character Sheet. As mentioned above, however, HP stay the same from session to session unless the party camps for the night.


Edit: On a tangential note, Tycho's note today is quite inspirational :
http://www.penny-arcade.com/2009/6/22/
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Short post:
I'm just about to head out for the origami convention, but I just stumbled on this list of LA+0 races for those still looking for ideas.

I haven't really looked it over in great detail but it looks like a good starting reference:
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?p=10002276
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Hi Sara,

Shifter is an interesting race to look into, but not particularly powerful unless you focus on developing that aspect of your character. If you're looking for other rogue-oriented races, you might consider some of the following:

Mongrelfolk - Races of Destiny p110
Whisper Gnome - Races of Stone 94?
Changeling - Eberron 12, Races of Eberron 41, Monster Manual III 24.
Asherati - Sandstorm 37 - ??? of the Sand
Hadozee - Stormwrack 41 - Monkey
Kenku - Monster Manaul III 86 - Raven
Phanaton - Dragon Magazine 339 p62, 351 p71 - Flying Squirrel
Tiefling - MM 209, Races of Destiny 107 - Half Fiendish - +1 LA
Gruwar - Dragon Magazine 317 p25 - Some sort of Fey

By the way, I post this list partially as a reference for what we might look into two weeks from now, so don't feel I expect you to hunt down the details now. Also, I'm not suggesting you limit yourself to these, only that these are races with Rogue as a favored class which, generally speaking, provides no concrete benefit, but just makes thematic sense the way an Orc is more likely to be a fighting type than a charismatic bard.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Ok. So the general setting thing...I'll try to keep this relatively short.

Kalamar:

You'll be operating largely within the nation of Kalamar. Roughly speaking, it's about the size of the eastern section of the United States from Ohio to the eastern and southern coasts.

Smaller nations border it to the north, west and south-ewhile the East is blocked off by the Ka'Asa mountains, and the south by the Kalamaran Sea.

While Kalamar is predominantly human, much of the countryside is only sparsely occupied by human-established towns and villages. Consequently, many races have nomadic tribes, settlements and enclaves scattered about; provided there is no hostile intent, they have often been welcomed by their neighbors and are often seen as valued trading partners. This is not to say that the nation is without pockets of xenophobia, but by and large, the people get along.

Historically, there have been some troubles with feral and goblinoid races from the mountains to the east; however, few a few exceptions, this has typically been limited to raids on border towns. However, in recent years there has been relative tranquility. With fewer concerns from the east, trade with the dwarves of the mountain has become more frequent.

Kalmar is primarily a feudal land. The primary seat of power is in the capital at Bet Kalamar, on the southern coast; regional matters of law and taxation are generally covered by regional lords; on the smallest scale, oftentimes a village will function democratically, choosing leaders from within.

While most power is concentrated in the feudal ruling class, there is no shortage of rogues' guilds and crime families, ranging from the relatively benign operators of black-markets to the more corrupt and dangerous groups of brigands and assassins. While the Paladins of the capital are constantly working to indiscriminately eradicate such elements, their forces are limited and the countryside is vast.

Arun'Kid:

You'll be starting in or around the village of Arun'Kid. It's located near the middle of Kalamar, but is off the main roads. It's fairly small with a predominantly human population of around 150.

Each of you can arrive there for whatever reason (exiled member of another community, tracking down someone who has wronged you, traveling adventurer seeking adventure hook), but when we start, that's where it will be.

Character Hooks:
Ok. So some of you have made mention of character hooks/development ideas: long lost what-nots, revenge for such-and-such, seeking to prove oneself in whatever. If you'd like me to look into incorporating your character's starting motivation into the storyline, make sure you have a chat with me sometime before we start. I can't guarantee anything, but I'd like to make this both fun for the players and fulfilling for the characters.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Oy! You lot!

Go take a look at Mogri's post on Jamsheed Shaikos!
http://sd.troolstudio.com/viewtopic.php?p=5970#5970

While you may not want to post it for character reasons, you all should probobly have something developed like this. I've been getting some good backstories and future hooks so far, but I'd love to hear some of the other categories fleshed out.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Katrina]

Okay, here's my shot at my character

Name: Adrian Kalios
Race: Goliath
Class: Barbarian

1) Occupation and History -- Adrian was born in a country called Decus, one of the small countries to the north of Kalamar. While their territory used to be vast, their numbers have dwindled over the years, and their army, though strong for its size, has not made any attempts to expand its borders in almost a decade. Her people value strength above all else, their familiarity with music and magic is virtually non-existent. Positions in the army are considered the highest-honored occupation. Women are considered little more than objects, and in fact, are referred to as prizes. Because of this belief, Decus has had a difficult time making peaceful negotiations with surrounding countries, and neighboring peoples are more likely to attack them for use of land and resources rather than friend them.

For the past five years, Adrian has served as a sergeant in Decus' army, mostly holding back attacks on their borders. Decus' leaders, however, fear that unless they can work out some sort of treaty with their neighbors, their country will be completely overtaken in the next few years (a/n: the time on this can be adjusted to make it less urgent if needed). Reluctantly, they send Adrian out as a diplomat, to gauge outsiders' views of Decus and to act as a positive representation of their culture.

2) Physical description -- Adrian has been raised as male by her father, who's paid special attention to both her diet and her physical training. She is flat-chested, well-muscled, and easily mistaken for a male (albeit a bishonen type), even when wearing light clothing.

3) Attributes and skills -- Adrian is used to winning things by sheer force, and is quite good at intimidating people into doing what she wants. She's also had decent practice at swimming due to a large river that runs through Decus.

4) Values and motivations -- Adrian's chief concern is for her people, she is willing to undergo great personal stress and sacrifice if she feels it is to their benefit.

5) Interactions with others -- Among her own people, Adrian is considered to be intelligent and charismatic. While among others, this is considerably less true. As part of her mission, Adrian tries hard to understand and accept the cultures of others, although her attempts are usually clumsy at best. She has resigned herself to traveling with women, speaking with them, even fighting alongside them, but she will almost never take their advice or allow them to order her around. In a group of men, she is less on-edge, friendly, and more able to have a normal conversation.

6) Useful knowledge -- Adrian's knowledge of the outside world is limited, mostly she knows how to survive in the wilderness. However, unlike many people from her home, she knows how to read and write.

7) Distinguishing feature -- Adrian does not view herself as female, following the logic that because she is a capable fighter, she can't possibly be a woman. If someone confronts her with facts to the contrary, she loses her temper very easily. She sees her feminine body as a deformity and will avoid being seen nude at all costs. When bathing, she does it as quickly as possible and avoids looking at herself.

As a side note, I've been trying to think of the best way to deal with Adrian's appearance. The way I'm envisioning her character, most people would think she's male, including the other members of the party unless she slips up somehow and lets her secret out. (She's managed to hide it from her own people most of her life.) My thought was making it a DC Spot Check, separate from a regular Disguise check, that only gets made if someone has reason to suspect she's not male. I'm not expecting it to give her any kind of tactical advantage. She's not naturally gifted at acting or changing her appearance, she's just grown up looking and acting like a guy. Let me know your thoughts on this.
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[Jastermereel]

Looks great!

I trust that the other players are willing to keep the deception secret from their characters until they would have the knowledge in game as well.

A few questions (numbered by section rather than question)

1) While it isn't a major issue, can swap "Decus" for "Dodera"? It's not a big deal, but the map I have of Kalamar actually has a named country to the north (I didn't name before it as I didn't expect to use it much). Alternatively, might Decus be a section of Dodera given the shrunken status of the territory you describe?

2) The description sounds good. Your character might need to shave her head periodically to keep up the disguise but I can't see that being a problem. I'm not sure that any Goliaths really have the bishonen look, particularly the males, but point taken there.

3/5) On the topics of being able to intimidate or being intelligent/charismatic inside a tribe but not outside it, how do you see that functioning mechanically if at all?

I think the passive disguise shouldn't be too much of an issue. Unless another person were particularly familiar with Goliaths, they would have to have reason to question your character's ruse. If that comes up we'll develop something (DC modifiers based on the "bishi" look, the well practiced disguise, the unfamiliarity with Goliaths).

Also, so I know what to expect, are you considering using the Goliath Racial Substitution levels from Chapter 6 (p150) of that source book? Or for that matter, any other alternate barbarians? There are other Barbarian modifications out there, but the ones Races of Stone are only open to Goliaths.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Katrina]

[Trool]

Alright it be my turn. Have fun reading this looooong thing



Nissrram, Niss for short, is an orange tabby looking kitty person. He is easy going and kind of absent minded when it comes to doing daily activities. He is the second son of his tribe's chief Kirrsuk. He was born ten years after his older brother Kurssam. While Kurssam excelled in physical and leadership activities, Nissrram was left to his own devices. Instead of focusing on becoming a constructive member of his tribe he collected trinkets, such as small bells, and spent a lot of time with travelers who traded with his tribe. So much that he never really became good at all the things catfolk are well known for.

The catfolk tribes are nomadic and tend to keep to themselves. They are fairly xenophobic, and while they don't enjoy it, they realized early on that trading with merchants was essential to their success and therefore do so regularly. However, they are also fascinated with the outside world and enjoy hearing stories about what happens there. (kind of like stereotypical Japanese). Catfolk adventurers are well treated in their society. Therefore, as Niss showed no interest in other activities, his father arranged for a traveling merchant named Philip Ar'tire to take him on for a year. He paid the merchant and made arrangements to meet up again in the same location in one year.

It took only a week for Philip to betray Nissrram. He stole most of Nissrram's things and money, leaving Niss with only a few copper pieces, some worn down weapons he was not able to sell, and bells.

Traveling on his own Niss was able to develop a narrative style involving bells and some crudely manufactured hand puppets. While strange, it provided him with enough of an income to eat and find shelter. He's been traveling for about a month when he arrived at Arun'Kid. By this point he is fairly sure he can survive for the next 11 months and is looking for something a bit more interesting to do than just the bells and hand puppets.

That's pretty much what I got so far. The timing and such can easily be changed, as most of this back story if anyone has better suggestions. Here is this same info in the nice to read format in case I forgot something up top.

1) Occupation and History -- Nissrram is the second son of his tribe's chief. He is 10 years younger than his brother. Currently he is a traveling bard using bells and hand puppets to illustrate various stories he has heard back in his tribe as well as during his travel.

2) Physical description -- He is a humanoid orange tabby catfolk or medium height. He has bells and other trinkets woven into his hair, thus making a jinggiling sound pretty much everywhere he goes.

3) Attributes and skills (exceptional ones only) -- Having listened to many stories growing up, Nissrram is well versed in the history and legends of many different types of people, though he does tend to confuse which story is which.

4) Values and motivations -- Nissrram is carefree and easy going. While he can get emotional quickly he is much faster to forgive and generally trusts anyone he meets for the first time. He is not an idiot, just easily distracted and if someone betrays him he will hold a grudge.

5) Interactions with others -- He is easygoing and outspoken throwing out his thoughts and opinions as they enter his head. He doesn't mind being wrong and does not take long to be convinced of a different action as long as it has merit.

6) Useful knowledge -- Having spend a good deal of his childhood listening to the stories of passing merchants as well as his own people's legends, Nissrram is well versed in the tales from many of the surrounding cultures. Having said that, he is not 100% clear on what is truth and what is made up.

7) Distinguishing feature -- Nissrram has all sort of trinkets woven into his fur, including small bells. He sounds like a wind-chime in a breeze

I also began looking at traits and flaws and here are a few that I think would work for this character and would be interesting to take. I don't envision Nissramm to be a terribly effective fighter. He will have descent dex as he is a catfolk. Not great for his race, but better than average over all. I see him using ranged attacks, buffing songs/spells, and attack spells. Let me know what you think.


Traits:
Easygoing: +1 gather info, -2 intimidate and sense motive
Distinctive: +1 reputation, -1 disguise
Absent Minded: +1 knowlege checks, -1 spot and listen

Flaws:
Inattentive: -4 on Listen and Spot
Noncobatant: -2 on all melee attack
_________________
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, isn't 'Eureka!' but rather 'hmm....that's funny.'

--Isaac Asimov

[Jastermereel]

[Jastermereel]

[Katrina]

If you want to adjust the rules and keep the speed and illiteracy, I'm fine with that. It makes a lot more sense, and it only takes two skill points to learn how to read and write. I'd rather lose the skill points and be faster than keep them and be slower.

As far as an extra feat for the flaw goes, I'll be taking Power Attack as my first feat, so I'd like to take either Cleave or Improved Sunder as a second feat, if those are available as options.

I'm looking at weapons and armor, and right now I'm thinking that she would have a large greatsword, but light armor (probably padded leather).
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[Trool]

I don't mind dropping the distinctive trait, wasn't sure about that one either. As for the two flaws I'd rather keep the Inattentive flaw, but I don't see my char using melee combat. I'm going to put an 8 in strength I think. So I threw that one in to get rid of it. As for the feets at level 1 I was thinking of getting the following (I think 3 if I get both flaws right?)

Improved Initiative (He's supposed to be quick and this will give him a chance to cast buffs and start doing performance early on)

Then two mystery song stuff:
Jesting: Words not Spoken (p. 76 in quint bard)
Storytelling: The heart of the Story (p. 78 in quint bard)

Both are non-combat relating. The first allows a bard to study a crowd of people and gain clear insight into the true relationships and leadership patterns that exist in a group of people. The second allows him to study a person specifically and craft a story around that person. It gives him a +4 bonus on perform skill when calculating how much money he earns that night.

I'm building the level 1 character with what I think he would have at this point. While it does set him on a path, he may well deviate from it as he expands in levels. I trying to get stats that would be representative of who he is when just starting out. If throughout his adventures he finds that being attentive is important he may try to compensate for his start by taking the alertness feet and so on. I think it could be interesting, but I agree it may ultimately not work out and in that case I don't mind if he does not survive past a few first levels, I can always make a new one...
_________________
The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, isn't 'Eureka!' but rather 'hmm....that's funny.'

--Isaac Asimov

[Jastermereel]

[fate]

<div class="blah"><img src="http://a7.vox.com/6a00c22523a40a604a0110185874cf860f-500pi"/></div>

Name: Ennostiel
Race: Gray Elf
Class: Fighter

1) Occupation and History -- Ennostiel was until recently apprentice and sometimes bodyguard to her grandmother, a powerful wizard/artificer. Ennostiel only remembers the past 7 years of her life(she's 23). She woke up in her grandmothers house with no memory of who she was or how she got there. The grandmother told her about her parents, wizards themselves, who had been reckless with their experiments and ended up destroying their house, killing them both and injuring their daughter. Because of this, Ennostiel has a dislike and distrust of magics, but will tolerate anything her grandmother deems 'safe'. While Ennostiel holds the laws of the land in high esteem, her grandmother did not have the same respect for the law. She frequently traded with people of questionable character and connections for valuable rare artifacts. Ennostiel didn't much like these visitors, but having been told by her grandmother that they helped her with her work, Ennostiel left well enough alone trusting her grandmother in all things. One day Ennostiel came back from training to find her grandmother dead and the home ransacked. Many valuable artifacts had been stolen. She reported this to the local authorities, but upon inspection of the house there were more questions about how rare stolen artifacts had gotten into the house. The residence(mansion) was seized in the investigation as evidence. Ennostiel, angered by the whole thing decided to track down the criminals who destroyed her life and family. Following some initial leads from the investigators, she travels from town to town in search of more information, occasionally taking up odd repair jobs to fund her quest for justice using what she learned as an artificer's apprentice.

2) Physical description -- Ennostiel is unusually tall for an elf and has long light blond hair which she usually ties or braids.

3) Attributes and skills (exceptional ones only) -- Ennostial appears to have a natural resistance to healing spells and this causes the spells to be half as effective as normal. This caused her grandmother great concern when Ennostiel decided to pursue a fighting profession. Unable to convince Ennostiel of pursuing a safer profession the grandmother, being a wizard of great skill, created various items for her over the years which would help her heal. These are used up quickly however and need to be replaced. Since the grandmother is no longer alive, Ennostiel will have to deal with her healing problem without the aid of pre-made magical items.

4) Values and motivations -- Ennostiel was brought up in relative isolation and as such has limited understanding of other people. Most of what she knows about how the world works comes from her reading of her grandmother's vast library including volumes from several races on various genres such as history, myth and various anthropological texts. In short she knows a lot about how the world "should be" and very little about how it is. Being brought up in relative isolation, she also has an unhealhy deference to authority and will follow official's orders unquestioningly provided that she does not believe their station to be lower than hers(see arrogance). She will also usually trust the authority over anyone else.

5) Interactions with others -- Ennostiel attempts to be polite but her honesty makes her ignorance about the world and its people apparent. She tends to come off as arrogant and privileged. She also likes to express an opinion about anything she's read in an effort to show off which may annoy some people.

6) Useful knowledge -- Having been a wizard's/artificer's apprentice, she has some knowledge of repairing mechanical things. Having read her grandmother's whole library, she may have useful knowledge pertaining to anthropology of different races but the accuracy of this information is questionable.

7) Distinguishing feature -- Ennostiel does not bruise and never has. She can't see in low light like other elves.

Strength 15
Dexterity 12
Constitution 15
Intelligence 15
Wisdom 8
Charisma 9

Traits

Honest
You are naturally straightforward and sincere. This quality helps
you persuade people to your viewpoint, but you have difficulty
telling lies and seeing deception in others.
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on Diplomacy checks.
Drawback: You take a –1 penalty on Bluff checks and Sense
Motive checks.
Roleplaying Ideas: Characters with this trait might be naïve
and too unsophisticated to lie, or they might be aware of worldly
matters and simply choose to take a higher ground.

Polite
You are courteous and well spoken.
Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on Diplomacy checks.
Drawback: You take a –2 penalty on Intimidate checks.
Roleplaying Ideas: Characters with this trait might be honestly
polite and kind, or they might simply be adept at mimicking
social conventions to get what they want.
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People's whole lives do pass before their eyes before they die. The process is called living.

Most of the time its easier to get along with people before you get to know them.

[Jastermereel]

Sounds good. We've discussed the details online before so there's little to review.

Three down, one to go.

That, and who knows when we'll actually start
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[HyperFerret]

Name: Naomi
Race: Saurian Shifter
Class: Rogue


Occupation and History: Naomi was born into the rare bloodline of saurian shifters, one of only a handful of clans still in existence. Although clan members can pass as human, they are still untrusting and secretive by nature. They prefer the nomadic lifestyle, moving and converging at various ‘base towns’ throughout the regions of kalamar. Although their friends are limited, the shifter clans are a close-knit community and remain highly protective of themselves and those alliances that have been incorporated into the “family.”

Since shifters have limited ties with outsiders they aren’t exactly picky when it comes to their employers, or for that matter, the legality of the job at hand. Their willingness to travel and saurian abilities make them useful for hire as caravan escorts and bodyguards as well as smugglers, robbers and bounty-hunters.

The summer she turned sixteen Naomi was sent on her first job; to assist several other clan members with a smuggling operation for a wealthy lord. Things go awry, however, when the band is caught by the authorities as they are crossing through a neighboring region. Although most of the shifters are able to escape Naomi is still young and inexperienced in combat. She is quickly captured and imprisoned.
While in jail she befriends a young man named Kaiden who was imprisoned two years before. During their subsequent incarceration the two become quite close and form a strong bond of friendship which eventually turns to love. Naomi learns that Kaiden is the only son of Kale, the cruel and merciless leader of a deadly assassin’s guild known as the crimson talons. Unlike his father, however, Kaiden is kind hearted. It was because of his caring nature that he slipped up during a mission and ended up in prison.

After three years of confinement both Naomi and Kaiden are released. They seek out Naomi’s clan, into which Kaiden is eventually accepted as her chosen pair-bond. Kaiden tries to abandon his past and make a new life free of the talons and his father. Naomi and Kaiden marry and have a son, Troy. Although Troy has his mother’s blonde hair and saurian powers, he proves to be gentle and kind-hearted like his father.

Five more years pass and the family lives peacefully. Unfortunately, word of Kaiden’s release eventually reaches the crimson talons. Enraged at his son’s betrayal and fearful that the secrets of the guild might somehow be exposed, Kale orders Kaiden and his family killed. In a mass assault the talons succeed in killing Kaiden, Naomi’s entire clan, * and nearly Naomi herself (now 24) in one night. Naomi is left barely alive under the rubble of one of the clan’s base towns, her left eye permanently scarred. Upon discovery of his saurian blood, rather then kill Naomi’s son (5 yrs) the talons kidnap him to bring him to his grandfather, Kale, in the hopes that he can be put to use and trained in the ways of the crimson talons.

When Naomi comes too after the attack she finds herself in the town of Arun’kid under the care of the local innkeeper and his wife. While she recovers her strength Naomi eventually earns enough money for some weapons, supplies and a map. With her clan and beloved bond Kaiden dead, Naomi realizes that she must find some new allies in order to gain the experience she needs to find her son… and kill the man who took him.

Physical description: Naomi is of average height and feminine figure. She has short, unkempt honey-blonde hair and hazel eyes. She has well proportioned muscle tone: supple but sculpted. Her outfits of choice tend to be form-fitting and in dark colors, such as black leather.

Attributes and skills: Naomi is very athletic and also quite stealthy. Rather then face her foes outright, she prefers to jump, climb, and creep her way onto roofs or into unseen corners to ambush her foes from behind with sneak attacks. Naomi carries a rapier as well as a light crossbow. Naomi gains various saurian traits depending on what power she takes when “shifting” (claws, fangs a long-whip tail etc.). As a general rule, however, when shifted her eyes become like those of a raptor: yellow with black slit pupils. (** see distinguishing features for more).

Values and motivations: Naomi’s chief goal is to find her son, Troy, and kill the man responsible for his kidnapping- the leader of the crimson talons, Kale. Before she can do this, however, she realizes she must first find some new alliances and become a stronger fighter.

Interactions with others: When interacting shifters refer to each other with family titles (Aunt & Uncle for elders, Brother & Sister for same age or younger) even if they aren’t related by blood.
As a general rule Naomi doesn’t trust easy. However that isn’t to say she is incapable of making friends. Once a close friendship is established (which may take some time) Naomi will often perceive these relations as part of her “family.” That said, she will become fiercely protective over these individuals and may go off on her own to covertly “take care” any who threaten them. Naomi does not take kindly to those who betray her trust. Although Naomi tends to try and keep her saurian blood hidden in casual or everyday situations she may slip up occasionally and hiss, snarl or use a raptor-ish vocalization.

Useful knowledge: Her nomadic upbringing has given Naomi familiarity with a great deal of Kalamar’s overall geography. She has knowledge of travel paths, trade routes, as well as various towns and cities that are hospitable to wonderers. However, because of her untrusting nature, her visits are generally short and Naomi retains very little insight (and cares very little) about the actual people and their differing cultures.

Distinguishing feature: After her defeat by the crimson talons Naomi sustained a scar through her left eye that begins half an inch above the eyebrow and stretches to about mid cheek.


* Although Naomi’s immediate clan was killed this does not make her the last shifter in Kalamar. There are a few other clans still migrating across the country.

* * Idea- Because of her saurian blood her injured eye now permanently resembles that of a raptor even in her normal, unshifted state. For this reason she usually elects to keep her saurian eye covered under a black eye-patch. When provoked, especially in anger, Naomi’s good eye may appear saurian for a brief second.

[Jastermereel]

Re Naomi:

Looks great so far. I might have a small suggested change as I'm not sure Arun'Kid has a full inn setup, so you might either have been given shelter at the tavern or similar place.


I should be able to get you the full text for the Saurian Shifter information as I'm not sure the Crystal Keeps PDF has everything you'll need.

In addition to the usual starting decisions you'll need to pick your Saurian Shifter traits: choosing two options from a list of seven aspects of your shifting ability.

If you want we could look into applying a mechanical effect to the eye's scar/patch in the form of a trait or flaw or you could just leave it as interesting flavor to the character.

*Edit* I'd also like to know a little more about the Crimson Talon crew so as to better tie them in. I have a good idea, but would like to discuss it a little further. *End of Edit*

For all:

It looks like we'll be starting up in the next few weeks sometime. If we have some spare time when figuring out how our current characters develop in level 17 and 20, we might start setting up the sheets for the next batch. Those that don't already know their ability scores might want to give thought to what sort of strengths/weaknesses they'll want and how to balance it all out.

Really looking forward to starting this up.

Also, while I've been working at figuring out adventures for the next ten levels or so and I've tried to get some variety going in what you'll encounter, but I'd really like to hear if anyone has any requests as to how it'll play out in terms of content, conflict, style and anything else. I can't guarantee everything'll work out, but I'm certainly open to ideas.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Katrina]

In regards to equipment, you mentioned using the starting package for our character's class. Would we be able to swap out weapons in the package for others of the same value?
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Check it out! I finally remembered my login for this account. I can do crazy things like put text in my signature and change my avatar so it doesn't say NaNoWriMo 2005.

[Jastermereel]

I don't see why not. The book's starter package is just a suggestion.

If you're concerned you've deviated too far from what's expected, compare your total to the average from Page 112's Random Starting Gold. A barbarian (sans starting package) gets 4d4x10gp or 100gp on average. I think if you add up the components listed in the start package it comes to around 87.7 gold, a little below the mark.

In contrast, if you're running around with a two-bladed sword (100gp) and full plate (1,500gp) your character will have a nasty encounter with a rust monster early on (priceless).

Just remember, the cost is the same for small and medium size weapons, but double for large (p114). As Stan Lee might have said, with powerful build comes powerful expenses.
_________________
The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

That said, I'd be interested if anyone has other belongings. A ring or amulet? A heraldic sign? A memento of a mentor or offspring? Things that don't necessarily impact your character's stats (No +3 Acid Burst baby-pictures or picture locket of Holding), but that might be used in a role-playing capacity at some point.

If you seek someone for revenge or reunification, how will you know them when you find them? How will they know you? If you come from a family of some standing, how might you prove it to others? Would you want to?

We've now gotten back-stories for our characters...how will we make use of them?
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[Jastermereel]

Does anyone know what the plans are for next weekend? Do people have off on any of the neighboring days? Did people enjoy our level 17 and 20 marathon enough to try another long day to kick off the new campaigns? It'll take some time to get new character sheets set up and to get everyone acclimated to the new world.
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The old Jastermereel account seems to have been killed in an unfortunate email changing accident. I am an illegal clone manufactured on a little known island state off the coast of...well...never you mind. Pretend nothing happened and you won't have to face the combined wrath of the Guild of Calamitous Intent and the League of Awesomeness.

[fate]

I'd be up for another marathon as long as it is not in a place with a dog, I seem to be much more allergic than I remember being a while ago.
_________________
People's whole lives do pass before their eyes before they die. The process is called living.

Most of the time its easier to get along with people before you get to know them.