Author Topic: Pre-Game chatter  (Read 10218 times)

Offline linklord231

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Pre-Game chatter
« on: March 29, 2014, 04:49:37 AM »
For discussing characters, rules, and any other questions you have before the game. 
I'm not arguing, I'm explaining why I'm right.

Offline Scout89

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #1 on: March 29, 2014, 05:19:47 AM »
For some reason I'm not getting the New icon on this campaign thread.
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Offline linklord231

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #2 on: March 29, 2014, 03:12:29 PM »
Roll20 campaign page is up

Access it here

You guys will be starting out at Oleg's Trading post, on the last day of Calistril (roughly February).  You should, as a group, decide whether you set out from Brevoy together, or met up here, and also how long you've been here for. 
« Last Edit: March 29, 2014, 10:59:07 PM by linklord231 »
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Offline professorgear

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2014, 07:44:33 AM »
Ok, looks like I'm having to eat my words from my character post, lol. We're going to have to share our character backgrounds if we, as players, want to formulate the party's origin story. My character is the son of a noble half-fey mother and an unknown man. The half-fey was evil and manipulative and eventually drove him to the brink of murder. However, the shame of the incident spurned him in the opposite direction, and the hatred he once had for his cousins who inherited his family's noble title was turned instead towards his mother. Eventually, this hatred melted and turned to pity, but not before it had the cathartic effect of transforming Vian into a champion of the downtrodden, acting as a leader for a group of orphaned children. He has the Noble Born (Medvyed) trait. His motivations for returning from his travels to Brevoy are mainly to establish a kingdom in those lawless lands so that those who are normally taken-advantage-of have a better chance of survival. He wants by good deeds to rewrite his character and maybe, in time, redeem his past. His main abilities are charisma and strength, so he makes for a good military leader.

Depending on the backgrounds of the other characters, my character can furnish a party origin story simply by being a leader/recruiter. Amongst those who are already good, he is persuasive but not pushy. He is only intimidating to those who have strayed from the paths of righteousness. So, he could be a magnet that attracted the party to his cause. He wants to set up a kingdom and can't do it alone. He needs allies and he found them either at or before Oleg's Trading Post.

Alternatively, he could take a less dominant role and find people with whom it is merely convenient to work together. He and other PCs wanted to establish their own sovereignties , but it would be best at this early stage to work as one.

If you're looking for other connections with my character, his faerie grandmother lives in the Gronzi Forest. He spent some time in Westcrown in Cheliax. And he spent some time traveling the places in between.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2014, 03:30:17 AM by professorgear »

Offline Scout89

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #4 on: April 01, 2014, 05:01:44 PM »
Sheet posted. Please have a look, GMs.
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Offline Gazzien

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #5 on: April 02, 2014, 12:38:10 AM »
For some reason I'm not getting the New icon on this campaign thread.
It's because there are new posts in a thread within a subforum within this subforum, I think. I don't see them until I get down to the "Current Games" board.

Arella is an Aasimar descended from a Peri - a woman wreathed with wings of flame - and, somewhere far far back, a touch of dragonblood, not that it manifests at all. She studies at the Kitharodian Academy, on an island inside the Inner Sea. She's out adventuring while she takes a break from her classes, though she also has the motivation of sharing her performances - acting, dancing, giving speeches, and occasionally percussion - and recruiting more students to enlighten themselves at the Academy.

She dresses like a stereotypical adventurer, her outfit having lots of little pockets, and she carries an almost-unused shortbow, along with a flag bearing the insignia of the Academy on a frame on her backpack. Beyond that, she doesn't do much - she could act to pull a party together, or she could simply join with them as the party moves along, seeing as their travel is the same direction, and everyone enjoys a bit of a show in the evening after a hard walk, of course.

Offline professorgear

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #6 on: April 02, 2014, 04:48:28 AM »
Hey Gazzien,
I was thinking about one of your posts, how you said you were trying to get to 15 TPA. It suddenly occurred to me, though it may not be news to you, that your simultaneous membership in the Pathfinder Society is actually quite fortuitous. The main obstacle in gaining prestige with the Kitharodian Academy is that not only are you not there, but it's exceedingly far away. Gaining prestige in the Academy is all variations on a theme; professors observing your skills. But you're nowhere near any of the professors to be observed, no matter how many demonstrations of your skills you make. However, if your skillful exploits are published in some Pathfinder Journals (and with the cooperation of the DM, they could be), then your professors could hear about them.

Under this pretext, you may not need to return to the bard college except very infrequently. I would assume it's like most bard colleges in that the learning is considerably self-directed, what with the students being so independent. That being the case, you may have thought that you would learn more traveling abroad, even if you did not want to revoke your attendance status at the academy.

In any event, a character tie-in we might want to consider is that you and I met on my travels. Adventurous as you may be, you might not have wanted to go as far as Brevoy, but I may have convinced you to come, saying there would be many opportunities to display your virtuosity and great need for your powers. For indeed, bards being what they are in a fantasy world, they can be very useful to armies, and are at least entertainment for the court. It may have been hard for you to find a position in courts that were already established. But if you befriend someone before he becomes a king, you've got a foot in the door...
« Last Edit: April 10, 2014, 03:32:28 AM by professorgear »

Offline professorgear

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #7 on: April 02, 2014, 06:35:59 AM »
@zook1shoe: Meanwhile, since the summons for would-be-king adventurers came from Restov, it makes since that Vian and Arella would go there first before setting out. I don't know about your character's personality, but he could have joined them at Restov as the mercenary type. Obviously, we wouldn't pay him, but he'd get his share of the loot. Alternatively, if his lawful alignment is a significant element of his personality, he could already want to tame the lawlessness of the Greenbelt. In that case, he could join the party because of an alignment of purposes. My character is more concerned with establishing a good kingdom, but your character could seek the establishment of a kingdom simply because it's preferable to anarchy.

Offline Scout89

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #8 on: April 02, 2014, 09:53:49 AM »
Guys, my character is Issian and he's looking for a way to earn good money. He could have joined as a mercenary.
Sneaky_Sable: "Keep the Omega Whatever, I'll take that Dagger. Nice to meet you *sneak attack* I hope everything's alright *sneak attack* how's your liver been *sneak attack*..."

Offline Gazzien

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #9 on: April 02, 2014, 03:04:09 PM »
Hey Gazzien,
I was thinking about one of your posts, how you said you were trying to get to 15 TPA. It suddenly occurred to me, though it may not be news to you, that your simultaneous membership in the Pathfinder Society is actually quite fortuitous. The main obstacle in gaining prestige with the Kitharodian Academy is that not only are you not there, but it's exceedingly far away. Gaining prestige in the Academy is all variations on a theme; professors observing your skills. But you're nowhere near any of the professors to be observed, no matter how many demonstrations of your skills you make. However, if your skillful exploits are published in some Pathfinder Journals (and with the cooperation of the DM, they could be), then your professors could hear about them.

Under this pretext, you may not need to return to the bard college except very infrequently. I would assume it's like most bard colleges in that the learning is considerably self-directed, what with the students being so independent. That being the case, you may have thought that you would learn more traveling abroad, even if you did not want to revoke your attendance status at the academy.

In any event, a character tie-in we might want to consider is that you and I met on my travels. Adventurous as you may be, you might not have wanted to go as far as Brevoy, but I may have convinced you to come, saying there would be many opportunities to display your virtuosity and great need for your powers. For indeed, bards being what they are in a fantasy world, they can be very useful to armies, and are at least entertainment for the court. It may have been hard for you to find a position in courts that were already established. But if you befriend someone before he becomes a king, you've got a foot in the door...
Damn you for making me go get my laptop instead of my phone![/sarcasm]

Mm, that's a very good point.

I'm willing to go with that - Arella didn't have a particular destination in mind, so it makes sense that she would just go along with you - considering that she's neutral good and more formally trained, she'd also take the opportunity to get in on the beginning of a kingdom, and she'd be able to help the poor people in that anarchic state.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2014, 03:34:52 AM by professorgear »

Offline professorgear

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #10 on: April 02, 2014, 04:06:56 PM »
Concerning Cass Talakhis, perhaps you traveled to Restov from Issian when you heard the rumors of the Swordlords' offers? You figured you could find one of the adventuring parties before they set off and offer your services? Let me know if it sounds plausible.

Now we just need a response from zook and we should have a party background.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2014, 03:36:24 AM by professorgear »

Offline Scout89

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #11 on: April 02, 2014, 04:25:32 PM »
Concerning Cass Talakhis, perhaps you traveled to Restov from Issian when you heard the rumors of the Swordlords' offers? You figured you could find one of the adventuring parties before they set off and offer your services? Let me know if it sounds plausible.

Yeah! That sounds like something Cass would do. A chance of becoming a noble, even a king. That would certainly make him dream about it.
Sneaky_Sable: "Keep the Omega Whatever, I'll take that Dagger. Nice to meet you *sneak attack* I hope everything's alright *sneak attack* how's your liver been *sneak attack*..."

Offline linklord231

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #12 on: April 02, 2014, 06:58:21 PM »
Sounds good guys :)
If you have time, you should pick out a token to represent your character on roll20. You can either search their art, or upload your own. Just drag and drop an image file onto the map grid.

It's up to you individually if you want to set up short-form character sheets on roll20, or just use your "official" one here or on mythweavers.
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Offline Scout89

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #13 on: April 02, 2014, 07:49:25 PM »
Are we going to use Roll20's dice roller? I'd rather not since it can get lost in the chat panel.
Sneaky_Sable: "Keep the Omega Whatever, I'll take that Dagger. Nice to meet you *sneak attack* I hope everything's alright *sneak attack* how's your liver been *sneak attack*..."

Offline professorgear

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #14 on: April 02, 2014, 08:45:58 PM »
If we were playing a traditional Roll20 game with everyone online at the same time, then I might worry about the preponderance of messages. However, as most messages will be posted on Min Max Boards, I don't think there will be a problem with the rolls getting burried. Just make sure to say what each roll is for with a group message.

Offline professorgear

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #15 on: April 02, 2014, 09:06:10 PM »
linklord, sadly, I'm pretty sure the players can't add tokens: only DMs. I haven't found a way to give them that permission. So you or I are just going to have to pick the closest matching token we can.

Offline linklord231

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #16 on: April 02, 2014, 10:58:00 PM »
linklord, sadly, I'm pretty sure the players can't add tokens: only DMs. I haven't found a way to give them that permission. So you or I are just going to have to pick the closest matching token we can.

Good point.  I made characters for the people who have joined the roll20 campaign so far (everyone but Zook, basically), and hopefully set them to be edited by their players. 

You can create macros for common rolls using the "Ablities" tab, if you want. 
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Offline Gazzien

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #17 on: April 02, 2014, 11:46:26 PM »
linklord, sadly, I'm pretty sure the players can't add tokens: only DMs. I haven't found a way to give them that permission. So you or I are just going to have to pick the closest matching token we can.

Good point.  I made characters for the people who have joined the roll20 campaign so far (everyone but Zook, basically), and hopefully set them to be edited by their players. 

You can create macros for common rolls using the "Ablities" tab, if you want.
I'm honestly fine with anything as my character, tbh. As long as it's (even vaguely) female.

Offline linklord231

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #18 on: April 08, 2014, 01:43:44 AM »
Are we good to go?  Does everybody have their sheets (mostly) finalized?  Made a roll20 account and signed up for the campaign?  Got a feel for individual backstories and personalities?

Looks like we've agreed that Vian and Arella are old adventuring buddies, and signed for the Greenbelt Exploration charter together, then hired Cass and possibly Gror as mercenaries - sound about right?  If that's the case, we'll say Vian and Arella have been at Olegs for a couple days, waiting for their new companions who just showed up this morning.  Campaign will officially start once I get an "Aye" from everybody, indicating that you're ready. 
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Offline Gazzien

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Re: Pre-Game chatter
« Reply #19 on: April 08, 2014, 02:20:14 AM »
"Aye", I'm good to go.