OOC discussion

Yeah, just want to emphasize what K is saying here and say if you feel stuck Rory or maybe aren't quite sure how you want to say something hit us up. We can talk about it a bit and come up with a plan or whatever it is you need. And don't be afraid of in-character conflict. So long as we are on the same page it makes for good drama and, if done correctly, a stronger friendship between the characters.

Along those lines, i've been thinking what can be done to facilitate that process, so i've just created a Steam Group room and invited everyone.

Figure that way we can say stuff with more immediacy, less guarded, and we don't need to either tackle each other one on one or go through the hassle of setting up a group chat. We're all connected, we all hear it, we all participate.

I don't know how well or ill this will work, but i think it's at least worth a go.

Hi everyone. Just letting you guys know my computer monitor died. I've acquired a new one thanks to some Christmas money. I should be back up soon.

I wonder what Steve's up to...

Lol.

I would like to know if you guys want to roleplay the dinner conversation, in case you want to learn more about certain NPCs or just want to interact with each other. If not, I'll just skip to tomorrow.

might i suggest a middle ground? We could RP in the chat.

EDIT: Nevermind, it seems we're all pretty much on the forum page

Kolson wrote:Steve is a terrible chess player and Konrad easily defeats him. In fact, he seems to get even worse in the second game. For whatever reason he just doesn't grasp the tactics of the game. It's like a master martial artist not being able to dance. It's uncanny.

That bad, huh? Or did you skip the dice? I wasn't going to go back and forth with it, or play for keeps.

No, Steve is just awful at chess, so there is no need to roll. Just consider his chess playing an auto "1" like I do, lol.

Okay, now that we are ending this second adventure I've talked to Zeiss and he has graciously accepted my idea of taking a break by having me run a few short adventures for you guys. I'm hoping you guys, K and Rory, are interested in playing as well.

The idea for this game is that you guys are friends and fellow adventurers who have traveled from the more settled lands of the south to the frontier area called the Nentir Vale.

Map of the Nentir Vale and places of interest:

You share a culture in common with all folks of this area, as it was the northwestern most part of the Nerath Empire (Think the Roman Empire of this world).

The Nentir Vale itself has seen better days. One hundred years ago Nerath began to crumble with the death of the Emperor and all his known relatives. The legions were recalled leaving the defense of this borderland to the local militias and for ten years they kept the Vale safe. However, things changed when a horde of orcs known as the Bloodspears marched out of the Stonemarch to the northwest. Winterhaven was overrun and destroyed, and a last alliance of the militias of Fallcrest, Fastormel, and Harkenwold met the invaders on the Gardbury Downs. They were defeated and the Bloodspear orcs went on to wreak havoc across the Vale.

Now, ninety years later, the people of the Vale are a shadow of their former strength. Winterhaven has been rebuilt and fortified but the King's Road is treacherous and the area remains prone to raids by monsters of the Stonemarch and infestations of kobolds. Fastormel lies in ruins, haunted and cursed by strange magic. The survivors have founded the village of Nenlast to the east, on the banks of their beloved Lake Nen. Harkenwold remains safe but sparsely populated, as the woodsmen and elves of the area prefer. And finally Fallcrest is a small town in the remains of a larger city, struggling to maintain her borders against threats both strange and mundane. The Nentir Vale is in need of heroes. Any volunteers?

System: We'll be using D&D 5th edition for this game.
Level: We'll be starting at level 1.
Stipulations: Everyone should be good or neutral in alignment and able to operate together with mutual goals and desires. You guys are free to do whatever you want otherwise but I ask that you consider the consequences of your acts. As an example don't put yourselves in a situation that requires you to be arrested and hanged and I will gladly not arrest and hang you. I'll give the usual warnings before you finalize your actions but I thought I'd lay it out here for everyone up front.

Point of the Game: You guys play some adventurers new to the Nentir Vale. All of you know each other and are friends. At least one of you has ties to the Vale in the form of a friend, relative, or other connection like an order of knights or the service of a specific faith. The important thing is you have moved here to ply your trade as adventurers for reasons we'll work out during character creation. You'll start in Fallcrest but are free to go wherever you guys wish once you complete the starting adventures and we all get our bearings with the system. The goal is for this game to be a fun and relaxing thing we do for 2-3 weeks in between Zeiss' adventures and as such things generally won't be as serious as they will be in his game. That doesn't mean I won't present you with serious problems, it just won't be as in depth as our main campaign.

Questions? Comments?

Well, I'm in. I hope the others are too. However, I do have a few questions.

First of all, for how much time have the party members known each other?

What is the minimum age of the PCs?

What is your stance towards romance? Since it is a short adventure, I assume the PCs won't have time for anything serious, but it would be nice to know if they have the option to fool around a little.

Just to be clear; the first adventure takes place in the vicinity of Fallcrest, correct?

Does resurrection exist in this setting?

I think that's all for now.

Zeiss wrote:First of all, for how much time have the party members known each other?

We'll need to work out the specifics during character creation but I imagine at least a few years. Probably no more than 5.

Zeiss wrote:What is the minimum age of the PCs?

I'm hoping you guys will want to play folks around the same age. Mid-20s makes the most sense, old enough to be on your own young enough not to be tied down, but I'm open to age of maturity to the equivalent of a human in their early 30s.

Zeiss wrote:What is your stance towards romance? Since it is a short adventure, I assume the PCs won't have time for anything serious, but it would be nice to know if they have the option to fool around a little.

Romance is 100% okay with me. While the adventures themselves won't be on the long side you will be sticking to the same (potentially) large area. So long as you stay in one place for a length of time I see no reason why you guys couldn't pursue romantic relationships with the locals.

Zeiss wrote:Just to be clear; the first adventure takes place in the vicinity of Fallcrest, correct?

All three starting adventures take place in and around Fallcrest. You guys can stick there if you want but I'll occasionally throw hooks leading to other places. You are also free, after the initial three adventures, to ignore anything happening in the towns and go exploring/treasure hunting wherever you want. That isn't a guarantee of success though. That's a dangerous activity and preparation and skill will be required.

Zeiss wrote:Does resurrection exist in this setting?

Yes. It's expensive and takes a powerful priest or druid but there are a few scattered around the Vale including in Fallcrest.

Yes, K is in. K will make a badass character that will wipe the floor with all them pendejos that dared mess up his vale.

Sure, I'll be part of this. My character will be a scout for the Nerath Empire. Here is my idea, this is something I dreamed up in my spare time.

Tiefling ranger. His name is Vincent, a name he gave himself, related to the Latin "vince-", meaning "to conquer/overcome". His given name is Arxes. His favored enemy is Aberrations. He has studied this enemy and is committed to finding and destroying them to keep the Vale safe from encroaching evil, and to prove his worth as a solder to prejudiced members of society (and of the military).

Originally he was supposed to be a good character, but his alignment would be hidden from the other players. But since it is assumed he is *not* going to be evil, there's no thrill in that, so I'm just going to say now that he is Lawful Good (he would have been Neutral Good, but w/e).


How often should we plan to be available? E.g. minimum for Archipelago: 1 post per day.

The Nerath Empire fell a hundred years prior to the game but a tiefling scout is more than doable. You thinking ranger? If so, you thinking bow/crossbow or melee?

Rory wrote:How often should we plan to be available? E.g. minimum for Archipelago: 1 post per day.

Minimum 1 would be nice, but more is welcome. The more people post, the faster we'll get through the adventures. We'll see how long it takes to do the introduction and an adventure. That will give me a better idea of what our posting rate will need to be. We'll all need to be on for fights though, otherwise they'll take too long. We'll discuss it more when the first fight comes up.

I know. The question becomes "can we do the fight today? If not, next time."

I picked Nerath because I looked up the region to find out who rules it. I didn't think that it wouldn't be staple. I skimmed your description of the setting, I was watching Arch's stream at the time. I could go with being a scout of Winterhaven? Seems like it might be the largest settlement out of all of them and therefore the closest to an organized militia of veterans with different branches (foresters, magi, heavy/light, etc).

Ranger chooses bows. Also, can I trade out a class ability or something to get my Animal Companion? Because getting rid of that in 5E was stupid. It seemed like it would be a fun toy, and they took it away, shame on them.

My character is Carlos Jalapeño de Muerta the Dwarf. He's a Fighter from Sembia.

He's larger than life, even though he's a Dwarf, and has no problem bombarding his enemy with a barrage of slurs before bringing his axe down on them. He is sometimes known as Death Pepper.

More questions.

Do you want to do all this here, or move to another forum? How would you prefer we roll for ability scores?

I know that Animal Companion doesn't come at first level, I mean can I get it at 4th lvl? I think that's right, from 3.5e. I'll gladly swap something out so I can have it, or shift the boons across the other levels so that its' not a massive boon compared to other levels.
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Early Life to Now
Vincent (Arxes) was once a pickpocket on the streets, and he was fast on his feet, so even though he was frequently noticed, he was able to get away fairly quickly. One day, however, he bumped right into the constable, who was in an affair with his mother. Vincent learned this only after he was passed for promotion (he was a detective). He was perched on a rooftop, bow drawn, ready to shoot the man who took him into the force, when he saw the headline in his mind: redskin shoots sponsor constable in back. Instead, he settled for telling his father.

In self defense, the constable beat his father in a dispute. Vincent's parents were able to mend their relationship over the incident, and after serving time for a misdemeanor they sought counsel at temple (or wherever they help with this stuff in this settting). Thinking how easy it would have been to put an arrow through the constable's face, Vincent decided to change his career and sign up with the militia and sought a position within the rank and file that would allow him free range over the outlying lands.

With the goal of becoming accepted and lauded in spite of being a tiefling, he brainstormed targets until he settled on creatures and people who had an Outsider nature, like him. He settled on the idea of taking down an aberrations, creatures known to harbor malice or intent to harm toward the civilizations of man, elf, dwarf etc.
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I'll make sure I add this stuff to my character sheet, btw.

Hey, not bad Rory. Especially for having almost no details about the setting. Winterhaven and Nenlast are the least populated major human settlements but the town does indeed have a few tieflings.

Here, use this when making your Ranger. As you'll see when you read it an animal companion is as easy as taking the beast conclave at level 3.

http://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/UA_RevisedRanger.pdf

Rory wrote:Do you want to do all this here, or move to another forum?

I haven't decided yet. If we do it here we'll move over to Kolson's Corner so we can keep everything here tidy.

Rory wrote:How would you prefer we roll for ability scores?

I'll answer that in the character creation thread when it's time. I still have some documentation I want to post up for you guys at the same time.