# Anything But Normal, Sailing the Endless Falls



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 5, 2006)

The Endless Falls is a world of great extremes, of mountains that don't just scrape the sky, but pierce it, and if you care to climb, you could find yourself knocking on the door to the gods' realms, of plains that hold grass that nourishes animals of astounding size and power, and occasionally grass that eats the animals, of vast cities that span not just continents, but the transitive planes between, and all manner of creatures and knowledge can be found.

You are the crew of to-be-christaned isle-ship, a sailing vessel wrought of earth with living trees for masts, flowing with pure water, a well of fire in its heart, and its own breeze to follow it.  Such a prize, however, doesn't come without price.  Your deeds of daring and heroism won you the ship from a greatful omnielemental prince, but others of his court protested giving it to mere mortals.  A violent coup took place, your prince was slain, and you were suddenly on the run, a high price on your heads.

You've sailed into the Sea of Fire and Ice, a treacherous near-ocean filled with currents of salt and pure water, stretches of ice and rimefire, flows of stones and desert waste, and waves of all sorts of elemental matter.  Amongst this place you may find allies, as sure as your enemies will find you!

~~~

Here is some additional information about the backstory and campaign type.  Your omnielemental prince was named Taala.  He had four brides of the four greater (read classic) elementals, and children of all conceivable elemental, para-elemental, and quasi-elemental type.  Taala oversaw the Kingdom of Knowledge, a small but powerful country no more than a few hundred square miles.  It contains the massive Iceangel Lake and the twin mountains Ironguard and Stonemaw.  There are environments here to satisfy nearly elemental.

There are two main exports of Kingdom of Knowledge: pure elements and prophecy.  The great elemental weirds, keepers of knowledge and oracles without peer, reside in unusually high numbers in the kingdom, and Taala controls access to all of them.  Those seeking their counsel pay homage and tribute to Taala or fumble through on their own wits.

The coup against Taala happened when he presented you with the isle-ship, though it was only an excuse to ignite resentment that had been brewing for years.  By Taala's own laws, only greater elementals, omnielementals (MMIII), or tempests (MMII) could assume positions of power in his kingdom.  He feels only a quartet of greater elementals or a single omnielemental or tempest can have a fair and balance viewpoint to rule the Kingdom of Knowledge.  

This caused great resentment from the other elementals.  The paraelmentals often had minor positions, as their duel-elemental nature gave them some insight, but could not ascend higher.  But the quasi-elementals, with their smaller spheres, could not possibly be fair, and are barred from any kind of powerful position.  Acid (ToHII), lightning (ToH), obsidian (ToHII), and storm (MMIII) elementals, along with other elemental creatures like the immoth (MMII), living holocaust (FF), and chraal (MMIII), grew terribly resentful and angry at their powerlessness.  However, their resentment may have simmered forever, had it not been for the time and psionic elementals (both ToH).

Powerful beyond measure, but forbidden power over others as well as personal power, the royal time elementals, the leaders of the rebellion in progress, bided their time, waiting for the correct moment, for they knew the value of patience.  When one of the rare, powerful, newly-complete isle-ships was given to fleshy mortal servants instead of any of Taala's deserving elemental brethren, that was the single spark that was needed to begin the coup.

The reason the royal time elementals are now on your tail is because you carry Taala's regalia with you.  The crown, scepter, and orb of the Kingdom of Knowledge are bound to the soul of the land, and without them, no one can command the loyalty of the land's fey and weirds.  Without this, the Kingdom of Knowledge cannot keep the lock on their goods, and the small but powerful kingdom with dissolve.  

Your characters can try to find allies to do one or more of several things: 

1.  Hide the regalia and let the kingdom dissolve.  The weirds will go their own way and be much harder to find as a result.  You will still be hunted by the time elementals though.

2.  Get someone to help retake the kingdom by force.  If that's accomplished you can either:
2a - Install a quartet of Taala's children, or another related omnielemental or tempest on the throne.
2b - Install _yourselves_ on the throne, changing the rules to suit.
2c - Put a third party on the throne, perhaps a pair of paraelementals to represent all four elements, or even some other entirely different elemental.

3.  Get someone to help take the kingdom by trickery or deceit.  This will have a longer time-span, and once accomplished, you could achieve a result similar to those above.

4.  Some other wacky scheme that I can't even think of, but you might be able to.

As for some mechanics on the adventure itself... Your DM is inordinately fond of oozes, fey, elementals, aberrations, golems and other constructs, along with some vermin, odd giants, odd dragons, and magical beasts.  I swear there is an ooze, dragon, and golem or construct for every occasion!  

You will be less likely to see outsiders of any stripe, hordes of monstrous humanoids, or undead.  I favor deceptive creatures, things that aren't always what they seem, things connected to nature, quirky things, and things that are very, very hungry.  The ability to swiftly assess what you see would be an asset.  Barring that, a way to cover all contingencies would be nice.  Both a quick tongue and a quick blade will be useful.

~~~

You will be 8th level characters, 32 point-buy, standard wealth, hit points max at 1st, 75% +Con thereafter, round up. 

*BUT*, here's the fun part, the classes and races from the Player's Handbook are banned.  Yup.  Banned.  I want people to bust open their other books and play something weird and bizzare!  Or at least, very unique.  Below is what I own, but here is what I _don't_ have: Spell Compendium, DMGII, Races of the Dragon, MMIV, or Complete Psionic.  

I own and will allow people to draw from:

From Wizards of the Coast
PHB, DMG, MM (as necessary)
MMII, MMIII, Fiend Folio
Expanded Psionic's Handbook, PH II
Book of Exalted Deeds, Book of Vile Darkness
Unearthed Arcana (alternate races/classes, 2 flaws allowed)
Frostburn, Sandstorm, and Stormwrack
Savage Species, Planar Handbook, Manual of the Planes
Draconomicon, Arms and Equpiment Guide
Complete Adventurer, Arcane, Divine, and Warrior
Sword and Fist, Defenders of the Faith, Song and Silence, Masters of the Wild
Miniature's Handbook, Ghostwalk, Libris Mortis, Lords of Madness
Races of Destiny, Stone, and the Wild
Weapons of Legacy

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Player's Guide to Faerun, Magic of Faerun, Races of Faerun, Faiths and Pantheons, Monsters of Faerun, Champions of Ruin/Valor, Lords of Darkness, Lost Empires of Faerun, Underdark, Silver Marches, Shining South, Unapproachable East, Serpent Kingdoms 

Eberron Campaign Setting
Races of Eberron, Magic of Eberron, Explorer's Handbook, Player's Guide to Eberron, Five Nations, Secrets of Xen'drick, Sharn City of Towers

Oriental Adventures

Dragon Magazine #277-346

Malhavoc Press
Arcana Evolved, Transcendence, Legacy of the Dragons

Book of Eldritch Might I, II, and III (I don't own the Complete Book of Eldritch Might)
Book of Hallowed Might I & II
When the Sky Falls, Requiem for a God
Hyperconsciousness
Chaositech

Fantasy Flight Games
Dawnforge, Age of Legends
Traps and Treachery I & II

Sword and Sorcery Studios
_All things from this company are subject to nit-picking_
Relics and Rituals, Creature Collection II, Psionics Toolkit

Green Ronin Publishing
Book of the Righteous (use Holy Warrior 3.5 update), Unholy Warrior's Handbook, Shaman's Handbook.

Necromancer Games
Tome of Horrors I & II

AEG
_Subject to nit-picking_
Dungeons, Dragons, Wilds

Bastion Press
_Subject to nit-picking_
Arms and Armor
Alchemy and Herbalism

Citizen Games
_Subject to nit-picking_
Way of the Witch 

Goodman Games
Monsters of the Boundless Blue
Monsters of the Endless Dark
Primeval Groves

Temporary Rogue's Gallery.  
Recruitment Thread
Rogue's Gallery

Also I would like people to use, as little as possible, things from the DMG and MM.  I understand some feats are nearly necessary for prereqs, and some equipment is so basic it's hard to stray from the DMG and PHB, but I think you people can find something suitably fun after you've gotten your basics in!

I would request no feats or whatnot that are terribly world-specific - No FR regional feats, no Eberron Dragonmark feats or whatnot, y'all know what I mean.

In addition, I have a special prize for each character.  If you describe a part of the Endless Falls, a place where you lived, visited, fought, or what have you, or perhaps a person, a mentor, guardian, friend with some detail, I shall craft an item specifically for your character, something you received from your Prince as payment or gift for your duties.

*Those Who Are Anything But Normal*
*Shayuri* with *Trebuchet*, LN Neuter Warforged Warmage 8
*Erekose13* with *Brightstar Vaukriel, Angel of Splendor*, CG Male Illumian Unfettered (Clever Blade Saint) 5 / Duskblade 3
*D20Dazza* with *Tempest Wintersquall*, N Male Half-Air Elemental Hadozee 'Winged Deck Ape' Spellthief 5
*Kelleris* with *Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen*, N Male Blink Dog Hexmaster 5
*Rystil Arden* with *Ianissa, daughter of prophecy*, CG Female Nereid Beguiler 2
*Voidrazor* with *Oobobooboo*, CN sentient ooze


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## Kelleris (Sep 5, 2006)

Well, I guess I'd better finish things up now.      Isida, do you want Bluegorge's write-up here, in with my character sheet, in your e-mail box, or somewhere else?  I shall get started on it tonight.

Oh, and Rystil, since we were both chosen I guess I should mention - it looks to me that we have different takes on the weirds.  Yours are essentially nobles who also happen to be prophets, while I envisioned them as more detached, with no particular loyalty to the Kingdom beyond the influence of Taala's regalia.  Some of that can be explained away just due to our different manners of approach to them (me as a supplicant and off-the-books lackey and you as one of the aristocratic elite, more or less), but I still think we should hammer out some more convergent details and fiddle with our backgrounds so they mesh together better.

Shouldn't be too difficult, really - I noticed you left an empty section of your background for filling with details regarding your meeting other people's characters anyway.


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## Erekose13 (Sep 5, 2006)

I'm here!   As mentioned in the other thread, I'd like to try and interweave Vaukriel's background with someone so that his return and changed personality will be more apparent.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 5, 2006)

The weirds are born as they are, their prophetic powers set them apart from all other elementals.  They are literally a breed apart.  They don't participate in court or other aspects of Kingdom life, they only dispense their knowledge of the future to those who seek them out and give them tribute.  Of course, because the Kingdom of Knowledge controls access to the weirds, people have to pay twice, once to the Kingdom and once to the weirds themselves.

Part of Taala's insistance on the heirarchy of elementals has to due with the fact that the elemental weirds are of the four "greater" elements.  There are also ice and snow weirds, but Taala obstinately counts them as forms of water weirds.  Ice paraelementals would protest this, but they would be in danger for crossing their Prince if they did.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 5, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> The weirds are born as they are, their prophetic powers set them apart from all other elementals.  They are literally a breed apart.  They don't participate in court or other aspects of Kingdom life, they only dispense their knowledge of the future to those who seek them out and give them tribute.  Of course, because the Kingdom of Knowledge controls access to the weirds, people have to pay twice, once to the Kingdom and once to the weirds themselves.
> 
> Part of Taala's insistance on the heirarchy of elementals has to due with the fact that the elemental weirds are of the four "greater" elements.  There are also ice and snow weirds, but Taala obstinately counts them as forms of water weirds.  Ice paraelementals would protest this, but they would be in danger for crossing their Prince if they did.



 Uh, hmm...what should I do about Clymene, then?  Is she okay as-is?  She didn't significantly contribute to court, but she did have her own circle of aristocratic friends from many courts as the prophetess of Fame.  The idea is that she pretty much started out as one of the austere weirds who lived apart and gave knowledge to all supplicants and then she got lost along the way (well, you saw what happened to her, anyways).  Is she okay, or should I change her around?


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 5, 2006)

Oh sure, there are always those that decide they like the glamour of their calling more than the calling itself (you could probably name any number of actors, singers, or athletes that fit that bill).  So Clymene is fine.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 5, 2006)

Okay guys, time to write our recent history together (and I'm going to make little notes of what Nissa thinks of each other character).

So, if nobody protests, then according to my history of Miera (which I can rewrite if people don't want to have this), we at least defeated a water elemental crimelord, though what he was doing and how he did it are up in the air.  We'd probably more importantly want to figure out how we met (I saw that some people's histories, don't remember if it was anyone here, had them just coming to Taala and going on the isle-ship because they thought it was, but we were supposed to be heroes who were awarded it, so we must have met earlier).


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 5, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Oh sure, there are always those that decide they like the glamour of their calling more than the calling itself (you could probably name any number of actors, singers, or athletes that fit that bill).  So Clymene is fine.



 Cool, that's what I thought 

So the way to explain the difference in the weirds between Kel and my histories is that the only weird in mine was Clymene, and Clymene was full of herself 

Oh, for the special item, if you have an idea for a neat extra item, that's cool, but if not, Nissa already has several items that probably could have extra powers added instead (her shawl, Miera, and the cloak are probably the best candidates)


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 5, 2006)

I did have a couple of logistical questions about Nissa's stuff Rystil.  One was how she could have both a magical shawl and a magical cloak.  The second was if you want a transmutation effect on the shawl itself.  You're doing it like the changling minor change ability, yeah?


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 5, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> I did have a couple of logistical questions about Nissa's stuff Rystil.  One was how she could have both a magical shawl and a magical cloak.  The second was if you want a transmutation effect on the shawl itself.  You're doing it like the changling minor change ability, yeah?



 I didn't actually buy a shawl--this is the coalescing sea foam that surrounds her like a shawl from the Stormwrack description (which can only be removed while she is pinned and then once removed, if it is then destroyed, she dies).  I decided to give it some magic properties too from Proteus, since it seemed more special if he infused her shawl since it is actually a part of Nissa herself, although if you think that would be unfair, I can easily rearrange what I'm doing there (if you'd like to let me keep it but are worried about my possibly having an extra chakra slot, we could take away the face chakra slot if you like, for instance, so no goggles or masks and such).

As to the shawl, yeah, it gives her basically a Hat of Disguise as a Transmutation effect (like the Changeling).  So it changes appearance as well as clothing, etc, but it only does similar humanoidesque forms and gives no abilities or such.

Edit: Oh, I forgot her father's mysterious bracelets on the list of good items to possibly have extra power with those other three


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 5, 2006)

In the effort to conserve some semblance of balance in this nutty campaign, yet, let's take away the face chakra to compensate for the shawl.

I shall consider special items for people and get back to you guys on that hopefully later tomorrow.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 5, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> In the effort to conserve some semblance of balance in this nutty campaign, yet, let's take away the face chakra to compensate for the shawl.
> 
> I shall consider special items for people and get back to you guys on that hopefully later tomorrow.



 Sure.  Nissa was unlikely to cover up her face anyway.  Ananke made her wear an awful mask that made her susceptible during later training, as she berated Nissa for being too vain and thus took away her ability to see her face in the mirrors.  Maybe after the horrific experience and the mask being ripped from Nissa's face and destroyed by Proteus, she wound up losing the ability to benefit from magical masks and such--she isn't sure whether it is a psychological block, a magical null chakra due to the item being ripped off and destroyed, or just more of her own failing


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 5, 2006)

Hmm...I just realised that Lupaz has a strong belief in inevitability--no Lupaz, don't fall for her tricks--disbelieve Ananke!


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

What Nissa Thinks of Other Characters:

Trebuchet--Okay, Nissa admits it--the big metal man with a skeleton head and glowing red eyes looks creepy.  Initially, she had nightmares of him taking off his metal flesh and being a skeleton demon who wanted to sacrifice her on an altar.  When she managed to put past this and get to know him, she realised that 'Trey', as she decided his name would be, was actually a cheerful and friendly fellow.  After she had convinced herself of this and grown accustomed to him (she always uses male pronouns even though she knows that Trey is neither male nor female), she realised that he was actually cheerful to an extremely creepy extent when bad things are happening.  He may be a construct like the gorgeous enchanted clockwork nightingale given to her mother as a gift by an artificer, but Nissa knows that Trey had a mind of his own...and she believes he has a soul as well.  It is thus that she has decided to try to talk to him to help him understand the consequences of some of his actions, helping him display a wider range of emotions and avoid being cheerful at mass slaughter.

Vaukriel--Vaukriel is a skilled fight, and despite his frightening appearance, a good protector and friend. Still, he never really opens up, so who can know what lies in his heart.  Sometimes appearances hide clues, and Nissa is well-aware that despite her personal tragedies, she still had a life that was pampered and wonderful, for the most part...surely Vaukriel has a past more awful than Nissa's.

Tempest--At first Nissa thought he was some kind of lizard or beetle with hair tufts, but eventually Nissa sorted out that Tempest is actually a monkey-man who somehow came to be covered in layered plates of buggy stuff.  Also, he can glide, and he has the essence of air within him, which while not as lovely as elemental water, is at least better than fire.  Perhaps because she agrees with him so much about experiencing new and capricious places, she can't help but get into vehement discussions with him about his (clearly false) conclusion that this requires a blind eye to treating others with respect and love.

Lupaz--Lupaz has to be the most depressing blink dog Nissa has ever seen.  However, he may also be the wisest and most well-traveled.  Most Blink Dogs live a carefree life, much like the one Nissa once lived when she was younger, and she remembered playing with some of the cutest Blink Dog puppies who were incredibly adorable when she was little...Why was Lupaz depressing then?  He kind of reminds her of herself under Ananke's grasp, exuberant innocence transformed to fatalism and acceptance.  Nissa doesn't care one whit about the rumours of bad luck to all those who associate with him--she's vowed to cheer Lupaz up no matter what...but is she really doing it for him or out of some kind of selfish desire to help herself by proxy, a doubting voice whispers to her at night. 

Oobobooboo--It's an ooze.  So weird...but it's so cute!  And Miera absolutely adores it, if her empathic signals are any indication.  Perhaps the little water aeon has found a kindred spirit?


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## D20Dazza (Sep 6, 2006)

Hi all, good to be aboard, thanks Isida. Just poking my head in before starting work. Talk later

Cheers

Daz


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## Shayuri (Sep 6, 2006)

Eee! Thanks greatly! I do have a bit more on Trebuchet that's come to me recently. I realized he's a little thin as is on explicit hooks, and motivation...so I fixed it!

Goals: Trebuchet has become increasingly interested in the now-forgotten culture that created him, in search of a more stable identity. By proxy, he's also started pursuing interests in other ancient cultures, as well as other constructs. As being a warmage is literally built into his body, it's unlikely he'll be multiclassing as an artificer, but he will undoubtedly have many questions for any artificers he meets.  Thus, any mention of unusual constructs, or ruins/sources of knowledge about ancient times and places, will interest Trebuchet...just as those seeking to despoil such places and things will raise his ire.

Background Addenda: As the Kingdom of Knowledge has not been officially at war in some time, Trebuchet's main role in Taala's court was dual. He sometimes served as a sort of arcane bodyguard for important personages. Being unusually durable for a mage, almost impossible to distract or offend, and possessed of extraordinary firepower, he was well suited for such work. He also worked in conjunction with the staffers of the _Antiquities Arcanum_, a small and exclusive guild of historians and sages who, under the direct blessing of Taala, strived to unlock long lost secrets and magicks from the bones of bygone ages long since built over. It was here that Trebuchet gained his interest in his erstwhile creators and their kin, while affably allowing bearded men to peer up and down his mithril hide and sketch the runes and patterns inlaid thereon.

He served Taala out of expediency, and because he hoped to learn more of his past by cooperating with the researches upon him.

Suggestion for item: Perhaps something that's warforged only? A docent, or other warforged component? It could have been some mysterious artifact that the sages thought was broken, because they couldn't make it work even after they identified what it did. Then one day, some undergrad intern realized it looked a lot like a slot on Trebuchet's chestplate...

Just a thought.


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## Erekose13 (Sep 6, 2006)

[sblock=Isida]I missed something in adding the Demonic Wings graft from Fiend Folio, namely the DC 15 will save per day or take 1d3 wis damage and the -6 to charisma checks.  hmm... I'd really like to keep the wings and I'm good with them slowly corrupting him, it'll be fun to play. But the -6 to Cha based skill checks is difficult. that and at per day wis damage he'll go mad pretty quick.  Was thinking of an item to help get around the damage (healing better than 1/day) I had a bit of money towards the end that I spent on less important items (ring of magical might, potions, etc).  

Can you help with the Cha penalty at all? or maybe eliminate it and change it to 1/week = 1d2 wis drain. that'll hurt pretty quick and be harder to heal.[/sblock]


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

[SBLOCK=Erekose]Can you afford a normal Wings of Flying and then just claim it's an evil graft?  As for the Cha penalty--that sucks.  You could I guess leave Diplomacy to Nissa if you wanted and buy a different skill?[/SBLOCK]


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## Mad Hatter (Sep 6, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> [SBLOCK=Erekose]Can you afford a normal Wings of Flying and then just claim it's an evil graft?  As for the Cha penalty--that sucks.  You could I guess leave Diplomacy to Nissa if you wanted and buy a different skill?[/SBLOCK]




Rystil and Erekose [sblock]Rystil, I think the Wings of Flying were errata'd to cost something like 22000 gp[/sblock]

Anywho, have fun guys!


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

[SBLOCK=MadHatter and Erekose]Zounds, that expensive?  Ah right, flying became more expensive in 3.5 because of the way spells were changed around.  In that case, the fiendish graft, being from 3.0, probably should have been errated to cost more also.  Hmm...what about the Half-Fiend template for wings?  Or Fiendish and Winged?  I'm sure it's possible to artificially gain those templates or something.[/SBLOCK]


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## Voidrazor (Sep 6, 2006)

Thanks Isida, I hope not to disappoint. I'll get an actual character sheet together ASAP. For describing a part of Endless Falls I'd like to cover (in order of preference) 1. Technochitlan, the urban-nightmare world just next door to Endless Falls, dimensionally speaking. 2. The Preservationist Society, a group of lesser para-elementals the royal time elementals used to prepare the way for their coup. 3. The Plateau of the Four Watchtowers, an ancient meeting place now desolate, used for meeting between kings because it is nearly impossible to do violence there. Please let me know which if any of these would be helpful to the campaign.

As for the adventure with the water elemental crime lord previous to the game, perhaps it was smuggling air goblin children for use as slave labor. Oobobooboo, at that time probably had no idea what crime lords or slave labor is. If there is a PC who finds the ooze annoying, Oobobooboo was probably following and imititating him/her, and thought it was just playing a game when it helped.


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## D20Dazza (Sep 6, 2006)

Hi all,

I've pulled together Tempest's opinions of the others, let me know if there are any hassles.

Trebuchet  - Strange fellow this one. Tempest gets no end of pleasure from referring to him as Bucket. Got a sense of humour too, and can crack the funniest, most inappropriate jokes at the most inopportune time - a trait that Tempest loves. He also likes the fact that the ironman doesn't eat food and that he normally passes his share of fruit and vegetables the Hadozee's way.

Brightstar Vaukriel, Angel of Splendor - While the winged man gave the appearance of being in control Tempest was wary around Brightstar. He felt that the 'Angel' could loose it at any time. There was something about his eyes that didn't sit right with the Hadozee. He had to admit though that 'Supernova' was a good companion to have in a fight.

Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen - It was lucky that this one could communicate telepathically or there'd be some boring conversations. Tempest loves hanging out with Lupaz, one of his favourite sayings is "everything looks brighter when you've got the hound for a companion - there's always someone nearby who feels they're in a worse situation than you". He prefers doing jobs that require stealth and tact without the dog being present though, too many things seem to go wrong when the dog is about (in fact Tempest had a sneaking suspicion that Lupaz might have been responsible for the time he spent in Bluegorge, he vaguely recalled a dog lounging about near where he lost the documents).

Ianissa, daughter of prophecy - Niss was a bit of an enigma to Tempest. He liked her, there was something in her elemental nature that called to him, but she frustrated him. Her insistence on helping those less fortunate then herself meant that several of his plans had been folied and that he had lost a small fortune in 'donations'. But, he couldn't stay angry with her, he was sure she didn't do it deliberately, didn't do it to punish him, her motivations were too simple for that and he didn't think she had a mean bone in her body. He was also wary around her, he knew about her relationship with Ananke and had recently worked out that he had worked on a ship that she had sponsored. He was afraid of how Niss would react once he told her of the connection.

Oobobooboo  - If Trebuchet is weird then this dude is out of this world. Tempest couldn't believe that he was travelling, sharing a camp fire and eating with a spineless, gutless jelly. The bumbling jelly man was funny to watch though, and Tempest enjoyed the way he tried to imitate others. Oobobooboo had surprised Tempest one day by stretching his gelatinous body so that he sported wings not unlike Tempest's. Tempest liked being surprised and enjoyed the jelly's unpredictability. He was also pretty sure that BooBoo, as he liked to call him, would prove very useful in helping with a little job he had in mind.

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I've also started working on a loose connection that ties Tempest's past to something in others backgrounds. I'm still mulling over how to introduce elements of BooBoo and Bucket's backgrounds don't worry though, they'll come. These are still draft.

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Tempest was simply reporting to Taala on a shipment of pure element when he somehow lost the ship's manifest. One minute it was there, tucked under his arm, and the next just gone. He searched for as long as he could but to no avail. He backtracked a little way, walking back past the panting hound that lolled against the wall, but still couldn't find the record of the ship's cargo. Fronting up to Prince Taala's court Tempest was reprimanded and ordered to travel to Bluegorge and join the impending fight against the Narfellanax hordes as punishment. During the fight he was instrumental in saving the ..... and for his brave deeds won himself a commission on the merchant ship Earthhawk, captained by Helix Turnbukle, who was in the employ of a mysterious elemental that Tempest knew only as the lady of inevitability. 

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One of the first people Tempest grew really close to after leaving the Hive was Aram, a roguish tiefling of questionable scruples. An outsider may have wondered whether Aram was truly a friend of Tempest or if he was really just a con artist taking a young, impressionable, newly arrived teen for a ride. But Tempest could see no wrong in him. Tempest came to worship the ground he walked on, putting up with the bullying and teasing (which grew worse the longer Tempest stayed with Aram) as a younger brother might accept his elder siblings teasings, in an effort to be accepted, loved and respected. Tempest was with Aram when he died, when he was ravaged by the demon wizard's spell. The only thing that remained of Aram was his chain shirt. A chain shirt that Tempest scooped up, tucked under his arm and, with tears flowing from his eyes, fled with. With a curse and a promise of vengeance spat over his shoulder at the evil spell caster Tempest swore to himself that he would find out more about this demon. He later learnt that the spellcaster that had killed Aram was named Garguel, Lord of Perversion and Depravity, Tempest doesn't know much else about him though.

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As to the water elemental crimelord I'm happy to run with that as the event that drew us together. Were we all hired for the same job or did happenstance throw us together and against this crimelord? Were just some of us working together and the others working for/with/against/enslaved by the crimelord. It obviously took some time to take down this crimelord, and we had to chip away at his organisation and flunkies, so how long did it take us to take him down? Was he permanently disabled or his operations just crippled? Is he rebuilding his empire? If we can answer some questions like that it should help us all work out how our pieces fall into place.



			
				rystil arden said:
			
		

> So, if nobody protests, then according to my history of Miera (which I can rewrite if people don't want to have this), we at least defeated a water elemental crimelord, though what he was doing and how he did it are up in the air.



 I'm struggling to work out who Miera is though, and where the reference to the crimelord is in Niss's background.

Cheers

Daz


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

> I'm struggling to work out who Miera is though, and where the reference to the crimelord is in Niss's background.




Look under her inventory for "Miera, Protective Water Aeon".  Oh, and she typically goes by Nissa, but if he's going to call her Niss anyways, I guess that's okay.  However, she definitely doesn't rob from the party to give 'donations' to the poor, though, despite sharing her alignment with Robin of Loxley


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 6, 2006)

I wanted to make a comment here about elemental binding.  Those of you with Eberron books probably know a great deal is made of them, and grafts are used extensively with not only the traveling conveyances of Eberron but also with weapons and personal grafts.

I will also be using elemental binding in this game, though due the the nature of it it won't be elemental _binding_ so much as elemental _coaxing_.  Young elementals often spend a term of service invested in a ship, glider, weapon, suit of armor, or as graft, much like a young person of our world might go to college.  It's considered a broadening experience.  Because elementals age so slowly, a "term of service" might be decades or even longer, but that's considered normal.  

Items for our merry bunch of non-normal delights:

*Shayuri with Trebuchet* - [sblock]The earth scholars of Taala's court managed to find a curious thing, a gem-studded sphere, that was found in ruins of the same age as him.  They brought it back to court and were delighted to find that it fit in a plate on his chest.  It's a docent that calls itself Watcher.  It's a small mithril sphere with small blue gems arranged around its center like eyes.  It claims its job is to keep you from harmful magic, by alerting you to its presence.  Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 14.  Speaks Common, Terran, Aquan, Auran, and Ignan.  Spot +2, Search +3, Listen +12.  It can _detect magic_ and _detect scrying_ at will.[/sblock]

*Erekose13 with Brightstar Vaukriel, Angel of Splendor* - [sblock]I'm going to let you say that Vaukriel has overcome the temptation of the wing's whispers, ordering their words behind runes of his own making, banishing their darkness with the power of light.  You've illuminated their words, turning their evil away, and focused the searing light of truth and redepmtion through the runes you've written.  Faint golden runes dance upon the surface of your demonic wings, seeming to lighten and illuminate each feather.  Scholars amongst Taala's fire elementals helped you learn how to focus your simple bindings into true power.  When angered, you can focus the power and hope that sustained you through your trials through the golden runes, blinding your enemies and becoming an Angel of Splendor in truth.  Mechanically this means you ignore those nasty graph penalties and have the use the Runic Sun feat from Transcendence pg. 71.[/sblock]

*D20Dazza with Tempest Wintersquall* - [sblock]As a gift for your service, you were granted a kind of permanent wind about you, enhanced by your elemental nature, that allows you to more easily fly.  You no longer merely glide, but can fly in truth, on wind of your own making.  You can fly at a speed of 30 ft. with average manuverability, with no need to jump off the crow's nest to do so.  You're not as fast as your brethern, but you're not making a controlled plummet either.[/sblock]

*Kelleris with Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen* - [sblock]For one as astoundingly unlucky as Lupaz, Taala had to come up with something both appropriate and effective in the face of his luck.  His scholars studied long and hard, intrigued as much as by the novelty of the situation as anything else.  They eventually came up with a rune-covered stick, easy for Lupaz to handle.  In effect, it was like a tossing of the oracular bones, but a bit simpler.  Lupaz found he could use it gain a measure of luck in any manner of odd situations.

Mechanically, once per day Lupaz can toss the bones and gain, randomly, one of twenty lucky benefits.

1. You will known the name of the next person you meet, if you don't already know it.
2. You receive a +2 insight bonus to the next skill check you make.
3. Within the next 1d10 days you will find an additional 10d10 gold pieces of wealth.
4. The next time someone lies to you you will know it.
5. You will be able to understand the next phrase you hear in an unknown language.
6. You receive a +2 insight bonus on any Charisma-based social skill check for the next person you speak to.
7. You can predict the natural weather patterns for the next 10 days in a 100-mile radius from where you are.
8. You receive a +4 insight bonus to AC the next time you're attacked.
9. The next time you're in a potentially dangerous situation you will know it.
10. You receive a +4 insight bonus to iniatiative during the next encounter.
11. You receive a +4 to the next Sense Motive check you make.
12. You will not be surprised during the next encounter you would normally be surprised in.
13. You receive a +8 insight bonus to any Charisma-based social skill check for the next person you speak to.
14. The next time you are about to be struck by a weapon it missed you.
15. You will strike the next blow you successfully land for maximum damage.
16. You receive a +8 bons on the next saving throw.
17. You gain an ability to to detect the next lie you hear, whether or not it's directed at you.
18. You can re-roll the next miss chance you make due to concealment or cover.
19. The next time you would be dropped to negatives, you instead roll with the damage and are left with 1 hit point.
20. You know the next dangerous thing the next person you meet is going to do, and feel uneasy when it's going to happen.[/sblock]


*Rystil Arden with Ianissa, daughter of prophecy* - [sblock]The water elemental scholars of Taala's court were employeed to given Ianissa a reward for her services, and after much consideration, asked permission to give empower Miera.  With much effort, they gave the little aeon several new gifts, including speech, mobility, and a greater ability to protect.  Mechanically, she can speak Aquan in addition to empathy, and is now a +4 _dancing_ buckler.[/sblock]

*Voidrazor with Oobobooboo* - [sblock]A few of the ooze elementals found Oobobooboo to be a perfectly delightful companion.  They were asked to create a gift for the sentient ooze for his services rendered.  To facilitate some of his more hilarious tricks, they created a small glowing amulet that would allow him to alter his color patterns and transparency.  Mechanically it gives him a +10 to Hide checks constantly, and can allow him to turn transparent, giving him a 50% miss chance to be hit, for up to one hour a day, divided up how he likes.[/sblock]


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

[SBLOCK=Isida]Cool!

Dancing is for weapons, I think--it lets them fly away to somewhere else and keep attacking on its own, but I doubt it would keep the shield AC bonus if a shield did that . Do you mean she counts as an Animated Shield?  That's the one where it doesn't take up a hand and floats around protecting you, though it is typically only used by people who want to fight with a two-handed weapon and isn't much use to spellcasters.[/SBLOCK]


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 6, 2006)

Rystil - Yeah, that's what I mean.  That thing.  That thing that's useful.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

Okey dokey.  Because technically, you are allowed to make a Dancing Shield that Shield-Bashes things and stuff--it would just be silly


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

Hmmm, looking over all the characters for niches, it looks like Nissa is one of many Rogue/skill people who can also cast low-level magic.  Unlike some of them, though, Nissa can't really fight, but looking over everyone, and especially considering the 3 more AC she just got (thanks Isida!), it looks like Nissa might be best off, ironically, as party tank (she can't beat the HP of Treb and the others with full 8 HD, but she has 12 more AC than the runner-up, plus a 50% miss chance).

I'm also thinking of swapping out Ship's Mage (I'll get it next level) for Weapon Finesse, so she can hit more easily with her drown attack.

Speaking of which, I just realised that since it's a Su ability, it can't be dispelled, so the Drown effect will pretty much automatically kill its target eventually if they fail the Fort save, unless they don't care about having lungs full of water, of course, which I'm afraid perhaps most of our foes may not.


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## Kelleris (Sep 6, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Hmmm, looking over all the characters for niches, it looks like Nissa is one of many Rogue/skill people who can also cast low-level magic.  Unlike some of them, though, Nissa can't really fight, but looking over everyone, and especially considering the 3 more AC she just got (thanks Isida!), it looks like Nissa might be best off, ironically, as party tank (she can't beat the HP of Treb and the others with full 8 HD, but she has 12 more AC than the runner-up, plus a 50% miss chance).
> 
> I'm also thinking of swapping out Ship's Mage (I'll get it next level) for Weapon Finesse, so she can hit more easily with her drown attack.
> 
> Speaking of which, I just realised that since it's a Su ability, it can't be dispelled, so the Drown effect will pretty much automatically kill its target eventually if they fail the Fort save, unless they don't care about having lungs full of water, of course, which I'm afraid perhaps most of our foes may not.




I thought nereids only had the 50% miss chance in water, where they can blend in?

And yeah, an at-will death attack does seem like a bit much (the drown thing is at will, right)?


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## Kelleris (Sep 6, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> What Nissa Thinks of Other Characters:




Hmm, I guess I should do one of these myself.



			
				Rystil said:
			
		

> Lupaz--Lupaz has to be the most depressing blink dog Nissa has ever seen.  However, he may also be the wisest and most well-traveled.  Most Blink Dogs live a carefree life, much like the one Nissa once lived when she was younger, and she remembered playing with some of the cutest Blink Dog puppies who were incredibly adorable when she was little...Why was Lupaz depressing then?  He kind of reminds her of herself under Ananke's grasp, exuberant innocence transformed to fatalism and acceptance.  Nissa doesn't care one whit about the rumours of bad luck to all those who associate with him--she's vowed to cheer Lupaz up no matter what...but is she really doing it for him or out of some kind of selfish desire to help herself by proxy, a doubting voice whispers to her at night.




Heh, I'm not sure what you'd have to do to get "exuberant innocence" out of Lupaz - he's pretty much the way he is for good at this point, barring something drastic happening like a  change from unlucky to lucky.  I do like the idea that Lupaz has a somewhat sinister reputation even though he can control the cursing effect now, though. That's actually something he would encourage, in fact, maybe simply by chuckling drily at others' misfortunes (little things only, though - I'm talking about dropping a plate of food, not losing your family here).  Anything that helps the old Intimidate check...



			
				Voidrazor said:
			
		

> As for the adventure with the water elemental crime lord previous to the game, perhaps it was smuggling air goblin children for use as slave labor. Oobobooboo, at that time probably had no idea what crime lords or slave labor is. If there is a PC who finds the ooze annoying, Oobobooboo was probably following and imititating him/her, and thought it was just playing a game when it helped.




I thought a cabal of water elemental alchemists illegally brewing and trading in poisons would be interesting.  It should be something that actually requires the island-ship, though, whatever it is.  And I'd prefer having only one prior mission together if that's okay with everyone, since we'll wind up exploring each others' characters in play anyway, so I think it would behoove us not to already be best buddies.



			
				D20Dazza said:
			
		

> Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen - It was lucky that this one could communicate telepathically or there'd be some boring conversations. Tempest loves hanging out with Lupaz, one of his favourite sayings is "everything looks brighter when you've got the hound for a companion - there's always someone nearby who feels they're in a worse situation than you". He prefers doing jobs that require stealth and tact without the dog being present though, too many things seem to go wrong when the dog is about (in fact Tempest had a sneaking suspicion that Lupaz might have been responsible for the time he spent in Bluegorge, he vaguely recalled a dog lounging about near where he lost the documents).




For what it's worth, I can also cast _tongues_.  I assume that "the ability to speak and understand the language of any intelligent creature" overcomes little things like not having the right speech organs.  And I would think that Lupaz would be your natural companion for stealth stuff, actually, since I have max Hide and Move Silently as well as things like _disguise self_, scent, Knowledge (local and geography), and the ability to inflict a -13 penalty on Spot and Listen checks without making a sound.

If you want to bulk up the Bluegorge portion of your backstory, remember that I left a bunch of sneaky water kobold saboteurs and disorganized bands of fire ogres to other people.  If you feel like your guy could be of decisive use against one of those threats, feel free to elaborate on them.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> I thought nereids only had the 50% miss chance in water, where they can blend in?
> 
> And yeah, an at-will death attack does seem like a bit much (the drown thing is at will, right)?



 No, the Displacement is always.  The attack itself causes eventual detah on a failed save, but it is very slow.  Considering that by this level, we would have access to instant-death effects, it isn't too bad, mind, as I think you'll find that it generally takes so long that we kill whatever the target is before it drowns, even if Nissa drown touches on round 1.


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## Kelleris (Sep 6, 2006)

You mean we have access to _phantasmal killer_, which allows two saves and is also the highest level spell a full caster at this level could cast, compared to your at-will use of the ability.  It's a bigger deal than you make it out to be, especially since you've actually had it since 6th level, when nobody at all gets instant death effects, and especially not at will.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

> I thought a cabal of water elemental alchemists illegally brewing and trading in poisons would be interesting. It should be something that actually requires the island-ship, though, whatever it is. And I'd prefer having only one prior mission together if that's okay with everyone, since we'll wind up exploring each others' characters in play anyway, so I think it would behoove us not to already be best buddies.




Remember, it has to _not_ be something that requires the island ship, actually.  We got the island ship afterwards.  That's actually a sticking point in a few backstories--they have their characters on the island ship without knowing the others (though obviously it's a minor edit).  Also, this next bit may seem weird, but it is absolutely crucial for Nissa that the group did not form in service of Taala, at least initially (in other words, it didn't start as "Taala calls you all together and says--'Hey you six.  Go do this' ").  We came together in previous mission(s), and then Taala rewarded us for service to the kingdom.



> For what it's worth, I can also cast tongues. I assume that "the ability to speak and understand the language of any intelligent creature" overcomes little things like not having the right speech organs. And I would think that Lupaz would be your natural companion for stealth stuff, actually, since I have max Hide and Move Silently as well as things like disguise self, scent, Knowledge (local and geography), and the ability to inflict a -13 penalty on Spot and Listen checks without making a sound.




I'd even go one better--Nissa's natural companion for stealth stuff is Lupaz, though I think we probably won't have much call for it.  They've got the same bonus to Hide and Move Silently (and they both have significantly more than Tempest), both can Disguise Self (Nissa's is at will), and their Knowledge sets are complimentary.


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## Kelleris (Sep 6, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Remember, it has to _not_ be something that requires the island ship, actually.  We got the island ship afterwards.  That's actually a sticking point in a few backstories--they have their characters on the island ship without knowing the others (though obviously it's a minor edit).  Also, this next bit may seem weird, but it is absolutely crucial for Nissa that the group did not form in service of Taala, at least initially (in other words, it didn't start as "Taala calls you all together and says--'Hey you six.  Go do this' ").  We came together in previous mission(s), and then Taala rewarded us for service to the kingdom.




Hmm, probably a better bet would be having the pre-adventure thing be the battle for Bluegorge, then.  That leaves a lot of room still for various people to do various and sundry things, and it's the kind of big event that we could meet during and afterwards have Taala notice the key roles we played, independently of each other to one degree or another.  Dealing with a water elemental crime lord in a way that actually requires me to work as part of a group doesn't seem like the sort of thing that Lupaz would be up to _unless_ Taala said something along the lines of "Hey, you six, go make with the adventuring."


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> You mean we have access to _phantasmal killer_, which allows two saves and is also the highest level spell a full caster at this level could cast, compared to your at-will use of the ability.  It's a bigger deal than you make it out to be, especially since you've actually had it since 6th level, when nobody at all gets instant death effects, and especially not at will.



 There's also Psionic Dominate at this level, which is really better than killing them by a wide margin, but yeah.  It's a strong ability, but they do get a Fort save and I have to touch them.  Water Breathing or something like that will save them, and many creatures are flat-out immune to it.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Hmm, probably a better bet would be having the pre-adventure thing be the battle for Bluegorge, then.  That leaves a lot of room still for various people to do various and sundry things, and it's the kind of big event that we could meet during and afterwards have Taala notice the key roles we played, independently of each other to one degree or another.  Dealing with a water elemental crime lord in a way that actually requires me to work as part of a group doesn't seem like the sort of thing that Lupaz would be up to _unless_ Taala said something along the lines of "Hey, you six, go make with the adventuring."



 Could've been a smaller group with not the whole party, then?  Lupaz's backstory was probably impressive enough already to earn him great honour, so maybe this is how some (but not all) of the others gained renown?


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## Kelleris (Sep 6, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> There's also Psionic Dominate at this level, which is really better than killing them by a wide margin, but yeah.  It's a strong ability, but they do get a Fort save and I have to touch them.  Water Breathing or something like that will save them, and many creatures are flat-out immune to it.




_Water breathing_, the spell, won't save them if the ability has no duration.  They don't even get SR against an Su ability.  (go go abbreviations!)



			
				Rystil said:
			
		

> Could've been a smaller group with not the whole party, then? Lupaz's backstory was probably impressive enough already to earn him great honour, so maybe this is how some (but not all) of the others gained renown?




Mebbe.  Have to see which way the others want to go, really.  I just rather like the idea of all of us happening to be key in some major event, despite not knowing each other beforehand.  It introduce (or reinforces) an interesting theme of fate and conflict into our collective backstories.  So I thought it might be a good idea to have an overall narrative of one big event like that that none of us have a grasp of the whole picture of.



			
				Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> I'd even go one better--Nissa's natural companion for stealth stuff is Lupaz, though I think we probably won't have much call for it. They've got the same bonus to Hide and Move Silently (and they both have significantly more than Tempest), both can Disguise Self (Nissa's is at will), and their Knowledge sets are complimentary.




I certainly hope there'll be call for it!  It's one of only two things I'm any good at, so I kinda need to be able to engage in appropriate scouting and information-gathering activities to do my thing.  Even the curses aren't nearly as effective without some idea of what's going on going into a fight.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

> Water breathing, the spell, won't save them if the ability has no duration.




I would guess that it would--if they can breathe the water in their lungs, then that's it, they're saved from it killing them and that's it (presumably the water breathing spell gives a way to expel the water you are breathing or else you'd drown when it wore off, even on land).  Of course, all of that is 100% presumption and it doesn't say it in Stormwrack, but it would definitely be fair.  Heck, if I was GM, I'd let an innovative use of the Control Water spell remove the water from the lungs too. 



> Mebbe. Have to see which way the others want to go, really.




Yep.  Nissa could really do anything except an official command from Taala (because that indicates she was already back in court at the time).


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## Kelleris (Sep 6, 2006)

Hmm, yeah.  I also like it thematically (I edited the post you quoted).


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 6, 2006)

> (I edited the post you quoted).




k



> Mebbe. Have to see which way the others want to go, really. I just rather like the idea of all of us happening to be key in some major event, despite not knowing each other beforehand. It introduce (or reinforces) an interesting theme of fate and conflict into our collective backstories. So I thought it might be a good idea to have an overall narrative of one big event like that that none of us have a grasp of the whole picture of.




Could be cool.  Keep in mind that Nissa doesn't do wars and battles well at all, so she'd never have wound up doing anything at Bluegorge unless dragged there by her party, so if you want her to show up at Bluegorge, she'll need to have met at least a few of the others previously (possibly fighting the crimelord), and they'll have convinced her to come.

Also, remember that Nissa's theme is that fate and inevitability can be beaten.  That may become important if Lupaz's theme is that they can't be beaten 



> I certainly hope there'll be call for it! It's one of only two things I'm any good at, so I kinda need to be able to engage in appropriate scouting and information-gathering activities to do my thing. Even the curses aren't nearly as effective without some idea of what's going on going into a fight.




Yeah, it's one of the two things Nissa is good at too (skills and not being hit are the two things).  Based on the description (and of course I could be very wrong here), we'll probably be doing more combat and social negotiations than actual skulking around, though.  Nissa loves going on stealth missions though, so we can cross our fingers


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## Kelleris (Sep 7, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Could be cool.  Keep in mind that Nissa doesn't do wars and battles well at all, so she'd never have wound up doing anything at Bluegorge unless dragged there by her party, so if you want her to show up at Bluegorge, she'll need to have met at least a few of the others previously (possibly fighting the crimelord), and they'll have convinced her to come.




Not necessarily.  I tried to make sure there was a lot going on in that situation, so you should have some options.  Perhaps you were in the area travelling or meeting someone and were responsible for morale-raising, ensuring that there was an army there to meet Narfellanax's horde at the Battle of Reeds in the first place.  Or maybe the mysterious instigators of the humanoid uprising were actually the time elemental enemies of your uncle Proteus and you were involved in courtly shanigans that prevented them from restoring the gnoll horde's morale in some way as Lupaz worked to scatter them.  No need to be directly on the front lines.

Actually, if the time elementals like Ananke *were* behind it (in an effort to isolate the KoK, perhaps, or perhaps in an effort to force Taala's hand in some diplomatic/miltary way), then Taala picking out the half-dozen people who didn't even know each other but were all crucial to the battle in some way and choosing to reward them for their heroism makes even more sense as the "last straw" that incited the rebellion.



			
				Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Also, remember that Nissa's theme is that fate and inevitability can be beaten.  That may become important if Lupaz's theme is that they can't be beaten




It's actually closer to being "fate can't be beaten 95% of the time, and the rest of the time it's a long shot", so not quite the same as full-on fatalism.


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## Kelleris (Sep 7, 2006)

Huh, actually the drowning ability is worse than I thought it was.  I just checked the drowning rules, and the Con check is just to hold your breath.  Once you're actually drowning (and the nereid ability skips you right to there), you _immediately_ fall unconscious.  So yeah, against air breathers it's essentially an instant, no-delay kill, since unconscious is basically the same as dead in combat and there's no way to save them before they're dead-dead.  And your save DC is 20, which is darn hard at this level (a caster would need a 22 casting stat to hit that DC with his very best spells).  And you can use it at will.

Yikes.    :\


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 7, 2006)

> It's actually closer to being "fate can't be beaten 95% of the time, and the rest of the time it's a long shot", so not quite the same as full-on fatalism.




If you want to be awesome, restate that as the equivalent: "Fate can't be beaten except on a natural 20"


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 7, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Huh, actually the drowning ability is worse than I thought it was.  I just checked the drowning rules, and the Con check is just to hold your breath.  Once you're actually drowning (and the nereid ability skips you right to there), you _immediately_ fall unconscious.  So yeah, against air breathers it's essentially an instant, no-delay kill, since unconscious is basically the same as dead in combat and there's no way to save them before they're dead-dead.  And your save DC is 20, which is darn hard at this level (a caster would need a 22 casting stat to hit that DC with his very best spells).  And you can use it at will.
> 
> Yikes.    :\



 Oops!  For some reason I thought the Con checks counted at drowning.  You're quite correct, and that explains why there isn't a listed duration.

I do have to touch them, though (current to hit is +0 unless I take Weapon Finesse to raise it to +7).  I mean, at this level a pixie could have Otto's Irresistable Dance easily.  Then again, perhaps this means I should take Ability Focus too to get the DC up 

As to the caster needing a 22 to have that kind of save, remember that Nissa does have a 24 in the appropriate stat, so it's her stats that do it


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## Kelleris (Sep 7, 2006)

Hmm, I was hoping for some responses to the others by now.  Actually, Rystil, what do you think of involving Nissa in the Bluegorge thing, outside of the actual combat, maybe in one of the ways I suggested.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 7, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Hmm, I was hoping for some responses to the others by now.  Actually, Rystil, what do you think of involving Nissa in the Bluegorge thing, outside of the actual combat, maybe in one of the ways I suggested.



 I definitely don't want her to have directly meddled with the time elementals in some kind of courtly intrigue pre-coup--it would muddle up a lot of things for them to have played a hand then.  I can definitely see her coming along with friends, but she wouldn't have been involved in a battle or war like that otherwise, on or off the field.  She significantly prefers more individualised acts of kindness like freeing the oppressed or defeating a singular entity like the crimelord.  Wars, even the nonfighting part like tactics and morale-boosting, she leaves to the Lawful Good sorts.

I was also hoping for more responses by now.  I'm sure we'll all think of something great eventually.  Fortunately, it isn't crucial to have it completelt formalised by the start (though the longer we wait during game, the more we will have to take into account when we write it)


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## Shayuri (Sep 7, 2006)

I spose I'll do one of these too! Helps to get in my character's head a bit...and to give others an idea of the past interactions...

Brightstar Vaukriel, Angel of Splendor

-- Speculating (to himself) about the origin of Vaukriel's physical oddities is a favorite pasttime of Trebuchet. While he has noted an extraordinary range of physical variance between individual humanoids, Vaukriel clearly transcends the norm. Trebuchet's interest in old writings is also piqued by the strange magic runes that seem to surround the winged human. Though Vaukriel has been lamentably unwilling to discuss the events that led to his alterations, he has been a rewarding conversationalist on the topics of language and symbology. In addition, Vaukriel has shown a certain violent streak when facing certain foes that Trebuchet respects.

Tempest Wintersquall -

-- Tempest remains something of an enigma to Trebuchet. Frequently laughing at his earnest comments as if they were attempts at humor...Tempest is a constant reminder that Trebuchet has a lot to learn about psychology, most especially that of socialization and humor. However, Tempest is nothing if not jovial, and seems not at all offput by Trebuchet's appearance, which he finds gratifying. Now if he could only decipher the strange young man's insistance on referring to him as 'bucket.'

Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen -

-- Lupaz was the first blink dog encountered by Trebuchet, and it took some encounters with packs in the wild for him to comprehend how aberrant Lupaz truly was. As such, he feels a surprising degree of kindship to the hound...for he too appears to be unique, forever out of place. The notion of curses and bad luck do not faze Trebuchet much. Luck simply doesn't exist to the warforged; replaced by a complex notion of probability. Curses are classified as debilitating and/or incapacitating magic that does no lasting damage, and are merely another kind of magic. It would be fair to say that Trebuchet experiences something analogous to affection towards Lupaz.

Ianissa, daughter of prophecy -

-- Still remembering when Nissa was afraid of him, Trebuchet tends to be cautious about himself in Ianissa's presence...careful to attempt to be as nonthreatening as possible. Regrettably, his training and programming are precisely the opposite of this, leading to such phrases as, "Do not worry, Nissa! If you stay perfectly still, only those enemies near you will be agonizingly reduced to bone cinders and ash!" Despite such gaffes, he has made significant progress and is pleased about that. He is especially intrigued by her fae nature, as immortals may well remember things that more mortal races have long forgotten.

Oobobooboo -

-- Similar to Lupaz, Trebuchet is hopeful of finding a kindred spirit in the strange ooze. His doing so is hampered however by an unexpected development; fear. Trebuchet finds himself intimidated by the notion of an intelligent blob of acid; no matter how well behaved. He doesn't dislike Oobobooboo, but neither does he feel comfortable around him. He does have sufficient grasp of propriety to attempt to stop this gnawing fear from being expressed...but he's not terribly good at falsehoods or acting just yet.


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## D20Dazza (Sep 7, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Look under her inventory for "Miera, Protective Water Aeon".  Oh, and she typically goes by Nissa, but if he's going to call her Niss anyways, I guess that's okay.  However, she definitely doesn't rob from the party to give 'donations' to the poor, though, despite sharing her alignment with Robin of Loxley



I must have spelt it wrong, I did Ctrl-F on the RG and didn't find it. I know she goes by Nissa typically , he has his own pet name for each of the PCs (or at least will by the time we start the game) . Sorry mate, I wasn't meaning to imply she stole from the party, that's just the way Tempest see's it when she 'guilts' him into 'squandering' his own cash on the poor and destitute.



			
				Isilda said:
			
		

> *D20Dazza with Tempest Wintersquall* - [sblock]As a gift for your service, you were granted a kind of permanent wind about you, enhanced by your elemental nature, that allows you to more easily fly.  You no longer merely glide, but can fly in truth, on wind of your own making.  You can fly at a speed of 30 ft. with average manuverability, with no need to jump off the crow's nest to do so.  You're not as fast as your brethern, but you're not making a controlled plummet either.[/sblock]




[sblock=Isida]But he can still choose to do the 40' glide if he so desires? There may be situations where the 40' glide is beneficial. Might have to look at fly-by attack as a feat [/sblock]



			
				Kelleris said:
			
		

> For what it's worth, I can also cast _tongues_.  I assume that "the ability to speak and understand the language of any intelligent creature" overcomes little things like not having the right speech organs.  And I would think that Lupaz would be your natural companion for stealth stuff, actually, since I have max Hide and Move Silently as well as things like _disguise self_, scent, Knowledge (local and geography), and the ability to inflict a -13 penalty on Spot and Listen checks without making a sound.
> 
> If you want to bulk up the Bluegorge portion of your backstory, remember that I left a bunch of sneaky water kobold saboteurs and disorganized bands of fire ogres to other people.  If you feel like your guy could be of decisive use against one of those threats, feel free to elaborate on them.




I see where you're coming from on the stealth angle, I guess I was taking his heritage and name too much to heart. I'll delete that part from Tempest's 'opinion'.

That's what the ... bit in the draft is for , the beefy Bluegorge bit. I just haven't decided what that is yet. I was waiting for something from someone else to hang an idea off. And, I think you guys have given it to me. How about what Tempest did in Bluegorge involved saving a trade delegation or some such that included Niss. That gets two of us together. After the battle Lupaz (who I think Tempest will nickname Loopy ) hitches a ride back to the capital on the same ship as Tempest and Niss, three of us now know each other. 

So, how's about BooBoo? Brightstar? Bucket? 

A war seems a natural for Bucket so I see no reason he couldn't have been in Bluegorge. Perhaps even as part of the delegation's gaurd? Shayuri, any ideas?

Voidrazor? Erekose? You guys in Bluegorge or did you meet us on the second adventure against the crimelord?



			
				Kelleris said:
			
		

> Hmm, I was hoping for some responses to the others by now.  Actually, Rystil, what do you think of involving Nissa in the Bluegorge thing, outside of the actual combat, maybe in one of the ways I suggested.



Sorry dude, I imagine I'm on the other side of the world to you ebing in Australia. Unfortuantely, I don't get a chance to post at work.


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## D20Dazza (Sep 7, 2006)

And the what Tempest thinks now looks like this:

Trebuchet  - Strange fellow this one. Tempest gets no end of pleasure from referring to him as 'Bucket'. Got a sense of humour too, and can crack the funniest, most inappropriate jokes at the most inopportune time - a trait that Tempest loves. He also likes the fact that the ironman doesn't eat food and that he normally passes his share of fruit and vegetables the Hadozee's way.

Brightstar Vaukriel, Angel of Splendor - While the winged man gave the appearance of being in control Tempest was wary around Brightstar. He felt that the 'Angel' could loose it at any time. There was something about his eyes that didn't sit right with the Hadozee. He had to admit though that 'Supernova'  was a good companion to have in a fight.

Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen - Tempest loves hanging out with 'Loopy', one of his favourite sayings is* "everything looks brighter when you've got the hound for a companion - there's always someone nearby who feels they're in a worse situation than you"*. He prefers doing jobs that require stealth and tact with Loopy being present, if there is any chance that something will go wrong for the mark then it ususally will when Loopy is on the case (in fact Tempest had a sneaking suspicion that, as a lark, Loopy might have been responsible for the time he spent in Bluegorge, he vaguely recalled a dog lounging about near where he lost the documents).

Ianissa, daughter of prophecy - 'Niss' was a bit of an enigma to Tempest. He liked her, there was something in her elemental nature that called to him, but she frustrated him. Her insistence on helping those less fortunate then herself meant that several of his plans had been folied and that he had lost a small fortune in '(guilty)donations'. But, he couldn't stay angry with her, he was sure she didn't do it deliberately, didn't do it to punish him, her motivations were too simple for that and he didn't think she had a mean bone in her body. He was also wary around her, he knew about her relationship with Ananke and had recently worked out that he had worked on a ship that she had sponsored. He was afraid of how Niss would react once he told her of the connection.

Oobobooboo  - If Trebuchet is weird then this dude is out of this world. Tempest couldn't believe that he was travelling, sharing a camp fire and eating with a spineless, gutless jelly. The bumbling jelly man was funny to watch though, and Tempest enjoyed the way he tried to imitate others. Oobobooboo had surprised Tempest one day by stretching his gelatinous body so that he sported wings not unlike Tempest's. Tempest liked being surprised and enjoyed the jelly's unpredictability. He was also pretty sure that 'BooBoo', as he liked to call him, would prove very useful in helping with a little job he had in mind.

I'll change it as people comment and as they post their own thoughts on whattheir PCs think of Tempest.

Love your work guys

Cheers

Daz


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 7, 2006)

> a trade delegation or some such that included Niss




I'm not sure how she would wind up in a trade delegation, since she's not a merchant.  Remember, the only prerequisite for what Nissa has been doing since she left Proteus is that it involves solo adventuring and exploring (where 'solo' is a relative term since she does have Anemone and Miera).  Any conceivable idea that involves this will work, really, but she didn't have the self esteem yet to be in charge of something and probably wouldn't join in a mundane job with merchants or as a hired guard, plus she needs to have been kept away from the actual court until the plot point of the coup.  She could easily be visiting a beautiful location for a fleeting glimpse, exploring an ancient ruins, recovering a lost jewel, freeing an enslaved janni, etc.

This only applies to when Nissa is first met by her comrades.  If she had already met Tempest previously and was traveling with him, he could have convinced her to come along.


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## Kelleris (Sep 7, 2006)

D20Dazza said:
			
		

> Sorry dude, I imagine I'm on the other side of the world to you ebing in Australia. Unfortuantely, I don't get a chance to post at work.




They don't let you post at work!?  That's just criminal!    

Where else would we get any D&D in, I ask you?



			
				D20Dazza said:
			
		

> Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen - Tempest loves hanging out with 'Loopy', one of his favourite sayings is "everything looks brighter when you've got the hound for a companion - there's always someone nearby who feels they're in a worse situation than you". He prefers doing jobs that require stealth and tact with Loopy being present, if there is any chance that something will go wrong for the mark then it ususally will when Loopy is on the case (in fact Tempest had a sneaking suspicion that, as a lark, Loopy might have been responsible for the time he spent in Bluegorge, he vaguely recalled a dog lounging about near where he lost the documents).




Heh, call me 'Paz, or even Lu if you must, or something irritatingly thematic like Cursy the Wonder Dog, but something other than Loopy.  That was the nickname of one of my very favorite characters, Loopmotten Scheppen the First, a Barbarian/Battle Sorcerer who doesn't believe in this strange "armor class" thing that people keep talking about.  Negative AC ahoy!  Not only was that character much more deserving of the Loopy moniker, you'll confuse the dickens out of me using it for Lupaz.


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## Voidrazor (Sep 7, 2006)

Oobobooboo could have, by accident, uncovered a spy for the forces assaulting Bluegorge. But having left the KoK to involve itself in a foreign war would warp the little ooze's character concept in a way I'd rather avoid. For direct pre-game interation with the other PCs, the local crimelord works much better for me.

On an unrelated note, I posted my character in the new RG. I've still got some finishing touches to do though, like equipment descriptions. Also there's some custom stuff that needs either approval or to be re-worked.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 7, 2006)

Voidrazor said:
			
		

> Oobobooboo could have, by accident, uncovered a spy for the forces assaulting Bluegorge. But having left the KoK to involve itself in a foreign war would warp the little ooze's character concept in a way I'd rather avoid. For direct pre-game interation with the other PCs, the local crimelord works much better for me.
> 
> On an unrelated note, I posted my character in the new RG. I've still got some finishing touches to do though, like equipment descriptions. Also there's some custom stuff that needs either approval or to be re-worked.



 Maybe Oob and Nissa could have been two of those involved with the Crimelord then.  That could add more flavour to the fact that Miera likes Oob--he was also one of the ones who helped save her.  Oh, and she can talk now in Aquan!  Yay Miera!


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## Erekose13 (Sep 7, 2006)

I'm coming, just need to finish reading all this stuff!


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## Voidrazor (Sep 8, 2006)

Here's Oobobooboo's opinions of others. 

Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen - Oobobooboo reacts to Lupaz like he is a new puppy rather than a world weary, mature and dangerous agent of the crown. Calling him Pup, the ooze often asks to play fetch. But if Lupaz ever agrees to such silliness, he is probably not the one that actually does the fetching.

Brightstar Vaukriel, Angel of Splendor - When referring to Vaukriel,  Oobobooboo often waves a pair of pseudopods in the air and say "flap flap". Often, it runs about the island pretending to fly. It hasn't mentioned anything about the symbols floating around Vaukriel's head, because it can't 'see' them. The ooze doesn't seem to notice that the Illumian's hopeful demeanor is a charade. 

Ianissa, daughter of prophecy - Oobobooboo tends to ignore Nissa. Not that it has anything against her, but between her shyness and its short attention span, they haven't really had a chance to get to know each other. The ooze does love the empathic waves given off by Miera, and the two of them seem to have a great time playing odd morphic blob games.

Trebuchet - Trey is an enigma to Oobobooboo. The metal man seems like he would be a great playmate since he doesn't have that boring habit of lying around unmoving for hours on end at night. But the warforged tends to keep his distance, a behavior that sometimes causes the little ooze to go out of its way to attract his attention.

Tempest Wintersquall - Furry gliding and friendly? What's not to love? Oobobooboo calls the hadozee 'fuzz flap' (usually accompanied by the same arm gesture it uses for Vaukriel). The ooze is far from guarded in general, but of all the people on the island ship, it seems most seems most at home with Tempest (with the possible exception of Miera). If the deck ape has ulterior motives for being chummy with it, 'Booboo' certainly isn't aware of them.


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## Kelleris (Sep 8, 2006)

Voidrazor said:
			
		

> Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen - Oobobooboo reacts to Lupaz like he is a new puppy rather than a world weary, mature and dangerous agent of the crown. Calling him Pup, the ooze often asks to play fetch. But if Lupaz ever agrees to such silliness, he is probably not the one that actually does the fetching.




You guys are determined to keep me from being even a little angsty, aren't you?


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 8, 2006)

Well, you've got a couple of silly and/or relentlessly upbeat characters in the mix.  But I'm guessing Lupaz and Vaukriel can angst it up as much as they like.


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## Kelleris (Sep 8, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Well, you've got a couple of silly and/or relentlessly upbeat characters in the mix.  But I'm guessing Lupaz and Vaukriel can angst it up as much as they like.




It's just that everyone seems to be saying something along the lines of "yeah, that Vaukriel's a creepy customer, I don't quite know how to react to him, but that Lupaz, man, I can't help trying to cheer him up (or it makes me feel better to have him around, or I like playing fetch with him, or...)".  I'm starting to wonder where I went wrong...


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## Shayuri (Sep 8, 2006)

Hee hee. Here's a hint.

He's a DOG! An adorable little pooch! Everyone loves a dog! And the fact that he's down on his luck...well, that just makes him an UNDERDOG. And we ALL root for the underdog!


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## Kelleris (Sep 8, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> Hee hee. Here's a hint.
> 
> He's a DOG! An adorable little pooch! Everyone loves a dog! And the fact that he's down on his luck...well, that just makes him an UNDERDOG. And we ALL root for the underdog!




But...

....

Wait a minute...

....

DANGIT!


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## Voidrazor (Sep 8, 2006)

Keep in mind that Oobobooboo is an imbecile. But hey, having a mental faculties of a 7 year old is pretty good considering that its only been sentient for a month and a half. So it has a real hard time picking up on nuances like creepy or enbittered. 

It would make sense for Lupaz to not want to deal with the silly little ooze. Or to say, "Sure little goober we can play catch", [toss], "Go get it!", [curse].


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## Kelleris (Sep 8, 2006)

Voidrazor said:
			
		

> Keep in mind that Oobobooboo is an imbecile. But hey, having a mental faculties of a 7 year old is pretty good considering that its only been sentient for a month and a half. So it has a real hard time picking up on nuances like creepy or enbittered.
> 
> It would make sense for Lupaz to not want to deal with the silly little ooze. Or to say, "Sure little goober we can play catch", [toss], "Go get it!", [curse].




Heh, I know.  I'm still trying to figure out how to handle this, actually.  It might be better to just play along, really.  I don't mind too terribly much how you did it, it's just that everyone seemed to go for Shayuri's interpretation.


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## Voidrazor (Sep 8, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> Hee hee. Here's a hint.
> 
> He's a DOG! An adorable little pooch! Everyone loves a dog! And the fact that he's down on his luck...well, that just makes him an UNDERDOG. And we ALL root for the underdog!




LOL  

A pooch that's down on his luck. I'm not sure what that reminds me of. But it reminds me of something.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 8, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> Hee hee. Here's a hint.
> 
> He's a DOG! An adorable little pooch! Everyone loves a dog! And the fact that he's down on his luck...well, that just makes him an UNDERDOG. And we ALL root for the underdog!



 That's awesome Shayuri!



			
				Kelleris said:
			
		

> Heh, I know. I'm still trying to figure out how to handle this, actually. It might be better to just play along, really. I don't mind too terribly much how you did it, it's just that everyone seemed to go for Shayuri's interpretation.




To be fair, [unwarranted stereotype]Nissa is a girl, so[/unwarranted stereotype] Lupaz isn't the only one she's trying to change.  She feels more sorry for Lupaz than Vaukriel for two reasons--one, Vaukriel at least pretends that he's okay, and two, Nissa knows what Blink Dogs are like and that they can be adorable Chaotic Good friendly magical beasts, while those floaty rune demon wing thingies she hasn't seen before, so maybe they're always like this.


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## Kelleris (Sep 8, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> To be fair, [unwarranted stereotype]Nissa is a girl, so[/unwarranted stereotype] Lupaz isn't the only one she's trying to change.  She feels more sorry for Lupaz than Vaukriel for two reasons--one, Vaukriel at least pretends that he's okay, and two, Nissa knows what Blink Dogs are like and that they can be adorable Chaotic Good friendly magical beasts, while those floaty rune demon wing thingies she hasn't seen before, so maybe they're always like this.




Hey, hey, hey.  Blink dogs are normally adorable _Lawful_ Good friendly magical beasts.      Okay, that doesn't really make much difference, but there ya go.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 8, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Hey, hey, hey.  Blink dogs are normally adorable _Lawful_ Good friendly magical beasts.      Okay, that doesn't really make much difference, but there ya go.



 Oops, forgot about that.  Lawful Good things are stodgy, but as you agree Blink Dogs are still adorable and friendly   But yeah, either way, asking why the PCs are more likely to want to help Lupaz over Vaukriel is like asking why they would try to help redeem a Nymph Blackguard over an Orc Blackguard (or a True Neutral fallen angel vs a Tana'ri)

Anyway, if you wanted the other characters not to feel sorry and try to be nice to Lupaz, you could have always made him a hideous man-eating monster or something.  I bet the Unlucky Ankheg gets less sympathy than the unlucky Blink Dog.  Even the unlucky Displacer Beast.


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## Voidrazor (Sep 8, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Maybe Oob and Nissa could have been two of those involved with the Crimelord then.  That could add more flavour to the fact that Miera likes Oob--he was also one of the ones who helped save her.  Oh, and she can talk now in Aquan!  Yay Miera!




Sounds good.


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## Erekose13 (Sep 8, 2006)

Okay lets see if I can put this all together.

Background wise: Lets have it so Vaukriel returned to the court of Talaa a while ago and has been adjusting to life after imprisonment for a while.  Being a more militant character, he would have joined both the war in Bluegorge and the Crime lord adventure. Perhaps he has been a comrade of Tempest's since about that time.

That way he knows at least one of the characters really well.  I was also thinking of trying to tie Lord Garguel more closely to the plot at hand. Perhaps while Vaukriel was in the court of the Lord of Perversion, he saw a pair of Time Elementals meeting the demon.  That the Time Elementals had dealings with demons prior to the coup might mean that they have demonic allies that have not yet been revealed. Or perhaps the corrupting influence of the demons had a greater effect on encouraging a coup. Perhaps a demon in his court was even whispering in Ananke's ear urging her to greater punishments inflicted on Nissa (though I know you wanted to keep her strickly non-evil so I am not sure this would work).

Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen - in the scarred battle weary blink dog, Vaukriel finds a soul almost broken by the bad luck he has had inflicted upon him.  Vaukriel too had felt an odd sense of misfortune when the dog is around, though nothing he can put his finger on.  Hope, or at least a desire for hope burns within Vaukriel and he wants to encourage this in to Lupaz.

Oobobooboo - is perhaps the one member of the crew that Vaukriel has the hardest time relating to. The young ooze is beyond bizarre even in the lands of the Endless Falls.  Vaukriel has little time for small children and the ooze acts entirely too much like one.  Vaukriel stays away from Oobobooboo when ever he can, hesitant to inflict any harm to the innocent soul.

Ianissa, daughter of prophecy - is the one member of the party that Vaukriel really feels connected to, even though they don't talk much. Her ordeals in the past in a way closely resemble his own.  While she has not spoken of what she has faced he can see in her eyes the pain of someone who has been broken, for it is a reflection of what lies beneath his soul too.  Despite feeling connected to Ianissa, Vaukriel tries not to talk to her too much because doing so brings up painful personal memories for him through no fault of hers.

Trebuchet - is a soul confined to a suit of armor and machinery.  In combat, the warmage's spells are deadly and destructive and Vaukriel can see purpose behind the mask.  Yet the soul of the warforged is tinged with something darker, something that revels or needs combat and destruction, something that might almost be the taint of Garguel or his kindred.  Vaukriel seriously hopes that the good-natured Trebuchet is as he puts forward, but that hint of doubt clouds Vaukriel's vision.

Tempest Wintersquall - is perhaps Vaukriel's closest companion among the crew. He has travelled and fought beside the Hadozee a number of times and the two make a strong aerial assault team.  Tempest's flighty nature and elemental soul worry Vaukriel at times because they tend to make Tempest very unpredictable which is dangerous in an ally.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 8, 2006)

> Perhaps a demon in his court was even whispering in Ananke's ear urging her to greater punishments inflicted on Nissa (though I know you wanted to keep her strickly non-evil so I am not sure this would work).




That's correct--I'm not sure what Isida thinks, but I see the time elementals in general and Ananke particularly as a non-evil group, despite deposing the Taala we all know and love.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 8, 2006)

Okay, so to piece together what we know so far:

Bluegorge: Lupaz does his thing on his own with the gnolls and the hyenas.  Tempest and Vaukriel each do something, it seems like together.  Nissa and Oob are definitely not there.  Trebuchet we don't know yet, though he seemed more likely than anyone to be a good match for Bluegorge.

Crimelord: Nissa was certainly there, and we have a yes for Oob too.  Also Tempest and Vaukriel.  We know for sure that Lupaz was not there.  Trebuchet also unclear.

So how about this--after Bluegorge, during which Vaukriel and Tempest became friends and traveling companions, they were heading back to the Kingdom of Knowledge at the same time that Nissa was on her way to the small coastal town of Arete in the kingdom, going there to meet a friend, a water genasi she had met previously named Aldri.  Unfortunately, Aldri had been abducted and used as a labour and pleasure slave by a gang led by a water elemental crimelord.  Vaukriel and Tempest, who were passing through, saw someone else being knocked out and almost kidnapped, and they beat up some of the thugs and saved the new victim, earning the enmity of the crimelord and his gang.  Nissa started poking around after Aldri, where she eventually discovered what happened and heard about the brave strangers, so she came to ask their help.  Meanwhile, the gang had sent a few sneaks to attack them at the inn, so they knew they were involved in this mess anyway and decided to help.  Meanwhile Oob had been exploring a random fun-looking box one day when it got locked up, and he was sad because he was all alone in the dark box.  There was stuff inside that looked yummy, so he ate it.  When the box was opened, he was in Arete--apparently the crimelord had been smuggling illegal substances, which Oob ate.  The gang members decided to make him pay for eating their drugs, and locked him up to torture or possibly kill him.  However, Vaukriel, Tempest, and Nissa managed to break up the local gang members and free Oob before that happened.  Aldri wasn't there, but they found out where the crimelord's main headquarters was, and discovered that this guy was wanted for all kinds of piracy, smuggling, prostitution, kidnapping, and worse.  They managed to corner and defeat him, which earned them the favour of Taala.  Since two of them, plus Lupaz, were heroes of Bluegorge, and four of them put a stop to a major criminal organisation, plus Taala liked his little ooze jester, he decided to grant them use of the isle ship (of course, he may have had his own secret reasons too, but if so, obviously we don't know them).  

Insert Treb into that wherever Shayuri desires, and it's probably good enough to go on.


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## D20Dazza (Sep 8, 2006)

WOOPS SORRY RYSTIL. I started the below before you posted the above but got sidetracked cooking the kids dinner and didn't realise you'd posted until after I'd posted - if ya know what I mean. 

I'm going to have to tinker with my background a little once we're all sorted out how we met.

Ok then, here's my new what I think of Brighstar.

Brightstar Vaukriel, Angel of Splendor - Tempest has known 'Nova'  the longest of his current companions. During the couple of years they have journeyed together Tempest has learnt to trust the Illumian implicitly. He also knows what haunts the man for they share a common enemy and this sharing has bonded them close, almost like brothers. Tempest loves to play 'sky-chasies' with Nova and is constantly challenging the Ilumian to see who can do the most daring aerial manouevers.

Loopy, you've become Lucky. 

So, Niss and BooBoo met during the crimelord adventure (which takes place in Bluegorge) and Nova and Tempest, who were both in Bluegorge after Tempest's misadventure with the ships manifest (Nova decided to leave the ship we were on and come to Bluegorge with Tempest), somehow played a hand in the bad guys down fall (perhaps because he was supplying information to the invading forces and Bucket was assigned to the Nova/Tempest team to take down the traitorus crimelord). The crimelord was beaten during the attack on Bluegorge and later we all wind up together on a ship heading back to the capital where we meet Lucky for the first time.


If we go with something like that then Rystil and Voidrazor can work on how they met and what happened during the crimelord adventure. Myself and Erekose can work on our time prior to Bluegorge and the moments leading up to Bucket joining us, where Shayuri joins in and we work on the time leading up to the final encounter with the crimelord and the first encounter with Niss and BooBoo. Then, we all work on the exit from Bluegorge, the ride to the capital, and the meeting of Lucky. Arriving in the capital only weeks before the coup?

Sound like too much work


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 8, 2006)

> WOOPS SORRY RYSTIL. I started the below before you posted the above but got sidetracked cooking the kids dinner and didn't realise you'd posted until after I'd posted - if ya know what I mean.




Hmm...I think I prefer my setup because the crimelord is in the Kingdom of Knowledge and the events flow together more naturally (it avoids this being an assignment, for instance, which is important)


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 8, 2006)

Oh, and of course the other possibility is that if you push the Crimelord thing significantly earlier than the battle for Bluegorge and have Nissa meet up with Oob, Vaukriel, and Tempest earlier and go on some adventures together, you can then have her tag along with them to Bluegorge as long as they don't go to the court or get a specific mission from Taala during the intervening time between when they join with Nissa and when they go back together before being rewarded.


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## Shayuri (Sep 8, 2006)

Trebuchet could very easily have been at Bluegorge...and my apologies for sluggish answer on that score. In fact, Bluegorge looks like the kind of situation he was specifically designed for. The crimelord scenario is a bit more "restrrained" for him, but by then he knew and traveled with other PC's, and would have been more than hpe to help.


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## Erekose13 (Sep 8, 2006)

Figured that Trebuchet would've met Tempest and Vaukriel on that campaign.  

Daz, did you still want to work out where our two characters met?  I figure Trebuchet would be any easy one to meet on the battlefield. But the two winged fellows might've known each other prior to that.


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## Kelleris (Sep 8, 2006)

Your suggestion looks like it works, Rystil (and Lupaz would probably need the time off anyway - seizing control of a demon-led horde through sheer trickery and chutzpah kinda takes it out of you).  My only concern is that we won't have much time to get to know one another, but I suppose that a few days between the coup and the island-ship-granting are all we really need.

On a more mechanical front, Isida I noticed that Vaukriel has the Stealth skill instead of Hide and Move Silently (presumably because his class is from AE).  Did you want us to use one skill or two for the stealth skills?  Or I guess maybe that's just a bonus for Vaukriel.

When should we have both mechanics and story done by?


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## Erekose13 (Sep 8, 2006)

Yeah I was a bit concerned by that while building the character. I decided to stick with the Stealth skill, but only use my AE class skill points on it.  My Duskblade skill points were not spent there. Note that I choose not to take the extra feat that AE classes start with cause I thought that would be excessive.


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## Voidrazor (Sep 8, 2006)

Ooh, collapsing MS and Hide into stealth would really lovely. Especially since Oobobooboo has all of 11 skill points to spend.


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## Kelleris (Sep 8, 2006)

Voidrazor said:
			
		

> Ooh, collapsing MS and Hide into stealth would really lovely. Especially since Oobobooboo has all of 11 skill points to spend.




Yeah, I know what you mean.  It'd be nice to be able to take those Bluff ranks I've been looking at, finally.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 8, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Yeah, I know what you mean.  It'd be nice to be able to take those Bluff ranks I've been looking at, finally.



 Yeah--I had to do some real corner-cutting on Nissa's skill points to get everything she needed (Spot, Listen, Spellcraft, and Know: Local were originally maxed, and she had a point in Sleight of Hand).  Having a few back would be awesome.


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## Erekose13 (Sep 9, 2006)

Isida,  I'll switch back to Hide/Move Silently if you'd like.


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## Voidrazor (Sep 9, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> So how about this--after Bluegorge, during which Vaukriel and Tempest became friends and traveling companions, they were heading back to the Kingdom of Knowledge at the same time that Nissa was on her way to the small coastal town of Arete in the kingdom, going there to meet a friend, a water genasi she had met previously named Aldri.  Unfortunately, Aldri had been abducted and used as a labour and pleasure slave by a gang led by a water elemental crimelord.  Vaukriel and Tempest, who were passing through, saw someone else being knocked out and almost kidnapped, and they beat up some of the thugs and saved the new victim, earning the enmity of the crimelord and his gang.  Nissa started poking around after Aldri, where she eventually discovered what happened and heard about the brave strangers, so she came to ask their help.  Meanwhile, the gang had sent a few sneaks to attack them at the inn, so they knew they were involved in this mess anyway and decided to help.  Meanwhile Oob had been exploring a random fun-looking box one day when it got locked up, and he was sad because he was all alone in the dark box.  There was stuff inside that looked yummy, so he ate it.  When the box was opened, he was in Arete--apparently the crimelord had been smuggling illegal substances, which Oob ate.  The gang members decided to make him pay for eating their drugs, and locked him up to torture or possibly kill him.  However, Vaukriel, Tempest, and Nissa managed to break up the local gang members and free Oob before that happened.  Aldri wasn't there, but they found out where the crimelord's main headquarters was, and discovered that this guy was wanted for all kinds of piracy, smuggling, prostitution, kidnapping, and worse.  They managed to corner and defeat him, which earned them the favour of Taala.  Since two of them, plus Lupaz, were heroes of Bluegorge, and four of them put a stop to a major criminal organisation, plus Taala liked his little ooze jester, he decided to grant them use of the isle ship (of course, he may have had his own secret reasons too, but if so, obviously we don't know them).




This sequence of events sounds workable. But I'd like to change a few details if I could.

Poking around the docks of the Kingdom of Knowledge's capital, Oobobooboo found a number of heavy stone sarcophagi. Curious, it opened one and slipped in to 'look' around. Inside were some yummy chemicals which it began to eat. They were so tasty that when the little ooze felt the sarcophogus being lifted it shrugged shoulderlessly and continued its repast. But when it tried to open the lid to leave it couldn't get it open. Nor could it find even a tiny crack to flow out through. Sad, frustrated and trapped for the first time in its short life, it had no choice but to wait.

After a seemingly interminable delay, the lid opened. Obobooboo hopped out past a group of humanoid figures. One of the humanoids waved its arms and vibrated in a *very* strange fashion, and the ooze froze, locked in its own mind like a passenger. Stuck this way,  Oobobooboo had to stand around for hours and hours not getting to play or look around the unfamilliar wharehouse. Some of the humanoids even stuck sticks in its body, laughing.

When Vaukriel, Tempest, and Nissa broke into the wharehouse and slew the under-boss, they heard a bloodcurdling cry followed by, "get it off me, get it off me!" After dispatching the rest of those in the front, the nereid, illumian and hadozee found Oobobooboo standing over and hissing at an unconscious and badly acid burned thug.

On the way back to the capitol, they all got to know each other a bit. Vaukriel expressed some reservations about having the childlike and unpredictable ooze around, but Tempest wouldn't hear of it, and Nissa wanted to give the little guy a chance. When they did confront the elemental crime lord, all fought bravely. But Obobooboo tehn undermined the confidence it had engendered with the haunted illumian by doing a silly little victory dance and running off to play in a fountain.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 9, 2006)

Sounds awesome Voidrazor--I like your edits, as they help show Oob as effective, despite being childish


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## Voidrazor (Sep 9, 2006)

Character Description updated.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 9, 2006)

Ok guys, you can fold Hide/Move Silenty into Stealth.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 9, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Ok guys, you can fold Hide/Move Silenty into Stealth.



 Cool!


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

I'm trying to put together a listing of abilities and who in the party is good at what so we can work together as a team when the time comes (normally I don't have to, but we're all a bit quirky, so it's good to check).  However, this made me realise that we don't have a single character who can put forth even one orison of healing.  The UMD people might want to get a wand, and either way, we're in trouble


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Okay, here's a survey of what skills we can do well.  Unfortunately, we have enough overlap that it's not that many.  In some ways, that's good, however, as we can work together and all use them, where applicable.

[SBLOCK=Skill Analysis]Skills First:

Appraise--we don't really have this skill, so we'll have to hope we don't need it.
Consolation Prize: Nissa, with an untrained +5.

Balance--
Gold: Tempest, with a +10, though ironically he forgot to list it 
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +9
Honourable Mention: Nissa, with a +7

Bluff--We're good at Bluff
Gold: Tie between Vaukriel and Nissa at +18

Climb--we're pretty bad at this too, but several people can fly, so not a big issue
Gold: Tempest, again unlisted with a +6
Silver: Oob, with a +4
Uh-Oh Prize: Nissa, with a -1, and Trebuchet with a -3

Concentration--this is not really one where it matters if we have an expert
Gold: Trebuchet, with a +13
Silver: Nissa with a +11

Craft--
Gold: Trebuchet, with a +10 in Craft (Blacksmithig)

Decipher Script--This is trained only.  Nobody can do it.  Nissa does have Comprehend Languages

Diplomacy--We're great at this
Gold: Nissa, with +24
Silver: Vaukriel, with +20

Disable Device--Don't trust our Rogues to Disarm those traps, though they do have it
Gold: Tie between Nissa and Tempest with +6

Disguise--We can Disguise, all right
Gold: Nissa, with a +28 and +30 to stay in character
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +8
Special Note: With the Disguise Self spell, Lupaz has +14

Escape Artist--not so great at this
Gold: Vaukriel, with a +7
Silver: Nissa, with a +5

Forgery--nor this
Consolation Prize: Nissa, with a +5

Gather Information--middling good at this
Gold: Nissa, with a +10
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +8
Honourable Mention: Tempest, with a +7

Handle Animal--We don't have this because it's trained only.  However, Nissa can talk to them at will and would have a +11 if I bothered to put 1 cross class rank in it.

Heal--Yeah, not so much.  In fact, we not only have no healer, but Nissa and Lupaz, in a scary twist, have the highest Wisdom in the group with 12
Consolation Prize: Tie between Nissa and Lupaz for an embarrassing +1

Hide/Move Silently/Sneak--Most of us can, as long as we are not made of metal
Gold: Vaukriel, with +15
Silver: Three-Way Tie between Nissa, Oob, and Lupaz for +13
Honourable Mention: Tempest, with +9
Made of Metal: Trebuchet, with -1
Notes: Nissa has the most in the water, with +21, and Oob may beat everyone else outside the water if he swaps his points correctly now that Hide and Move Silently have been collapsed into Sneak

Intimidate--The cute doggy and the girl are threatening indeed
Gold: Lupaz, with +15
Silver: Nissa, with +12
Honourable Mention: Trebuchet, with +9

Jump--Why jump when you can fly?  Ask Vaukriel and Tempest
Gold: Anemone (Nissa's Hippocampus), with a +11
Silver: Vaukriel, with +9
Honourable Mention: Tempest, with +6
Uh-oh Award: Trebuchet, with -3

Knowledge--We don't know much, but we have a few areas
Arcana Award: Nissa, with a +10
Geography Award: Lupaz, with a +10
History Award: Trebuchet, with a +7
Local Award: Lupaz, with a +10
Nobility Award: Nissa, with a +10

Listen--We are concerningly oblivious
Gold: Anemone (Nissa's Hippocampus), with a +6
Consolation Prize: Nissa, with a +4

Open Lock--we can open a simple lock, but not the ones in the level 1 Shackled City adventure
Gold: Tempest, with a +9
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +8
Honourable Mention: Nissa, with a +6

Perform--Nissa's okay at this untrained
Gold: Nissa, with a +10
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +5

Ride--Vaukriel and Nissa can maybe ride Anemone
Gold: Vaukriel, with a +7
Silver: Nissa, with a +5

Search--As with Listen, we're pretty bad
Gold: Tempest, with a +6
Silver: Nissa, with a +5

Sense Motive--Passable
Gold: Nissa, with a +9
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +5

Sleight of Hand--Not Great
Gold: Vaukriel, with a +10
Silver: Nissa, with a +8

Spellcraft--We're Okay
Gold: Trebuchet, with a +12
Silver: Nissa, with a +11

Spot--Unlike the other deteciton skills, we have this with one character
Gold: Lupaz, with a +7
Silver: Anemone (Nissa's Hippocampus), with a +6
Silver: Nissa, with a +4

Survival--Vaukriel can survive.  The rest of us starve in the woods
Gold: Vaukriel, with a +12

Swim--Considering Nissa is Aquatic, we're pretty sucky
Gold: Anemone (Nissa's Hippocampus), with a +11
Silver: Nissa, with a +7
Sinks to the Bottom of the Ocean: Trebuchet, with a -6

Tumble--AoOs?  Hah!  What AoOs?
Gold: Vaukriel, with a +22
Silver: Nissa, with a +13
Consolation: Tempest, with a +9

Use Magic Device--Tempest?  You're our healer!
Gold: Tempest, with a +9

Use Rope--We can tie a knot
Gold: Vaukriel, with a +7
Silver: Nissa, with a +5[/SBLOCK]


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## D20Dazza (Sep 10, 2006)

Thanks for the analysis Rystil. As you noticed, I've pretty much only done class skills for Tempest. I'll finish off all skills and reconsider some now that we're Stealthy.

Cheers

Daz


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

I'm going to go through defense, offense, and utility spells eventually, though I suspect the answers to that will be more obvious.  The big concern is that we don't have healing.  A group with literally no healing always loses if combat comes up--this is why PCs tend to win against equal-strength villains (because they have healing more often than the bad guys and have access to good-aligned clerics)


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## D20Dazza (Sep 10, 2006)

I had a little left over cash and was intending to grab a cheap wand of curing but might have to reconsider and see if I can't claw some cash back from other purchases for a more powerful one. Won't help against disease and undead though.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

[SBLOCK=Defenses]As a group, we tend to share weaknesses, though there are sometimes exceptions.  

AC: Everyone has 20 or 21 AC except Oob with 26, and Nissa, who has 33

Saves: 
Fort--everyone is pretty terrible at Fort saves except Oob (Lupaz has a decent bonus versus Spells and such, though).  This is bad if we all have to make a Fort save against one of those nonstandard Fort save dragon breaths, as we're likely to all fail except Oob

Ref--Almost the entire party is pretty good against Reflex saves.  Now if we only had Evasion!

Will--This varies from poor to pretty good and is our most varied save

HP: We vary from dangerously low (Tempest, with 32) to averages in the 40s to 50, all the way up to Oob, with 75

Other Things: Trebuchet and Oob both have a crazy-long list of immunities, more than you can shake a stick at.  Nissa has permanent Displacement to augment her AC.[/SBLOCK]

By the way, shouldn't Oob have a lowered movement speed for his heavy armour?


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

D20Dazza said:
			
		

> I had a little left over cash and was intending to grab a cheap wand of curing but might have to reconsider and see if I can't claw some cash back from other purchases for a more powerful one. Won't help against disease and undead though.



 Eternal Wands are cool, although they admittedly can't be used so many times per day.  As for undead and diseases, yeah.  That and poison could take us out for weeks.  Heck, our chance to even stabilise a dying party member is abysmally low 

Once I get some cash and the opportunity, maybe I'll get Miera the ability to cast Cure Moderate Wounds on me 3/day.  When I didn't realise that it costs extra money to have that lesser power and thought it came with the intelligent item, I was going to have her have that.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 10, 2006)

Guys, I have an alternate proposition.  I don't wish to annoy anyone, but I was trying to adamantly keep this group at 6 people, primarily for the sake of simplicity.  However... We're in need of healing power, and I don't like supplying an NPC walking Band-Aid if I can help it.  Bront's Ekilu ka Wooli is my next alt in line.  He's got a good background, decent healing skills (one of the few people with _any_ healing ability to be submitted), and would supply a powerful connection to the spirit world (which will become important, considering your DM's love of fey).

Are people agreeable to increasing the group size to 7 and filling a crucial gap in your party skills?


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Guys, I have an alternate proposition.  I don't wish to annoy anyone, but I was trying to adamantly keep this group at 6 people, primarily for the sake of simplicity.  However... We're in need of healing power, and I don't like supplying an NPC walking Band-Aid if I can help it.  Bront's Ekilu ka Wooli is my next alt in line.  He's got a good background, decent healing skills (one of the few people with _any_ healing ability to be submitted), and would supply a powerful connection to the spirit world (which will become important, considering your DM's love of fey).
> 
> Are people agreeable to increasing the group size to 7 and filling a crucial gap in your party skills?



 Being a fey herself, Nissa likes fey and those connected to them--she could probably ask him questions for hours about the fey, those she's met and those she hopes to meet, because she always dreams of her father but has never met him or even seen what he looks like (which of course means she might have met him and not known it ).  Also, we really do need healing, so that would be cool.  I'm willing to increase to 7--larger size usually means slower rate overall, but Bront's a pretty regular poster.

In summary: Sounds like a great plan to me!


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## D20Dazza (Sep 10, 2006)

Happy to have the old Bront along for the ride, then Tempest only need be the backup healer.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

D20Dazza said:
			
		

> Happy to have the old Bront along for the ride, then Tempest only need be the backup healer.



 Tempest being any integral part of the healing plan is still pretty scary (he's only got a 50% chance to succeed at healing in any given round), but sounds like a plan!


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 10, 2006)

In addition, I will be supplying an NPC captain of your isle-ship.  He's a Duskling named Manarro Merricanath, Captain Merri to most.  He can drive your ship for you, tend to its needs, and do fancy rescues if needed (if there's anything to rescue).  Basically, he's a friend of yours, an excellent captain, but he lives and dies by his ship, and isn't terribly good any anything not nautically related.  As him to help you deal with fey or diffuse a tense situation that doesn't have something to do with the sea, and he's going to look at your funny and shrug.

On a different note:  Shayuri, get Trey's shiny metal butt into the Rogue's Gallery!


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Isida said:
			
		

> In addition, I will be supplying an NPC captain of your isle-ship. He's a Duskling named Manarro Merricanath, Captain Merri to most. He can drive your ship for you, tend to its needs, and do fancy rescues if needed (if there's anything to rescue). Basically, he's a friend of yours, an excellent captain, but he lives and dies by his ship, and isn't terribly good any anything not nautically related. As him to help you deal with fey or diffuse a tense situation that doesn't have something to do with the sea, and he's going to look at your funny and shrug.




Cool, another fey--and he could help us with incarnum if it crops up   If we also bring along Ekilu, he's good at that too.  He also has several saves that are higher than anyone in the entire party, which is also good.



			
				Isida said:
			
		

> Shayuri, get Trey's shiny metal butt into the Rogue's Gallery




You just reminded me that some day I want to play a lovable evil Warforged character based on Bender


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Are people agreeable to increasing the group size to 7 and filling a crucial gap in your party skills?



I'm agreeable to it 

Seriously, as long as no one else is bothered by it, I'm up for it.  I've already suggested a few ways to deal with Fee (Oddly enough, using her as an NPC captain would work too Got one already, sorry) , and I've been following the thread here for the most part, so it wouldn't be too much work for me to put in how he met and feels about the others.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> I'm agreeable to it
> 
> Seriously, as long as no one else is bothered by it, I'm up for it.  I've already suggested a few ways to deal with Fee (Oddly enough, using her as an NPC captain would work too) , and I've been following the thread here for the most part, so it wouldn't be too much work for me to put in how he met and feels about the others.



 Nissa could have even met Ekilu earlier in her travels and hit it off swimmingly (pun, sorry) considering their shared interest in fey and aquatic natures.  Then maybe later she asked him for help in saving Aldri.


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## Erekose13 (Sep 10, 2006)

ouch, i threw a little healing on Vaukriel (6 potions) but thats about it.  Yeah we need healing and Bront is definitely a good addition to any party.  Whether you are okay with 7 or not is up to you Isida, as you are asking us however, I am good with it.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront, you've got mail!


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Or perhaps he served on a ship they were on at one point.  I'm sure we can work on something.

Looks like I give you a huge boost in the Healing and Swim Skill, and a second good survival skill.  I may also win the Fort and Will save.

Just don't ask me for reflex save or stealth


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Bront, you've got mail!



Great!

Unfortunately I can't check it here.

I'll e-mail you my work addy, you can send a copy there (if you can).


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Or perhaps he served on a ship they were on at one point.  I'm sure we can work on something.
> 
> Looks like I give you a huge boost in the Healing and Swim Skill, and a second good survival skill.  I may also win the Fort and Will save.
> 
> Just don't ask me for reflex save or stealth



 You do have the best Swim.  Also, now my horse doesn't have the best Listen skill in the party any more   Actually, the best Swim used to be Anemone too.  Poor Anemone--you marginalise his skills


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront, you have more mail!


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

Well, I guess the decision's already been made, but I'd actually have preferred not to add another character.  Nothing against Bront, but I just don't see it as a problem we can't overcome on our own.  Between the high-unhittable Nissa, powerful distance attacks, and good scouting and free-action -5 penalties to attacks from Lupaz, not mention excellent roguery and flight from Vaukriel and Tempest, I think we can do just fine without heavy healing.  But if you guys want to do it, I guess I'm okay with it.

And Rystil - Lupaz has Survival +12.  And Track.  And Scent (and both dark- and low-light vision, might want to mark that under Spot).  C'mon, give me a little credit, man.  And his Intimidate is actually better than it looks because he has a frequently-cast spell that combines with an item to give +5 on the check and the ability to do a doubled-duration demoralize as a swift action.  And don't forget who has access to _disguise self_ when you're figuring our strengths in that area.

I'm also considering putting the recouped Stealth ranks in Gather Information, so that'd give me a very respectable +13 in that skill, adding more to our information-gathering abilities.


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Bront, you have more mail!



Got it.

I'll put that last part we talked about in.

Does the Island Ship have a name?


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Well, I guess the decision's already been made, but I'd actually have preferred not to add another character.  Nothing against Bront, but I just don't see it as a problem we can't overcome on our own.  Between the high-unhittable Nissa, powerful distance attacks, and good scouting and free-action -5 penalties to attacks from Lupaz, not mention excellent roguery and flight from Vaukriel and Tempest, I think we can do just fine without heavy healing.  But if you guys want to do it, I guess I'm okay with it.
> 
> And Rystil - Lupaz has Survival +12.  And Track.  And Scent.  C'mon, give me a little credit, man.  And his Intimidate is actually better than it looks because he has a frequently-cast spell that combines with an item to give +5 on the check and the ability to do a doubled-duration demoralize as a swift action.  And don't forget who has access to _disguise self_ when you're figuring our strengths in that area.
> 
> I'm also considering putting the recouped Stealth ranks in Gather Information, so that'd give me a +13 in that skill.



 Nothing can stand up to healing, though.  Not distance attacks, not scouting, not buffs.

As to the chart of stuff--I accidentally said Vaukriel, but I meant Lupaz for Survival.  For Disguise Self, I do have that listed for Lupaz in additional notes.


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## Voidrazor (Sep 10, 2006)

Welcome Bront!


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Well, I guess the decision's already been made, but I'd actually have preferred not to add another character.  Nothing against Bront, but I just don't see it as a problem we can't overcome on our own.  Between the high-unhittable Nissa, powerful distance attacks, and good scouting and free-action -5 penalties to attacks from Lupaz, not mention excellent roguery and flight from Vaukriel and Tempest, I think we can do just fine without heavy healing.  But if you guys want to do it, I guess I'm okay with it.



No Offense taken btw


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Nothing can stand up to healing, though.  Not distance attacks, not scouting, not buffs.
> 
> As to the chart of stuff--I accidentally said Vaukriel, but I meant Lupaz for Survival.  For Disguise Self, I do have that listed for Lupaz in additional notes.




If you say so.  My experience as a player and DM has been different, suffice to say.  And I wasn't talking about "standing up to" anything in any case, just that having no healing is something that can be worked around satisfactorily.


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> No Offense taken btw




Heh, I don't mean to look like I'm trying to keep you out, it's just that my group has a long-standing tradition of having no healer better than a bard (if that) and doing just fine, so I don't see the worry.  Granted, it takes a receptive DM (one who will let you rely on other strengths to minimize the damage you take to a level that items can handle), but then, what doesn't?


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

What race is the captain btw?


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

A duskling.  It's kinda like a feral halfling-type with an affinity for being Totemists.  From _Magic of Incarnum_.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

> Granted, it takes a receptive DM




Admittedly, it's true that it's possible to get around lack of healing if the GM pulls punches (not using poison, ability damage/drain, disease, etc, and fighting only one or two encounters per day, etc) I do agree with you.  However, it's much easier on the GM to just pick things that are fun to do, and with a healer to help the PCs roll with it, balancing becomes an easier task (without a healer, certain monsters have ad-hoc CR changes because balance shifts).


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## Shayuri (Sep 10, 2006)

*In Which Shay Responds To Things*

Hello all!

Isida - Shiny metal can is in the Rogue's Gallery. Sorry for delay. 

Skills - Most of the skills that Trey truly bites at are ones that the Boots of Levitation, Ring of Feather Fall, and rope with grapple can make up for in other ways. As for Swim, he can't drown, so he can just trudge along the bottom.   And Survival...well, he won't be starving anytime soon either. Note too that Trey's docent, Watcher, has skills. +2 Spot, +3 Search, +12 Listen. Plus it can use Detect Magic at will and is constantly detecting scry attempts. Not too shabby! 

Defense - Yeah...a little slack. Trey's main defense is his list of living construct immunities. He has less than a handful of defensive spells too. Or spells that have defensive aspects (Fire Shield eg). On the average, we're not too bad for 8th level. We'll need to improve things fast though.

Party Roles - This is of concern. We lack a major damage sponge, like a dedicated fighter or barbie or similar. We also lack significant healing. Note that Trebuchet CAN heal himself. He has Repair Moderate Damage as a 3rd level spell, thanks to his Eclectic Learning class ability. He can also use Craft to repair himself mundanely over time. Still, what worries me is how we'll fare against "melee monster" encounters. That's to say, monsters with few to no supernatural powers, but high Str, tons of damage potential, and loads of hit points. The list is large. Grey Rendrs, Athaches, most giants, elementals, golems...etc.

We might consider looking into summoning minions, or using items like Bag of Tricks, or the various Figurines of Power, to provide us with disposable meatshields in emergencies.

New party member - Yay Bront! I say yay.


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Admittedly, it's true that it's possible to get around lack of healing if the GM pulls punches (not using poison, ability damage/drain, disease, etc, and fighting only one or two encounters per day, etc) I do agree with you.  However, it's much easier on the GM to just pick things that are fun to do, and with a healer to help the PCs roll with it, balancing becomes an easier task (without a healer, certain monsters have ad-hoc CR changes because balance shifts).




I wasn't talking about pulling punches, merely running the game in such a way that information-gathering and good tactics mean something substantial - they frequently don't although I think they should.  And certain monsters have ad-hoc CR changes regardless of the make-up of the party.  Certain things are always more or less difficult depending on party make-up.  For instance, even with healing a largish construct will be a problem for us because it's resistant to many of our best attacks (drowning, ranged spells, fear effects) whereas a sneaky rogue-type would be in deep trouble against us due to a combination of detection abilities and the ability to really hammer Fortitude and Will saves.  Not having any healing doesn't require any more care on the DM's part than these sorts of considerations.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

> This is of concern. We lack a major damage sponge, like a dedicated fighter or barbie or similar. We also lack significant healing. Note that Trebuchet CAN heal himself. He has Repair Moderate Damage as a 3rd level spell, thanks to his Eclectic Learning class ability. He can also use Craft to repair himself mundanely over time. Still, what worries me is how we'll fare against "melee monster" encounters. That's to say, monsters with few to no supernatural powers, but high Str, tons of damage potential, and loads of hit points. The list is large. Grey Rendrs, Athaches, most giants, elementals, golems...etc.
> 
> We might consider looking into summoning minions, or using items like Bag of Tricks, or the various Figurines of Power, to provide us with disposable meatshields in emergencies.




Nissa can summon a water elemental once a day for an hour, but it isn't very strong.  Actually, the low-AC high-HP 'meat sponge' is kinda healing intensive.  Nissa is a decent tank in the other direction (they are unlikely to hit her if they power attack).  Oob has a goodly number of HP and more AC than normal, but yeah, you guys with 20 or 21 AC and like 30-40 HP will go down in one pounce from a Dire Tiger (+20 to hit, 2d4+8/2d4+8/2d6+4/2d4+4/2d4+4).


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> Party Roles - This is of concern. We lack a major damage sponge, like a dedicated fighter or barbie or similar. We also lack significant healing. Note that Trebuchet CAN heal himself. He has Repair Moderate Damage as a 3rd level spell, thanks to his Eclectic Learning class ability. He can also use Craft to repair himself mundanely over time. Still, what worries me is how we'll fare against "melee monster" encounters. That's to say, monsters with few to no supernatural powers, but high Str, tons of damage potential, and loads of hit points. The list is large. Grey Rendrs, Athaches, most giants, elementals, golems...etc.




Nissa is our meat shield, and a darn fine one.  33 AC and constant displacement at 8th level is much better than having lots of hit points - it means she'll hardly take damage at all, regardless of what we're fighting (literally nothing at this level can easily hit through that defense, and most things have a 5% or less chance of hitting successfully).  And since she actually has decent hit points on top of that, she's much better at absorbing abuse than a fighter would be.

Also, I have a version of the best _bag of tricks_.  It's one of the ways you get around not having a cleric, in fact - disposable meat.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

> Not having any healing doesn't require any more care on the DM's part than these sorts of considerations.




I disagree.  I think we can easily beat a largish construct of boss difficulty (CR == our level + 4) with a healer and we will lose without the healer (due to a combination of the factors you mentioned and the lack of a healer--I've watched a level 8 party with two healers handily defeat a level 13 party of the same size that had a fighter and a barbarian instead of the healers).  But we're probably taking up too much space here discussing this, so we should probably get back to strategising instead of hypothesising


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> I disagree.  I think we can easily beat a largish construct of boss difficulty (CR == our level + 4) with a healer and we will lose without the healer (due to a combination of the factors you mentioned and the lack of a healer--I've watched a level 8 party with two healers handily defeat a level 13 party of the same size that had a fighter and a barbarian instead of the healers).  But we're probably taking up too much space here discussing this, so we should probably get back to strategising instead of hypothesising




I kinda gathered that you disagreed when you first mentioned the topic.      I just wanted to clarify that I did _not_ mean pulling punches when I mentioned needing a receptive, that's all.  Just the equivalent of things like not using undead all the time against a rogue-using party or hordes of invisible fungi against a favored soul without see invisibility.

And for what it's worth, I've seen precisely the opposite of the scenario you mentioned, where the party was very glad to have another front-liner rogue instead of a cleric against a really tough fight.  Shows you what anecdotal evidence is worth, anyway.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

> Nissa is our meat shield, and a darn fine one.




She and Oob are indeed the best we've got.



> 33 AC and constant displacement at 8th level is much better than having lots of hit points




I agree with this completely--I actually just said it too 



> it means she'll hardly take damage at all, regardless of what we're fighting (literally nothing at this level can easily hit through that defense, and most things have a 5% or less chance of hitting successfully). And since she actually has decent hit points on top of that, she's much better at absorbing abuse than a fighter would be.




a CR 8 enemy should be an easy fight for a group our size, taking much less than 1/4 of our resources (takes 1/4 of the resources of a group of 4).  CR 8 Dire Tiger hits Nissa on a 13, and it pounces on the first round for 5 attacks.  Granted, that's not bad for a caster, and it will likely only hit with one attack per round on average and not be able to Power Attack, but it will probably hit each round at least once.


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## Shayuri (Sep 10, 2006)

Wow! I guess I need to read sheets more. 

That does help...and I didn't know you had a bag of tricks. Excellent.

I feel much better now! Of course, I can get healed.


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> a CR 8 enemy should be an easy fight for a group our size, taking much less than 1/4 of our resources (takes 1/4 of the resources of a group of 4).  CR 8 Dire Tiger hits Nissa on a 13, and it pounces on the first round for 5 attacks.  Granted, that's not bad for a caster, and it will likely only hit with one attack per round on average and not be able to Power Attack, but it will probably hit each round at least once.




True, but that's basically the meatiest full-on fighter you can find at this level (okay, maybe one of the giant vermins, those guys tend to have absurd attack bonuses because it's all they've got), and when you consider that optimal tactics have you luring its attacks while doing full-defense (so it needs a 19 to hit you, as well as needing to get through your 50% miss chance on top of that) while we deal with it at range, well, your defenses aren't good "for a caster" - they're just good.  Certainly as good as anyone could ask for.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

> Wow! I guess I need to read sheets more.




I don't blame you for not noticing it, she isn't the obvious tank--when I created Nissa, I figured she was going to be the frail mage who sits in the back and keeps a fairly-high AC to ensure the baddies don't sneak back there and maul her into the ground.  But based on the rest of the group, somehow she became the tank   Of course, there's a psychological aspect to tanking too, and Nissa doesn't have that yet.  She's mechanically the best to take the hits, but she's not very combat adept and will probably continue to stand in the back.  Also, if they can hit her wimpier touch AC, they can grapple her or trip her or something easily.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 10, 2006)

DM note to self:  Use things that can detect with things other than sight to take meat-shield displacement-miester out.  That will be hecka funny.  Use a blindsight golem.  Oh yeah, hecka funny stuff.

Oh wait, did I just post that out loud?  

And Shayuri, a Bender-forged sounds like fun on a stick.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> True, but that's basically the meatiest full-on fighter you can find at this level (okay, maybe one of the giant vermins, those guys tend to have absurd attack bonuses because it's all they've got), and when you consider that optimal tactics have you luring its attacks while doing full-defense (so it needs a 19 to hit you, as well as needing to get through your 50% miss chance on top of that) while we deal with it at range, well, your defenses aren't good "for a caster" - they're just good.  Certainly as good as anyone could ask for.



 Admittedly, that is the optimal strategy, since Nissa kinda sucks at doing actual combat.  Now, convincing to Nissa to stand in front of everyone while a giant slavering sabre-toothed tiger is charging at them--not so easy 

And remember, that is a CR 8 opponent.  In an actually challenging fight, if it uses several smaller enemies, then she'll do better (well unless they flank and aid another or such), and against a big boss, she'll do terribly.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> DM note to self:  Use things that can detect with things other than sight to take meat-shield displacement-miester out.  That will be hecka funny.  Use a blindsight golem.  Oh yeah, hecka funny stuff.
> 
> Oh wait, did I just post that out loud?
> 
> And Shayuri, a Bender-forged sounds like fun on a stick.



 Yeah, I know, I know   Nissa wasn't really meant to be a tank--really 

As for the Bender-forged, that's me who said that 

By the way--I blame you for the 33 AC


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Character posted, though I still need to add what he feels about the others.

Likely Ekilu was met by anyone traveling the sea, at any port city.  I'll look over what you have so far.

He's fairly fierce in melee, and is almost as strong as Oob.


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Oh, Isida, do I need to reformat the sheet, or is what I have close enough to your prefered format?


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Character posted, though I still need to add what he feels about the others.
> 
> Likely Ekilu was met by anyone traveling the sea, at any port city.  I'll look over what you have so far.
> 
> He's fairly fierce in melee, and is almost as strong as Oob.



 Nissa travels at sea by swimming usually, but she has visited many places and may have seen him briefly and struck up a friendship.  Then when she came to Arete, a port city, she found Ekilu again and asked for help against the crimelord's thugs.  Sound okay?


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront, my only request is to increase the font size.  I'm not that old, but I feel like I need a magnifying glass when I try to read your character sheet.


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Sure, sounds good.  I'll have to find the full description, but I'll write my part in it.

Hehe, Ekilu can outswim you too   Of course, he actualy has to hold his breath, so he can only go underwater for almost 10 minutes or so (more if he casts Bear's Endurance).

With an AC of only 21, he doesn't tank too well, but he's not bad, and 58 HP aren't too shabby.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Sure, sounds good.  I'll have to find the full description, but I'll write my part in it.
> 
> Hehe, Ekilu can outswim you too   Of course, he actualy has to hold his breath, so he can only go underwater for almost 10 minutes or so (more if he casts Bear's Endurance).
> 
> With an AC of only 21, he doesn't tank too well, but he's not bad, and 58 HP aren't too shabby.



 Oh, he can outswim _me_, but my little Hippocampus too?


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## Voidrazor (Sep 10, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> By the way, shouldn't Oob have a lowered movement speed for his heavy armour?




Err, probably. The entry for Tylonian armor talks about it being easier to move and run in, and the statistics mention ACP, max dex, etc., but no movemennt penalty. That's why I didn't think to reduce Oob's movement. However, even through its possible for heavily enchanted Tylonian heavy armor to be 'configured' to have no ACP, have a huge max dex, and no chance of spell failure, nothing in the entry says that the stuff actually cancels out the normal move penalty for med or hvy armor. 

So by RAW I'd say that mde and hvy Tylonian armor always has a move penalty. But I would like a DM ruling.


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Bront, my only request is to increase the font size.  I'm not that old, but I feel like I need a magnifying glass when I try to read your character sheet.



Will do.  I didn't want to take up too much space, but the size is easy to fix.

Let me know about my item if I get one


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

Isida, I've been meaning to check with you about my curses and the stacking thereof.  I have three different curse effects that draw from the same uses/day pool, but provide penalties (unnamed penalties, for that matter) to different things.  I'm also barred from cursing someone again for 24 hours if they make their Will save against the curse.  So, my questions:

1) Do penalties for different curses stack?  That is, can I hit someone with the Curse of Paranoia to soften up their Will saves and then hit them with the Basic Curse to give them a penalty on everything and a truly enormous penalty on their Will saves?

2) If someone makes their save, can I switch to a different curse type and try again?  That is, if I hit someone with the Curse of Ignorance to penalize their Spot and Listen so I can Sneak past them, but they save, can I try again with the Basic Curse for a lesser penalty but another attempt?


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Ooo, now that's a _very_ interesting question.  Normally spells and effects with an identical source do not stack, even if they are nameless (for instance, multiple Rays of Enfeeblement do not create stacking penalties to Strength), but I could see you making a case that this is actually a different source.  That's brutal--I love it


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

Heh, the feats are worded "you gain a new curse," so I dunno.  I don't really see myself double-cursing people often (that's serious overkill right there), but it's something I needed to check on.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 10, 2006)

Kelleris, I rule that people get one curse a day.  Hitting someone with multiple curses could soon lead to a downward spiral of munchkin-like proportions.  

Voidrazor - I've re-read the thing on Tylonian and it mentions nothing about speed reduction.  Count that up to weight rather than ease of movement.  So you'll just have to be a little bit slower than your average ooze-bear.


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Kelleris, I rule that people get one curse a day.  Hitting someone with multiple curses could soon lead to a downward spiral of munchkin-like proportions.




Does that include not being able to switch to a different curse if they save against the first one and aren't affected?


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Assuming you mean the story in post 84...

I can see Ekilu and Fee getting involved if they happened to be in the city (which is easy enough to consider), which means that some of the others may also know Fee as well.  The Stormdancer was likely in port, and with just the brief background, the both likely felt like it was in Taala's best interest that he be delt with.

Ekilu was also likely rather merciless in combat, and failed to offer quarter before striking one of the last of them down, and was likely guarded about why afterwards.

Of course, he's now the first mate on the island ship, so he may be likely suprised to see many of you again.

Sound good?  If so, I'll write that part up for his history.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 10, 2006)

It would appear to be so.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Assuming you mean the story in post 84...
> 
> I can see Ekilu and Fee getting involved if they happened to be in the city (which is easy enough to consider), which means that some of the others may also know Fee as well.  The Stormdancer was likely in port, and with just the brief background, the both likely felt like it was in Taala's best interest that he be delt with.
> 
> ...



 I think Tempest already knew Fee?  Either way, works for me.


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## Kelleris (Sep 10, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> It would appear to be so.




Uhm, I don't understand what you mean.  Are you refering to Bront's post, or your ruling, or the text of the feats in question, or something else entirely?     Because even if people are limited to one curse a day, that could mean either one curse used against them, or one that actually sticks.  Just want to make sure we're on the same page, since it is my primary schtick.


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## D20Dazza (Sep 10, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Nissa can summon a water elemental once a day for an hour, but it isn't very strong.  Actually, the low-AC high-HP 'meat sponge' is kinda healing intensive.  Nissa is a decent tank in the other direction (they are unlikely to hit her if they power attack).  Oob has a goodly number of HP and more AC than normal, but yeah, you guys with 20 or 21 AC and like 30-40 HP will go down in one pounce from a Dire Tiger (+20 to hit, 2d4+8/2d4+8/2d6+4/2d4+4/2d4+4).



As long as it's not a winged Dire Tiger I hope Tempest will be OK  - I ain't going anywhere near the ground, unless there's a flying monstrosity nearby, in which case, I'm on the ground hiding behind someone else.  I hear ya, it's the damn +3 ECL without any HD benefits that has cost me. Tempest is only a 5HD critter.


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> I think Tempest already knew Fee?  Either way, works for me.



He does.  That's even better, as Tempest may be more inclined to include her.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

D20Dazza said:
			
		

> As long as it's not a winged Dire Tiger I hope Tempest will be OK  - I ain't going anywhere near the ground, unless there's a flying monstrosity nearby, in which case, I'm on the ground hiding behind someone else.  I hear ya, it's the damn +3 ECL without any HD benefits that has cost me. Tempest is only a 5HD critter.



 Note: Nissa also has +3 LA and is a 5 HD creature    In my experience, that much LA is so crippling to HP that if you have it and you play a class with d4 or d6 hit dice, it is basically required to pick up a high Con in order to live


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> He does.  That's even better, as Tempest may be more inclined to include her.



 I thought I saw it in his backstory that he worked on a ship with her


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Note: Nissa also has +3 LA and is a 5 HD creature    In my experience, that much LA is so crippling to HP that if you have it and you play a class with d4 or d6 hit dice, it is basically required to pick up a high Con in order to live



Of note, you may want to revise the skillset thing with Ekilu in mind.

Hope his +0 stealth won't damper things too much...


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Of note, you may want to revise the skillset thing with Ekilu in mind.
> 
> Hope his +0 stealth won't damper things too much...



 Nah, Trebuchet has a penalty to it, so Ekilu is not the lowest.  We'll just leave them behind when we sneak


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

[SBLOCK=Skills, Revised]Skills First:

Appraise--we don't really have this skill, so we'll have to hope we don't need it.
Consolation Prize: Nissa, with an untrained +5.

Balance--We can sort of balance, but we're still flat-footed
Gold: Tempest, with a +10, though ironically he forgot to list it 
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +9
Honourable Mention: Nissa, with a +7

Bluff--We're good at Bluff
Gold: Tie between Vaukriel and Nissa at +18

Climb--we're pretty bad at this too, but several people can fly, so not a big issue
Gold: Tempest, again unlisted with a +6
Silver: Tie between Oob and Ekilu, with a +4
Uh-Oh Prize: Nissa, with a -1, and Trebuchet with a -3

Concentration--this is not really one where it matters if we have an expert
Gold: Trebuchet, with a +13
Silver: Nissa with a +11
Honourable Mention: Ekilu, with a +6

Craft--Trebuchet can make himself...all night long
Gold: Trebuchet, with a +10 in Craft (Blacksmithig)

Decipher Script--This is trained only.  Nobody can do it.  Nissa does have Comprehend Languages

Diplomacy--We're great at this
Gold: Nissa, with +24
Silver: Vaukriel, with +20

Disable Device--Don't trust our Rogues to Disarm those traps, though they do have it
Gold: Tie between Nissa and Tempest with +6

Disguise--We can Disguise, all right
Gold: Nissa, with a +28 and +30 to stay in character
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +8
Special Note: With the Disguise Self spell, Lupaz has +14

Escape Artist--not so great at this
Gold: Vaukriel, with a +7
Silver: Nissa, with a +5

Forgery--nor this
Consolation Prize: Nissa, with a +5

Gather Information--middling good at this
Gold: Nissa, with a +10
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +8
Honourable Mention: Tempest, with a +7

Handle Animal--We don't have this because it's trained only.  However, Nissa can talk to them at will and would have a +11 if I bothered to put 1 cross class rank in it.

Heal--We can Heal!  We can Heal!
Gold: Ekilu, with a +9

Hide/Move Silently/Sneak--Most of us can, as long as we are not made of metal
Gold: Vaukriel, with +15
Silver: Three-Way Tie between Nissa, Oob, and Lupaz for +13
Honourable Mention: Tempest, with +9
Made of Metal: Trebuchet, with -1
Notes: Nissa has the most in the water, with +21, and Oob may beat everyone else outside the water if he swaps his points correctly now that Hide and Move Silently have been collapsed into Sneak

Intimidate--The cute doggy and the girl are threatening indeed
Gold: Lupaz, with +15
Silver: Nissa, with +12
Honourable Mention: Trebuchet, with +9

Jump--Why jump when you can fly?  Ask Vaukriel and Tempest
Gold: Anemone (Nissa's Hippocampus), with a +11
Silver: Vaukriel, with +9
Honourable Mention: Tempest, with +6
Uh-oh Award: Trebuchet, with -3

Knowledge--We don't know much, but we have a few areas
Arcana Award: Nissa, with a +10
Geography Award: Lupaz, with a +10
History Award: Trebuchet, with a +7
Local Award: Lupaz, with a +10
Natrue Award: Ekilu, with a +8
Nobility Award: Nissa, with a +10

Listen--Ekilu does not use a hearing aid
Gold: Ekilu, with a +9
Silver: Anemone (Nissa's Hippocampus), with a +6

Open Lock--we can open a simple lock, but not the ones in the level 1 Shackled City adventure
Gold: Tempest, with a +9
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +8
Honourable Mention: Nissa, with a +6

Perform--Nissa's okay at this untrained
Gold: Nissa, with a +10
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +5

Profession--Aar, Ekilu be an old salt of the sea
Gold: Ekilu, with a +9

Ride--Vaukriel and Nissa can maybe ride Anemone
Gold: Vaukriel, with a +7
Silver: Nissa, with a +5

Search--As with Listen, we're pretty bad
Gold: Tempest, with a +6
Silver: Nissa, with a +5

Sense Motive--Passable
Gold: Nissa, with a +9
Silver: Vaukriel, with a +5

Sleight of Hand--Not Great
Gold: Vaukriel, with a +10
Silver: Nissa, with a +8

Spellcraft--We're Okay
Gold: Trebuchet, with a +12
Silver: Nissa, with a +11

Spot--Dog, Fish-Boy, Horse?  At least they have eyes
Gold: Ekilu, with a +9
Silver: Lupaz, with a +7
Honourable Mention: Anemone (Nissa's Hippocampus), with a +6

Survival--Lupaz can survive.  Ekilu can help.  The rest of us starve in the woods.  Well Trebuchet doesn't eat.
Gold: Lupaz has the highest, with a +12, but Ekilu has a +11 that is usually a +13 or +15 thanks to synergies, so both get the gold.


Swim--Considering Nissa is Aquatic, she's pretty sucky.  Ekilu has it down though.
Gold: Ekilu, with a +17
Silver: Anemone (Nissa's Hippocampus), with a +11
Honourable Mention: Nissa, with a +7
Sinks to the Bottom of the Ocean: Trebuchet, with a -6

Tumble--AoOs?  Hah!  What AoOs?
Gold: Vaukriel, with a +22
Silver: Nissa, with a +13
Consolation: Tempest, with a +9

Use Magic Device--Tempest?  You're our backup healer.
Gold: Tempest, with a +9

Use Rope--We can tie a knot
Gold: Vaukriel, with a +7
Silver: Nissa, with a +5
[/SBLOCK]


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Note, Ekilu has a climb that's unlisted.  His jump is -2 due to his speed.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Note, Ekilu has a climb that's unlisted.  His jump is -2 due to his speed.



 That's why I listed every skill for Nissa--well that and she generally has either fairly good or pathetically awful scores in each skill, so it's good to know.  Even some untrained skills are fairly high, like Intimidate (+12).


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

I assume people can check stats if it's just a base skill.  I usually list ones with synergy or racial benifits at least.


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## Voidrazor (Sep 10, 2006)

Trust me, leave the tanking to Oobobooboo. In addition to the good AC&HP, the ooze has so decent battlefield control capabilities in the form of reach and grappling. Despite its small size Oob is a scary good grappler. I had been worried about its low BAB, but strength cleared that situation up nicely. Oh, and Taala's special gift provides an hour a day of 50% miss chance.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Voidrazor said:
			
		

> Trust me, leave the tanking to Oobobooboo. In addition to the good AC&HP, the ooze has so decent battlefield control capabilities in the form of reach and grappling. Despite its small size Oob is a scary good grappler. I had been worried about its low BAB, but strength cleared that situation up nicely. Oh, and Taala's special gift provides an hour a day of 50% miss chance.



 Yeah--Nissa is probably a better overall tank against conventional attacks that use attack rolls, but probably safer to let Oob do tanking in case something tries to grapple, plus after being softened up by an area attack Reflex save spell, Oob will have more HP left over.


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

How's this for Ekilu's version of the events?

Meeting the others:
Ekilu had met Nissa several times through his journeys on the Stormdancer, and he met up with her again in the small coastal town of Arete in the kingdom.  Her friend, Aldri, had been abducted and used as a labor and pleasure slave by a gang led by a water elemental crime lord. Ekilu and Fee offered to help; knowing that dealing with such crime lords was in the best interest of the kingdom. Nissa started poking around after Aldri, where she eventually discovered what happened and heard about the brave strangers, so she came to ask their help as well. Vaukriel and Tempest were their names, and Fee had served with Tempest prior to Ekilu serving on the Stormdancer.  The gang had sent a few sneaks to attack Tempest and Vaukriel at the inn, so they knew they were involved in this mess anyway and decided to help. 

The five of them managed to break up the local gang members in an assault on their hideout.  It was a fierce fight, and after downing the leader, the demoralized thugs began to run.  Ekilu, almost in a battle rage, slew one of them, despite the fear in the thug’s eyes belaying that he might have yielded.  Screams emanated from the other room, and the few remaining thugs dropped to their knees and begged for quarter.  The others ran to the screams while Fee attended to Ekilu, and there they found Oobobooboo standing over a badly injured thug.  Aldri wasn't there, but they found out where the crime lord’s main headquarters was, and discovered that this guy was wanted for all kinds of piracy, smuggling, prostitution, kidnapping, and worse. 

Together, with their new found ally Oobobooboo, they managed to corner and defeat the crime lord, though Ekilu struck him dead before the others could offer him quarter.  Still, it was a victory over a vicious crime lord, which earned them the favor of Taala.  The others eventually saw Taala and were publicly declared heroes.  However, Fee and Ekilu had already served the king.  He offered Ekilu the first mate’s position on the Isle ship, and Fee the captaincy of the Stormdancer.  Ekilu was on the Isle ship only a short time before many of his companions from the crime lord encounter joined him on it.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Sounds good to me, although that does answer the question I left open as to whether the crime lord was killed


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

At times, Ekilu gets a little weird, particularly durring combat.

He's the kind of guy who will go through some carefull planning of a combat... and then be the first one to abandon the plan and go do his own thing.


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

What Ekilu thinks of the others - 
Trebuchet (Shayuri) - Trebuchet is a fitting name for this construct.  He seems a bit too happy to be in conflict and combat, unlike Ekilu who would rather be done with conflict.  However, he is a fine companion, and his ever-alert eyes and prompt following of orders are welcome on the ship.

Brightstar Vaukriel, Angel of Splendor (Erekose13) - 'Warrior' puts on a happy front, but Ekilu can tell, as one man of deep contemplation himself, that there is much more beyond the surface.  Still, he seems a good man who's intent is to do the right thing, and Ekilu has no problems working beside the brave warrior.

Tempest Wintersquall (D20Dazza) - 'Sailor' could just as easily be called 'Prankster', but that would be disrespectful.  He works hard, when he sets his mind to it, which seems to be fairly rarely.  Having helped with the Crime Lord, Ekilu has some respect for him that he might otherwise have trouble finding.  Fee seems fond of him as a friend, and he seems to make her smile.  Ookatooli tells Ekilu he should be jealous of her, which Ekilu finds ridiculous, given he's of a different species.  But still, he does make Fee laugh...

Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen (Kelleris) - 'Hound' is not the most pleasant creature to talk with, as he has a rather fatalistic view of life.  Ekilu had pondered discussing fate with him, but he can't bring himself to take such an accepting view of what must happen, particularly as he was taught that it was his destiny to change things for his people.  But while he finds little common ground with the hound, he bears the hound no Ill will, and is glad to have him as a companion.

Ianissa, daughter of prophecy (Rystil Arden) - 'Empath' seems a little too unsure of herself, despite being a skilled empath.  Ekilu has met her many times, and finds her playful spirit refreshing.  It is nice to find someone else who can swim such as he can.

Oobobooboo (Voidrazor) - 'Jester' or 'Ooze', Oobobooboo reminds him of Ookatooli, which means that he seems to trust him, perhaps much more than he really should for such a child like and chaotic being.  In fact, Ekilu regards him much like a charge, and watches out for the Ooze.

BTW, some of you may want to have an opinion of Fee, who's a strong but empathic warrior type.  You can find out about her in my background.


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## D20Dazza (Sep 10, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> I think Tempest already knew Fee?  Either way, works for me.



Yep - me and Fee are like - good friends. Don't know Ekilu though, although it is possible that Fee told me of him (depending on timelines)

From my background: "Tempest served aboard the elemental sailing ship Stormdancer for a while where he befriended a darfalen named Fee’utikoo. Unfortunately, he was forced off the Stormdancer when he was setup and falsely arrested while the ship was trading in Bluebottom."


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## D20Dazza (Sep 10, 2006)

Erekose13 said:
			
		

> Figured that Trebuchet would've met Tempest and Vaukriel on that campaign.
> 
> Daz, did you still want to work out where our two characters met?  I figure Trebuchet would be any easy one to meet on the battlefield. But the two winged fellows might've known each other prior to that.



Sorry Erekose, forgot to reply. I sure do. Any ideas? We have a common enemy so we could have easily stumbled over each other in the pursuit of information. I may have even thought you worked for Garguel (if the first time I spied you was upon your escape) and tailed you and then attacked you, or been about to attack you when something happened to convince me otherwise.


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

D20Dazza said:
			
		

> Yep - me and Fee are like - good friends. Don't know Ekilu though, although it is possible that Fee told me of him (depending on timelines)
> 
> From my background: "Tempest served aboard the elemental sailing ship Stormdancer for a while where he befriended a darfalen named Fee’utikoo. Unfortunately, he was forced off the Stormdancer when he was setup and falsely arrested while the ship was trading in Bluebottom."



Yep, saw that.  You may get a kick about what Ekilu thinks of Tempest then 

FYI, for those not aware, Darfellan's tend to call people by function, as much as name.  So the ' ' things are for names he may/has called you.

Anyway, unless anyone objects to what I've put here, I'll leave it as is, and it's on the character sheet as well.

Isida, let me know about the item if I get one, or let me know I don't


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 10, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Yep, saw that.  You may get a kick about what Ekilu thinks of Tempest then
> 
> FYI, for those not aware, Darfellan's tend to call people by function, as much as name.  So the ' ' things are for names he may/has called you.
> 
> ...



 Heh, I wonder why Nissa wound up as an Empath--she doesn't even have any empathic abilities


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## Bront (Sep 10, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Heh, I wonder why Nissa wound up as an Empath--she doesn't even have any empathic abilities



With a reasonable Sense Motive (You, not him), and the good social skills, that's how he sees you


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Hrm, guess I'm the only one who hasn't done one of these.  Anyway, here you go - 

*Ianissa:* Although he respects her for her position amongst the leaders of the Kingdom of Knowledge, Lupaz finds "Nissa" to be more than a little exasperating.  She insists on trying to make nice with him, as though he bore the same kinds of psychic scars that are sometimes evident with Vaurkriel, apparently not understanding that Lupaz accepts how his life has gone so far - and, for that matter, has faith in a way to improve things, although it has not yet been revealed to him.  And her squeamishness around violence strikes him as absurd; anyone who will attack someone as obviously offputting as Lupaz - or Nissa herself when she chooses to be - has tacitly committed themselves to what comes next.

*Tempest:* Lupaz occasionally wishes he had not revealed his item-granted telepathic abilities to the hadozee because the deck ape's responses have a tendency to undermine a good silent glare.  Tempest projects a constant impression that he has something sneaky up his sleeves too, making him someone to watch out for, and while Lupaz sometimes feels the same way about him, he wishes Tempest would trust his carefully-honed skills at infiltration just a bit more.  At least he's gotten used to being called "Lucky" all the time, and no longer visibily winces.

*Trebuchet:* Now the warforged is someone Lupaz can comfortably get along with.  He respects that the mage's skill set does not overlap much with his own, and that both of them are similarly focused - Lupaz hasn't quite figured out how to make use of the warforged's strange deference to perceived "superiors" (he's used to completing his missions as he deems most expedient), but he's sure he can find an amenable working relationship with Trebuchet.    Even the warforged's cheery approach to violence is not off-putting to Lupaz - if there's one thing he appreciates, it's black humor.  And in any case, it's as daunting to opponents as it is to the group's less experienced members.

*Oobobooboo:* The ooze is also disconcertingly cheerful, but at least he isn't patronizing about it, so Lupaz will occasionally find himself humoring the little pile of jelly.  And he has to admit - the sight of the horribly acidic little critter ineluctably latched onto a foe is one that Lupaz can't help take as a good sign.  The items the ooze carries are another matter entirely, however - their aura is strange under _detect magic_, and they possess a menacing, otherworldly appearance.  The ooze seems incapable of properly explaining their origin, and some part of Lupaz believes that the items herald some future unpleasantness.

*Vaukriel:*  Yet another proponent of the "deep psychic scars" theory of dealing with Lupaz, Vaukriel at least seems to have had some experiences worthy of the conflict that rages in his personality.  Even better, he's decisive and competent in battle, someone who seems capable of defeating terrible foes if a little luck is on his side.  As long as nothing and no-one appears to manipulate the fragile ego of the "angel," Lupaz is inclined to leave Vaukriel's healing to his own devices.  Only time will tell if he remains a trustworthy ally or if something tips whatever fragile balance Vaukriel mantains for the worse.

*Ekilu:*  The darfellan strikes Lupaz as yet another unstable personality, sometimes rash and impulsive, sometimes cool and tranquil.  Lupaz isn't even sure which side of Ekilu's personality he prefers, but until he figures out what causes these mood swings he tries not to rely too much on the cleric's presence.  Lupaz does have some sympathy for the darfellan's situation, however, and genuinely hopes that time will show Ekilu to be a worthwhile ally in these stressful times.  The cute nickname thing is beginning to wear a little thin, though.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Well, I guess we can tell who wants to be the dour loner of the group 

I need to add one for Ekilu--

Ekilu: Most of the time Ekilu is a great guy and fascinating to talk to.  He would seem like the perfect friend for Nissa--he has a good heart, he understands her connection to the water and has a bit of one himself, and he is in touch with the fey, paralleling Nissa's constant soul-searching about her absent father.  However, at some times, including during battle, he inexplicably reverts to a terrible irrational wrath that scares Nissa.  She is afraid that if he gets too close, he might lash out, but she tries her best not to hold that against him.


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Well, I guess we can tell who wants to be the dour loner of the group





Oh, it wasn't my intention.  It's just that most people have posted initial reactions that Lupaz would find annoying at best, and several people don't strike him (or me, for that matter) as being very...  adventurersome.

Add to that the water elemental crime lord-slaying adventure apparently absolutely could not be worked into my thing and Lupaz only has first impressions to work off of.  He hasn't had long enough to really even become inclined to get to know anyone.

And it's not very helpful when I post a fatalistic, terribly intimidating loner who's looking to get in with a group out of loyalty to the crown and uncertainty about the future and two people immediately give me a cutesy nickname and two others see me as a good psychological counseling opportunity.  You guys aren't giving me much opportunity to be anything but loner-y.

I was hoping for some mutual respect situations, or someone to have impassioned arguments regarding fate with, or someone who finds me creepy that I have a reason to try to get to know, or something.  Even someone I could see as a proper superior or as a flat-out threat would be pretty cool.  But I guess everyone decided to go another way with it, so I kinda played along.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil said:
			
		

> Well, I guess we can tell who wants to be the dour loner of the group






			
				Kelleris said:
			
		

> Oh, it wasn't my intention...
> 
> it's not very helpful when I post a fatalistic, terribly intimidating loner




Either way--it's just good to know, which of course does lead to the fact that we are trying to work together on something that is IC simultaneous whereas OOC I posted in its entirity before you did.  Since you've let me know now how Lupaz feels about that, I'm actually going to edit Nissa's reaction--she has +24 Diplomacy, so she doesn't go around annoying people 



			
				Kelleris said:
			
		

> or someone to have impassioned arguments regarding fate with, or someone who finds me creepy that I have a reason to try to get to know




Well, I did say Nissa finds him creepy--she can probably be both of these.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Lupaz (take 2)--Lupaz has to be the most creepy and depressing blink dog Nissa has ever seen. However, he may also be the wisest and most well-traveled. Most Blink Dogs live a carefree life, much like the one Nissa once lived when she was younger, and she remembered playing with some of the cutest Blink Dog puppies who were incredibly adorable when she was little...Why was Lupaz depressing then? He kind of reminds her of herself under Ananke's grasp, exuberant innocence transformed to fatalism and acceptance. Nissa doesn't care one whit about the rumours of bad luck to all those who associate with him--she's vowed to cheer Lupaz up no matter what...but is she really doing it for him or out of some kind of selfish desire to help herself by proxy, a doubting voice whispers to her at night.  Nonetheless, it is apparent to her that the way to cheer up Lupaz is not to just be nice to him, since this seems to only serve to annoy him.  Instead, although Nissa remains friendly and kind, she tries to engage him in intellectual conversation about fate, inevitability, and how they can be overcome.  She tries her best not to blow him out of the water if it comes to a debate while at the same time not patronising him.  Of course, he still creeps her out, so she has to struggle not to let this show, as keeping him close for too long makes her feel like she needs to bathe in cool water.


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Oh, it wasn't my intention...
> 
> it's not very helpful when I post a fatalistic, terribly intimidating loner




Yeah, I get that I was asking for it to some degree, thanks.  But then nobody really respected that so I had to play it up more in my reactions trying to stay true to the character.  What I would've liked is a little more help trying to strike an interesting balance between being a loner and being part of the party, instead of everyone piling on trying to de-lonerize me, contrary to my expressed RP intentions.  I think I can handle not being the annoying loner-guy without everyone feeling the need to be all friendly when it strikes me as contrary to my intentions.  Sure, one person is fine, maybe two or even three, but when basically everyone is trying to make nice with the Hound of Ill Omen it's kinda off-putting to me.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Yeah, I get that I was asking for it to some degree, thanks.  But then nobody really respected that so I had to play it up more in my reactions trying to stay true to the character.  What I would've liked is a little more help trying to strike an interesting balance between being a loner and being part of the party, instead of everyone piling on trying to de-lonerize me, contrary to my expressed RP intentions.  I think I can handle not being the annoying loner-guy without everyone feeling the need to be all friendly when it strikes me as contrary to my intentions.  Sure, one person is fine, maybe two or even three, but when basically everyone is trying to make nice with the Hound of Ill Omen it's kinda off-putting to me.



 Yeah, no worries   It's good to know that, and so I've edited Nissa's reactions above to include the things you wanted now that you told me


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Lupaz (take 2)--Lupaz has to be the most creepy and depressing blink dog Nissa has ever seen. However, he may also be the wisest and most well-traveled. Most Blink Dogs live a carefree life, much like the one Nissa once lived when she was younger, and she remembered playing with some of the cutest Blink Dog puppies who were incredibly adorable when she was little...Why was Lupaz depressing then? He kind of reminds her of herself under Ananke's grasp, exuberant innocence transformed to fatalism and acceptance. Nissa doesn't care one whit about the rumours of bad luck to all those who associate with him--she's vowed to cheer Lupaz up no matter what...but is she really doing it for him or out of some kind of selfish desire to help herself by proxy, a doubting voice whispers to her at night.  Nonetheless, it is apparent to her that the way to cheer up Lupaz is not to just be nice to him, since this seems to only serve to annoy him.  Instead, although Nissa remains friendly and kind, she tries to engage him in intellectual conversation about fate, inevitability, and how they can be overcome.  She tries her best not to blow him out of the water if it comes to a debate while at the same time not patronising him.  Of course, he still creeps her out, so she has to struggle not to let this show, as keeping him close for too long makes her feel like she needs to bathe in cool water.





Thanks, but "blow me out of the water"?  I don't see a huge number of ranks in Knowledge (religion) on your character sheet.  I realize that your Int is 7 points over mine, but 14 is plenty enough to hold my own on a topic I'm just a titch obsessed with without you needing to hold yourself back.  Besides, that'll play out as roleplaying, not as an opposed skill check, and I'm pretty sure you won't need to hold back in the game - I am a graduate student in philosophy here, y'know.      I'm sure we can both hit the required level of seriousness here.

Ah well, can't argue with a +24 Diplomacy without being perverse, I guess.  *sigh*


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Oh, needless to say, let me know if you don't like the edits


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Yeah, no worries   It's good to know that, and so I've edited Nissa's reactions above to include the things you wanted now that you told me




I think I underestimated the (entirely understandable) knee-jerk reaction D&D players develop to that annoying guy who tries to be all cool and lonersome.  In retrospect I should've made it clear that I'm aware of the problem and would like a little help making it thematic without having to really give it the hard sell.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Thanks, but "blow me out of the water"?  I don't see a huge number of ranks in Knowledge (religion) on your character sheet.  I realize that your Int is 7 points over mine, but 14 is plenty enough to hold my own on a topic I'm just a titch obsessed with without you needing to hold yourself back.  Besides, that'll play out as roleplaying, not as an opposed skill check, and I'm pretty sure you won't need to hold back in the game - I am a graduate student in philosophy here, y'know.      I'm sure we can both hit the required level of seriousness here.
> 
> Ah well, can't argue with a +24 Diplomacy without being perverse, I guess.  *sigh*



 I don't think religion is the only Knowledge skill that covers Philosophy.  In fact, I would put it under Arcane at least as easily if it isn't religious philosophy.  7 Int is a big difference, though.  It's the difference between average (Int 11) and genius (Int 18) or even between Lupaz's Int (14) and someone who is mildly retarded (7).

However, I do agree that I can't properly RP 21 Int, which is why I added the holding back thing to help a bit, and since you actually know a lot about philosophy, that actually makes it more of the reverse in real life--you'll be holding back to not make it look weird in the opposite direction where Lupaz leaves Nissa looking like a blithering idiot


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Oh, needless to say, let me know if you don't like the edits




Looks much better, except that you imply that Nissa patronizes Lupaz about the predominating theme of his life and character.  That makes both of us cranky, although Lupaz probably couldn't tell unless he gets paranoid and starts cursing you before our conversations.

Heh, that's not a bad idea.  Surreptitiously whack party member with a -13 on Sense Motive and Bluff once or twice just to be sure they're being honest with you, like a superpowerful magical truth serum.  Eh, that's probably too close to PvP to actually do, though it probably fits in with the character.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> I think I underestimated the (entirely understandable) knee-jerk reaction D&D players develop to that annoying guy who tries to be all cool and lonersome.  In retrospect I should've made it clear that I'm aware of the problem and would like a little help making it thematic without having to really give it the hard sell.



 I think you're right, and that's a good idea--of course Hindsight is 20/20, but we still have time before it starts, so let's make something that works


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Looks much better, except that you imply that Nissa patronizes Lupaz about the predominating theme of his life and character.  That makes both of us cranky, although Lupaz probably couldn't tell unless he gets paranoid and starts cursing you before our conversations.
> 
> Heh, that's not a bad idea.  Surreptitiously whack party member with a -13 on Sense Motive and Bluff once or twice just to be sure they're being honest with you, like a superpowerful magical truth serum.  Eh, that's probably too close to PvP to actually do, though it probably fits in with the character.



 I specifically stated that she absolutely does not patronise him about it, adding that clause because I realised it might seem like she was   Basically, she doesn't treat him like a lesser who needs to be coddled, but I tried to explain (obviously poorly ) that what she does instead is use an alternate debating tactic--instead of treating Lupaz as the opponent in a debate to be defeated, in which case she must either use overwhelming tactics (combination of the higher Int and the Diplomacy) or hold back, she treats him as a comrade and ally in a discussion whose purpose is to help both of them understand more--in that sense, Nissa sees herself as the embodiment of a specific principle in a discussion, so she has no need to win or lose the debate, as in the end, everyone wins.  She'll do things like try to argue devil's advocate to see what happens, take an extreme argument and see where it leads, etc


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> I don't think religion is the only Knowledge skill that covers Philosophy.  In fact, I would put it under Arcane at least as easily if it isn't religious philosophy.  7 Int is a big difference, though.  It's the difference between average (Int 11) and genius (Int 18) or even between Lupaz's Int (14) and someone who is mildly retarded (7).
> 
> However, I do agree that I can't properly RP 21 Int, which is why I added the holding back thing to help a bit, and since you actually know a lot about philosophy, that actually makes it more of the reverse in real life--you'll be holding back to not make it look weird in the opposite direction where Lupaz leaves Nissa looking like a blithering idiot




 

I've always followed the division done in D20 Modern and its variants where Knowledge (theology and philosophy) replaces Knowledge (religion) and Knowledge (arcana) stays as its own thing.  If I had enough skill points I'd actually take ranks in Knowledge (religion) for character purposes, but I can't really affored to waste them (2 + on your critical first HD makes things ugly).  So I just kinda assume that Lupaz has a half-dozen phantom ranks in Knowledge (religion) for the purpose of roleplaying discussions about his area of obsessive interest.  I mean, manipulating fate and prophecy is his entire role in life, and his obsession is "fixing" his own fate.  It stands to reason he could hold his own in conversation on these matters with just about anyone not actually known as a sage in this respect.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

> Heh, that's not a bad idea. Surreptitiously whack party member with a -13 on Sense Motive and Bluff once or twice just to be sure they're being honest with you, like a superpowerful magical truth serum. Eh, that's probably too close to PvP to actually do, though it probably fits in with the character.




If we ever make a save, we know you did it, though   Plus I forget, is it a SLA?  If so, it provoke as AoO and is thus noticable at least.


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> I specifically stated that she absolutely does not patronise him about it, adding that clause because I realised it might seem like she was   Basically, she doesn't treat him like a lesser who needs to be coddled, but I tried to explain (obviously poorly ) that what she does instead is use an alternate debating tactic--instead of treating Lupaz as the opponent in a debate to be defeated, in which case she must either use overwhelming tactics (combination of the higher Int and the Diplomacy) or hold back, she treats him as a comrade and ally in a discussion whose purpose is to help both of them understand more--in that sense, Nissa sees herself as the embodiment of a specific principle in a discussion, so she has no need to win or lose the debate, as in the end, everyone wins.  She'll do things like try to argue devil's advocate to see what happens, take an extreme argument and see where it leads, etc




That's okay then, just wanted to make sure you weren't treating my character's overriding RP theme lightly.


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> If we ever make a save, we know you did it, though   Plus I forget, is it a SLA?  If so, it provoke as AoO and is thus noticable at least.




It's a free action supernatural ability.  So it's basically undetectable even if you do make a save, and Spellcraft doesn't identify its source.  If I were doing this (I'm not, but if I were), I'd pick an opportune moment to make the attempt.  Besides, I expect we'll all be feeling "an unknown hostile force" with irritating frequency in the days to come.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

> I've always followed the division done in D20 Modern and its variants where Knowledge (theology and philosophy) replaces Knowledge (religion) and Knowledge (arcana) stays as its own thing. If I had enough skill points I'd actually take ranks in Knowledge (religion) for character purposes, but I can't really affored to waste them (2 + on your critical first HD makes things ugly). So I just kinda assume that Lupaz has a half-dozen phantom ranks in Knowledge (religion) for the purpose of roleplaying discussions about his area of obsessive interest. I mean, manipulating fate and prophecy is his entire role in life, and his obsession is "fixing" his own fate. It stands to reason he could hold his own in conversation on these matters with just about anyone not actually known as a sage in this respect.




Do remember that Nissa was locked alone and tortured for a decade to learn about exactly those topics and become a great prophetess (after spending a bit longer trying to learn about it in a non-torture environment--totalling up to about equal to Lupaz's age in total), taught by a manifestation of Fate and drilled on how it was superior (I figured this would fall under Knowledge: Arcana and be related to her knowledge of divination, though I can see how it can fall under religion as well, but I do think it should be both--great wizard sages think on the metaphysical nature of the world just as deeply as the priests).  So admittedly, while she is by no means a master, she isn't just some smart girl off the street who doesn't know about this stuff.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> It's a free action supernatural ability.  So it's basically undetectable even if you do make a save, and Spellcraft doesn't identify its source.



 Heh, that is undetectable then, but you still know that you made a Will save (although not the source, admittedly)


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Do remember that Nissa was locked alone and tortured for a decade to learn about exactly those topics and become a great prophetess (after spending a bit longer trying to learn about it in a non-torture environment--totalling up to about equal to Lupaz's age in total), taught by a manifestation of Fate and drilled on how it was superior (I figured this would fall under Knowledge: Arcana and be related to her knowledge of divination, though I can see how it can fall under religion as well, but I do think it should be both--great wizard sages think on the metaphysical nature of the world just as deeply as the priests).  So admittedly, while she is by no means a master, she isn't just some smart girl off the street who doesn't know about this stuff.




Like I said, we take/took the skills to mean different things.  I took your training to cover the technical aspects of divination (since you're horrible at them, remember) and took the lack of Knowledge (religion) to mean Ananke kept the metaphysics to herself.


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

And as long as we're playing oneupmanship, I'd like to point out that I've served the weirds obsessively for a decade precisely so I can plumb the very depths of their knowledge on matters of fate and destiny.  My council of weirds beats your one time elemental.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Like I said, we take/took the skills to mean different things.  I took your training to cover the technical aspects of divination (since you're horrible at them, remember) and took the lack of Knowledge (religion) to mean Ananke kept the metaphysics to herself.



 Ah, I get it.  Ananke was in some ways trying to prove something here, involving the superiority of time elementals, so she did indeed drill on the metaphysics, claiming that it was ignorance of those and lack of focus--just casting the happy-go-lucky fey enchantments that came easy to her--that kept Nissa ignorant of divinations.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> And as long as we're playing oneupmanship, I'd like to point out that I've served the weirds obsessively for a decade precisely so I can plumb the very depths of their knowledge on matters of fate and destiny.  My council of weirds beats your one time elemental.



 Please, I'm not trying to do that here.  I hope you do see that I'm trying to help you achieve your original vision here with respect to my character, not go into one-upmanship.  If you can't it's probably my inability to properly express my tone through the internet that is at fault.


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Please, I'm not trying to do that here.  I hope you do see that I'm trying to help you achieve your original vision here with respect to my character, not go into one-upmanship.  If you can't it's probably my inability to properly express my tone through the internet that is at fault.




Heh, it was meant as a joke.  And we've already traded like a half-dozen posts regarding whether or not Nissa would have to be careful not to, quote, "blow me out of the water," end quote, so we were already kinda doing it.

And _nobody_ can properly express tone through the internet.  Better people than us have tried and failed.   It's downright axiomatic.  You could found a system on this fact.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Heh, it was meant as a joke.  And we've already traded like a half-dozen posts regarding whether or not Nissa would have to be careful not to, quote, "blow me out of the water," end quote, so we were already kinda doing it.
> 
> And _nobody_ can properly express tone through the internet.  Better people than us have tried and failed.



 Okay, good   I wasn't sure if it was a joke (for the record, I was going to add a joke about Nissa's mother being a weird but left it out just in case because I didn't want the joke to read wrong ).  But yeah, I think we can get something fun working up here.  And I get where you're coming from when you talk about those posts, but I guess I don't consider it oneupmanship really to claim that the Int/Cha-based character with high knowledge Arcana and incredible Diplomacy could win a debate on something in Arcana if she was trying hard--it's like saying the barbarian would beat the sorcerer in arm-wrestling or the bard will beat the cleric at playing music (though funny story there--in Shackled City, our Cleric and Illusionist managed to team up and beat the Bard challenge at the festival on performance because the Cleric had incredible Charisma and cross-class ranks in Perform  ).  If you thought I was trying to one-up you out of game, I apologise as that was not my intention


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Okay, good   I wasn't sure if it was a joke (for the record, I was going to add a joke about Nissa's mother being a weird but left it out just in case because I didn't want the joke to read wrong ).  But yeah, I think we can get something fun working up here.  And I get where you're coming from when you talk about those posts, but I guess I don't consider it oneupmanship really to claim that the Int/Cha-based character with high knowledge Arcana and incredible Diplomacy could win a debate on something in Arcana if she was trying hard--it's like saying the barbarian would beat the sorcerer in arm-wrestling or the bard will beat the cleric at playing music (though funny story there--in Shackled City, our Cleric and Illusionist managed to team up and beat the Bard challenge at the festival on performance because the Cleric had incredible Charisma and cross-class ranks in Perform  ).  If you thought I was trying to one-up you out of game, I apologise as that was not my intention




It was mostly the way you phrased it.  I realize Nissa's a better debater than Lupaz, but the way you phrased it made me think you thought she also knew a whole lot more about this particular sub-sub-Knowledge skill than Lupaz, which isn't the case, at least not in an RP sense.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> It was mostly the way you phrased it.  I realize Nissa's a better debater than Lupaz, but the way you phrased it made me think you thought she also knew a whole lot more about this particular sub-sub-Knowledge skill than Lupaz, which isn't the case, at least not in an RP sense.



 Ah, nah.  I get it now--I can see how you could have read that into the wording.  Although she does have at the least a very similar sub-knowledge as something of a focus.  The main deal was the combination of higher Int (so that even if she knew less she might have more intellectual agility to move with a debate) and whacko Diplomacy (so she's got all kinds of debating skills).  That's what I meant--she's applying that Int and those skills to making the conversation more interesting, rather than to winning, since destroying him in a debate setting again and again isn't going to help at all compared to having a good discussion


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Oh, I should mention - I plan to change my "reactions shots" once I see if anyone else would like me to.  Just not yet.


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## Bront (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> And it's not very helpful when I post a fatalistic, terribly intimidating loner who's looking to get in with a group out of loyalty to the crown and uncertainty about the future and two people immediately give me a cutesy nickname and two others see me as a good psychological counseling opportunity.  You guys aren't giving me much opportunity to be anything but loner-y.
> 
> I was hoping for some mutual respect situations, or someone to have impassioned arguments regarding fate with, or someone who finds me creepy that I have a reason to try to get to know, or something.  Even someone I could see as a proper superior or as a flat-out threat would be pretty cool.  But I guess everyone decided to go another way with it, so I kinda played along.



Actualy, Ekilu might try that fate debate at some point, but he does respect your opinion and actualy wonders if you may have answers to his questions about fate, even if he is doubtful about their validity.  And Ekilu's nicknames aren't cutesy, but functional.  He calls a blacksmith "Blacksmith" or "Smith".  He calls the Captain "Captain" more often than anything else, etc.

I got my reaction to him based off of what you wrote in the personality, which struck me as someone who is a doom-sayer.  If I got the wrong impression off of that, then it would significantly change Ekilu's reaction to you.

That also may be why you got pegged as a loner.


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## D20Dazza (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> And it's not very helpful when I post a fatalistic, terribly intimidating loner who's looking to get in with a group out of loyalty to the crown and uncertainty about the future and two people immediately give me a cutesy nickname and two others see me as a good psychological counseling opportunity.  You guys aren't giving me much opportunity to be anything but loner-y.



 Lucky may be cutesy (and remember that was after you killed the Loopy option ) but Tempest in no way uses it in a cutesy manner.  He finds Lupaz's fatalism amusing and so adopted the name not to be cute but to lighten the mood around Lupaz "I am Lupaz the hound of DOOM" "Ahh don't worrry about Lucky, he ate something not quite right for breakfast this morning. Normally he's such a happy-go-lucky chap"


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## Voidrazor (Sep 11, 2006)

Well Oobobooboo can crush both Nissa and Lupaz in debate on the subject of fate. Sure, its "mildly retarded" and has no knowledge skills. But Oob's weeks of experience in all matters philosophical and flexible, oozy perspective give it an undeniable edge   

But seriously, I love the part in Lupaz's opinions about having a bad feeling about Oob's items. An imbecile with an alien chainsaw powered by pure chaos, oh whatever could go wrong?


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 11, 2006)

Bront, Ekilu's item: [sblock]Your shield, Spirit's Shell, was further enhanced by a water genasi priest in Taala's service.  Now the sturdy little clam can open up and bite arrows and other projectiles, snapping them out of the air before they can even hit you.  Mechanically the shield is now a _+3 arrow deflecting_ sheild.  About once a month, the shell opens of its own violition, revealing an arrow seemingly made of mother of pearl.  You find it to be particularly effective against monsters of the spirit type.[/sblock]


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

> Well Oobobooboo can crush both Nissa and Lupaz in debate on the subject of fate. Sure, its "mildly retarded" and has no knowledge skills. But Oob's weeks of experience in all matters philosophical and flexible, oozy perspective give it an undeniable edge




What about the No Book Learning flaw    Seriously, though, assuming you are parodying Kel's "my sheet may not say it but I'm actually an expert in this" position, I do see your point, but I can also see the other side--for instance, Nissa is a fey, so even though she doesn't have Knowledge (Nature), I imagined her having information about fey (and elementals like her mother) in her Knowledge (Nobility) and Knowledge (Local) skill categories, and she probably wouldn't know as much about humanoid nobles or locals.  However, according to a strict reading of the knowledge skill descriptions, she wouldn't even know what a nereid is (even though she is one).  In that sense, trying to nebulously decide on knowledge based on concept and the character's nature, while a slippery slope (which your example represents perfectly I think), seems a worthy cause.


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> What about the No Book Learning flaw    Seriously, though, assuming you are parodying Kel's "my sheet may not say it but I'm actually an expert in this" position, I do see your point, but I can also see the other side--for instance, Nissa is a fey, so even though she doesn't have Knowledge (Nature), I imagined her having information about fey (and elementals like her mother) in her Knowledge (Nobility) and Knowledge (Local) skill categories, and she probably wouldn't know as much about humanoid nobles or locals.  However, according to a strict reading of the knowledge skill descriptions, she wouldn't even know what a nereid is (even though she is one).  In that sense, trying to nebulously decide on knowledge based on concept and the character's nature, while a slippery slope (which your example represents perfectly I think), seems a worthy cause.




My rule of thumb is that if I wouldn't have to ask the DM about it and it's up the character's alley, I can call it "common knowledge" for that character.  A little metagamey, but since many or even most characters have *no* formal knowledge skills, kinda necessary.  In this case, I don't intend to ever ask Isida for a Knowledge (religion) check to get some obscure sect's views on fate if we find a mosaic alluding to it and the hint my help us bypass a trap or something, but I feel free to make up obscure sects and their views on fate if it won't have any material influence on the plot of the game to do so, much as I made up a city and assumed it's possible under Isida's metaphysics to have a congenitally twisted fate for background purposes.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> My rule of thumb is that if I wouldn't have to ask the DM about it and it's up the character's alley, I can call it "common knowledge" for that character.  A little metagamey, but since many or even most characters have *no* formal knowledge skills, kinda necessary.  In this case, I don't intend to ever ask Isida for a Knowledge (religion) check to get some obscure sect's views on fate if we find a mosaic alluding to it and the hint my help us bypass a trap or something, but I feel free to make up obscure sects and their views on fate if it won't have any material influence on the plot of the game to do so, much as I made up a city and assumed it's possible under Isida's metaphysics to have a congenitally twisted fate for background purposes.



 Yup, I getcha--it adds to the discussion In Character to do so.  I think Voidrazor's point in showing the absurd extremes of the argument is that you shouldn't allow that added metagamey flavour knowledge to influence whether or not the character is able to know more about the topic than another character who has the skill and/or higher Int (any more than you would have the orc barbarian with no Disable Device but who wrote in his background 'my barbarian likes disabling devices and knows how, even though he can't actually do it' piping up to the rogue about checking for pressure plates and thinking about leaving counterweights to foil a trap, or the further absurd argument that the ooze with 6 Int and no Knowledge skills and a flaw to take penalties to Knowledge skills is, when roleplaying and not asking for info from the GM, the genius master of all knowledge  ).  I can see both sides here--it's definitely an interesting area for discussion.


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> I got my reaction to him based off of what you wrote in the personality, which struck me as someone who is a doom-sayer.  If I got the wrong impression off of that, then it would significantly change Ekilu's reaction to you.
> 
> That also may be why you got pegged as a loner.




Not a doomsayer, just someone who never looks surprised when something terrible happens.  I'm a fatalist, not a prophet.  And I didn't realize you were following standard darfellan practice with the naming conventions.  Still, "Hound" is terribly unspecific, kinda like nicknaming someone "You There."  How about "Courser," for a type of hunting dog, or "Corsair" if you want to be nautically themed, for the swift pirate vessel.  Or even "Harrier," a name for a pack-hunting dog and a reference to my disinclination to kill people off by myself (while tracking and harrying them with the best of them, of course).



			
				D20Dazza said:
			
		

> Lucky may be cutesy (and remember that was after you killed the Loopy option ) but Tempest in no way uses it in a cutesy manner. He finds Lupaz's fatalism amusing and so adopted the name not to be cute but to lighten the mood around Lupaz "I am Lupaz the hound of DOOM" "Ahh don't worrry about Lucky, he ate something not quite right for breakfast this morning. Normally he's such a happy-go-lucky chap"




Oh trust me, Lucky is an improvement.  I just couldn't tell if you were giving him that nickname to alleviate nervousness or simply because you give everyone cute nicknames.  And since you do in fact give everyone cute nicknames, it kinda stood out.

And remember that the "I am Lupaz the hound of DOOM" thing is kinda my schtick.  I have items, feats, skill points, spells, ability scores, and an RP reputation all devoted to being intimidating.  I'm about as good at it as any 8th-level character can be.  If you start breaking the mood when I'm rolling Intimidate checks and giving me circumstance penalties on my roll, Tempest and Lupaz are going to have words, if you know what I mean.    



			
				Voidrazor said:
			
		

> But seriously, I love the part in Lupaz's opinions about having a bad feeling about Oob's items. An imbecile with an alien chainsaw powered by pure chaos, oh whatever could go wrong?




Good God, it sounds even worse when you put it that way.

But yeah, I was kinda wondering why nobody else was bothered by the fact that you're using blasphemous magic from beyond the veil for both your armor and weapons.  Particularly the super-genius nereid who apparently knows everything under the arcana heading.  Is there something she's not telling us?


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## Voidrazor (Sep 11, 2006)

Well not exactly parody as no mockery was intented. OK, maybe I was poking a bit of fun at the 'my character can beat your character' tone the conversation had early on. But I realize that its probably good to hash this stuff out now OOC, so that IC play doesn't get warped by misunderstanding between players.


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## Kelleris (Sep 11, 2006)

Bront - I should mention, sometimes Lupaz *is* a doomsayer, but it's just for dramatic effect, part of Intimidate and Daunting Presence use rather than a regular part of his character.


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## Bront (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Not a doomsayer, just someone who never looks surprised when something terrible happens.  I'm a fatalist, not a prophet.  And I didn't realize you were following standard darfellan practice with the naming conventions.  Still, "Hound" is terribly unspecific, kinda like nicknaming someone "You There."  How about "Courser," for a type of hunting dog, or "Corsair" if you want to be nautically themed, for the swift pirate vessel.  Or even "Harrier," a name for a pack-hunting dog and a reference to my disinclination to kill people off by myself (while tracking and harrying them with the best of them, of course).



 Smith is also teribly unspecific.  If I had a better idea of what "job" you did (Curser doesn't sound good either), he'd probably come up with another one.  I'm open for ideas.  But don't take 'Hound' as insulting.

The Darfellan are Native Americanish, so in many ways, it's like 'White Man'


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## Bront (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Bront - I should mention, sometimes Lupaz *is* a doomsayer, but it's just for dramatic effect, part of Intimidate and Daunting Presence use rather than a regular part of his character.



I have an odd view of Doomsayers, mostly from having played one based off of a character in a game (Doomsday from Wing Commander) who's most positive thing he ever said was "Maybe we won't all die after all".   

Trust me, much of this is based off of first impressions, so what happens once we get into game may be a bit different.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> But yeah, I was kinda wondering why nobody else was bothered by the fact that you're using blasphemous magic from beyond the veil for both your armor and weapons. Particularly the super-genius nereid who apparently knows everything under the arcana heading. Is there something she's not telling us?




I didn't know what it is out of character, so I didn't think to ask   Plus Nissa isn't maxed out in Kn:Arc, though she does have enough of a bonus to automatically know anything that is common knowledge.



			
				Kelleris said:
			
		

> And remember that the "I am Lupaz the hound of DOOM" thing is kinda my schtick. I have items, feats, skill points, spells, ability scores, and an RP reputation all devoted to being intimidating. I'm about as good at it as any 8th-level character can be.




Yup--I'm glad I didn't put skill points into Intimidate, as I feel safe that Lupaz will do that for us   If I had done so (and Nissa had thus wound up with +20 Intimidate), I would have removed them anyway to make sure Lupaz could do his thing without trouble.



			
				Kelleris said:
			
		

> Still, "Hound" is terribly unspecific, kinda like nicknaming someone "You There."




While that's true, at least "Hound" is still accurate if unspecific--it's better than"Empath" for Nissa.  Now, I have several characters in PbP games who deserve the name Empath, but Nissa is definitely not one of them


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## Voidrazor (Sep 11, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Good God, it sounds even worse when you put it that way.
> 
> But yeah, I was kinda wondering why nobody else was bothered by the fact that you're using blasphemous magic from beyond the veil for both your armor and weapons.  Particularly the super-genius nereid who apparently knows everything under the arcana heading.  Is there something she's not telling us?




Its probably due to the fact that I didn't get the item descriptions up until after most everyone completed their opinions. Although even with Nissa's arcane knowledge, there's a good chance she wouldn't know about chaositech. the stuff is from another plane, is not considered magic as such, and probably hasn't been seen in Endless Falls before.


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## Voidrazor (Sep 11, 2006)

Maybe Jinx as a nickname for Lupaz? Its not nice, but it is both accurate and specific.


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## Kelleris (Sep 12, 2006)

I thought I had pretty good suggestions for an occupational name.  I basically hunt people down in one of a variety of ways and harry them with curses, spells, and skills until they do themselves in.  A sort of manipulator, though of fate, not people.



			
				Voidrazor said:
			
		

> Its probably due to the fact that I didn't get the item descriptions up until after most everyone completed their opinions. Although even with Nissa's arcane knowledge, there's a good chance she wouldn't know about chaositech. the stuff is from another plane, is not considered magic as such, and probably hasn't been seen in Endless Falls before.




Huh, I was under the impression that chaositech was pretty obviously eeevil.  And certainly a routine _detect magic_ would set off alarm bells.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 12, 2006)

Technically... no.  Chaositech items don't radiate magic.  At all.  And while they're not _intrinsically_ evil, the goal of the Lords of Chaos is the distruction of all.  

Anyway, as Voidrazor said, his chaositech stuff is from another plane, and it's brand-spankin'-new in the Endless Falls.  No one has seen it before, ever.  No one native to the Endless Falls, and I believe that's everyone save Ooboobooboo, has ever seen anything like it before.  

On a different note, how close are people to being done with their characters?  Are there any further questions I need to answer that I may have overlooked?  I think we can start on Thursday or Friday, if everyone has their characters squared away.


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## Shayuri (Sep 12, 2006)

I feel pretty good about Trebuchet. As long as there's no bald patches that need shining where others are concerned (ie - if anyone has questions/issues, now's the time ), I think he's ready to go.


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## Kelleris (Sep 12, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Technically... no.  Chaositech items don't radiate magic.  At all.  And while they're not _intrinsically_ evil, the goal of the Lords of Chaos is the distruction of all.
> 
> Anyway, as Voidrazor said, his chaositech stuff is from another plane, and it's brand-spankin'-new in the Endless Falls.  No one has seen it before, ever.  No one native to the Endless Falls, and I believe that's everyone save Ooboobooboo, has ever seen anything like it before.
> 
> On a different note, how close are people to being done with their characters?  Are there any further questions I need to answer that I may have overlooked?  I think we can start on Thursday or Friday, if everyone has their characters squared away.




Huh, didn't know that (don't own the book).  That's too bad, I rather liked the tension of having a basically innocent character using alarmingly non-innocent items.  And I guess Oobobooboo isn't smart enough to accidentally-on-purpose spill the beans about the items.  Actually, he wasn't even conscious yet when the items were created and dumped from Tenochtitlan, along with Oobobooboo himself.  Oh well.


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## Bront (Sep 12, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> On a different note, how close are people to being done with their characters?  Are there any further questions I need to answer that I may have overlooked?  I think we can start on Thursday or Friday, if everyone has their characters squared away.



If I get an item from you, then I'm not finished, otherwise I am 

I still haven't seen a better name than hound.  It's job title specific though, and that's a hard one to spot for many of you.

And I think you're seeing more conotations into Empath than I'm talking about RA.  An Empath is simply someone good at knowing another's feelings/emotions and comunicating.  If you can think of a better I'd consider it, but Empath seems about right, particularly for a beguiler.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 12, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> If I get an item from you, then I'm not finished, otherwise I am
> 
> I still haven't seen a better name than hound.  It's job title specific though, and that's a hard one to spot for many of you.
> 
> And I think you're seeing more conotations into Empath than I'm talking about RA.  An Empath is simply someone good at knowing another's feelings/emotions and comunicating.  If you can think of a better I'd consider it, but Empath seems about right, particularly for a beguiler.



 Bront--check the first post on this page for your item, whatever it may be 

For Nissa, Diplomat might work or Negotiator (her Diplomacy is almost three times as high as Sense Motive).  If he calls her Seer or Prophetess, it will make her ridiculously happy, but it isn't really all too accurate.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 12, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Technically... no.  Chaositech items don't radiate magic.  At all.  And while they're not _intrinsically_ evil, the goal of the Lords of Chaos is the distruction of all.
> 
> Anyway, as Voidrazor said, his chaositech stuff is from another plane, and it's brand-spankin'-new in the Endless Falls.  No one has seen it before, ever.  No one native to the Endless Falls, and I believe that's everyone save Ooboobooboo, has ever seen anything like it before.
> 
> On a different note, how close are people to being done with their characters?  Are there any further questions I need to answer that I may have overlooked?  I think we can start on Thursday or Friday, if everyone has their characters squared away.



 I'm good to go whenever   As to the items--yup, I figured they were really alien and unknown to Nissa as well in my initial reaction, though I don't have the book.


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## Kelleris (Sep 12, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> If I get an item from you, then I'm not finished, otherwise I am
> 
> I still haven't seen a better name than hound.  It's job title specific though, and that's a hard one to spot for many of you.
> 
> And I think you're seeing more conotations into Empath than I'm talking about RA.  An Empath is simply someone good at knowing another's feelings/emotions and comunicating.  If you can think of a better I'd consider it, but Empath seems about right, particularly for a beguiler.




Use Courser, then.  That's Courser, not Curser, I spelled it correctly in the earlier post (it looked like you misread it).  It's a name for a dog that hunts by sight, so at least it's a "job title."  A Hound is a type of breed as much as it is a canine occupation, and Courser is more specific.  And sounds cooler.  I still think Harrier probably fits the best, though, and it's actually used for hunting dogs as well (and is, again, a specific "job title" and not a breed).  Heck, just plain "Hunter" would work, since it is basically what I do - hunt people down and bring them bad luck.


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## Erekose13 (Sep 12, 2006)

I think I'm good. Might change what I think of some of the others (and include Bront's character) but other than that my character is golden.

Oh wait, no I wanted to ask about a feat from BoEM = Battle Touch. Touch spells last an entire round.  Generally I think it's a pretty broken feat, but Vaukriel has only two attacks + 1 AoO per round so its I'd not be looking to abuse it.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 12, 2006)

Erekose13 said:
			
		

> I think I'm good. Might change what I think of some of the others (and include Bront's character) but other than that my character is golden.
> 
> Oh wait, no I wanted to ask about a feat from BoEM = Battle Touch. Touch spells last an entire round.  Generally I think it's a pretty broken feat, but Vaukriel has only two attacks + 1 AoO per round so its I'd not be looking to abuse it.



 Oh yeah, that one is crazy broken--you could probably just wait for the Duskblade ability of a similar ilk that shows up at like level 13.


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## Kelleris (Sep 12, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Oh yeah, that one is crazy broken--you could probably just wait for the Duskblade ability of a similar ilk that shows up at like level 13.




Eh, it probably would be at higher level, but with a character who has only 2 attacks/round and no spells that are hugely better than his melee attack, I don't see the problem.  Looks fine to me for this game.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 12, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Eh, it probably would be at higher level, but with a character who has only 2 attacks/round and no spells that are hugely better than his melee attack, I don't see the problem.  Looks fine to me for this game.



 Oh, it's true that in this situation it isn't too bad.  But it's a scary scary feat in general


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## Bront (Sep 12, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Bront--check the first post on this page for your item, whatever it may be
> 
> For Nissa, Diplomat might work or Negotiator (her Diplomacy is almost three times as high as Sense Motive).  If he calls her Seer or Prophetess, it will make her ridiculously happy, but it isn't really all too accurate.



Doh!

How about "Hoax" or "Sham"? 

Diplomat might work.  Or Princess if he knows her background.


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## Bront (Sep 12, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Bront, Ekilu's item: [sblock]Your shield, Spirit's Shell, was further enhanced by a water genasi priest in Taala's service.  Now the sturdy little clam can open up and bite arrows and other projectiles, snapping them out of the air before they can even hit you.  Mechanically the shield is now a _+3 arrow deflecting_ sheild.  About once a month, the shell opens of its own violition, revealing an arrow seemingly made of mother of pearl.  You find it to be particularly effective against monsters of the spirit type.[/sblock]



[sblock=Isida]I take it its still animated?

Do I start with more than 1 such arrow? (I assume I probably have at least 1)[/sblock]


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 12, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Doh!
> 
> How about "Hoax" or "Sham"?
> 
> Diplomat might work.  Or Princess if he knows her background.



 Hoax?  Sham?   She'll have told him about her fey father, although not mentioned Clymene because she promised Proteus not to, so that would be enough probably.


----------



## Bront (Sep 12, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Hoax?  Sham?   She'll have told him about her fey father, although not mentioned Clymene because she promised Proteus not to, so that would be enough probably.



He'll probably use both then.

Watery Tart is an option though


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 12, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> He'll probably use both then.
> 
> Watery Tart is an option though



 I think I'm going to have to lob a scimitar at you 

Just for my reference, you hold your breath but don't breath water, right?  So if your lungs filled with water, it would be fatal?


----------



## Bront (Sep 12, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> I think I'm going to have to lob a scimitar at you
> 
> Just for my reference, you hold your breath but don't breath water, right?  So if your lungs filled with water, it would be fatal?



After 10 minutes, yes.

I figure he's likely to hold his breath durring combat so he doesn't have to breath anything ugly, only breathing to talk.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 12, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> After 10 minutes, yes.
> 
> I figure he's likely to hold his breath durring combat so he doesn't have to breath anything ugly, only breathing to talk.



 Holding your breath doesn't help if your lungs are actually filled with water


----------



## Bront (Sep 12, 2006)

Does this mean you can kill someone with a helm of underwater action?


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 12, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Does this mean you can kill someone with a helm of underwater action?



 Anyone who doesn't have water breathing--as Kelleris discovered (it wasn't what I had originally thought), it takes you past holding your breath and straight to drowning.  If you fail the Fort save (and Ekilu would make it almost all the time), you go unconscious at the end of your next turn.  Then the round after that you go to -1.  And finally, you die.


----------



## Erekose13 (Sep 12, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Oh, it's true that in this situation it isn't too bad.  But it's a scary scary feat in general




Yeah I know its generally a silly scary feat. (part of my anthropomorphic giant squid cleric w/ slay living & greater cleave combo).  I thought I'd ask because in this case it is only generally one extra attack with the touch attack if that.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 12, 2006)

Erekose13 said:
			
		

> Yeah I know its generally a silly scary feat. (part of my anthropomorphic giant squid cleric w/ slay living & greater cleave combo).  I thought I'd ask because in this case it is only generally one extra attack with the touch attack if that.



 Or perhaps Hecatoncheires for 100 Slay Livings


----------



## Voidrazor (Sep 12, 2006)

Isida - I'm ready to go if the custom stuff (the race itself and a couple of feats) is OK. I don't think I ever heard back about that.




			
				Kelleris said:
			
		

> Huh, didn't know that (don't own the book).  That's too bad, I rather liked the tension of having a basically innocent character using alarmingly non-innocent items.  And I guess Oobobooboo isn't smart enough to accidentally-on-purpose spill the beans about the items.  Actually, he wasn't even conscious yet when the items were created and dumped from Tenochtitlan, along with Oobobooboo himself.  Oh well.




Being within 5' of a chaositech item for an extended period can cause mutation and an alignment slide towards CN. So I think the chain blade would qualify as 'alarmingly non-innocent'. Specifying that Lupaz has a bad feeling about it could lead to some interesting roleplay. The armor is actually harmless, but it certainly looks kinda alien and evil.


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 12, 2006)

Erekose, the Battle Touch feat is fine.  The _effects_ of the spell don't last the round, but you can discharge the spell on more than one person in that single round, provided you have more than one attack in a round and that you hit.  The feat itself provides its own limitation; those with really powerful touch attack spells have bad attack bonuses, and those with good attack bonuses have weak touch attack spells.  It makes it most useful for half-and-half caster/fighters, but even then the nature of their class limits their own power neatly.  So... not crazy broken.  It only gets broken when you start mixing it with too many other sources.



			
				Bront said:
			
		

> [sblock=Isida]I take it its still animated?
> 
> Do I start with more than 1 such arrow? (I assume I probably have at least 1)[/sblock]



  Yup yup, still has all previous qualities, sorry I missed that first time around.  And yes, you start out with one.

Voidrazor, Ooboobooboo looks fine.

Kelleris - In regards to an earlier question, I'll let you try to curse someone once each day with each of your different curses, but once they're affected with one curse (no matter which one sticks) they can't be affected by any others.


----------



## D20Dazza (Sep 12, 2006)

Voidrazor said:
			
		

> Its probably due to the fact that I didn't get the item descriptions up until after most everyone completed their opinions. Although even with Nissa's arcane knowledge, there's a good chance she wouldn't know about chaositech. the stuff is from another plane, is not considered magic as such, and probably hasn't been seen in Endless Falls before.



That was certainly the case for me and, as I type this, I still haven't had a look so once I do I may very well adjust my draft.


----------



## D20Dazza (Sep 12, 2006)

Voidrazor said:
			
		

> Maybe Jinx as a nickname for Lupaz? Its not nice, but it is both accurate and specific.



Anything but that, I've go a rapper mate who calls himself Jinx, I'll never be able to look at Lupaz straight again.


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 13, 2006)

Just keep your humor behind the screen Dazza.


----------



## Erekose13 (Sep 13, 2006)

Excellent, I am going to drop the skill one and go with this.  I can see where you are coming from, but when you add in other supplements it gets quite easy to break.  The monk in my f2f game could make use of it (even if he only had one spell to cast) as he gets 5+ attacks per round.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 13, 2006)

Erekose13 said:
			
		

> Excellent, I am going to drop the skill one and go with this.  I can see where you are coming from, but when you add in other supplements it gets quite easy to break.  The monk in my f2f game could make use of it (even if he only had one spell to cast) as he gets 5+ attacks per round.



 It's pretty broken with just the PH, DMG, and that feat, no other supplements*--however, it's true that Vaukriel is nowhere near the build that breaks it, since he's not even full Duskblade, which itself isn't a full caster and doesn't have any crazily broken touch spells (because they know you get a full attack of them at level 13 from the class features) so it shouldn't hurt this game at all 

*Fighter1/Wizard5/EldritchKnight10 has three attacks (four with Haste) to peg a 7th-level spell on the enemy, such as Slay Living..  By level 20, that can be four attacks (five with Haste) with 8th-level spells (Otto's Irresistible Dance is pretty crazy with that many of them, for instance) or three attacks with +15/+10/+5 and 9th-level spells.


----------



## Bront (Sep 13, 2006)

Does everyone else have what they think of who posted?

I'm just curious what everyone thinks of Ekilu 

And in a few cases, Fee (that's a bit more optional)


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 13, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Does everyone else have what they think of who posted?
> 
> I'm just curious what everyone thinks of Ekilu
> 
> And in a few cases, Fee (that's a bit more optional)



 I got my thing with Ekilu posted 

Oh, Isida, I did think of a question for you, though I don't need to know this until we start playing--would you like to RP Miera?  If not, I can do it too, or we could do a more composite thing where both of us have her say things, or something.


----------



## Bront (Sep 13, 2006)

Got yours and Lupaz's RA 

I like the combo thing, which works for most familiars and animal companions, but an intellegent item may be a bit different.  Of course, I have no say in this


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 13, 2006)

We can do both Rystil.  There may be some occasional comments I may need to throw your way.

Also, I believe someone asked this earlier, your isle-ship is not named.  Captain Merri will insist you properly name her the second you all get some breathing room.


----------



## Bront (Sep 13, 2006)

That was me 

Cool.  How does "Target" sound to everyone?


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 13, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> That was me
> 
> Cool.  How does "Target" sound to everyone?



 Not nice sounding !  I think 'Destiny' might be a good name.  Nissa might come up with something more esoteric


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 13, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> We can do both Rystil.  There may be some occasional comments I may need to throw your way.
> 
> Also, I believe someone asked this earlier, your isle-ship is not named.  Captain Merri will insist you properly name her the second you all get some breathing room.



 Okey dokey.  I figure probably the same for Anemone too--he isn't an animal companion or anything, just a friend, and she doesn't really bring him into battle.


----------



## D20Dazza (Sep 13, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Does everyone else have what they think of who posted?
> 
> I'm just curious what everyone thinks of Ekilu
> 
> And in a few cases, Fee (that's a bit more optional)



I'm yet to add anything else on Fee and haven't done Eky at all. Really, really busy at work (and the damn wife wants me to share the PC with her at home ) so for the next couple of days I might be a bit slow with the posts.


----------



## Erekose13 (Sep 13, 2006)

I'll have to read Ekilu's background and will post reactions up later today.  For the ship how about Moira or Kismet. Both mean fate or destiny without using that word specifically.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 13, 2006)

Erekose13 said:
			
		

> I'll have to read Ekilu's background and will post reactions up later today.  For the ship how about Moira or Kismet. Both mean fate or destiny without using that word specifically.



 Heh.  Moira was one of the names I almost used for Ananke, actually, and it is more of fate than destiny.  Ancient Greek for Destiny is Aisa, rather than Moira.

Lachesis is also a cool name (it means disposer of lots), and Atropos sounds cool, but since it means "cannot be altered", Nissa would be against that name.  Themis means Divine Law, Oracle, or Decree, which is kind of cool too.


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 13, 2006)

Wyrd?

Or any of the innumerable puns made therof?


----------



## Kelleris (Sep 13, 2006)

Isida - I should be ready tomorrow if you want to start then.  I'm still trying to decide on one last feat, and I need to write up my equipment sources, but I can finish that by tomorrow evening without too much trouble, I think.


----------



## Bront (Sep 14, 2006)

D20Dazza said:
			
		

> I'm yet to add anything else on Fee and haven't done Eky at all. Really, really busy at work (and the damn wife wants me to share the PC with her at home ) so for the next couple of days I might be a bit slow with the posts.



[Cartman]You got to tell her, "Woman, I work all day, so go out and make me a sandwich!"[/cartman]

Note: Bront is not responsable for what happens if you actualy do that.


----------



## Bront (Sep 14, 2006)

I'm fairly open to the name, though I kind of like Tempesta del Destino


----------



## D20Dazza (Sep 14, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> [Cartman]You got to tell her, "Woman, I work all day, so go out and make me a sandwich!"[/cartman]
> 
> Note: Bront is not responsable for what happens if you actualy do that.



So does she, and more than deserves her little bit of leisure time - but a sandwhich...hmmmm.....


----------



## Kelleris (Sep 15, 2006)

Uhm, I'm ready to go.  Did I miss anything?  Is anyone out there?


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 15, 2006)

IC thread is up! http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3064712#post3064712


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> IC thread is up! http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?p=3064712#post3064712



 Hurray!


----------



## Bront (Sep 15, 2006)

FYI, Ekilu's Allignment should be LG with CN tendancies.  I must have missed it.


----------



## Bront (Sep 15, 2006)

RA, according to you, what would Aquan of Storm of Fate be?  Ekilu speeks Aquan, so he'd know and would suggest it.


----------



## D20Dazza (Sep 15, 2006)

Add "Taala's" to the front of that (Storm of Fate) and Tempest would be happy, although he'd prefer it in Auran rather than Aquan.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> RA, according to you, what would Aquan of Storm of Fate be?  Ekilu speeks Aquan, so he'd know and would suggest it.



 Aquan is the best!  I'd say Aella Aisa (Storm of Destiny, with a positive connotation) or Aella Moira (Storm of Fate, with a negative connotation) would be good.


----------



## Bront (Sep 15, 2006)

It's our ship though, as it was gifted to us.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> It's our ship though, as it was gifted to us.



 Indeed.  It is a free-spirited destiny, and we hold our destiny in our own hands now.  It does not belong to anyone anymore, not Taala, and not Ananke.  This is Nissa's opinion, at least.


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 15, 2006)

Hey Voidrazor, I realized I never got back to you on a question you asked a while ago, about what odd location you wanted to detail out.  By all means, do Technochitlan, it sounds cool.


----------



## Voidrazor (Sep 15, 2006)

Isida - OK, I'll get that together for you.

Everyone - I kind of like Taala's Mercy or just Mercy for short, after a saying in the KoK, "Taala is a merciful ruler, but his mercy is tempered with steel."


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Voidrazor said:
			
		

> Isida - OK, I'll get that together for you.
> 
> Everyone - I kind of like Taala's Mercy or just Mercy for short, after a saying in the KoK, "Taala is a merciful ruler, but his mercy is tempered with steel."



 How about Eleus or Elea?  It means Mercy.


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 15, 2006)

How about going for the literal?

Taala's Gift.

Then we can let everyone ELSE figure out just what that means. 

It has a vaguely positive connotation, but isn't specifying just what the gift is. To some it could be mercy. To others, justice. To us...the ship itself.

Et cetera.


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 15, 2006)

Just a quick little aside for the rest of you about the regalia.  You have all four pieces: the crown of fire, orb of water, staff of earth, and cloak of winds.  They can be _handled_ by anyone, can only be _worn_ by someone with elemental blood, and can only by _weilded_ by an elemental.  So a water genasi might be able to wear them, but if they tried to use them they'd be blasted.  Just FYI.


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 15, 2006)

That's what elemental summonings are for.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> That's what elemental summonings are for.



 I can summon a Water Elemental once per day--she can become our new queen  

Wow, if she can use the Orb of Water, my crappy little Medium Water Elemental just got much more useful


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> How about going for the literal?
> 
> Taala's Gift.
> 
> ...



 See, but I think we want to figure out the connotation for ourselves, as it seems that the ship is alive and is going to gain some sort of actual sentience or personality from this--thus, if we name it something generic, it may be apathetic and listless.  However, we don't want to name it something like Nightshade or Demonsblood either and have it turn evil on us


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 15, 2006)

Yeah, but a lot of elementals are as smart as your average village idiot.  "Dur, ok, I wear the crown.  Now what?"

Besides, if a water elemental wears the fire crown they poof into a nice cloud of steam.  The regalia could individually be worn by different kinds of elementals, but only an omnielemental, tempest, or a quartet of the classic elementals could get the full powers out of them.  Including commanding the loyalty of the weirds.

Now, it might be possible to _change_ the regalia, but you'd need some mighty powerful magic indeed.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Yeah, but a lot of elementals are as smart as your average village idiot.  "Dur, ok, I wear the crown.  Now what?"
> 
> Besides, if a water elemental wears the fire crown they poof into a nice cloud of steam.  The regalia could individually be worn by different kinds of elementals, but only an omnielemental, tempest, or a quartet of the classic elementals could get the full powers out of them.  Including commanding the loyalty of the weirds.
> 
> Now, it might be possible to _change_ the regalia, but you'd need some mighty powerful magic indeed.



 Awwww, don't be mean to Hyralla.  She has the Intelligence of four men (who all have 1 Int) 

Hmm, Nissa is half-water-weird, and Tempest is half air-elemental...


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 15, 2006)

That's perfect actually. Dumb elemental who's summoned won't use the Orb on its own initiative. Thus I command the Orb by proxy. >

Kidding, of course.

As for Taala's Gift, it is specific to us. The ship IS Taala's gift. But perhaps if Taala's gift comes to mean something more than just the ship, it gives the ship room to grow and become more as well?

Something to think about.

I think it's better to come up with a cool name than it is to come up with a name that seems to be trying to intentionally shape the ship. We might want a ship that's good at heart, and tenacious...but the "S.S. Celestial Dire Badger" does not a good name make.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> That's perfect actually. Dumb elemental who's summoned won't use the Orb on its own initiative. Thus I command the Orb by proxy. >
> 
> Kidding, of course.
> 
> ...



 Celestial Dire Badger is definitely a bad name--I agree 

The reason I like Winds of Destiny is that it has a positive connotation right out and it speaks to what our purpose is (it might not be a bad group name for us, actually).  

Here's an idea--Eirene (meaning Peace)


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 15, 2006)

...now Fiendish Dire Prawn...that might be a cool name. For a band. Mmm...prawns...

Peace is okay...except that we're unlikely to see much of it during the game. What about something like Peace From War, or similar... The last thing we need is a pacifist ship. 

And as long as we're shuffling languages, what about Latin? Latin names are extra-nifty with cool on top.

...sadly, I don't really know Latin, so I still can't contribute any.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> ...now Fiendish Dire Prawn...that might be a cool name. For a band. Mmm...prawns...
> 
> Peace is okay...except that we're unlikely to see much of it during the game. What about something like Peace From War, or similar... The last thing we need is a pacifist ship.
> 
> ...



 The problem with Latin (and I can give you names in Latin if you want), is that a huge number of them just sound like English words with the ending changed--peace is just Pax, for instance, and fate is fatum, which would be a bit of a cop-out if we claim it was a language like Aquan.  Hmm...pacifist ship might be trouble.  How about something to the tune of "Guardian of Peace" or "Protector of Peace" that has the same connotation as yours but is more of a name?


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 15, 2006)

Yeah, but using the regalia is somewhat noticeable.  I'm not saying that you may not end up doing so at some time, but don't be surprised if you get attacked by time elemental minions afterward.

And yes, you guys did steal the regalia.  Here's how it went down.



			
				Backstory said:
			
		

> "I commend you on your valor, your dilligence, your skill, and your persistance in aiding the Kingdom of Knowledge.  You have traveled far and wide on your own power to do Our bidding, and We will reward you with a gift suiting your service.  We bestow upon you seven Our newest isle-ship!" Taala's voices boomed out over his assembled court.  As an omnielemental, Taala's voice was that of all four elementals, and was simultaneously gravelly, liquid, breathy, and crackling.
> 
> The assembled courtiers applauded and made sounds of appreciation, but there was a definite undercurrent of shock, resentment, and even anger.  The wispy time and psionic elementals attending were communicating telepathically, but with such intensity that the air crackled between them.
> 
> ...


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Yeah, but using the regalia is somewhat noticeable.  I'm not saying that you may not end up doing so at some time, but don't be surprised if you get attacked by time elemental minions afterward.
> 
> And yes, you guys did steal the regalia.  Here's how it went down.



 See, Nissa doesn't consider that stealing at all--Taala totally gave them to us.  Now, if we had seen the time elementals coming and picked his pockets and ran, that's a different story 

Edit: And I forgot to say--cool, thanks for the vignette, Isida


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Hmmm, Taala's last command was "Fly, run, find a way to restore the kingdom!"

So how about--Restoration's Wings?


----------



## Shayuri (Sep 15, 2006)

Hmmm, I was thinking maybe Taala's Hope, or Taala's Promise...


----------



## Kelleris (Sep 15, 2006)

Oh, _here's_ where the "Taala's last words to us" bit comes from.  Well, I feel justified calling it stealing.    

I think we should carry on the naming discussion in the actual game thread, though, since obviously we can't decide on anything here without doing it over there anyway.


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 15, 2006)

Lemme tender you all some advice.  Fate and destiny are strong themes going through the Endless Falls.  It's not to say everything is pre-ordained, but all actions have far-reaching concequences, even to people you've never met.

No good deed goes unpunished.

No evil deed goes unrewarded.

And visa-versa.

Fate can be changed, destiny can be thwarted, but then you will be creating new paths into the future, and the consequences can be... spectacular.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 15, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Lemme tender you all some advice.  Fate and destiny are strong themes going through the Endless Falls.  It's not to say everything is pre-ordained, but all actions have far-reaching concequences, even to people you've never met.
> 
> No good deed goes unpunished.
> 
> ...



 [NISSA]The overgoddess of all things is saying to pick my name![/NISSA]


----------



## Bront (Sep 16, 2006)

You mean the one I came up with that my Storm Spirit whispered to me and you translated?


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 18, 2006)

I found an interesting link while I was trying to find a picture of you guys' figurehead.  Couldn't find what I wanted, but I found a cool-sounding legend nevertheless.  http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/x/i/ximon/klaboutermannikin_smaller.jpg.html


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 18, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> I found an interesting link while I was trying to find a picture of you guys' figurehead.  Couldn't find what I wanted, but I found a cool-sounding legend nevertheless.  http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/art/x/i/ximon/klaboutermannikin_smaller.jpg.html



 Cool--and it's a nicely done picture too.


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 18, 2006)

Not what yours looks like, but the artist reminds me of the guy doing a lot of the work for the Wanderer's Guild books, nice stuff that.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 18, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Not what yours looks like, but the artist reminds me of the guy doing a lot of the work for the Wanderer's Guild books, nice stuff that.



 Yeah--that one looks too much like a mermaid to be right for the description of ours.


----------



## Erekose13 (Sep 18, 2006)

so where are we going anyways?


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 18, 2006)

Erekose13 said:
			
		

> so where are we going anyways?



 I thought we had a destination already?  Since we don't Nissa will suggest one--go go background NPCs!


----------



## Erekose13 (Sep 18, 2006)

going after help is a good idea. we also need to decide on who should take the reigns of the kingdom. for we are the kingmakers are we not?


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 18, 2006)

Question for the ages.  You guys can name anything in your background, or ask the crew.  Captain Merri's been around the block, he might know a place or two.  Of course, your goals are a bit odd (I'm not exactly sure what your goals _are_ right now) so your destination needs to be chosen with care.


----------



## Rystil Arden (Sep 18, 2006)

Erekose13 said:
			
		

> going after help is a good idea. we also need to decide on who should take the reigns of the kingdom. for we are the kingmakers are we not?



 Yes, or the Queenmakers.  Nissa sort of thinks the Weirds should rule, since it is their knowledge that makes the kingdom so wealthy.  A council of four Weirds, one for each element, would be perfect in her opinion.  If not that, then maybe four children of Weirds--she knows someone for water


----------



## Bront (Sep 18, 2006)

Don't mind me, I'm just talking with my Spirit Guide.

BTW, I figured i'd have my Spirit guide talk in a few of my posts (the Navy thought stream, which admitedly may be hard to read, but it's in my head).  However, you're welcome to feed me (evil?  chaotic?  helpful?) thoughts as well oh merciful and all powerful GM.


----------



## Kelleris (Sep 21, 2006)

Has something happened Isida?  We seem to have stalled a bit.


----------



## Bront (Sep 21, 2006)

I think we have a plan.  Isida usually does her GMing every weekend though, so she'll give us a few nuggets, and off we go.


----------



## Kelleris (Sep 21, 2006)

Oh, okay, I didn't realize Isida had a particular habit of posting times.  Well, I guess we wait then.  I was just getting antsy, I suppose.


----------



## Bront (Sep 21, 2006)

Yeah, me too.  Secret Scion has been waiting a bit for her (and least RA, Daz, and I have), but I understand she was kicking this game off too.  And the games are definately worth the wait.


----------



## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 22, 2006)

Aww, that's so sweet Bront!   

We weren't really stalled, just paused a bit.  My days off this week turned into a whirlwind of cleaning and preparing for some company I'm having this weekend, and I didn't get to update like I wanted.  But, now we're updated, so have fun!

I will post stats for Captain Merri and the crew in the RG at some point here soon.  The crew are all 3rd-level NPC classes of one sort or another, and Captain Merri is mostly out of Magic of Incarnum.  Unless, of course, you'd rather I didn't.


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## Bront (Sep 22, 2006)

Don't matter to me.


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## Kelleris (Sep 22, 2006)

I'm fine with seeing what you come up with.  Kinda curious, actually.


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## Erekose13 (Sep 22, 2006)

I'm curious too. I've seen my friend's copy of Incarnum, but I haven't delved into it yet.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 22, 2006)

I've optimised a few totemists before, so I have a pretty good idea of the typical build types, but I've been surprised before


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## Kelleris (Sep 22, 2006)

Good grief, we have one horribly nice character, one horribly nasty character, and one completely bizarre character.  What a mind-tubing these guys are getting.

We might need to work on the whole "presenting a united front" thing.


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## Kelleris (Sep 22, 2006)

I should also mention, for future reference - Daunting Presence is actually an Ex ability, as it's granted by a feat.  But the principle's the same, with status ailments generally trumping skill checks.

Now if I used my dark companion to penalize their saves and AC, or buffed with _Phade's fearsome aspect_ before Intimidating, _that's_ magical in nature.  Well, sorta.  Heh.  Don't worry, I'll mark everything as what it is in the future, for Isida's sake.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 22, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> Good grief, we have one horribly nice character, one horribly nasty character, and one completely bizarre character.  What a mind-tubing these guys are getting.
> 
> We might need to work on the whole "presenting a united front" thing.



 That's true.  Plus we have one character who is nice until he flips out and kills people like a psychopath, one character with evil-demon items whose kind veneer hides a tortured soul, and another who cheerfully makes jokes as he murders hundreds of people.  I'd say we're...anything but normal


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## Kelleris (Sep 22, 2006)

Hey, you're right!  If these guys were legit, they wouldn't _want_ to be rescued by us!  Therefore, if they accept our offer of assistance, we should slaughter them all immediately.  It's the only logical thing to do.


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## Kelleris (Sep 22, 2006)

My only hope is that Nissa and Lupaz are such dominating presences that they don't focus on the babbling ooze...  or the whale-man...  or the "fallen angel" with the glowy headlights...


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## Erekose13 (Sep 22, 2006)

Hey its just one evil demon item, unless you include my 2"x4" with the barbed wire wrapped around it as a demonic item


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 22, 2006)

Erekose13 said:
			
		

> Hey its just one evil demon item, unless you include my 2"x4" with the barbed wire wrapped around it as a demonic item



 Yup, I count the evil demon weapon as an evil demon item


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## Bront (Sep 22, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> That's true.  Plus we have one character who is nice until he flips out and kills people like a psychopath, one character with evil-demon items whose kind veneer hides a tortured soul, and another who cheerfully makes jokes as he murders hundreds of people.  I'd say we're...anything but normal



[Ahnold]Yes, but they were all bad[/Ahnold]


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 22, 2006)

It's pretty funny actually, basically darn near the whole party just jumped ship and swam/flew/blinked (remember Lupaz's failure chance if you try to get off that boat in a hurry).  I think I'll go look up the capsizing rules...  

And Kelleris brought something up, you guys can roll your own dice with Invisible Castle or Vacuum Elemental if you like, or if you don't provide a link to a roll, I will roll as normal.  It may be easiest to roll yourselves for non-combat stuff.


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## Bront (Sep 22, 2006)

Ekilu can take a net 25 with a swim check (or was that a 27?  I can't remember), so I didn't bother.  He never did board the boat though.

On a side note, if everything is outlandish, even those we rescue will likely be so, so no reason that we'll stand out particularly.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 22, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Ekilu can take a net 25 with a swim check (or was that a 27?  I can't remember), so I didn't bother.  He never did board the boat though.
> 
> On a side note, if everything is outlandish, even those we rescue will likely be so, so no reason that we'll stand out particularly.



 Nissa, on the other hand, automatically succeeds at normal or accelerated movement by swimming because she has a Swim speed.  Nissa was going to stick around, but she had to try to turn Lupaz's tactic (which in her mind would likely be unhelpful in a worst-case scenario and nothing but harmful in the best-case) into something salvagable


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## Bront (Sep 22, 2006)

Ekilu has a swim speed (50' actualy)

He can take a 10 and gets a +8 racial bonus though


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 22, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Ekilu has a swim speed (50' actualy)
> 
> He can take a 10 and gets a +8 racial bonus though



 If you have a Swim speed, you never have to roll to move--just for weird manouevres.


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## Voidrazor (Sep 22, 2006)

Um, the water isn't choppy is it? Oob got a 12 on its swim check. It doesn't have a swim speed but can breate water.

http://krisinchico.brinkster.net/searchroll.asp?username=Oobobooboo#178894


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 22, 2006)

Voidrazor said:
			
		

> Um, the water isn't choppy is it? Oob got a 12 on its swim check. It doesn't have a swim speed but can breate water.
> 
> http://krisinchico.brinkster.net/searchroll.asp?username=Oobobooboo#178894



 Hmm...you realise that if it _is_ choppy, thanks to that flaw of yours, you get a cumulative -1 every time you fail a Swim check.  I have a sinking feeling


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## Voidrazor (Sep 22, 2006)

Heh, "Trying to swim is boring. I'm just gonna check out the bottom."


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 27, 2006)

> Every so often he displays a canine grimace at some particularly honey-soaked bit of rhetoric from Nissa


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## Bront (Sep 27, 2006)

FYI, if you want to sum it up Isida, Ekilu will take the injured one onboard himself after he heals her, if he can.

And I see I've made the spirit look like a raving bloodthirsty lunitic, and that's not quite true, as he is a guide, and does offer good advice sometimes as well.  He's just got a stormy disposition.

And on another side note, I've always pictured Ekilu to have an african accent (Mr Eko from Lost is a good example of what I mean, and is actualy the voice I picture)


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 27, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> FYI, if you want to sum it up Isida, Ekilu will take the injured one onboard himself after he heals her, if he can.
> 
> And I see I've made the spirit look like a raving bloodthirsty lunitic, and that's not quite true, as he is a guide, and does offer good advice sometimes as well.  He's just got a stormy disposition.
> 
> And on another side note, I've always pictured Ekilu to have an african accent (Mr Eko from Lost is a good example of what I mean, and is actualy the voice I picture)



 Yup, he's pretty good at offering good advice sometimes.  In fact, the percentage of time that his advice is completely on the money is surprisingly correlated with the percentage of encounters that should be slaughtered at the outset


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## Bront (Sep 27, 2006)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Yup, he's pretty good at offering good advice sometimes.  In fact, the percentage of time that his advice is completely on the money is surprisingly correlated with the percentage of encounters that should be slaughtered at the outset



He waited till he talked to them first at least... 

And you obviously aren't familiar with the shaguin racial hatred by the Darfallen


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## Kelleris (Sep 27, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> "Greetings, former targets! I am Trebuchet; serving as primary ship armament, as well as enhancing crew diplomacy by providing a credible alternative! It is good to have you aboard!"




Mwahaha!  "Enhancing crew diplomacy by providing a credible alternative"?  That's a classic!


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## Kelleris (Sep 30, 2006)

I was thinking, if everyone else's hunk of the last post was like mine, we have a lot of options to explore in doing our kingmaking deed.  I thought it might help Isida if we tell her what kind of role we'd like our respective characters to play here, in a perfect world.

Ideally, Lupaz would be kind of a part-time spymaster, keeping an eye on how the rest of the world reacts to the Kingdom's troubles while letting others handle the intrigues at the court proper.  I'd also like him to otherwise follow the lead of the others like Nissa, but get a chance to make an otherwise impossible task merely difficult with his scouting, practical knowledge, and particularly curses.  I do like my combats, too, but I'm okay with letting Trebuchet and Vaukriel and the others handle most of the actual whomping as long as I can be a meaningful edge in our interactions.

That's pretty much Lupaz's theme - I leave the struggle and planning itself to other people, at least on the larger scale, but weight the balance heavily in the way I like.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 30, 2006)

Kelleris said:
			
		

> I was thinking, if everyone else's hunk of the last post was like mine, we have a lot of options to explore in doing our kingmaking deed.  I thought it might help Isida if we tell her what kind of role we'd like our respective characters to play here, in a perfect world.
> 
> Ideally, Lupaz would be kind of a part-time spymaster, keeping an eye on how the rest of the world reacts to the Kingdom's troubles while letting others handle the intrigues at the court proper.  I'd also like him to otherwise follow the lead of the others like Nissa, but get a chance to make an otherwise impossible task merely difficult with his scouting, practical knowledge, and particularly curses.  I do like my combats, too, but I'm okay with letting Trebuchet and Vaukriel and the others handle most of the actual whomping as long as I can be a meaningful edge in our interactions.
> 
> That's pretty much Lupaz's theme - I leave the struggle and planning itself to other people, at least on the larger scale, but weight the balance heavily in the way I like.



 I barely got anything except a flamey thing that wants to kill everyone (and maybe the time elementals more?  hopefully?) and then of course the fey, which we were already thinking about--guess you got more?  Ideally, Nissa might want to see if she can get help from some of the many people she met as supplicants to her mother (actually, I think I'll go ask for that in the IC thread now--sorry for grilling for so many details, Isida ).  Her plan is to use winning words to show others that the time elementals are wrong and that the kingdom cannot be ruled by their tyrannical order and fate.  She would like to be a diplomat, and she will also reluctantly accept a leadership role among the group in a rebellion, as she is linked so intrinsically to the classic elements to earn respect from even many of the elementals (according to the SBLOCK anyways ).  In general, her Cha-based and Int-based skills are fairly high for somebody who has 3 LA, and she'd like to get the most out of things like Bluff, Diplomacy, and Knowledge, as these are the routes to peace and prosperity, in her mind.  Also, she still wants to make her mother proud some day, and so she continues to struggle with divinations--maybe some day, her magic will actually be able to make a difference...


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## Erekose13 (Sep 30, 2006)

I got lots too. Plenty of solid potential contacts and allies. As for my character he is more a tragic hero type who when it comes down to it would sacrifice everything for what he believes in. He can talk his way around like Nissa, but is not one to accept a diplomat roll after what he has been through.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 30, 2006)

Erekose13 said:
			
		

> I got lots too. Plenty of solid potential contacts and allies. As for my character he is more a tragic hero type who when it comes down to it would sacrifice everything for what he believes in. He can talk his way around like Nissa, but is not one to accept a diplomat roll after what he has been through.



 Hmm...Nissa must've rolled low on that Knowledge check   Still, if we want a big fiery Living Holocaust to burn up stuff, Nissa has no clue where he is except that we'll problem meet him when he's used against us as an involuntary weapon


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Sep 30, 2006)

Well, to be fair Rystil, you did get: [sblock]The whole faerie court, which no one else got.  I'll look up some further petitioners from Nissa's mother later, I got work here right now...[/sblock]

More questions answered later when I get back from work.


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## Bront (Sep 30, 2006)

I know 2 sets of contacts, both are strong allies, and both are very favorable to Ekilu.  One actualy supported us when we fled.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 30, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Well, to be fair Rystil, you did get: [sblock]The whole faerie court, which no one else got.  I'll look up some further petitioners from Nissa's mother later, I got work here right now...[/sblock]
> 
> More questions answered later when I get back from work.



 [SBLOCK=Isida]IDefinitely true--of course, from those descriptions, Nissa isn't really sure she should even try to contact either of them, since the Seelie Court is going to ignore her for being not pure-blooded and the Unseelie Court is...well...fairly evil   Of course, tis true that nothing ventured, nothing gained.  Anyways, thanks for the stuff so far, and don't worry about getting the other contacts yet--just do it when you have some free time--after all the updates are already done for your games, as there's no rush [/SBLOCK]


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## Voidrazor (Sep 30, 2006)

I see Oobobooboo's role ideally as vacillating between the obvious jester and that of a problem child to be reigned in. That said, Oob does have instincts that are at least as a smart aggressive animal when physical conflict arises. It's built to be the team tank, although there is a notable lack of synergy between Oob's grappling and Ekilu & Trebuchet's blasting capabilities.
If convinced to remain silent, its also capable of surprisingly good stealth.

One thing to keep in mind when communicating with Oobobooboo it doesn't understand most sophisticated words. Any term that is even vaguely obscure or over two syllables  in length is probably lost on the little ooze. Its kind of amusing to go through the other PC's speech and pick out the few words a paragraph Oob would get   .


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## Shayuri (Sep 30, 2006)

Hee hee!

Actually, I suspect we can find some synergies for Oob and Trey... Is Oob immune to any energy types? Additionally, I'm considering picking up a feat that'll let me pick out single squares that are unaffected by my area blasts. Thus, Oob can get in there and grapple with impunity, admist the Fireballs, Cloudkills (yer immune to poison, right? ) and Acid Fogs.


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## Rystil Arden (Sep 30, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> Hee hee!
> 
> Actually, I suspect we can find some synergies for Oob and Trey... Is Oob immune to any energy types? Additionally, I'm considering picking up a feat that'll let me pick out single squares that are unaffected by my area blasts. Thus, Oob can get in there and grapple with impunity, admist the Fireballs, Cloudkills (yer immune to poison, right? ) and Acid Fogs.



 Did they really make that a feat now--isn't that an Archmage High Arcana ability that requires the payment of a high level spell slot?


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## Shayuri (Sep 30, 2006)

The feat is more limited. Extraordinary Spell Aim (from Complete Adventurer), allows a spell to be modified to exclude -one creature- from its area. Doing this increases the spell's casting time to a full round action (similar to sorcerous metamagic), and requires a Spellcraft check of DC 25+spell level. So it's not trivial.

And you have to be level 12 to even consider picking it up. Skill prereq is Concentration at 15 ranks.


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## Voidrazor (Sep 30, 2006)

No energy immunities, but poison and stunning are no problem. Also Oob splits the damage it takes with critters its grappling like a cloaker . So an average d6/level area spell would do 42 HP to the target and 14 to Oob.


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## Bront (Oct 1, 2006)

Ekilu's more a fighter with buffing capabilities, though he can choose any druid spell durring the morning.  Do you have any resistances?


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## Rystil Arden (Oct 1, 2006)

Voidrazor said:
			
		

> No energy immunities, but poison and stunning are no problem. Also Oob splits the damage it takes with critters its grappling like a cloaker . So an average d6/level area spell would do 42 HP to the target and 14 to Oob.



 Somehow I read that ability as that it splits the damage from one to the other both ways--so the 28 in both cases would be divided between both evenly?


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## Rystil Arden (Oct 1, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Ekilu's more a fighter with buffing capabilities, though he can choose any druid spell durring the morning.  Do you have any resistances?



 Hmm--does Ekilu have the energy resist buff spells?  That could be a completely awesome three-way team-up: Ekilu protects Oob, who grapples the enemy and then Treb blasts!


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## Bront (Oct 1, 2006)

He can easily enough.  Just need to change a spell out in the morning.  He doesn't get a lot, but he can cast any of them up to his times per day.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Oct 2, 2006)

Guys, I want to remind you that if you have a comment in the IC thread that is purely OOC, it needs to go here.  There are several extraneous comments about game mechanics or other things that are not part of the story narrative that are in the IC thread now, and it's getting a bit cluttered.  That's why we have an OOC thread.  Just a reminder.  

Rystil - [sblock]Nissa knows several of her mother's admirers, but many are ineffectual or powerless.  However there are a few that could aid you.

Proteus, obviously, as a lord of change, might welcome this coup on principle.  But offering further change would suit his sensibilities very well indeed.  

Tithynos probably is not in a position to aid you directly.  While powerful in his sphere, he couldn't aid you in form of arms.  But he could interceed with the Seelie Court for you, as he's a pure-blooded fey.

There's a contemporary of your mother, a snow weird she would communicate with titled the Snow Witch of the Bluefire Falls, that could aid you.  She seemed to be less arrogant than your mother (an easy feat) , but also compassionate.  While remotely situated (like most wierds) on the Plain of Frozen Dreams, she might be able to give you direction on which plans might work.

One of the nobles at Taala's court, an earth elemental that called himself Dire Graves, was a frequent visitor to Clymene.  Dire Graves was bound to the earth of an ancient graveyard deep in Taala's territory, one that had been used for victims of unusual diseases and curses.  Their descendents, often similarly inflicted, would come to visit their ancestors' graves to find comfort.  When they left offerings, Dire Graves would take them to Clymene in exchange for her ability to part the veils to see the cures they would need to stave off their antecedents' fate.  As an earth elemental Dire Graves dislikes change and considers altering time to be blasphemy.  He would definitely aid you, and if he couldn't aid you directly, he could direct you to someone who _could_.

Opal Charess, a jewel merchant who had come to Clymene seeking a cure for her father's madness, lives in the city of Bluegorge.  Powerful in her own right, this mineral genasi would hate to see the access to the weirds limited.  If the time genasi attempt to do anything of the sort Opal will probably know about it.

Tuulu is Taala's oldest offspring, an omnielemental who is next in line for the throne.  His father taught him well, often having him sit in on Court sessions, and frequently teaching him the reasons behind his laws and desicions.  He is a steady and fair youngling, though still only in his second century of life, not even into his majority by elemental standards.  He's scarce more than an eight-year old boy by human standards, but he's the current direct heir, or he was the last you knew.

As for Krysthos, you really don't know what side he ended up on, you really didn't stick around to see.[/sblock]

Bront - [sblock]Iceangel Lake is basically right in front of Taala's castle (though it's a very large lake).  The Earth Wall is further west and doesn't contact the lake.  In a normal ship it would take perhaps two weeks to get there.  In this ship, maybe less than a week.[/sblock]

Kelleris - [sblock]The weirds know you fairly well.  Even though you only saw one of them once a year, they found you a fascinating creature and talked (or gossiped) about you amongst themselves from time to time.  If you were to send a message to them, they would consider it with due gravity.

The weirds are fairly well protected.  Tithes given to Taala are for permission to be put on the road to the weird's lair.  There are tests, trials, harsh terrain, and sometimes summoned creatures along the paths, as well as illusion, misdirection, and traps.  Those that don't try hard enough don't get to the wierds.  And even then you must have an appropriate gift for the wierd personally as a tribute.[/sblock]  As a general note, even if you don't have a direct line to an individual, you can send them a letter by messenger, or hire a mage to do a _sending_ or something similar, or do an _animal messenger_ or the like.  In a city like Bluegorge you wouldn't be hard-pressed to find a spellcaster for hire.


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## Rystil Arden (Oct 2, 2006)

Cool!  Hmmm...so many people, but time is not on our side


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Oct 8, 2006)

Who said time wasn't on your side?  The Kingdom isn't _going_ anywhere!  

Erekose, in response to your comment about having people put allies as well as enemies into their backgrounds: yeah, I find that majorly helpful.  It helps poor, overworked DMs when coming up with NPCs, and you can often judge the strength of the character by the people he's surrounded himself with, ya know?


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## Kelleris (Oct 17, 2006)

Er...  Bump?  Actually, I'm not sure, do we bump here or in the IC thread?

Well anyway, it's been a while since the last few posts went up, or at least it seems that way.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Oct 18, 2006)

Yeah, my bad Kelleris, I got myself distracted.  I need to do a large update, so I hope to do it by tomorrow afternoon at latest.  I'm a little too tired and it's after midnight right now, and I don't want to do a half-brained job, so I shall tend to it on the morrow.


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## Kelleris (Oct 18, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Yeah, my bad Kelleris, I got myself distracted.  I need to do a large update, so I hope to do it by tomorrow afternoon at latest.  I'm a little too tired and it's after midnight right now, and I don't want to do a half-brained job, so I shall tend to it on the morrow.




No problem!  I know how it is.    

Let me know if you need any more detailed information for Lupaz, by the way.


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## Bront (Oct 18, 2006)

BTW, Ekilu hasn't shared his contacts publicly mostly because we aren't heading that way yet, and one of them is way too close to the capitol to be immediately useful.


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## Erekose13 (Oct 18, 2006)

We can wait Isida, your awesome updates are always worth it.  This just increases the anticipation


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Oct 19, 2006)

Flattery, my dear Erekose, will get you everywhere.


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## Kelleris (Oct 27, 2006)

I'm still considering how I want to deal with Sho'Brakka the Dreammind (awesome name, by the way!), but I wanted to pop over here and thank you for the most recent post, Isida.  That's _exactly_ how I was hoping Lupaz would play out, from his sneakiness, borderline paranoia (the _Whispered Secret_, of all places, isn't good enough for him!) and familiarity with the darker sides of this place, to his preference for helping his problems solve themselves, to his deference to other characters in terms of the actual negotiations and the like.  Perfect!  This made my otherwise dull evening.  Thank you.    

Now I have to see if I can do that well when I have to do things at the close-up level rather than the broad planning level...


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Oct 27, 2006)

Thanks Kelleris.  I try to make the quality of post make up for the fact that they're not as frequent as I would like.  Which is why it takes me two hours to do them sometimes...


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## Kelleris (Oct 27, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Thanks Kelleris.  I try to make the quality of post make up for the fact that they're not as frequent as I would like.  Which is why it takes me two hours to do them sometimes...




And, by the way, I really like the way you're fleshing out my barest suggestion of a location.  I imagined there would be something like the Blade and the way the city is arranged vertically as much as laterally, but you've really done a good job with them.  _And_ added a bunch of touches like the genasi and strange magical shops that make it seem very Endless Falls-y as well.  So kudos for that, lest I forget to mention it.    

Okay, this is just getting to be flattery, but I wanted to be sure to give you feedback with this game as we got into it.  It was one of the things I wished for more of in the game I ran a while back (if you recall, with Narine, your Kellunan wilder, getting mixed up with a nascent godling in my homebrew setting - I loved the idea of a somewhat arrogant but charming lady traveling with a _porter_, of all things).

Actually, hmm, I've been considering taking another go at this PbP thing.  Would you by any chance be interested in playing Narine again or making a new character for that setting?

EDIT: And you know, I liked that Narine was a devout servant of the Proxies, but had a tendency to sample them sequentially like wines.  It's a very cool religious approach, and completely appropos to the setting.  Ah, good times...


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## Kelleris (Nov 4, 2006)

Uhm...  Bump?  Man, I hate to be the one to do this twice in a row.  Won't do it again, but I'm kinda looking forward to seeing how the Dreammind reacts to Trebuchet and I.


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## Bront (Nov 4, 2006)

We should get the weekend update (with Denis Miller) soon.  She's working a new job though, so she may be adjusting to it.


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## Kelleris (Nov 4, 2006)

Ah, okay, I didn't realize there were RL issues.  That's cool then.


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## Bront (Nov 4, 2006)

Yeah, she got a night job as an Exotic Dancer or Aluminum Worker or something.


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## Shayuri (Nov 4, 2006)

She's a steel town worker on a Saturday night?


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## Bront (Nov 5, 2006)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> She's a steel town worker on a Saturday night?



She's a Maniac.  Maniac, that's for sure.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Nov 5, 2006)

And she's working like she's never worked before-or-or-or!!!!


Also, my fiance and a mutual friend of ours have arrived from England for the month (terrific timing on Alcoa's part), so I will only be updating once a week...  As usual.


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## Bront (Nov 5, 2006)

Didn't know you were engaged, Congrats


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Nov 9, 2006)

> Okay, this is just getting to be flattery, but I wanted to be sure to give you feedback with this game as we got into it. It was one of the things I wished for more of in the game I ran a while back (if you recall, with Narine, your Kellunan wilder, getting mixed up with a nascent godling in my homebrew setting - I loved the idea of a somewhat arrogant but charming lady traveling with a porter, of all things).
> 
> Actually, hmm, I've been considering taking another go at this PbP thing. Would you by any chance be interested in playing Narine again or making a new character for that setting?
> 
> EDIT: And you know, I liked that Narine was a devout servant of the Proxies, but had a tendency to sample them sequentially like wines. It's a very cool religious approach, and completely appropos to the setting. Ah, good times...



  Hey Kelleris, I just wanted to reply to this without putting potential brainstorming for another game in my OOC thread, very confusing.  It really does help with the feedback, it really makes my night to know I'm doing a good job, and to know what things you like/don't like/like a lot.

As for Narine, yeah, I would be interesting in playing her in that game or another.  She was pretty fun, and you had a mad, mad, mad, mad worlds to play her in.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Nov 9, 2006)

Bront said:
			
		

> Didn't know you were engaged, Congrats



  Yup, Yup I am, about a year ago.  It's just that he lives in England, and I live in America, so we do a lot of e-mails, phone calls, and he visits here a lot (since I only started working last year and he already has a steady job).  Before you ask, we met on the WotC boards about four years ago.  And he games.


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## Kelleris (Nov 9, 2006)

Sorry to muddy the waters here, you're right that that's kinda confusing.  It just struck me as I was posting about your game.  Anyway, I'm glad to hear it's appreciated when, uhm, I express my appreciation.      I'll keep making comments as they strike me.



			
				Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Hey Kelleris, I just wanted to reply to this without putting potential brainstorming for another game in my OOC thread, very confusing.  It really does help with the feedback, it really makes my night to know I'm doing a good job, and to know what things you like/don't like/like a lot.
> 
> As for Narine, yeah, I would be interesting in playing her in that game or another.  She was pretty fun, and you had a mad, mad, mad, mad worlds to play her in.




Hmm...  I'm working on a passel of high-level characters for the groups I've just joined (having moved to Chicago recently), but after I finish them to my satisfaction I think I'd have time to run a game.  I'll start putting something together, since Jolmo (who played Cagthail) and several of the people from my group back in Texas have expressed an interest in playing.

Heehee...  4 "mads"?  I think that starts as a compliment, goes all the way through dubiousness, and goes back to being a compliment again.


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## Kelleris (Nov 9, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Yup, Yup I am, about a year ago.  It's just that he lives in England, and I live in America, so we do a lot of e-mails, phone calls, and he visits here a lot (since I only started working last year and he already has a steady job).  Before you ask, we met on the WotC boards about four years ago.  And he games.




Ah, love on a messageboard.  I hope everything works out for you guys!  Maybe get him into a PbP game here at ENWorld?  Eh?  Eh?


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## Bront (Nov 9, 2006)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Yup, Yup I am, about a year ago.  It's just that he lives in England, and I live in America, so we do a lot of e-mails, phone calls, and he visits here a lot (since I only started working last year and he already has a steady job).  Before you ask, we met on the WotC boards about four years ago.  And he games.



Which one of you will cross the pond when you get married?


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Nov 9, 2006)

He'll be crossing the pond.  And he has his own message boards and games he runs there.  www.hothalflings.com/boards  His handle is Evil Cog.


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## Rystil Arden (Dec 28, 2006)

Happy birthday Isida!


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## Erekose13 (Dec 29, 2006)

Outanjoubi Omedetou Gozaimasu Isida-san


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Feb 26, 2008)

Hey there guys!  I've decided to restart this game, as this one had tremendous potential, and it died way before I could get it very far off the ground.  I'd like to invite all my former players back, and then see if we need anyone else to fill in the gaps.  So Shayuri, Erekose13, D20Dazza, Kelleris, Rystil Arden, and Voidrazor, are you guys still interested?


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## Shayuri (Feb 26, 2008)

Eee!

I'm interested. Wow...I wonder if I still have the sheet for this though. This was like...the first iteration of Trebuchet.

How cool!


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## Rystil Arden (Feb 26, 2008)

I'm still around


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## Shayuri (Feb 26, 2008)

Mew...found the RG, and there he is. Happy day!

I wonder if you've got any of the books that came out since then, Isida? Complete Mage, PHB II...

I had an idea I wanted to float at you about giving Treb the option, perhaps limited to one every other level like a sorceror, to remove spells from the Warmage list and replace with warmage-esque spells from other books. I realize Eclectic Learning already gives an option to add spells to the list. I just noticed warmages have spells that are kind of wrong for his flavor...like Phantasmal Killer...and that other sources have spells that would fit right in. And while I'd never use Eclectic Learning to add a "combat spell," since warmages have MORE than enough of those, there are combat spells I'd like to try from newer books.

Anyway, just a thought.


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## Rystil Arden (Feb 26, 2008)

Shayuri said:
			
		

> Mew...found the RG, and there he is. Happy day!
> 
> I wonder if you've got any of the books that came out since then, Isida? Complete Mage, PHB II...
> 
> ...



 Since Nissa is a Beguiler, I must conclude that we had PHII as an option from the start


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## Shayuri (Feb 26, 2008)

Hah! There is much I don't remember it seems. 

Still! Question stands.


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## Kelleris (Feb 26, 2008)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Hey there guys!  I've decided to restart this game, as this one had tremendous potential, and it died way before I could get it very far off the ground.  I'd like to invite all my former players back, and then see if we need anyone else to fill in the gaps.  So Shayuri, Erekose13, D20Dazza, Kelleris, Rystil Arden, and Voidrazor, are you guys still interested?




Oh ho!  This is great to hear - my spam filter betrayed me and declined to notify me of this development until Shayuri's question about changing up his character.  It was like something out of a time warp, I tells ya.

But yeah, I'd love to start this back up again, though intensive study will be required first.  I can barely remember much of what was going on, except that Rystil had gotten his fey beguiler into hot water and Shayuri and I were dealing with the weirdest oracle ever.  Hmm...  But who can forget the Hound of Ill Omen!  Well, everyone but me, probably, but still.

Will we just be picking up where we left off, or would it better to start a new IC thread and just summarize what has gone before?  The latter option might help us make sure we're twigging onto the important details when we start this back up again, and it would be more user-friendly for any newcomers.

Hmm...  *scuttles off to the RG and IC threads to review*


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Feb 26, 2008)

Well, since we left the IC thread in the middle of some interesting stuff, I think we can just pick up where we left off.  We really haven't gotten into heavy combat yet, so I'm not bothered if people want to retool their characters with all the new books that have come out.

I have every WotC book barring any new FR stuff and the Tome of Nine Swords.  So, Complete Mage, Champion, Scoundrel, Tome of Magic, Dragon Magic, Magic Item Compendium, Dungeonscape, etc, I have.  I did finally acquire The Complete Book of Eldritch Might.  I have all three Creature Collections and the Advance Bestiary.

People may pull stuff from the newer books if they like, just run it by me first.

Shayuri, I'm all for pulling spells from other sources.  What did you have in mind?


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## Shayuri (Feb 26, 2008)

I don't have my books here with me, so I can't get specific yet.

For now I'm more interested in the mechanic. Replacing warmage spells with thematically appropriate spells from books other than core/complete arcane.

Good examples of spells that I'd probably want to lose: Phantasmal Killer, Mass Fire Shield, Weird.

The phantasm spells seem out of place in the warmage arsenal to me (to Treb's especially), and Mass Fire Shield is an odd party buff in a spell list dedicated to blastin'. Singular Fire Shield is okay though, since it's one of the only personal defenses a warmage has. 

On the one hand, the opportunity to use spells from more recent sources would be nice. On the other, if you feel it'd threaten to make the warmage too versatile or unbalanced then I'd understand.


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## Erekose13 (Feb 26, 2008)

I'm still about, though my posting rate is a little low for another few weeks till my course is over.  Retaking Vaukriel would be great!


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## Rystil Arden (Feb 26, 2008)

Even with just us four, we don't really have any gaps that the initial group didn't already have with all of the original six (healing was sparse even with our ooze and our flying ape spellthief), so the good news is that we may not have to rerecruit, plus, I've found that games with fewer players tend to go much faster.

Without looking at the RG (that's cheating  ), I think from memory that this leaves us with two non-LA characters, Warforged Warmage and Illumian Duskblade, and then two heavy-LA characters, Blink Dog (with some Hexblade) and Nereid (with a little bit of Beguiler)


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## Nac Mac Feegle (Feb 26, 2008)

Just popping my head up to say that if you're recruiting new people or alternates I'm interested


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## Erekose13 (Feb 28, 2008)

Hmm tempting to retool the Angel of Splendor... You don't have the Book of Experimental Might yet do you Isida?


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## Kelleris (Feb 28, 2008)

Rystil Arden said:
			
		

> Even with just us four, we don't really have any gaps that the initial group didn't already have with all of the original six (healing was sparse even with our ooze and our flying ape spellthief), so the good news is that we may not have to rerecruit, plus, I've found that games with fewer players tend to go much faster.
> 
> Without looking at the RG (that's cheating  ), I think from memory that this leaves us with two non-LA characters, Warforged Warmage and Illumian Duskblade, and then two heavy-LA characters, Blink Dog (with some Hexblade) and Nereid (with a little bit of Beguiler)




Yeah, that's right.  Well, having Bront's guy around for healing was a nice place to be, but I'm always up for a clericless party!    

Though I kinda hope we get in a fight soon, once we restart.  I never even got a chance to flex my curses in combat, before.


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## Rystil Arden (Feb 28, 2008)

I just noticed in the IC thread that we actually did get Bront's Darfellan Cleric in the group, so if he's good to come back, that would be five (and healing).


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## Kelleris (Feb 28, 2008)

Oh I know - but his SN hasn't shown for the last week or so.  So I don't know if he's available or not.


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Feb 28, 2008)

Nac Mac Feegle - Just for giggles and grins, what would you have in mind for an alternate character?

All - I've put out a call for Voidrazor and D20Dazza to see if we can get the rest of the old crew back together.  If not, then we'll just go on with who we have.

Erekose13 - I'm afraid I don't have the Experimenal Might book.


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## Mad Hatter (Feb 28, 2008)

Hey Isida.  If you're still considering alternates I'd love to play.  I still have my original idea of the ninja diviner (although I've tweaked her quite a bit) and I was thinking a weresquid half-water elemental.

Mad Hatter


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## Erekose13 (Feb 28, 2008)

Ah no worries, now that I'm further into it I can see it wouldnt work here because it requires certain concepts that would affect all characters (ie. a feat every level).  It is a really good book, though I am a Monte Cook fan.


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## Nac Mac Feegle (Feb 28, 2008)

I was referring to the concept as the Knight of the Mind.  If you accept a templated core race as following the rules he'd be Phrenic Human Warblade or Crusader.  If you prefer, I'd stack the Phrenic template on something else (haven't picked yet).  Crusader matches the feel of champion better, but going Warblade would let me take Diamond Mind stuff, which fits perfectly, really.


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## Rystil Arden (Feb 28, 2008)

Nac Mac Feegle said:
			
		

> I was referring to the concept as the Knight of the Mind.  If you accept a templated core race as following the rules he'd be Phrenic Human Warblade or Crusader.  If you prefer, I'd stack the Phrenic template on something else (haven't picked yet).  Crusader matches the feel of champion better, but going Warblade would let me take Diamond Mind stuff, which fits perfectly, really.





			
				Isida said:
			
		

> barring any new FR stuff and the Tome of Nine Swords.




Seems like no Bo9S classes for this one.


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## Nac Mac Feegle (Feb 28, 2008)

Oop, missed that when I read it over.  Revised Plan: Elan or Phrenic Psychic Warrior, same concept.  Maybe a PrC in there, haven't considered them all.


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## Nac Mac Feegle (Feb 28, 2008)

Actually, thinking about that for about an hour made me decide that idea is terrible and cliche.

Starting over from scratch: I think I'd try out a Centaur, probably using melee primarily.  I might go with Dragon Shaman for what few PC levels I get, go for extremely primal in style.


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## Bront (Mar 4, 2008)

What?  No reinvite for me?  Wasn't I in this?

No matter, I unfortunately don't have much time, but I wish you all luck and fun


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## Isida Kep'Tukari (Mar 4, 2008)

Bront if you want in, I'd be glad to have you back.  Since Voidrazor and D20Dazza haven't responded yet, I think we'll just go with what we have.  If they show up later, we can work them back in easily.  We might be in Bluegorge for a while, and we can just say they were doing things elsewhere in the city.  Ok, off to continue the game!  Kelleris and Shayuri, we return to Shobrakka the Dreammind!


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## Bront (Mar 25, 2008)

Isida Kep'Tukari said:
			
		

> Bront if you want in, I'd be glad to have you back.  Since Voidrazor and D20Dazza haven't responded yet, I think we'll just go with what we have.  If they show up later, we can work them back in easily.  We might be in Bluegorge for a while, and we can just say they were doing things elsewhere in the city.  Ok, off to continue the game!  Kelleris and Shayuri, we return to Shobrakka the Dreammind!



If time ever returns to me, I wouldn't mind it, but I've no time at the moment unfortunately (This is the first time I've logged in since a day or two after you posted this).  Chances are I'd end up staying with the ship for a while, so it's easy to have me show up later.


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