[D&D 4E Recruit On!]A Touch of Madness

dresdenphile

A Touch of Madness, a Dungeons & Dragons (4E) adventure for five 10th level characters

Touch of Madness

Beyond the mortal world, somewhere outside the bounds of the Astral Sea, the Far Realm yawns immeasurable. Beyond the reality of gods and mortals, this plane is a realm of contradictions, a mad place of fevered creation checked only by pointless extinction. The Outside is a sea of diseased possibilities, where the stuff of madness seethes in a soup of the incomprehensible and the unnameable—shuddering, squirming, and sentient...

***
Game Stuff

This is a PbP game. I am your (first-time) DM. I've been playing a game IRL since 4E was released, but I thought that my first time as a DM would be a less nerve-wracking experience if I tried doing a published WOTC adventure from Dragon in the PbP format. I guess we'll see! On that note, I plan on being a hack and borrowing heavily from the other games already running on here in terms of initiative postings and such.

Character sheets should be created in the CB and uploaded to http://4e.orokos.com/. Dice rolls will be also done on Orokos (or Invisible Castle, if Orokos is down).

For now, this is a combined OOC/IC thread. Post OOC discussions/comments/questions/etc in Gray color font to avoid clutter and confusion.

I expect each of you to post at least once a day (and I would prefer weekends, but for now I'll say it's optional) when you're able. If you'll be away for an extended period of time, let me know so that I can make arrangements to keep the game moving while you're gone (or go on hiatus if the majority is unavailable). I like to think I'm pretty reasonable, and I won't kick you out for missing posts once in a while. That being said, if you don't post consistently you'll be removed from the party.

Depending on how this first adventure goes, I might press on into the 2nd and 3rd chapters of this adventure path, which carries over into early-to-mid Paragon.

***

Character creation:

--Character concepts can be posted here. I don't need to know what flavor cake your gnoll wizard had on her 4th birthday, but giving me something more than, "She's feisty, and she knows Flaming Sphere!" will go a lot further to make me notice your submission.

--Characters will start at level 10, and we'll assume your group has been adventuring together for a while. Stat generation is point-buy as outlined in the PHB. This is not first-come, first-serve. I will take concepts until 8 a.m. CST on Friday, February 5th and comprise a party of the best 5.

--Please post 1 character concept only! I've seen the crazy recruitment threads with 95 concepts per person, and I don't have time to read through all that, unfortunately.

--If it's in the Character Builder, it's all good. This includes Revnants, Psions, Assassins, and everything from the PHB3 previews.

--Let it be known that I'm not a big fan of the Warlord or Ranger classes. That doesn't mean that you can't submit an app with one of those classes; it just means you're going to have to really "wow" me with your concept.

-- Starting equipment is one Level 11 item, one Level 10 item, one Level 9 item, and a Level 9 item's worth of gold. If you want to break down those items to get different levels of items (like two 10s and two 8s or whatever), that's fine, as long as the total gold spent doesn't go over the previously stated amount, and no single item can be higher than level 11. Any questions about this; send me a PM.

--Please also post how many PbP’s on the PA boards you are currently involved in. Being in one doesn't mean you're automatically out, but I'll probably give preference to people who aren't currently in a game.

--Please also post a suggestion for your adventuring company's name. "Acquisitions Incorporated", "The Lollipop Guild", whatever you and your four comrades put on their business cards.

Rius

Oho! I loves me some higher level adventures

Might be time to update my Wizard.

smeej

Yeah, defiantly interested. I'll hold out on posting my concept til I have refined it, since I only have one shot.

Brody

Would love to play a Warlock. Attempting to mash out a character now.

Background: The last paragraph kind of sums up his personality.

His parents managed to get him into University, Messremb did terrible at studies, prefering to explore the campus instead. Who would have guessed that his greatest discovery would lead to a sharp increase in studying, and a sharper decline in his marks. For he had stumbled on the Universities cache of hidden knowledge, books of magics long considered taboo. And among them, the secret to binding things of immeasurable power to your will. Without hesitation he started down the path.

After a year or two of increased study, his preparations were complete. He had laid the basic tattoo's of cleansing, of binding, and most importantly, the contract. All neatly scrawled accross his left hand. On the winter solstice, as the moon just broke the horizon, he summoned a fey. Unfortunately, the fey he had found was much more powerful than he had intended, and from the start he could feel it pushing at his wards.

The more he used the fey's power, the more the wards weakened, and what started as the sacrifice of his left hand soon became his left hand and forearm. Which then included his elbow.

A week later, after being unable to sleep soundly for the recurring nightmares, he decided to set out and find a way to reverse the curse he had given himself.

Years later and he is still "searching for the cure." He has long since come to the conclusion that his soul is lost forever, and eventually his body with it. In the intervening years though, he has managed to find a small group of good friends. Knowing that in the end, he will die a terrible death, and his soul will likely be just as bad off, he tries to make his life mean as much as he can.

IMG

Under the cloak, his whole left arm is covered by tattoo's.

I am in two PbP's, KotS and the Second Son.

Can we be Team Venture?

Hermenegilde

Goblin flavored icing, of course ! Also, feistiness and knowledge of flaming sphere included. Rawr.

I'll make a character. soon.

Dayspire

Heck yes! I've been waiting for this.

Let me write something up and submit it. I'm currently in no PBP's here on PA.

SnowSquall

Oh never tried anything this high level yet, although I'm still pretty new at this. I'm interested and have a few concepts to mull around before I end up posting something up.

tzeentchling

Blue dotting so hard. I will submit something for sure. So many choices!

Sakutian

My character's name is Ghirh Blachammer and he is a Dwarf Wizard. I went ahead and did a more detailed version of what makes him who he is in case anyone cares to look at it. As for a physical description he's got a slightly off color complexion resembling oxidized copper, his coal black hair is precisely trimmed and he keeps it rather short except for his beard which he keeps at mid-length. More often then not he is found wearing black robes and a cloak of the highest quality he can afford and he always carries a well worn staff close at hand.

As for a party name suggestion how about the Oathsworn?

I'm not currently involved with any play-by-post games on the forum.

Born into a respected Dwarven family an heir to their rich heritage as soldiers Ghirh wanted none of it from the first. He was a quiet withdrawn child who favored sleeping through the day and studying by himself late into the night. His father dismissed the boy as a lost cause after a few short years and turned his attention to ensuring the future of his remaining sons much to Ghirh's relief. His mother and younger sister were the only ones to pay him any attention or offer him encouragement in his endeavors.

Ultimately he grew into a frustrated troublesome young Dwarf with a great deal of ambition but lacking the means to fulfill any of it. He came to resent his home and everyone in it seeing them as obstacles between him and his true life which lay beyond the rocky walls he had been imprisoned behind.

Freedom finally came for him from an unexpected source. Ghirh's father decided he wanted no more trouble or embarrassment from his youngest son and enlisted him in the a Dwarven infantry unit that was being sent out to war. Ghirh deserted from the soldier's camp the first night after they had marched clear of the mountains to a nearby settlement where he sold his armor and weapons for a tidy sum. From then on he devoted himself entirely to the study of the magic that had called to him throughout his life. The small wealth he'd acquired from his arms allowed him to purchase tools and tutoring he would need to begin mastering the arcane.

He works to procure as much wealth and power as quickly as possible and has no qualms about killing anyone who stands between him and his goals.

Here's a link to Ghirh's character sheet on Myth-Weavers, still working on filling out some of the power descriptions. http://www.myth-weavers.com/sheetview.php?sheetid=182034

3cl1ps3

Oooooh level 10. Shiny.

I'll think up a character and then submit an app.

smeej

Aukan, Goliath Fighter.

Picture:

Aukan at rest.





Aukan doing what he does best.

Background:

Aukan's mountain tribe was like any others until a particularly bad winter came. They, with a young Aukan, followed a stream down the mountains for weeks, trying to stay ahead of the water that was gradually freezing over, eventually arriving at a large system of caverns that was already occupied by a Dwarven clan. The clan was accommodating and the goliath tribe came to settle in the deep caverns. Several years later, however, there was another great winter, this one worse than any in the cavern had experienced. The chill creeped deep into the mountain, and the climate made it impossible to trade. Resources dwindled, and people grew restless. Aukan, now very much grown, didn't know who started the conflict, but he fought his hardest. In the end, most of the cavern's residents were dead and the rest took what they could carry and attempted to flee either out into the harsh winter or deeper into the unknown cavern system. Aukan was left for dead.

The harsh weather broke mere days after this tragedy, and a group of goblin scavengers stumbled upon a trail of goods and corpses that they followed back to the abandoned caverns. While stripping the area bare, they upon a helpless Aukon restrained him and nursed him enough to make sure he wouldn't die. The leader of this little band knew someone who could use a healthy goliath.

That's how Aukon came to be a gladiator for Ny'al, a petty mind flayer. Aukon never learned what the illithid's purpose was, only that he was bitter to be spending as much time in this realm as he to and passed the time by having his thralls fight for his entertainment. Most of the thralls were like Aukon; purchased slaves. Some were actual gladiators who were sought out by agents of Ny'al while others were simply unfortunate enough to have crossed his path. Even this information was unknown at the time, as the only times the slaves were allowed free thought was when they were fighting. It was more entertaining that way. All other periods of time Aukon spent in service of the flayer are unknown to him except in nightmares.

Years passed and Aukon persisted, surviving both the arena fighting as well as whatever acts Ny'al unwillingly put him up to. It was during one of these arena fights -- one of his moments of free will -- that a group of adventurers inevitably showed up. They were not the first party to go against the illithid, but they were the first to surprise him, preventing him the opportunity to re-dominate the combatants. Goliath immediately seized the opportunity to slay his tormentor but was stopped by another slave, a human knight. He motioned around to the various cells that lined the walls of the arena pit. Most of the thralls were gaining consciousness, and the ones who weren't were unarmed and surely no match for Aukan. So they took this opportunity to free their fellow thralls and take them to the nearest form of civilization. This village too had been tortured by the illithid and were more than happy to help the slaves back to health and sanity. A day later, the adventurers came through town, informed the mayor they had ended Ny'ar, and were gone the next day. Aukan followed.

Group name: Fireseal

I am currently not in any pbp games, nor have I ever played in one.

Character sheet and cleaner biography coming soon.

EDITS
- Added pictures.

Tommy2Hands

aw jeez

and I had a Warlord ready and everything!

brb making more characters

Oloron

Hmm - working on an app.

INeedNoSalt

i'm submitting a thing for this game so y'all best be ready

The Cow King

Hmm a week to flesh out the Sorcerer I have been dying to play. Will post app sometime soonish. (Unless I forget then not at all.)

spacepotato

Posting for the dot. I've not played in a pbp game before, but it seems fun. I'll put together a concept.

astrobstrd

I've got a character that I'm upping to 10. Quick question though, since my books are all packed at the moment. For a caster, if I want to purchase rituals, do I spend the scroll or the book cost? (i.e. Can I just say that I transcribed them or is that even a thing in 4e?)

Brody

You have to buy the spell to put it in your book, plus there is a casting cost for each use. Most ritual casters get a couple rituals for free.

astrobstrd

In the CB there are two costs though, for "book" and "scroll". Book is much pricier than scroll...so much so that I would afford little else if I wanted to know 6 or 7 level appropriate rituals. I have my two free lvl. 1's factored in already.

Brody

Scroll's can't be transferred to books.

astrobstrd

Cool, that's what I needed to know then. Looks like only a few rituals then for my warpriest.

The Cow King

I just have a question about Backgrounds do we just pick one or none at all?

tzeentchling

OK, submission time! I present to you Matthaias, the Unforgiven, Revenant Invoker of the Raven Queen. Apologies if his background is longer/more detailed than you want, but I needed to get his story down.

Picture:

Background:

In his previous life, and indeed in his many lives before, Matthaias was a deva, an immortal servitor of the gods of good, born and reborn in flesh to champion their cause in the physical world. In his most recent life, Matthaias joined with a band of adventurers to seek out evil and cleanse it. After many battles, he and his companions finally met their match in a beholder tyrant. While the vile beast slaughtered his friends, it chose a far darker path for Matthaias. By dominating him, the tyrant forced Matthaias to begin performing evil acts, while somehow limiting his ability to access the memories of his ancestors. Slowly, Matthaias grew twisted and foul, even reveling in his wickedness.

Many years passed before another band of adventurers would come along to battle his tyrant master. Matthaias was bested in battle, and the companions drove off the beholder, although they were not able to finish it off. Finally free of the tyrant's control and seeing clearly for the first time in years, yet dying from his wounds in battle, Matthaias begged forgiveness from the gods with his last breaths, in the hope of avoiding his fate as a rakshasa. Then everything went black.

Bitter cold. The harsh caw of a crow and feathers brushing his face. A female voice, at once haughty and yet full of pity. "Matthaias, your request is granted. But my gifts are never without a cost. Prove yourself to me, and you may yet retake your place amongst the immortals." Awakening, Matthaias found himself in a new body, words of power and retribution still resounding in his brain, and a brand of a black raven over his heart.

Matthaias has no recollection, yet, of his most recent life, save that he performed great evil and nearly fell. He does not yet remember the tyrant that enslaved him, but has dreams of eyes staring at him, dripping with malice. He knows he was once a deva, but cannot access any of his memories of his old lives, and he misses their guidance greatly. He wanders the world, guided by visions of fate, and seeking both answers and redemption.

Mannerisms, appearance, and personality:

Matthaias is tall and lean, and has pale skin with splotches of darker color reminiscent of a deva's. His eyes capture the gaze of anyone who stares at him, and blaze with light when he channels divine power. He wears a sweeping cloak over fine mail, and carries a gnarled staff, which he uses both as a walking stick and an implement of power.

Matthaias tends toward dark humor, yet is incredibly determined. He knows how far he almost fell, and is determined to do whatever it takes to place himself back on the path of enlightenment and reincarnation as a deva. In battle, he is furious as he shouts words of power; in calmer times, he prefers to interact quietly with others, allowing them to take the spotlight, yet his counsel often proves invaluable, if not always asked for.

Games I am in: None, at the moment - both previous campaigns stalled and have stopped for the foreseeable future.
Party name: The Company of Light

dresdenphile

The Cow King wrote: »

I just have a question about Backgrounds do we just pick one or none at all?

You can pick up to 5 (I think), but you only get a mechanical benefit from one of them.

Rius

I should make a Revenant Avenger of the Raven Queen!

Revenant party, go!

I was actually thinking of making a Monk, probably an elven one. That or.... damn, too many options to pick from

firemanfred

Blue dot'ing. It'll be fun to build up a 10th level character. I've played in one PbP previously, and it only made me more excited to participate in another. Off to spin up a great concept.

Hopefully Global Agenda's release this weekend doesn't distract me too much.

streever

Sakutian, I really like your character concept. I hope you don't mind, but I made your brother . I wrote out his history and how it intersects with you.

--
Nils Blackhammer, Dwarf Fighter

Synopsis:
Nils Blackhammer is the eldest son of Aurun Blackhammer, heir to the Blackhammer clan. He's been humbled by life, and is far more introspective then his father. However, he's happy to continue the tradition of being a soldier, and will willingly take on the mantle of leadership some day. In the meantime, he's trying to patch relations with his brother. He's always felt guilty that he received everything and his brother nothing.

Background/ambition & motivation

Nils Blackhammer is the eldest son of Aurun Blackhammer, and heir to the leadership of the prominent Blackhammer clan.

As a child he was completely devoted to his father, to the extent that he didn't notice the discord in their family.

His childhood years being untroubled and idyllic, he had an extremely difficult adolescence. Sent away from home to become an excellent soldier hurt his faith in his father's love. He felt abandoned and cast-away, even though he was a commissioned officer from the beginning.

When his younger brother arrived as a grunt soldier, he realized that his father's treatment of him was actually very kind in comparison. Feeling remorse for never noticing his younger brothers plight, he helped him sneak away in the night. The decision made him question his own role in the family, and his loyalty to the clan and his familial name.

He continued to serve until his commission expired, and reunited with his father. As an adult, Nils realized his father had made the decision to send him away out of love, and forgave him. However, he's never forgiven himself for letting his little brother down and ignoring the hardships he faced under his father's demands. As such, he's joined him in his adventuring company, where he'll stay until his father is ready to give up the mantle of their clan. His driving ambition is to do something great on his own, without his father's assistance, and to look after his younger brother and support him.

Character sheet:
http://4e.orokos.com/sheets/1623

Updated:

Adventuring Name:
Bravado Five

I envision us as a fearless (or at least a believed fearless) assault squad, just by some of the character concepts submitted & the base adventure info.

don't worry about competition on defenders, he might pick 2. It's leader/controller/defender/striker/wildcard. If we're REALLY lucky he'll up the players to 6 and then we'll be rollin'

I am in 2 pbps, and post regularly & don't miss opportunities to be part of them.

dresdenphile

Hmm...surprised to not see any PHB3 stuff yet.

Oh, well...keep the apps coming in, everyone!

smeej

Well if I had access to a Battlemind I would be all over that.

Denada

I submit to you Devin Black, human Artificer. His focus is on working closely with the defender and other melee allies, buffing them with attack bonuses, defense bonuses, and damaging auras. He's also designed to excel at granting saving throws and healing as often as possible.

Appearance and Background

Devin was raised by loving parents, with every opportunity to pursue his education and refine his natural arcane talents. At an early age he demonstrated a remarkable affinity for combining immaterial energies with material objects, and his training become focused on that aspect of magic. Soon he found himself infusing weapons, armor, and even other people with powerful spells.

One evening, alone in his lab, he stumbled upon the beginning of a powerful formula, a single grand spell that he calls the Unified Formula of Everything. Since that discovery, he's spent his life seeking out ancient libraries, artifacts, scrolls, and ruins, trying to uncover the rest of the formula that will change the world. Such dangerous endeavors have led him to refine his combative skills, as well as to develop a knack for getting into places that he's not supposed to.

I'm currently running two PbP games and playing in two others. I would prefer that you give the leader spot to someone who isn't in as many games, but I'm throwing in my submission because it would still be fun to play if you feel like I'm the right fit.

As for our adventuring company, I really can't think of anything good without knowing what the party is comprised of.

Sakutian

streever wrote: »

Sakutian, I really like your character concept. I hope you don't mind, but I made your brother . I wrote out his history and how it intersects with you.

Thanks I really like your concept as well. Hopefully we both get to play.

WhiteWolf

Gonna submit a character for this, jumping to level 10 should be a lot of fun!

Torinn Sedinn, Dragonborn Bard

Picture

Background

Torinn's father was a bard, and so he was raised to be one too. It wasn't often people saw dragonborn bards, so people never knew if his singing or storytelling would be any good. His father was an expert at it, and taught him everything he knew, so any person that stuck around for any length of time was immediately enamored by the sight of a large dragon singing and dancing.

However thats not the only thing his father taught him. Dragon born are still hearty creatures, and thus his ability with a sword was still quite good, and it took a lot more to take him down than most bards. When his father disappeared mysteriously one day a few years ago Torinn had gone off adventuring in search for him. To this day he hasn't picked up a single trace of him...

Suggested Adventuring Group Name: The Drunken Expedition

I'm not in any PbPs at the moment.

The Cow King

Evosin, Changeling Sorcerer.

Evosin stands 5'9" at 145lb a tall and lanky really. The typical pale white Changeling with bushy white hair. Evosin never seems to be all there hes a good companion but almost always seems to attempting to control the chaos. This often works quite well except for a few sudden outburst.

Background

Evosin came from any other ordinary changeling family. There was his home life and then there was "put on your human face and fit in". Well at the age of 19 "fit in" was no longer a option. Evosin felt something in his blood, something wild and chaotic, it felt as if it wasn't to be controlled it could destroy his home. He smirked for a second "maybe I could destroy this town with it!" but then realized to many innocents would die even if he didn't like them it would be wrong. A raven took notice to this and it appeared before him saying he had made the right decision.

So he left one dark night to discover exactly what was going on. It was soon discovered that he could manipulate the chaos themselves, he could harness it's power to cast spells freely they still behaved randomly but he had enough power to make sure no innocents got hurt. As he travelled he discovered various shrines to Avandra and finally found a purpose in his life. So to make due until he could find others who had the same mind set as he did, he entertained. Transform into a dwarf and cast spells that always got their attention. Or sang many a great tunes to entrance the crowd and not arouse suspicion.

With the help of the raven he was able to learn and understand Primordial and on one fateful night met a frost elemental. After a long tireless battle (a losing one at that) he was deemed rightful enough to be taught the how to transform chaos in ice and cold.

To use his ability to instill chaos and change for the betterment of the people and hopefully world around him.

Adventuring Name: The Systematic Six.

Hmm that background is all over the place I'll have to go back and change it later. Unless I forget to.

Unsalted

Blue dotted, I may wait to see what the impostor posts first, and copy it to take as my own idea.

Im looking at you Ineednosalt... :winky:

streever

I updated my post with a party name + random stuff.

INeedNoSalt

Unsalted wrote: »

Blue dotted, I may wait to see what the impostor posts first, and copy it to take as my own idea.

Im looking at you Ineednosalt... :winky:

if you fix your avatar and make it cool i won't ever bitch at you again

also, i gave up on making a level 10 character.

Brody

I think the second PbP I'm in, Second Son, has died...

Unsalted

INeedNoSalt wrote: »

Unsalted wrote: »

Blue dotted, I may wait to see what the impostor posts first, and copy it to take as my own idea.

Im looking at you Ineednosalt... :winky:

if you fix your avatar and make it cool i won't ever bitch at you again

also, i gave up on making a level 10 character.

That better? :winky:

What were you going to make? eh?

INeedNoSalt

oh god that's terrifying

i was going to make a warlock

Unsalted

But...

::scraps eladrin warlock idea::

That's absurd, who would make a warlock!?

You need better ideas salt.

Also, the avatar creeps me out too. I jacked your sig as well. Its pretty terrifying.D:

INeedNoSalt

I like that you flipped it in addition to inverting the colors

I was making a half-elf I think, but I don't know how to make an effective character WITHOUT THE BOOKS :P