I'm writing up a Tiefling Wizard for the Detective role because so many social/knowledge skills are tied to Int and Cha, but the problem is Wizards only get 3 skills apart from Arcana and there's a half-dozen that I want, lol.
Bluff, Intimidate and Streetwise (especially the latter) all seem like more relevant skills than Religion, but I'd have to use my background benefit to open up one of the first three as none of them are Wizard skills.
Maybe there's some good situational feats that would fit.
Edit: Also, I find that PbPs can be kind of bulky with six players.
The group size thing really depends a lot on the GM, I mean I'm currently in a PTA game where there are 6 of us (or was, someone may have died) he just split us into two groups.
I mean you could do something like that, but 6 probably is too much if you have to go through everyone in order in combat, it can take a whole day for someone to post, so thats almost a week for one turn.
Although 5 or 6, its one player, not sure how huge the difference is there (its something like 20% increase isn't it)
Also another opinion on the 5 or 6 character debate as to how long it takes to post, I think as long as the group is excited they will find time to check, and even if the fluff for their post isn't the best its not that hard to find 5 minutes to roll and write down something, then go back later to add nice fluff if you want.
P.S.
I saw WAY to much furry porn looking for the image for Autumn, when I finally found it...turns out there is a whole flikr group dedicated to nothing but d&d character images!
I share the link with you folks because nobody should have to do what I did again: http://www.flickr.com/groups/dnd_characters/pool/
Sim, the name he uses now, has been around the streets of Sharn (and other cities and towns) plying one con or another, for most of his life. His first memories are of the Sharn Orphan's Home, but as soon as he was old enough to have the wits to survive on his own, he's been out on the streets, begging, conning, and stealing what he needed to get by.
As a young man, he loved the card game cons. Follow the Wizard, Tag the Dragon, the usual games meant to relieve the unwary traveler of his extra coins. As he grew older, these simple rackets became boring, and he tried to move on towards bigger cons.
Using his Changeling abilities and stunning charisma, he perpetuated a series of tricks on folks around Sharn. Pretending to be a long-lost relative or a husband back from war, he bilked many people out of the gold and valuables. After almost dying in a fight when the supposedly lost-at-sea nephew of a rich trader he was impersonating returned during a formal dinner, he skipper town for a bit, seeing what sort of action he could find in other cities while the heat in Sharn died down for a bit.
Sim's been back in Sharn for a couple years now, slowly working his way back up to the top of the lowlifes.
He's heard quite a lot about these weird deaths. Rumors are flying fast and loose in the circles Sim travels in about who or what is responsible. Everyone's sure of one explanation or another. Sim's not so sure. He's been on the streets of Sharn for a few decades now, and seen some things that polite company simply wouldn't believe. He's got to get to the bottom of this, to make his town safe for the good old-fashioned grifters like himself.
Sim appears as a human, average build, with short dark hair. His skin's tanned and a bit weather-worn, perfect for the hard-luck, streetwise laborer part he's currently playing. He keeps his real name, and identity as a Changeling close to the vest. He frequently wears a dirty, dark grey jacket over his work shirt, with matching workman's pants and boots.
Sim is quite shifty, always keeping aware of his surroundings. He's awfully tight-lipped around new people, only opening up after a bit of time. On the streets, he's made a fair number of enemies, and cannot be too careful. If he's learned anything from his years as a grifter, con artist, and common thief, it's that every day could be your last. He takes great care to ensure that today is not that day.
Yeah, guys. It's going to be Detective + 10. No, I'm kidding. Detective + 5 - I agree with the notion that the party is more malleable at 6. Yes, it will slow things down a tiny bit, but understand that I work 12-10 ET (9-7 PT for those wondering), so there may be significant hours' worth of downtime between my posts anyway. I should also be clear that no one should expect this to be a rompingly fast PbP. It just doesn't jive with the territory, as life will too frequently get in the way for even 5 players and a DM. Expanding it upwards one slot won't make that big of a difference. If it does, and someone is slacking hard-to-the-core, we'll try to politely pare it down a bit.
If there comes a time where I fall out of touch for a short spell, I'm hoping someone would be willing to take up the monster reins for an encounter or two. That statement stands for anyone who needs to take a day or two off.
Dude, my 30-minutes sketches normally don't get as far as having skin (I'm still working on superficial anatomy). That's tight for speed work.
And you guys aren't allowed to stalk the thread. It makes me nervous.
Two defenders seems quite likely. I'm seriously about to pout, take my ball, and go home. No, I wouldn't do that. But I don't like having to choose like this. It's not even "Sophie's Choice." It's like being asked to go, "Well, if you had to be Medea and kill a whole family of kids you feel like you helped create..."
What if winds up a super ineffectual party that will get killed because I made bad choices? I hope you can all forgive me as I murder your characters ruthlessly and unintentionally.
lol, I think we are all just anxious to see what the choice is. I just happen to super-stalk because I have a butt load of free time at work and have nothing better to do than surf the internet, and the PA forums are always a source of entertainment.
I just want some friggen GAME, man, y'know? I havent had anything resembling good tabletop in forever... And Innis is screaming at the inside of my head, got to move, got to work, got to get something going, the itch is growing.. Okay, I'm one of those "Channel, not create" sort of character writers.
Teyar on
Kick At The Darkness Until It Bleeds Daylight
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Fondor_YardsElite Four Member: HydraRegistered Userregular
edited August 2010
Well if you TPK the first group there's enough of us for 2nd, hell even a third all at a full 6 man group. Also it's clear that 5 strikers and 1 leader is the best team.
Fondor_Yards on
Secrets, lies, and tragedy. The trifecta.
3DS Code: 5043-2172-1361
Xbone Tag: Salal al Din
Ok, the suspense will end as of 7am PT tomorrow. The Deadline for submissions stands at Midnight Pacific Time Thursday morning. I know some people wanted to get last-minute submissions in. Most of my favorite submissions on here required the creators to really flesh the character out a bit for me to really get behind it, so keep that in mind if you intend to wow me aggressively between now and The Choosing.
For the several players that won't make it in, know there wasn't a single character who didn't exist at some point within the final cast, but sometimes classes doubled-up, sometimes roles tripled-up, sometimes Noir Tropes overlapped too much, sometimes they weren't expressed heavily enough for me to feel like they would slot into the story very well. I have an insane and ambitious idea that may placate anyone who doesn't make it in, providing there is willingness among the gathered folks to entertain my absurdities.
It's a wonderful looking story concept you have here Boat.
I'm a bit of an on-again off-again lurker of the Penny Arcade forums, but for this excellent story premise I shall break the current vow of silence. The exact strata of this particular character trope (the exotic gypsy fortune reader) is a bit more "Pulp" in origin then it is strictly "Noir," but I hope you'll forgive the transgression. Hopefully it won't be too far from this particular envisioning of Eberron. Rieva adds an element of erratic mystical sight, the weirdness of the Arkayne, and just a slight dabble (not a full leap) of psionics to the mix.
Background
Like many kalashtar outside of Adar, Rievakari is running from something. She hides it well however. Few of her clientele would guess that the well-booked Psychic Medium and Teller of Fortunes was anything besides a particularly distant breed of foreign human, perhaps even a displaced Karrnathi (as some of her promotional material hints). It is not just out of a sense of mystery and drama that Madam Eva is coy about her true nature, however. It is less then perfectly desirable to be a well-known kalashtar outside of Adar, and unlike a great many of her kind Rieva does not dwell among an enclave of her own.
You see, she saw it written in the stars that she would draw disaster to those around her. Or perhaps it was a dream about seeing it written in the stars, or a vague lucid memory-imprint from her Quori spirit about dreaming about seeing it written in the... look, it was convincing enough from her point of view at least. Her self-imposed exile and the adoption of the social mask of the artist-performer are defensive measures. But to say that she shirks from the intrigues of Sharn would be incorrect!
Kalashtar regardless of their chosen path wage, each in their own manner, a war against darkness. Or more accurately for some of them, a war in darkness. There is more to Madam Eva's talents then cheap legerdemain, which makes her a magnet for some of the weirder elements of the Sharn underworld. She has at differing times granted refuge to the unfairly convicted, turned over felons to the Sharn Watch, and acted as a Medium for various private investigators seeking.... that little extra edge. Far from being content as a sedate circus act, Rieva enjoys the fulfilling breaks from her 'work' that entail digging into the seedier side of Sharn.
After all, she has already seen everything imaginable written in the hearts of the wicked and the wise. What can truly surprise an adherent of the mysteries of the Cards?
Thrill to the Woundrous Enchantment of the Wyrd, the Gruesome, and the Fantastick
Rievakari's magic is linked to her personal deck of divination cards. The "Phases" of her cosmic magic relate less to the lunar, solar, and stellar cycles of the traditional cosmic sorcerer, but instead to the vagaries and cycles of her divination games.
The Moon is a symbol of mystery and lies.
The Sun foretells a piercing of the darkness.
The Stars are a canvas for the strange and otherworldly to be written.
All can be a weapon against Shadow in the hands of a skilled practitioner of the elusive arts. By giving over her trust completely to the vagaries of Fate and the telling of the story in the cards, Rieva can unlock and unravel a fundamental binding power that runs through the universe.
Some points about the character as an Out of Combat build
I deliberately avoided rituals of Divination and other obvious methods of simulating her fortune-telling, thinking these would be too straight-forward. Instead the intention is to rely on the occasional DM-guided vision or dream as story hooks, which I suspect is probably a better fit for this style.
With that said, her Bluff modifier should be quite sufficient for the occasional impressive street divination, she has excellent Insight while in the right Cosmic Phase, her Arcana is high enough for all your Aura-sensing needs, and the Telepathic Sensitivity feat along with the Perception bonuses from the Phase of the Moon bonus (Student of the Cosmos feat) gives her a surprising +11 Perception to detect hidden living beings. Plus Kalashtar can communicate telepathically, which never fails to amuse at parties.
Added a little bit more background information to my submission to distract myself from the abruptly-realized stupidity of the Q-and-A style submission. god what was i thinking that's so bad
lol I like how everybody is throwing in their last 2 cents on why they should get picked.
o_O I don't. Reminds me of how hard this is going to be. :P Lots of good characters. Not enough space. You guys should feel proud. Fretting over this game is officially having bad repercussions on my small circle of friends' MapTools game we've been trying to get back off the ground for a month and a half, and it's all my/your fault. Well, it's my fault. My ass hasn't been making maps or monsters because I've been writing the Long Way Down adventure in my spare time.
I'm not actually complaining. I'm glad people are into it so far.
You know, you can just admit that you were curious, Crimson. No one will think less of you. Except me.
Also, you just had to see it on the computer screen. I found out the hard way my city is host to one of the country's largest Furry Conventions. That was a weird and unsettling week or so. And, because I'm the only person at my job who understands what the internet is, I was in the unfortunate position of trying to explain just what the heck it is to people. That makes me look much more well-versed in its twisting ways that I want to be seen to be.
In terms of holy symbol attachment, we could always figure out some sort of houseruling that his holy symbol is on his shield, or on his chest as part of his mithral plating. And you hit it right on the head, I was envisioning somewhat of a robocop/judge dredd hybrid lawmachine.
Yes, Viktor is part of the town watch, he's usually stuck on street patrols and given all the shitty assignments due to his being a warforged and all, but he doesn't mind. Also, he was created to enforce the law in said city. So yes, he was once considered property of the city, his new found freedom is a strange new thing to him, sometimes he wishes he was still city property, after all it was all he knew. In crimes where warforged are involved, he does not discriminate, as lady justice is blind and does not take sides, she finds the truth and delivers the appropriate punishment.
Sterling - The Lady Killer (Swordmage, Defender) [also, humorous wordplay]
Madam Rievakari - The Mystic (Sorcerer, Striker)
Clank - The Machine (Fighter, Defender)
Vered "Mr. Kaboom" Tavar - The Merchant of Death (Artificer, Leader)
Crimson, Wassermole, interrobang, Dark080matter, hotran, and The Ender, respectively.
For the rest:
If your character is still in the "Past Submission" box, I'm sorry. I have my reasons for my choices, and I hope nobody feels too slighted to the point where they just want to take their ball and go home. If I were a touch more ambitious and insane, I would suggest that I can run two of these at once and collect those left out into another group with another storyline running parallel and occasionally overlapping.
Which is my way of proposing this crazy-ass idea:
If there's continued interest in the concept with the Away Team, I would like someone to step up to run and do the posting on a parallel but separate storyline occurring in the same world. I would write the encounters, handle the gear wishlists (I operate on wishlists, btw. I hate loot parcels), and collaboratively write the interstitial stuff with Alter DM, but Alter DM would do the posting, make the maps, and actually run the monsters for the Away Team, freeing me up to concentrate on the stuff I like about running a game, x2. Alter DM would probably have to have access to D&D Insider to make the most of their alternate role. If this interest exists, whether as Away Team players or as Alter DM, please send me a PM indicating that.
Thread won't close down for discussion till this evening, but I'll go ahead and make the first story post now so that people can get started as soon as they want to.
Posts
Bluff, Intimidate and Streetwise (especially the latter) all seem like more relevant skills than Religion, but I'd have to use my background benefit to open up one of the first three as none of them are Wizard skills.
Maybe there's some good situational feats that would fit.
Edit: Also, I find that PbPs can be kind of bulky with six players.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
Inquisitor77: Rius, you are Sisyphus and melee Wizard is your boulder
Tube: This must be what it felt like to be an Iraqi when Saddam was killed
Bookish Stickers - Mrs. Rius' Etsy shop with bumper stickers and vinyl decals.
I mean you could do something like that, but 6 probably is too much if you have to go through everyone in order in combat, it can take a whole day for someone to post, so thats almost a week for one turn.
Although 5 or 6, its one player, not sure how huge the difference is there (its something like 20% increase isn't it)
Also another opinion on the 5 or 6 character debate as to how long it takes to post, I think as long as the group is excited they will find time to check, and even if the fluff for their post isn't the best its not that hard to find 5 minutes to roll and write down something, then go back later to add nice fluff if you want.
P.S.
I saw WAY to much furry porn looking for the image for Autumn, when I finally found it...turns out there is a whole flikr group dedicated to nothing but d&d character images!
I share the link with you folks because nobody should have to do what I did again: http://www.flickr.com/groups/dnd_characters/pool/
This is a good one for Adrik. I added it to the original post.
Background, Appearance, Mannerisms
As a young man, he loved the card game cons. Follow the Wizard, Tag the Dragon, the usual games meant to relieve the unwary traveler of his extra coins. As he grew older, these simple rackets became boring, and he tried to move on towards bigger cons.
Using his Changeling abilities and stunning charisma, he perpetuated a series of tricks on folks around Sharn. Pretending to be a long-lost relative or a husband back from war, he bilked many people out of the gold and valuables. After almost dying in a fight when the supposedly lost-at-sea nephew of a rich trader he was impersonating returned during a formal dinner, he skipper town for a bit, seeing what sort of action he could find in other cities while the heat in Sharn died down for a bit.
Sim's been back in Sharn for a couple years now, slowly working his way back up to the top of the lowlifes.
He's heard quite a lot about these weird deaths. Rumors are flying fast and loose in the circles Sim travels in about who or what is responsible. Everyone's sure of one explanation or another. Sim's not so sure. He's been on the streets of Sharn for a few decades now, and seen some things that polite company simply wouldn't believe. He's got to get to the bottom of this, to make his town safe for the good old-fashioned grifters like himself.
Sim appears as a human, average build, with short dark hair. His skin's tanned and a bit weather-worn, perfect for the hard-luck, streetwise laborer part he's currently playing. He keeps his real name, and identity as a Changeling close to the vest. He frequently wears a dirty, dark grey jacket over his work shirt, with matching workman's pants and boots.
Sim is quite shifty, always keeping aware of his surroundings. He's awfully tight-lipped around new people, only opening up after a bit of time. On the streets, he's made a fair number of enemies, and cannot be too careful. If he's learned anything from his years as a grifter, con artist, and common thief, it's that every day could be your last. He takes great care to ensure that today is not that day.
If there comes a time where I fall out of touch for a short spell, I'm hoping someone would be willing to take up the monster reins for an encounter or two. That statement stands for anyone who needs to take a day or two off.
You should choose 2 Defenders >.>
I am not biased in any way <.<
What he said. Or 2 Detectives. Either works for me.
For serious, methinks this is going to rock.
Its a junky, 30 minute sketch, but itll do hah.
And you guys aren't allowed to stalk the thread. It makes me nervous.
Two defenders seems quite likely. I'm seriously about to pout, take my ball, and go home. No, I wouldn't do that. But I don't like having to choose like this. It's not even "Sophie's Choice." It's like being asked to go, "Well, if you had to be Medea and kill a whole family of kids you feel like you helped create..."
What if winds up a super ineffectual party that will get killed because I made bad choices? I hope you can all forgive me as I murder your characters ruthlessly and unintentionally.
3DS Code: 5043-2172-1361
Xbone Tag: Salal al Din
For the several players that won't make it in, know there wasn't a single character who didn't exist at some point within the final cast, but sometimes classes doubled-up, sometimes roles tripled-up, sometimes Noir Tropes overlapped too much, sometimes they weren't expressed heavily enough for me to feel like they would slot into the story very well. I have an insane and ambitious idea that may placate anyone who doesn't make it in, providing there is willingness among the gathered folks to entertain my absurdities.
I'm a bit of an on-again off-again lurker of the Penny Arcade forums, but for this excellent story premise I shall break the current vow of silence. The exact strata of this particular character trope (the exotic gypsy fortune reader) is a bit more "Pulp" in origin then it is strictly "Noir," but I hope you'll forgive the transgression. Hopefully it won't be too far from this particular envisioning of Eberron. Rieva adds an element of erratic mystical sight, the weirdness of the Arkayne, and just a slight dabble (not a full leap) of psionics to the mix.
Background
You see, she saw it written in the stars that she would draw disaster to those around her. Or perhaps it was a dream about seeing it written in the stars, or a vague lucid memory-imprint from her Quori spirit about dreaming about seeing it written in the... look, it was convincing enough from her point of view at least. Her self-imposed exile and the adoption of the social mask of the artist-performer are defensive measures. But to say that she shirks from the intrigues of Sharn would be incorrect!
Kalashtar regardless of their chosen path wage, each in their own manner, a war against darkness. Or more accurately for some of them, a war in darkness. There is more to Madam Eva's talents then cheap legerdemain, which makes her a magnet for some of the weirder elements of the Sharn underworld. She has at differing times granted refuge to the unfairly convicted, turned over felons to the Sharn Watch, and acted as a Medium for various private investigators seeking.... that little extra edge. Far from being content as a sedate circus act, Rieva enjoys the fulfilling breaks from her 'work' that entail digging into the seedier side of Sharn.
After all, she has already seen everything imaginable written in the hearts of the wicked and the wise. What can truly surprise an adherent of the mysteries of the Cards?
Thrill to the Woundrous Enchantment of the Wyrd, the Gruesome, and the Fantastick
The Moon is a symbol of mystery and lies.
The Sun foretells a piercing of the darkness.
The Stars are a canvas for the strange and otherworldly to be written.
All can be a weapon against Shadow in the hands of a skilled practitioner of the elusive arts. By giving over her trust completely to the vagaries of Fate and the telling of the story in the cards, Rieva can unlock and unravel a fundamental binding power that runs through the universe.
Some points about the character as an Out of Combat build
With that said, her Bluff modifier should be quite sufficient for the occasional impressive street divination, she has excellent Insight while in the right Cosmic Phase, her Arcana is high enough for all your Aura-sensing needs, and the Telepathic Sensitivity feat along with the Perception bonuses from the Phase of the Moon bonus (Student of the Cosmos feat) gives her a surprising +11 Perception to detect hidden living beings. Plus Kalashtar can communicate telepathically, which never fails to amuse at parties.
Fugitive Fortune-teller and Kalashtar Cosmic Sorcerer
tumblr | instagram | twitter | steam
o_O I don't. Reminds me of how hard this is going to be. :P Lots of good characters. Not enough space. You guys should feel proud. Fretting over this game is officially having bad repercussions on my small circle of friends' MapTools game we've been trying to get back off the ground for a month and a half, and it's all my/your fault. Well, it's my fault. My ass hasn't been making maps or monsters because I've been writing the Long Way Down adventure in my spare time.
I'm not actually complaining. I'm glad people are into it so far.
Who else looked at furry porn for this game?
Also, you just had to see it on the computer screen. I found out the hard way my city is host to one of the country's largest Furry Conventions. That was a weird and unsettling week or so. And, because I'm the only person at my job who understands what the internet is, I was in the unfortunate position of trying to explain just what the heck it is to people. That makes me look much more well-versed in its twisting ways that I want to be seen to be.
Ok, I'm out for the night. Big reveal tomorrow.
In terms of holy symbol attachment, we could always figure out some sort of houseruling that his holy symbol is on his shield, or on his chest as part of his mithral plating. And you hit it right on the head, I was envisioning somewhat of a robocop/judge dredd hybrid lawmachine.
Yes, Viktor is part of the town watch, he's usually stuck on street patrols and given all the shitty assignments due to his being a warforged and all, but he doesn't mind. Also, he was created to enforce the law in said city. So yes, he was once considered property of the city, his new found freedom is a strange new thing to him, sometimes he wishes he was still city property, after all it was all he knew. In crimes where warforged are involved, he does not discriminate, as lady justice is blind and does not take sides, she finds the truth and delivers the appropriate punishment.
- Dwight Hartigan - The Detective (Rogue, Striker)
The Crew:Crimson, Wassermole, interrobang, Dark080matter, hotran, and The Ender, respectively.
For the rest:
If your character is still in the "Past Submission" box, I'm sorry. I have my reasons for my choices, and I hope nobody feels too slighted to the point where they just want to take their ball and go home. If I were a touch more ambitious and insane, I would suggest that I can run two of these at once and collect those left out into another group with another storyline running parallel and occasionally overlapping.
Which is my way of proposing this crazy-ass idea:
If there's continued interest in the concept with the Away Team, I would like someone to step up to run and do the posting on a parallel but separate storyline occurring in the same world. I would write the encounters, handle the gear wishlists (I operate on wishlists, btw. I hate loot parcels), and collaboratively write the interstitial stuff with Alter DM, but Alter DM would do the posting, make the maps, and actually run the monsters for the Away Team, freeing me up to concentrate on the stuff I like about running a game, x2. Alter DM would probably have to have access to D&D Insider to make the most of their alternate role. If this interest exists, whether as Away Team players or as Alter DM, please send me a PM indicating that.
Thread won't close down for discussion till this evening, but I'll go ahead and make the first story post now so that people can get started as soon as they want to.