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[DnD 4E PbP] Second Darkness (OOC)
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Background:
As Rumil grew older, he showed great skill with a bow and stealth, not exactly a unique skill set from a man from a tribe of wild wood elves. Still, he grew less reliant on his tribe for survive, and spent more and more time alone, roaming the jungles around Lake Ocota. At first he only hunted what he needed to keep his belly full. Eventually he started to enjoy the hunt, little by little, to the point where it was the first and only thing that made him happy. In his wake he left a bloody trail of corpses, and had a following of carrion beasts that learned where ever he went was good eating.
Till one day he came upon a strange beast. Even at his best, it eluded his efforts to track it. Catching a glimpse of it, he would chase it for days or weeks, always ending up empty handed. Each time he ran into it, it was a different creature, ranging from the lowliest of rodents to the mightiest of cats, but somehow he knew it was the same beast. For all his skill, he ended up with naught but trails that would disappear into thin air. Rumil thought he had finally found something worth killing, and vowed he would hunt it down or die trying.
After a few weeks had passed without sight or sound of it, he returned to the great lake to refill his water pouch. And there it was, a mighty panther drinking at the lake's edge. He knew it was his prey, he could feel it in his bones. This was to be a personal kill, putting away his bow he drew his knife and closed in. Drawing in close, he stabbed down into the crown of it's skull. And was thrown back into a tree with hurricane force.
As he slept there, he saw a great many things. The beast had been watching him, for a long time before he ever laid eyes on it. He saw himself as a child and teenager back home, as he lived in the jungle. All of his mistakes, his idiotic mistakes. How he had taken the love and care for him and tossed it aside in his juvenile pissant angst. How he had taken the bounty of the land and tossed it aside in his bloodhunt. He had thought himself the great hunter, following this beast! It had let him find it, either as a passing fancy, for it's own amusement, he could not tell.
Waking up, there was no sign of the beast. No, it was no beast that he was sure of. Either some kind of mighty druid or shaman, maybe even one of the primal spirits of the land. That was unimportant now, he could clearly see the folly of his life, how he had wasted everything he had in life. Turning, he made all haste back to his clan. At this point, it was too little, too late. They were as cold to him now as he had been to them his whole life.
Leaving his home behind him, Rumil vowed not to make the same mistake twice.
Campaign Trait: Into Enemy Territory
Experience:
3DS Code: 5043-2172-1361
Xbone Tag: Salal al Din
squishy-blob - Rachael 'Rose' Lianna, Tiefling Rogue
SkyCaptain - Citadel, Warforged Warden
Keldonus - Yan Kibbers, Halfling Cleric
Gideon - Nathaniel Lacey, Human Rogue
3seed - Edalf 'Crimson' Thafalsson, Human Fighter
Taarkoth - Elysia Skalfrin, Human Wizard
At this point you should feel free to go over each other's character synopses, discuss any changes you might want to see to the party at large, develop shared back stories, and refine your own character now that you'll have the chance to settle into the role.
Please post acknowledging that you're good to move forward with the campaign. I will be sending along a document containing some amount of converted material that you may make use of if you choose.
Thank you to everyone who submitted a character concept!
Crimson is basically a contractor working for the various crime lords, so there's a good chance he'll know anyone who has a connection to the city's street life and/or its syndicates.
Rose is a sure bet -- the two characters would've probably run into each other often. There's some backstory on Crimson's part that predisposes him to watch out for her. (She reminds him of Lavender Lil, who once did a small kindness for his mother.)
Yan he might know from the Publican.
It's possible Nathaniel needed muscle/protection for a con at some point.
Hmm... given Crimson's availability for hire, it's entirely possible that other characters could have employed him for some simple body guarding. Feel free to build in story hooks as needed. I'm happy to oblige.
Sky, unless someone else really wants it, Elysia could be the 'fool.' While her trait is Researching the Blot she could easily have decided to enter the tourney to build up funds for her research, and she could have met Citadel while wandering around with her teacher.
As for backstory, it's quite possible that any PCs in the wharf district a little while ago would have known Nate from the 'seduce-a-girl-and-steal-her-stuff' routine that he pulled while at his most pathetic. They may have even kicked his ass for it.
Although in Crimson's case, he's more of a pessimistic gambler. :-)
Yan likely would have met Rose, Crimson, or Nate in his dealings among the rough places and pubs of Riddleport, especially the first two, whom he may have known for several years by this point. He may have run into Citadel and/or Elysia while his merchant family traveled around the region as a youth.
Sounds like the perfect opponent in a gambling game.
LOL... the gamblers will smell the mark in their midst, and he'll draw them like bees to honey.
Does it look about right?
I guess that makes me ready to go.
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1exByK9ZLl3ZjdjNWQyZDAtMzkxOS00N2E3LTg5NWQtMTE1ZTkzNjU3OGRj&hl=en&authkey=CMugiusF
Let me know if you notice any issues with the material. Some of these options are conversions of material from other Pathfinder sources, but as rules elements they stand on their own (and I'd be happy to provide the curious with the original source material if requested). Stuff that I've converted so far from the Second Darkness guide includes the Liberator paragon path and the two Cypher Mage feats. I may end up converting the magic items and spells listed there as well, but you guys won't need access to those until later so I'm putting it off (I'm providing the Liberator paragon path in case you want to plan your way towards it).
Go ahead and make any final preparations to your characters that you wish. I'll be kicking off the campaign proper in the next day or so. Cheers!
EDIT: Make sure you're actually using the full link. PA's forums contracts long hyperlinks, so highlighting the link shown and pasting it won't work.
Does it work for everyone else? I've been doing a surprise paper (actually: I forgot) this evening, so my attention is split, I could easily be screwing it up. I'll see what I can figure out tomorrow if it's working for everyone.
Not working for me either.
ALSO: That chart is brilliant!
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1exByK9ZLl3ZjdjNWQyZDAtMzkxOS00N2E3LTg5NWQtMTE1ZTkzNjU3OGRj&hl=en&authkey=CMugiusF
I love the chart, 3seed, especially that sliding scale of Shenanigans and Innocence.
The Pathfinder options look interesting, but very mixed in terms of usefulness.
Given Crimson's history, I might actually go for the Liberator paragon path, but I keep getting hung up on the fact that two of the benefits are Open Lock related. A Daily utility to make Open Lock a minor action--talk about situational. And Steely Resolve doesn't feel like a level 16 benefit. That level 20 Daily (Liberation Unhindered) sure is nice though.
But then again the Kensai's Weaponsoul Dance is nice too, and I wouldn't have to multi-class into rogue to get it.
Still, I'm tempted, and it would be such an interesting character development...
Let me play with some options tonight and decide by tomorrow morning. LOL, if I do this, it would mean three characters in the party will have the Thievery skill.
I've altered Steely Resolve to be more effective, as well. And added the +1 ally rider to Liberation Unhindered. Also noticed I hadn't replaced the flavor text for the daily, so that's done too.
The Liberator PP is supposed to be big on two things - sundering, and getting through locks. It's definitely a path for someone who wants to personify the mantra of "I can break anyone or anything out of anywhere."
Anyway, I've uploaded a new version to reflect the changes. You should be able to get at it using the same link as before. Please continue to provide feedback on these options!
And it might be interesting if one of Nate's contacts knows (of) him from his Wharf district days and therefore hates him, while another knows (of) him only from later on, liking him.
Aha... that's much more interesting. If I may make a recommendation? Looking at the original background material, I see that Liberators are meant to operate in a clandestine manner. (They're going to be angering some potentially rich, nasty, powerful people.) But does that mean that they have to be trained as cutpurses and pickpockets to do that work?
What about slavery that takes place outside of urban environments? Or former slaves wanting to become Liberators, but the characters are based in non-martial classes. (A divine based Liberator might be interesting, for example.)
Sure, they won't be as good at opening locks as a Rogue (no trained Thievery), but they'll pick up a +5 at level 11 and potentially another +5 if they use their quick pick. (Which, by the way, makes the Quick Pick potentially much more useful.)
If you want to maintain a shady aura for the path, then maybe open up the requirements: Thievery, Streetwise, or Background: Former Slave. Something like that anyway.
This is all contingent on whether or not you think Liberators should have the other skills included in Thievery skill pool, though. (Probably Disarm Traps.)
What do you think?
Disclaimer: The Thievery requirement is the one thing that would keep Crimson from this paragon path. He'd be drawn to the work (based on his character arc), but he's not a sneak thief kind of guy. That's why I'd like to see the requirement options opened up.
It's not so much that the path demands a shady character, or a sneak thief, but rather that it requires the knack and drive to get out of tight spots (or get others out of tight spots). Having training in the Thievery skill doesn't make you a sneak thief; if anything, practically speaking, it simply makes you technically proficient, able to navigate and circumvent locks and other intricate devices.
You'll have plenty of opportunities over the next few levels to pick up Thievery via Skill Training, and while there will probably be some party redundancy there, you'll at least be secure in the knowledge that you will definitely have the upper hand in encounters featuring traps.
Also, I suggest just rolling initiative for everyone. It'll speed up the start of combat somewhat.
Okay, that's sounds fair, and thanks for the additional information.
I've updated Crimson's character sheet to reflect a couple of feat/skill changes. A first post should go up either late tonight or early tomorrow. :-)
As for initiative, that's what I'll do, then. Editing IC OP to reflect the change.
Here's a link: http://4e.orokos.com/roll/c-PA+Council+of+Thieves
It's the campaign roll history for the other PbP I'm in. Though it's not everyone's rolls as some people use PA CouncilOfThieves.
I really wanted to do some change-raising as Nate scammed his way in, but it didn't seem possible in a scenario where a) the price is a nice even 1 gp and b) the only coin denominations are 1:100:10000