arguskos
2010-07-19, 07:06 PM
Preface:
Welcome! This is a campaign journal (as if we didn't have enough already, right? :smallwink:) detailing the new campaign I joined just this past weekend. I'm taking notes in session, and it was suggested to me by the DM that it might make a decent story for you all to read, so here we are.
First, the character roster!
DM: This is the DM. Hurrdurr. He's not playing a DMPC or anything.
Nikola Aristar, aka War Machine: This is my character, an Artificer 3. I'm the most experienced player in the group by a LONG shot and since the DM and I are old friends, I get a lot of latitude to do as I will, provided I don't break things and generally support the party. Nikola will be developed more as we go, so I won't spoil much. I will however say this: I'm playing the guy on the right (http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/bloodydoves/Iron_Man_and_War_Machine_by_zeebow1.jpg).
Agerzad: This is an orcish warrior of some flavor (Pounce Barb 1/Fighter 2, IIRC). Agerzad is being played by the DM's brother, another good pal of mine. He's the next most adept of the group after myself.
Fast Eddie: Played by a friend of Agerzad's player, Fast Eddie is a roguish fellow who's got a quiet mouth for someone named Fast Eddie. :smallconfused: So far, he's not done much. Think he's a human Rogue 3.
Checkers Stirling: Aaaaaand we hit the comedy routine. A silver-haired halfling, Checkers is a Swashbuckler 3 who has quite the back story and personality. Sadly, it's not half the personality of the player, if you can believe that. And yes, there were many shut up, dammit! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvYm68dOQ4k) references to go around.
Clementine Grimmer: A (ginger) dwarven Cleric 3 of the god of the 4th moon, Clementine is half cleric, half marksman, all amusing. Lots of ginger midget jokes were had (from the new Sherlock Holmes film).
Fosco Crumblemuffin: This is a red-haired halfling bard being played by the younger brother of Clementine, and taking a page out of Checkers' book. He too is a halfling, but he's a Bard 3 instead, and is apparently quite the womanizer.
The world isn't super fleshed out, since the DM was rushed for time, but it is set after some magitek apocalypse, so the sun is somewhat blotted out by dust, one continent turned into a massive sinkhole that seems to have no bottom, and another was absorbed into what seems to be a black hole that took its place, now called the Maw. Note that many of these places don't have names, since the DM was very rushed, but I'll fill that in as we get more details. The world has basic firearms, someone invented revolvers recently, there's a decent amount of steampunkish stuff going on (like zepplins, airships powered by magic, it's a bit more hardcore than Eberron in this regard, more tech less magic, so to say).
I'm writing this from Nikola's perspective as a character, and as he's recording it in his journal. It's not going to be the best writing ever, so I apologize ahead of time. With that, the scene opens on the Serpent's Wake as we travel towards the mile high city of Xanthos...
Chapter Listing
Chapter One: Beginnings
Chapter 2: Dark Magic and Foul Gods (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8984801&postcount=10)
Chapter 3: Madmen (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9041702&postcount=17)
Chapter 4: By The Skin of Our Teeth... (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9139524&postcount=20)
Chapter One: Beginnings
Author's note: this is written by my character from the first person perspective, so keep that in mind. Also, I'm an amateur author, so please be nice.
Also, this got kinda long. Sorry, I'll try to be less verbose in the future, but the character talks a fair bit, and this is first person after all.
Well. Another journal. One might be excused for thinking I've had quite enough of those by now, but today's exertions have convinced me that a record of my trials might not be unwise. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
For the reader, who knows not of myself, I am Nikola Aristar, heir to the journals of Nikola Tolstar, my grandfather and a masterful inventor in his own right. He was slain by a jealous mage by the name of Thomas, and so his journals passed to me. From his designs I have managed to create wondrous new devices, armors and weapons, with which to defend against magic and to use to spread technology far and wide.
I had found a sort of security in a small nameless town for a time, where I practiced my craft in the day and unlocked the journals (for they are encoded) by night. However, the agents of Thomas caught up with me, necessitating I flee before he himself arrive, and managed to catch an airship going anywhere. Once on board, I was informed the destination of this vessel, the Serpent's Wake, was the famed city of Xanthos, placed high in the sky amongst the clouds, forever looking on upon the Maw. I was at once relieved and dismayed, for within a large city such as Xanthos one can lose themselves in the crowds, but the number of agents Thomas may have in the city is high. Regardless, Xanthos has opportunities for one such as myself.
At the provided dinner before our arrival in the city, I finally met the remainder of the passengers. There were a quartet of merchants, introspective types, three humans and an elf. The other five were more interesting. A man there was, and a dwarf also. An orc too, and two halflings, one of whose red hair seemed oddly familiar. He had a spring-loaded blade on one wrist that he used to eat with, and so I broke the silence at last, asking to see and diagram the blade. He acquiesced, and we traded names, his being Checkers Stirling. Suddenly, I recalled where I'd seen him before. He was the heir to the Whirling & Stirling airship company, the one who'd almost destroyed them through terrible management before being politely told to go away and leave the company to someone competent, the so-called "mad heir". Just my luck, to be saddled with the mad halfling. Happily, the rest of the company was less exciting. The dwarf, Clementine Grimmer, turned out to be a supposed marksman, carrying a pair of dragon-mouthed pistols, and being a generally merry sport. The other halfling spent all of his time winking at and attempting to charm one of the merchants, a woman, and I did not speak with him. I think he gave his name as something typical and banal, Fosco Crumblemuffin I think it was. The human, who also did not introduce himself, ended the meal in an argument with the womanizer over something or other. By this point, I had slipped out to go check on my things.
In the hall to my cabin, I encountered the final passenger, who'd not spoken during our shared meal, the orc warrior. His dress indicated a tribal origin and his speech the same. He gave his name as Agerzad, and he was seeking his grandfather, who had traveled from Xanthos into the Maw, as well. I felt a kinship with this brutish fellow, and though he was simple, I offered my assistance within Xanthos at the least, from kinship alone. He accepted, and we parted ways.
I retrieved my armor, and decided now was a fine time to test my latest creation: the spyglass rifle, a range-enhanced rifle with a spyglass attached for greater accuracy at long distance. As I was firing at some nearby sky snakes (snake-like creatures with leathery wings that were pacing the ship), Agerzad and Clementine both came up on deck to see what the commotion was, and were shocked at the massive suit of steel and leather that was there (for they had not seen the armor, nor did they realize it was me inside). Agerzad recovered quickly, and challenged me to a contest of accuracy on the flock of sky snakes nearby, which Clementine joined in on. In fairness, I offered to only use two shots, while they each could have five.
Clementine fired first, and his claims of marksmanship were quelled, as not only did he miss with every shot, but he did so catastrophically, nearly striking myself and Agerzad several times!
Agerzad shot second with a compound bow, and though he shot well, he too missed completely.
Finally, I stepped up. My first shot, perhaps a poor choice, was using my rapid fire ten shot mounted revolving rifle, or spin rifle as I call it. I fired poorly, sadly, striking only one of the snakes. My second attempt, using a propelled alchemical round from my shoulder launcher, was more successful, taking out three. Agerzad, rightfully so, protested against the spin rifle, and in fairness, I retracted that attempt. Still, I had dropped more of the creatures than he, and so he offered me a prize: a tooth from his third kill, a large bear. As I accepted, something happened we did not intend.
As the human from our meal and the Mad Heir came up on deck to examine the sounds of gunfire, the sky snakes began weaving in a pattern several of us recognized as a glyph used in summoning magic. I panicked, fearing Thomas had caught up to me too soon, and fired a propelled tanglefoot round into the pack, hoping to immobilize them. Sadly, it only got three of them (and the Mad Heir, who was caught by surprise by the explosion of goo), and the rest wheeled to attack.
I defended myself with the weapons of my suit, while the others fought off the creatures with their own skills, Agerzad using a grand axe in broad strokes, the human with a crossbow and skill, Clementine with a pair of pistols at first, and then later a maul, and the other halfling (who had shown up shortly after the others) with charm and grace (needless to say, this was not effective). Just as we were about to take out the last few snakes, their glyph pattern completed, and a massive, ogre-sized version of the snakes appeared before our eyes! It opened its mouth, and a forking bolt of lighting arced out, striking nearly all of us.
Agerzad, to his credit, distracted it and screamed as he fought it, "IRON MAN! SHOOT IT!" So I did, but even though my close-quarters cone burst rifle, or scattergun, is powerful, I did little more than scratch its hide, and it returned the favor before flying off the ship, and around to the bottom of the vessel, where horrible scratching noises began to emanate.
The Mad Heir rushed below to the murderholes in the cargo hold as the rest of us followed his lead (mad he may be, but he knows his airships), where through the holes we saw the following sight. Agerzad had not followed us, instead grasping at a rope, tying it to his waste, and leaping off the side of the Wake so that he might slay the creature in its element. His aim was true and his arm strong, for as he swung down towards it, he all but bisected the beast in a single strike, and though it struck his life line down, the victory was his. Thanks to some quick thinking, a grappling hook and line from Fosco's pack, and my own propellent launcher, we managed to reel the brave and battered orc back in.
We broke there, and each retired to his cabin for some well-deserved rest. Not even to the Mile-High City, and yet, I feel a kinship reserved for battlebrothers with these five.
Ah! The docking alert chimes. We arrive in Xanthos. May the remainder of today be less eventful...
For now,
Nikola Aristar
Chapter One Breakdown
Ok, so, really, not much happened in the first session. We met on the ship, RP'd over some food IC, had a fun contest shooting some wildlife that got pissy and attacked, and then saved the ship from ourselves.
We all had a good time though, so that's good. My personal musing includes the following:
I kinda stole the show a little. I'm going to be toning it back in upcoming sessions (the DM and I already talked, PLEASE don't tell me I'm showboating or something, I already know). :smallwink:
Agerzad is manly as hell, and we all loved it. He literally leapt off a ship with nothing but a rope, an axe, and a smile, and somehow A). lived and B). killed the thing with a clutch crit for like 40+ damage.
The Mad Heir (Checkers Stirling) is hilarious, but useless. Tanglefoot goo removed him from combat entirely, and no one thought to cut him free. Two of us are new players (Clementine and Fosco haven't played before), myself and Agerzad were killing dudes, and Fast Eddie was... well, we'll come to that.
Fast Eddie spent most of the session texting. I think he was preoccupied. That's fine, since he's a good player normally. I'm sure he'll perk up shortly.
Next session is this coming Wednesday. Gonna RAWK.
Welcome! This is a campaign journal (as if we didn't have enough already, right? :smallwink:) detailing the new campaign I joined just this past weekend. I'm taking notes in session, and it was suggested to me by the DM that it might make a decent story for you all to read, so here we are.
First, the character roster!
DM: This is the DM. Hurrdurr. He's not playing a DMPC or anything.
Nikola Aristar, aka War Machine: This is my character, an Artificer 3. I'm the most experienced player in the group by a LONG shot and since the DM and I are old friends, I get a lot of latitude to do as I will, provided I don't break things and generally support the party. Nikola will be developed more as we go, so I won't spoil much. I will however say this: I'm playing the guy on the right (http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/bloodydoves/Iron_Man_and_War_Machine_by_zeebow1.jpg).
Agerzad: This is an orcish warrior of some flavor (Pounce Barb 1/Fighter 2, IIRC). Agerzad is being played by the DM's brother, another good pal of mine. He's the next most adept of the group after myself.
Fast Eddie: Played by a friend of Agerzad's player, Fast Eddie is a roguish fellow who's got a quiet mouth for someone named Fast Eddie. :smallconfused: So far, he's not done much. Think he's a human Rogue 3.
Checkers Stirling: Aaaaaand we hit the comedy routine. A silver-haired halfling, Checkers is a Swashbuckler 3 who has quite the back story and personality. Sadly, it's not half the personality of the player, if you can believe that. And yes, there were many shut up, dammit! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvYm68dOQ4k) references to go around.
Clementine Grimmer: A (ginger) dwarven Cleric 3 of the god of the 4th moon, Clementine is half cleric, half marksman, all amusing. Lots of ginger midget jokes were had (from the new Sherlock Holmes film).
Fosco Crumblemuffin: This is a red-haired halfling bard being played by the younger brother of Clementine, and taking a page out of Checkers' book. He too is a halfling, but he's a Bard 3 instead, and is apparently quite the womanizer.
The world isn't super fleshed out, since the DM was rushed for time, but it is set after some magitek apocalypse, so the sun is somewhat blotted out by dust, one continent turned into a massive sinkhole that seems to have no bottom, and another was absorbed into what seems to be a black hole that took its place, now called the Maw. Note that many of these places don't have names, since the DM was very rushed, but I'll fill that in as we get more details. The world has basic firearms, someone invented revolvers recently, there's a decent amount of steampunkish stuff going on (like zepplins, airships powered by magic, it's a bit more hardcore than Eberron in this regard, more tech less magic, so to say).
I'm writing this from Nikola's perspective as a character, and as he's recording it in his journal. It's not going to be the best writing ever, so I apologize ahead of time. With that, the scene opens on the Serpent's Wake as we travel towards the mile high city of Xanthos...
Chapter Listing
Chapter One: Beginnings
Chapter 2: Dark Magic and Foul Gods (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=8984801&postcount=10)
Chapter 3: Madmen (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9041702&postcount=17)
Chapter 4: By The Skin of Our Teeth... (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showpost.php?p=9139524&postcount=20)
Chapter One: Beginnings
Author's note: this is written by my character from the first person perspective, so keep that in mind. Also, I'm an amateur author, so please be nice.
Also, this got kinda long. Sorry, I'll try to be less verbose in the future, but the character talks a fair bit, and this is first person after all.
Well. Another journal. One might be excused for thinking I've had quite enough of those by now, but today's exertions have convinced me that a record of my trials might not be unwise. Let's start at the beginning, shall we?
For the reader, who knows not of myself, I am Nikola Aristar, heir to the journals of Nikola Tolstar, my grandfather and a masterful inventor in his own right. He was slain by a jealous mage by the name of Thomas, and so his journals passed to me. From his designs I have managed to create wondrous new devices, armors and weapons, with which to defend against magic and to use to spread technology far and wide.
I had found a sort of security in a small nameless town for a time, where I practiced my craft in the day and unlocked the journals (for they are encoded) by night. However, the agents of Thomas caught up with me, necessitating I flee before he himself arrive, and managed to catch an airship going anywhere. Once on board, I was informed the destination of this vessel, the Serpent's Wake, was the famed city of Xanthos, placed high in the sky amongst the clouds, forever looking on upon the Maw. I was at once relieved and dismayed, for within a large city such as Xanthos one can lose themselves in the crowds, but the number of agents Thomas may have in the city is high. Regardless, Xanthos has opportunities for one such as myself.
At the provided dinner before our arrival in the city, I finally met the remainder of the passengers. There were a quartet of merchants, introspective types, three humans and an elf. The other five were more interesting. A man there was, and a dwarf also. An orc too, and two halflings, one of whose red hair seemed oddly familiar. He had a spring-loaded blade on one wrist that he used to eat with, and so I broke the silence at last, asking to see and diagram the blade. He acquiesced, and we traded names, his being Checkers Stirling. Suddenly, I recalled where I'd seen him before. He was the heir to the Whirling & Stirling airship company, the one who'd almost destroyed them through terrible management before being politely told to go away and leave the company to someone competent, the so-called "mad heir". Just my luck, to be saddled with the mad halfling. Happily, the rest of the company was less exciting. The dwarf, Clementine Grimmer, turned out to be a supposed marksman, carrying a pair of dragon-mouthed pistols, and being a generally merry sport. The other halfling spent all of his time winking at and attempting to charm one of the merchants, a woman, and I did not speak with him. I think he gave his name as something typical and banal, Fosco Crumblemuffin I think it was. The human, who also did not introduce himself, ended the meal in an argument with the womanizer over something or other. By this point, I had slipped out to go check on my things.
In the hall to my cabin, I encountered the final passenger, who'd not spoken during our shared meal, the orc warrior. His dress indicated a tribal origin and his speech the same. He gave his name as Agerzad, and he was seeking his grandfather, who had traveled from Xanthos into the Maw, as well. I felt a kinship with this brutish fellow, and though he was simple, I offered my assistance within Xanthos at the least, from kinship alone. He accepted, and we parted ways.
I retrieved my armor, and decided now was a fine time to test my latest creation: the spyglass rifle, a range-enhanced rifle with a spyglass attached for greater accuracy at long distance. As I was firing at some nearby sky snakes (snake-like creatures with leathery wings that were pacing the ship), Agerzad and Clementine both came up on deck to see what the commotion was, and were shocked at the massive suit of steel and leather that was there (for they had not seen the armor, nor did they realize it was me inside). Agerzad recovered quickly, and challenged me to a contest of accuracy on the flock of sky snakes nearby, which Clementine joined in on. In fairness, I offered to only use two shots, while they each could have five.
Clementine fired first, and his claims of marksmanship were quelled, as not only did he miss with every shot, but he did so catastrophically, nearly striking myself and Agerzad several times!
Agerzad shot second with a compound bow, and though he shot well, he too missed completely.
Finally, I stepped up. My first shot, perhaps a poor choice, was using my rapid fire ten shot mounted revolving rifle, or spin rifle as I call it. I fired poorly, sadly, striking only one of the snakes. My second attempt, using a propelled alchemical round from my shoulder launcher, was more successful, taking out three. Agerzad, rightfully so, protested against the spin rifle, and in fairness, I retracted that attempt. Still, I had dropped more of the creatures than he, and so he offered me a prize: a tooth from his third kill, a large bear. As I accepted, something happened we did not intend.
As the human from our meal and the Mad Heir came up on deck to examine the sounds of gunfire, the sky snakes began weaving in a pattern several of us recognized as a glyph used in summoning magic. I panicked, fearing Thomas had caught up to me too soon, and fired a propelled tanglefoot round into the pack, hoping to immobilize them. Sadly, it only got three of them (and the Mad Heir, who was caught by surprise by the explosion of goo), and the rest wheeled to attack.
I defended myself with the weapons of my suit, while the others fought off the creatures with their own skills, Agerzad using a grand axe in broad strokes, the human with a crossbow and skill, Clementine with a pair of pistols at first, and then later a maul, and the other halfling (who had shown up shortly after the others) with charm and grace (needless to say, this was not effective). Just as we were about to take out the last few snakes, their glyph pattern completed, and a massive, ogre-sized version of the snakes appeared before our eyes! It opened its mouth, and a forking bolt of lighting arced out, striking nearly all of us.
Agerzad, to his credit, distracted it and screamed as he fought it, "IRON MAN! SHOOT IT!" So I did, but even though my close-quarters cone burst rifle, or scattergun, is powerful, I did little more than scratch its hide, and it returned the favor before flying off the ship, and around to the bottom of the vessel, where horrible scratching noises began to emanate.
The Mad Heir rushed below to the murderholes in the cargo hold as the rest of us followed his lead (mad he may be, but he knows his airships), where through the holes we saw the following sight. Agerzad had not followed us, instead grasping at a rope, tying it to his waste, and leaping off the side of the Wake so that he might slay the creature in its element. His aim was true and his arm strong, for as he swung down towards it, he all but bisected the beast in a single strike, and though it struck his life line down, the victory was his. Thanks to some quick thinking, a grappling hook and line from Fosco's pack, and my own propellent launcher, we managed to reel the brave and battered orc back in.
We broke there, and each retired to his cabin for some well-deserved rest. Not even to the Mile-High City, and yet, I feel a kinship reserved for battlebrothers with these five.
Ah! The docking alert chimes. We arrive in Xanthos. May the remainder of today be less eventful...
For now,
Nikola Aristar
Chapter One Breakdown
Ok, so, really, not much happened in the first session. We met on the ship, RP'd over some food IC, had a fun contest shooting some wildlife that got pissy and attacked, and then saved the ship from ourselves.
We all had a good time though, so that's good. My personal musing includes the following:
I kinda stole the show a little. I'm going to be toning it back in upcoming sessions (the DM and I already talked, PLEASE don't tell me I'm showboating or something, I already know). :smallwink:
Agerzad is manly as hell, and we all loved it. He literally leapt off a ship with nothing but a rope, an axe, and a smile, and somehow A). lived and B). killed the thing with a clutch crit for like 40+ damage.
The Mad Heir (Checkers Stirling) is hilarious, but useless. Tanglefoot goo removed him from combat entirely, and no one thought to cut him free. Two of us are new players (Clementine and Fosco haven't played before), myself and Agerzad were killing dudes, and Fast Eddie was... well, we'll come to that.
Fast Eddie spent most of the session texting. I think he was preoccupied. That's fine, since he's a good player normally. I'm sure he'll perk up shortly.
Next session is this coming Wednesday. Gonna RAWK.