[5e] [OOC] Chronicles of the Seven Kingdoms: The Secret Heir [Archive]

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dangelo

2023-05-26, 02:16 PM

IC thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?656707-5e-IC-Chronicles-of-the-Seven-Kingdoms-The-Secret-Heir&p=25788564#post25788564)

Thread openingWelcome everyone! So excited to get started with this game. I wanna let you guys know that I try to be as democratic as possible when running games, you can always reach out to me if something bothers you or if you have thoughts on the game. This game should be dense and a bit tricky to run, and sometimes I might tunnel vision and miss things. You are very welcome to remind me if I make a mistake, please!

About the game proper, I'm planning to spread out the story over three chapters. The first part will focus on your arrival in Falconsward, meeting the NPCs and attending the tournament. The second part will feature many few-days or even weekly timeskips between scenes, during which you will follow and be followed, spy and be spied on, and play the game of thrones with subtlety. The third part will be the climax of the conspiration, where your efforts will be proven enough (or not) to suppress the conspirators. This part might get a bit bloody.

But before we start meeting & greeting & being stabbed in the back, I would like to run a Prologue scene: the PCs gathering on the quarterdeck during your voyage to Falconsward. It will be a moment to review your goals, double check what information you already have and to get in character a little bit. Feel free to bring some life into it - how is your character dealing with this mission? Is he excited to get his hands dirty? Is he uncomfortable dealing with real danger? Would he rather solve problems with words or actions? Maybe he's annoyed to be sent to some island in the Narrow Sea? Maybe he's actively looking to build a reputation and is eager to get things done?

If you prefer, we can have this Prologue scene back in King's Landing -- though I don't really wanna bother with NPC interactions before you get to the island.

Regarding resources, I expect your characters to bring a significant amount of household guards, but no family members or retainers. It's a dangerous situation you'll be in so you'd be putting them in danger too.
You are expected to manage your guards carefully, as probably there will be people you'll want to protect, or errands you might want them to run, or children you might wanna fling from bed in the middle of the night to stage a coup in the castle. You know, normal stuff. I'll think about the actual number of guards you should have, but the number itself won't be that important - I'll probably go with something like X "units" of guards, and each unit is a whole bunch of soldiers.
You will also have your ships, horses, jewels, weapons and squires, and your own solar in a tower in Falconsward. Also there will be a tournament to welcome you, so if you have decorated or ceremonial armors, swords, flags and etc, you will have access to them.

About the mission itself: the King's steward invited the PCs to a very discreet meeting in the Red Keep; There, he revealed that somehow King Aerys knows that there might be a conspirator hiding in Falconsward, but wouldn't reveal how he knows that. He was too paranoid to share anything, so the best solution was a low profile operation. For all intents and purposes, you're visiting Falconsward to bring a friendly word from the king and to update the accounts of the realm: how many ships they have, how many mills, horses, acres of land, operating mines, siege weapons... the list goes on and on, and it's quite a boring job, but it gives you a valid reason to sniff around the whole island, if not the whole castle. You're expected to remain there for several weeks or even a few months, and to return to King's Landing with the information without alerting anyone - though you have the explicit permission to execute the conspirator on the spot, in the name of the king, if you need.
--------------------------------------

House Gryffen of Falconsward

Coat of Armshttps://i.imgur.com/ojmwNRy.png
Family Tree
- Lord Harron Gryffon, the Wise Lord of Falconsward, 47

- His wife, Lady Alysanne of House Mallister, 39
- Their children:
- Jareth Gryffon, the Heir of Falconsward, 25
- His wife, Lady Rhea of House Errol, 20
- Their children:
- Harreth Gryffon, a boy of 5
- Arlyn Gryffon, a babe of 4
- Lady Esther Gryffon, a skilled horsewoman and falconer, 19
- Lucas Gryffon, a skilled warrior despite his youth, 16
- Aerys Gryffon, a boy of 13, betrothed
- Harrina Gryffon, a maiden of 10
- Joanne Gryffon, a maiden of 7

- His sister, Lady Isabel Gryffon, 42
- Her husband, Lord Gideon of House Darry, 55
- Their children:
- Ser Corwin Darry, a dashing and charismatic knight, 26
- Lady Gideanne Darry, a skilled archer and huntress, 23
- Her husband, Ser Reynard of House Blackwood, 25
- Their children:
- Harron Blackwood, a boy of 8
- Reynauld Blackwood, a boy of 5
- Mariya Blackwood, a babe of 3
- Amara Darry, known for her intelligence and wit, 19
- Arianne Darry, known as the most beautiful woman in all Falconsward, 17
- Elena Darry, a maiden of 15
- Jon Darry, a boy of 12
- Lucio Darry, a boy of 7

- His sister, Lady Sasha Gryffon, 34
- Her husband, Lord Edric Tarth, 60
- Their children:
- Ser Edric Tarth, 17, betrothed to a maiden of Storm's End
- Susanne Tarth, a maiden of 15
- Richard Tarth, a boy of 12
- Samwell Tarth, a boy of 8

- His brother, Lord Lyonel Gryffon, a halfwit and a madman, 30

- His brother, Lord Cedric Gryffon, 26
- His wife, Lady Jocelyn of House Swann, 20
- Their children:
- Giulian Gryffon, a boy of 5
- Giulianne Gryffon, a babe of 3
- Joceph Gryffon, a babe of 1

- At his court in Falconsward:
- Maester Bertrand, the knowledgeable scholar and advisor to House Gryffon, 75
- Romily Storm, Captain of the Guard and illegitimate daughter of Lord Harron Gryffon, 19
- Ser Garris Staedmon, Master-at-Arms and marshal of Falconsward Island, 40
- Lady Eveline Buckler, a lady-in-waiting to Lady Alysanne, a maiden of 15, betrothed to Aerys Gryffon
- Septa Marianne, the pious spiritual guide of House Gryffon

--------------------------------------

Initial knowledge checks:

AubinErrol: On foot, they are militarily more powerful than House Gryffon. In the sea, they are weaker. In comparison, Errol has slightly more prestige and respect from the Great Houses. Lady Rhea is married to the heir of Falconsward, but her parents are not particularly fond of the Gryffons. They never visit the Islands even for tournaments and namedays.

Blackwood: One of the greatest Houses of the Riverlands, but far less powerful in the Stormlands. Ser Reynard Blackwood was fostered in Storm's End before marrying Lady Gideanne Darry and moving to Falconsward.

Swann: Lord Giulian Swann initally offered his daughter to the heir of Falconsward, Jareth Gryffon. He was seriously offended when Lord Harron suggested the girl should marry his younger brother instead. Giulian accepted the deal, but there has been bad blood between the two families ever since. Lady Jocelyn herself is very close to her husband's relatives, buy her parents speak ill of them to their closest friends.TauronDarry: One of major Houses of the Riverlands, second only to House Tully. They're very close to both Tully and Frey, and traditionally rivals of the Blackwood. It's somewhat uncommon to find descendants of the River Lords occupying positions of privilege in the Stormlands, and the fact that both Darry and Blackwood have married their way into Falconsward seems to indicate a strong bond between the Gryffon and the River Lords.

Staedmon: One of the smallest Lesser Houses in the Stormlands. For Ser Garris to become the marshal of Falconsward brought great honor to the family. Despite Garris not being the first born, his father insists that he should inherit their tiny holdfast located between the Stormlands and the Reach.

Buckler: Particularly fond of the Targaryens, House Buckler is bigger than Staedmon but smaller than Swann and Gryffon. They have an old friendship with House Errol that has been lasting multiple generations. One of their daughters is betrothed to Lord Harron's youngest son, and serves as his wife's lady-in-waiting.PercivalDarry and Blackwood: Being a Frey of the Crossing, you're aware that these are the greatest Houses in the riverlands besides Tully. Currently, Ser Willem Darry is the Master-at-Arms of the Red Keep; You probably know him in-person since you live (or spend a lot of time) in King's Landing. Alyssa Blackwood was the 4th wife of Walder Frey (he just married the 5th a couple of years ago), so your family are in good terms with them. (Also one of Walder's grandsons married/will marry Jeyne Darry, but I'm still figuring out the dates on that one)

Tarth: One of the most relevant powers in the Narrow Sea, and probably among the biggest fleets of Westeros. Lord Edric Tarth, second child, is currently married to Sasha Gryffon. His first wife was a Baratheon woman who died 20~ years ago without giving him any children. He lived in Storm's End for the duration of that marriage, then returned to the Island of Tarth until 17 years ago, when he moved to Falconsward and married Sasha.

Swann: Lord Swann and Lord Gryffon are allies, and fought together in the Siege of Duskendale last year. Lord Swann's daughter is married to Lord Gryffon's brother, though some expected him to marry the girl to the actual heir of Falconsward, Jareth.

Staedmon: Lord Staedmon was so proud when Lord Harron made Ser Garris the marshal of Falconsward, that he disowned his first-born and made Garris, the second son, heir to Staedmon Tower. The young man was outraged by his father's decision and decided to abandon the name of the family. He left and went west, and currently serves as a simple knight in Casterly Rock.

Buckler: Their friendship with House Errol dates from before the Targaryen Conquest. Since House Errol isn't in good terms with the Gryffons, it's rather curious that their old friends would offer them a daughter with so many suitors. Still, it was considered honorable of House Buckler to mediate the conflict between Gryffon and Errol with that marriage. The two are almost of age, and should get married still this year.

Mallister: Many of the Storm Lords wanted to wed their daughters to the heir of Falconsward. When Harron's father was to choose a him wife, instead of picking a small province to strengthen the bonds with neighbors, he went to a tournament in Seagard and won the favour of Lord Mallister, and asked to marry his daughter. Later, He visited Seagard with Harron and Alysanne many times again.

Bobthewizard

2023-05-26, 02:58 PM

https://i.imgur.com/rcm70Mj.jpg
Tauron Greyjoy (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2794049)
Half-elf Ranger 2/Rogue 4
AC: 18 HP: 53/53 PP: 18 PIv: 13 PIs: 18
HD: 2/2d10, 4/4d8, Conditions: none
Favored Foe: 3/3 LR
Combat Superiority: 4/4 SR
Tauron checks on his men, happy with the way they are helping out on the ship. He helps where he can, but his crew's honor won't let a noble do much of the manual labor, so instead he helps with navigation and course setting, which he is exceptional at. He's spent his whole life on ships. On the sea, on rivers, and in port. Not only did he grow up in the Iron Islands, he spent two years of his youth sailing with the Summer Folk (https://gameofthrones.fandom.com/wiki/Summer_Islands?so=search) far to the south, although he still prefers his longship to the swan ships they sail.

Once he is satisfied that his men are well cared for, behaving, and contributing, he returns to his friends in the mess hall. Percival and Aubin are both there. They fall into their usual routine. Sometimes speaking or laughing out loud, but mostly talking in Aubin's sign language. Tauron learned it to better communicate with his interesting friend, but has now found it to be a good way to pass secrets among the group.

He reviews the names they were given in the Red Keep of the people who currently reside in Falconsward.

"Who do you both think it might be? But more importantly, who do you think might be backing them? No one on this list could take down the King's Guard alone."

Natural terrain is water, so can't get lost except by magic.
If Animorte joins, I could add his character to this post.

dangelo

2023-05-26, 03:15 PM

Took the liberty of using your post to kick off the IC thread (https://forums.giantitp.com/showthread.php?656707-5e-IC-Chronicles-of-the-Seven-Kingdoms-The-Secret-Heir&p=25788564#post25788564) :smallsmile:

Stone-Ears

2023-05-26, 05:48 PM

Prior to meeting Tauron in the mess hall:

Aubin has a small meeting with his guardsmen, The Voiceless - so named because all of them are either Deaf or Mute and thus do not speak. They are the highly trained guardsmen that Aubin travelled far and wide to recruit because as one of the few Mute and Deaf in a position of power, he desired to give most of them a better life than they were leading before. Most of the Voiceless were amongst the poorest of the poor and lived in horrible conditions until Aubin came along and offered them a new home on his estate in exchange for their loyalty and protection. As a result, his men would follow him to the very ends of the world if he had so asked them to. After yet another day of the same old reports from his Guardsmen "All Good" and the conclusion of their meeting, Aubin instructed his Guardsmen to offer any assistance necessary and if there is nothing that they can do to help aboard the ship, they were to tend to their equipment and keep them clean and in tip-top condition as Aubin refused to have his guardsmen lacking in comparison to other Noble Guardsmen. A particular note of pride the Voiceless have in their gear is the Gold Skeletal Hand that covers the area over the mouth on their helmet as they prided themselves on being a part of Aubin's unit and it is often the cleanest and shiniest part of their uniform.

Aubin then walked slowly back to the mess hall, deep in thought and hardly believing the opportunity that he has for his family. The King's Steward has recently asked him to embark on a trip to Falconsward. He worries about there being a conspirator and refuses to reveal how he came about the information, which troubles Aubin a bit because he cannot determine the reliability of the source. Despite his misgivings, Aubin could not refuse the King's Steward and pass up an opportunity to represent his family - both the Oldflowers, who have long been a minor noble house, and the Redwyne family - and possibly make an incredible impression on the King and his Steward, opening up fresh opportunities for the Redwyne family for power and influence and possibly more business for the family too.

The charge was simple enough - gather all the information you can about Falconsward and its people and report back to the King's Steward. But the trick of it is to keep it all low-key and subtle. Aubin will have to be careful not to betray the fact that he's gathering information for the King, but Aubin believes this should not be a problem because he has many other reasons to be at Falconsward. Aubin is looking forward to the tournament, which he hopes to participate in. He wonders about the talent of the competitors that will be there, will Aubin be competitive or will he be absolutely demolished by his opponents? Aubin is an able fighter but there are many knights who are much better and have made a career out of tournaments.

Aubin plans to attempt to do his best in the tournament, make friends amongst the fighters themselves and see what they will reveal freely to Aubin. Aubin was granted permission from the Redwyne Head to take some of the wines and to distribute them at Falconsward in an effort to make some more sales of their wine and to continue to market Arbor wine as the best in all of Westeros. Aubin thinks the wine will loosen some lips that may not want to be loosened and he hopes that at least one of his companions can take advantage of the inebriated states of the people in Falconsward.

Besides that, Aubin is hoping to meet with the Horse Masters of Falconsward and to see if they could teach him anything about horsemanship since the Gryffon family is known to be legendary horsemen with a connection to their beasts like no other. Some have described them as being one with the beasts and Aubin desperately wants to see this in action.

Aubin arrives in the mess hall, just before Tauron did and takes a seat before he is later joined by his companions. Aubin enjoys that his new friends have quickly learned AVSL, especially when they realized its tactical merits on this trip. Aubin was happy to practice with them anytime as it helped the time to go by much quicker. He ponders Tauron's question before answering:

"I got a few theories but I've no way to prove any of it yet, so please take my words with a grain of some salt. Falconsward is chock full of noble families from the area, including a few that I am familiar with.

Now I did some research, a lady of House Errol is married to the heir of Falconsward, which I thought was interesting, namely because if I ain't mistaken, House Errol ain't really an Island kind of family. I looked up their coat of arms and it's a Haystack of all things. Their strengths lie in their agriculture and their land. They've got a decent size military on land but jack squat in terms of a Navy. So I gotta wonder, if House Gryffon has the opposite problem. Do they have a great navy but little to no experience in combat on land? If so, then that might explain why Harron chose to go with Jocelyn as opposed to the Swann's family daughter, who was also eligible at the time.

Now I only know that because my wife is friends with one of the Swann family nobles and she's told me that her friend bemoans that her family does nothing but constantly fret over failed opportunities to move up in wealth, influence and power as the Head is obsessed with it. A missed marriage he mentions often is the marriage to the Heir of Falconsward. He instead had to marry off his daughter to Harron's younger brother. In my opinion, the Swann family needs to hush up about that. They don't even realize how lucky they are to have the opportunity to join almost any royal family they want, should there be an eligible bachelor amongst their allies or neutral parties or sometimes even their enemies. For the longest time, my family was denied even that opportunity since none of the great houses really want to recognize the legitimacy of a Bastard line.

Besides that, I only know 2 other families from the list - Blackwood and Darry.

This is me attempting to use my advantage (which is supposed to be based on prior history)on the Darry family to convey wrong/VERY general information. If this is considered metagaming, just let me know and I will attempt to stop this in the future
The Darry family, I'm not real worried about. From my friends in that family, I'm fairly certain they would suck the fart out of the King's behind if he so asked them to.

The Blackwoods are a hauntingly beautiful family and I've fond memories of them from my youth prior to my wife. But as beautiful as they are, one would always be wise to be cautious of them.

However, of all the folks I've listed, I think the Errol family would be a good place to start. The marriage between Gryffon and Errol, could pose a threat to the King due to the size of their land-based military.

But as to your question on who would back them.....I don't know but I don't like the way they're thinking. If there really are conspirators, it would seem they are trying to strengthen their forces with political marriages.

dangelo

2023-05-26, 09:57 PM

I don't believe you're metagaming, no :smallsmile: your post looks good to me. (although it would be helpful to put all OOC information behind a spoiler tag for clarity)

Had a lot of fun picturing the hand signs for proper nouns in Westeros lol. I took a Brazilian Sign Language class in college, and I remember we had case-by-case conventions for proper nouns - for example, my "name" was the hand sign of my initial mixed with the gesture of "long hair", because I had really long hair. My friend's was just the sign for "pretty", because she was really pretty. So in my class, everyone knew that "D" and "long hair" was me, and that "pretty" was her, and so on. It was much quicker than spelling out our entire names every time someone needed to mention us. I imagine that, up to now, there was no specific sign for "Falconsward", so your characters must have quickly determined it's "proper sign" for practical reasons. Probably something involving birds and castles? :smallbiggrin:

I fully encourage you guys to use ASVL naturally and fluently. Sign languages can be very complex, and though things like commas or accents might make less sense, it features much more body language and visual communication than regular speech. ASVL is a complete language developed by Maesters and scholars, with all it entails, so it should allow for very quick-paced and complex communication (once you're fluent).

Stone-Ears

2023-05-27, 03:55 PM

Yeah in ASL as well! Proper Nouns are case by case and having an agreed upon sign for Falconsward would save our characters from Fingerspelling everything (which is also harder to read since it heavily relies on your ability to spell accurately)

I'm looking forward to seeing its use throughout the game as well as how people would react to it

dangelo

2023-05-29, 04:31 PM

Hope this little delay doesn't drag things out too much for you guys. I don't wanna get too ahead and risk making other potential players feel left out. I might be overthinking this a little bit, so do let me know if you'd prefer to maintain momentum (since dragging things out can be dangerous for pbp) and move forward. Thoughts?

Bobthewizard

2023-05-29, 06:08 PM

I'm fine with drawing out this scene a little longer both to give others time to join and to let us get to know each other better.

animorte

2023-05-29, 06:14 PM

That works for myself as well. Character development and building relationships!

dangelo

2023-05-30, 09:43 AM

Glad to know. I'll keep making in-between posts for flavor and narrative, and occasional npcs who might drop by.

Checking out the original inspiration for this accounting mission (the Domesday Book (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesday_Book), from the XI century) I'm also gonna add livestock and potion materials (rare herbs and solutions for the local Maester) to the things you must count in Falconsward. If you guys thinks of something else that should be relevant for this account, do let me know and we'll include it.

Bobthewizard

2023-05-31, 08:01 AM

Tauron's leadership on the ship is commendable...

What is this post?

animorte

2023-05-31, 08:27 AM

What is this post?
You beat me to this question. I checked the name and that's the only post on that account. I think we're still waiting for two people to join in (?), and that wasn't either of them.

Odd, indeed.

dangelo

2023-05-31, 11:42 AM

I dont see it - was it deleted already? Maybe someone logged in the wrong account or something?

Bobthewizard

2023-05-31, 11:43 AM

I dont see it - was it deleted already? Maybe someone logged in the wrong account or something?

It's been deleted. It was weird. It was a summary of the IC so far from Tauron's perspective.

@Mrfaann if you want some guidance on getting started on GITP, I'd be happy to help. DM me here if you want.

animorte

2023-05-31, 12:24 PM

I reported it shortly after seeing it and looking into it.

Yeah, it was just a rephrasing of Tauron's (Bob's) complete opening post.

dangelo

2023-05-31, 12:28 PM

Well, hoping Mrfaann will join the server and the game properly :smallbiggrin:

Idk man, these days I always expect these things to be IA collecting data from our replies. I know I'm probably paranoid, but who knows.

dangelo

2023-06-01, 05:27 AM

Small update while we wait:

House Gryffen Coat of Arms

https://i.imgur.com/ojmwNRy.png

Edit P.S.: Made with DrawShield.net (https://drawshield.net). Good stuff.

animorte

2023-06-01, 12:19 PM

I like the coat of arms! Speaking of a bit of artwork:

An appearance has been made on Hero Forge by Lord Percival Frey (https://www.heroforge.com/load_config%3D40469525/)

I don't know if I'm completely happy with that, so might make some minor adjustments. Managed to get a blue tower on the shield! And the blue brings out his eyes. :smallwink:

dangelo

2023-06-01, 08:18 PM

Percival is looking good! A true nobleman from the Riverlands.

I suddenly have the urge to make some of the Gryffen in Hero Forge too :smallbiggrin:

Bobthewizard

2023-06-02, 07:01 AM

Nice job with both the crest and the hero forge.

Stone-Ears

2023-06-04, 08:36 AM

The Shield Draw site is pretty fricking cool! Next time, I'll have to come up with a simpler coat of arms. I tried to simplifiy it to where the Oldflower 10 Hands would be on 1 half on vert field whilst the Grapes would be on the other half on a gules or argent field (hadn't decided which looks better) but that is currently beyond my blazonry capabilities.

Percival is also looking great! I've never used HeroForge before, is it free to just create the online model or do you still have to have a kind of a subscription or something?

dangelo

2023-06-04, 12:21 PM

I've been crazy about heraldry since I got into fantasy as a kid. I specifically remember a friend telling me that metal colors (gold, silver) could only "touch" tincture colors (azure, vert, etc) because of the rules of heraldry or something. Of course many european historical shields didn't follow those rules themselves :smallbiggrin:

IC thread:

To preserve game flow during play-by-post, in most conversations I'll only post after everyone's "turn". As we go forward though, we'll have more chaotic social scenes (specially in feasts and other events with lots of npcs around where you can spread out and mingle) and in these situations posting will be more organic, according to the flow of the conversation.

Also bonus EXP for using proper royal titles lol (I'm kidding, there's no EXP)

dangelo

2023-06-06, 08:45 AM

So I was checking the numbers given in the novels and it seems like Ned Stark brought around 70-100 men to King's Landing in AGOT. Keeping in mind that these are just household guards, not an army for war, and that Ned had to keep both his daughters safe in King's Landing, I'd say that each of you guys would have taken around 20 men to Falconsward (not counting squires/personal assistants of any kind, just men-at-arms). More than that would raise suspicion, since you aren't bringing along any family members or retainers who need safekeeping.

20 should be enough to allow you to play around Falconsward. The bare minimum for you own safety would be 1 man from each to guard your shared chambers, although 2 from each are recommended (so you can have 2 at the door, 2 at the bottom of the stairs (mingling with Gryffen guards) and 2 patrolling the hallways adjacent to your chambers), or even 3 from each if you wanna be super cautious.

Keep in mind though: these are soldiers, not retainers. They don't know about the conspiracy, and they won't accept shady tasks like spying on someone or investigating something suspicious. They will, however, gladly die for you if necessary.

Examples of things they can do:
- Patrol a specific area of the castle/island, and tell you who they saw there
- Stand guard in a specific spot
- Follow you around anywhere you go
- Follow someone else around anywhere they go
- Seize or kill anyone

As always, open to suggestion (:

Edit: I forgot to add! Standing guard requires daytime and nighttime shifts, so multiply everything by 2. If you leave 6 guards by your door, count that as 12 (or make the night shift smaller, if you want...)

animorte

2023-06-10, 09:18 PM

Percival is also looking great! I've never used HeroForge before, is it free to just create the online model or do you still have to have a kind of a subscription or something?
Thanks! Yeah, with an account you can make whatever you want for free. You can choose to buy the miniatures in basic white, full color, or metallic (and of various sizes). I've never bought anything, just made over 20 characters on it by this point.

Weren't there 3 people before I joined in? That would have made it 4. What happened to the other?

dangelo

2023-06-10, 10:28 PM

We actually had 2 other candidates who seemed engaged with the project, but never heard back from them. So I decided to start the game with only 3 players because stalling too much is usually very detrimental to PbP, and it would be a pity to waste all the potential we have here.

Still, if they resurface, I'd still be willing to add their characters to the campaign. Like maybe their voyage was delayed by a storm or something. But at this point I wouldn't hold my breath.

Stone-Ears

2023-06-12, 03:29 PM

I wouldn't mind more additions but I think we would have to keep updating the recruiting if we wanted any more players to join. It might help to update the recruitment post with each of our character sheets and we can type a very brief blurb about our character that would help newbies know how they can best synergize with us

dangelo

2023-06-12, 06:57 PM

I don't specifically need more players; Three is already gonna be tricky to handle once you start splitting off and being in different places at the same time :smallbiggrin: But also I'm not against having one or two more players.

dangelo

2023-06-13, 06:00 AM

@bob Sorry, I missed your OOC question: Yes, Lord Harron did give you bread and salt (even though I overlooked that when writing my posts, sorry!) meaning he can't to anything against any of you without breaking the tradition of hospitality and losing all his honor.

Also @stone-ears and @animorte, please roll the appropriate dice for your performance to the crowd.

-10: Regular result, nothing super impressive
11-14: A few hoorays and huurrahs. They might remember you.
15-18: People get up from their seats to watch you properly. They will remember you.
19-20+: Noblemen and smallfolk love your performance. You win the favor of the crowd.

animorte

2023-06-13, 07:14 AM

It might help to update the recruitment post with each of our character sheets and we can type a very brief blurb about our character that would help newbies know how they can best synergize with us
Not a bad idea.

Also...

Ah, what a satisfying performance roll! My boy, Percival, making me proud! :smallbiggrin:

Stone-Ears

2023-06-13, 10:21 AM

Not a bad idea.

Also...

Ah, what a satisfying performance roll! My boy, Percival, making me proud! :smallbiggrin:

Hah! I'm glad you're doing well on the performance. I decided to do 2 rolls that made sense to me based on what I wanted to do.

I had an animal handling check (Nat 20 with a +9 modifier) so my handling of Muet is FLAWLESS.

But when I rolled the performance, I guess nobody was real impressed with what I did because I rolled a Nat 1 with a +4 Modifier.

WHAT IS LIFE!!!!

animorte

2023-06-13, 12:41 PM

Stone-Ears

2023-06-13, 02:15 PM

Either that or Muet must have been dropping gifts much like your typical horse might during a parade. :smalleek:

Speaking of which, I meant to add in the actual details of my his performance. Will do.

Hah, If I could flavor my own failure, I'd probably go with the fact that since Falconsward is already a STRONG Equestrian Island, a horse that obeys its master in a familiar language to it isn't really any more or less impressive than what they are accustomed to seeing from their own knights who have raised the standard for Equestrian performance. The crowd did not see anything that it hadn't seen before and thus Aubin remains largely unnoticed in his performance despite a near flawless handling of his own horse.

However, I think this actually sets Percival up for even more greatness. What if Aubin went first, didn't really manage to impress and the Crowd was starting to think the King's Emissaries are nothing special and then Percival comes along and just fricking enthralls the crowd with his performance and they have completely, utterly forgot Aubin's performance even though it was OK (unless Dangelo wants to do something in honor of the Nat 1, which could be fun to come up with why Aubin's performance fell flat)

animorte

2023-06-13, 04:06 PM

I like the way you think. It's amazing how fast spread your 2 rolls were.

dangelo

2023-06-14, 07:30 AM

That is a great way to describe your results :smallsmile:
Also a natural 1 won't mean all that much in this particular roll; Any result between 1 and 10 is just not super impressive.

animorte

2023-06-14, 07:23 PM

I'm going to roll some Acrobatics to go along with his performance. Here's hoping it goes well! Either way, his Performance should make for entertaining recovery.

Acrobatics: [roll0]

:smallamused: Haha, as expected!

dangelo

2023-06-16, 01:31 AM

The Tournament of Falconsward has officially begun, and with it, a good number of skill checks. In this case, for the Archery Event, roll a simple Dexterity + Proficiency (since you're all proficient with longbows)

-10: Poor
11-14: Average
15-18: Good
19+: Outstanding

To make things interesting, each of you will receive one "Glory" to use in the tournament. Using Glory will give you advantage in one Event.

Events

First day:
Archery
Falconry

Second day:
Sailing (individual)
Rowing (teams of 3)

Third day:
Skirmishes (3v3)
Duels (1v1)

Fourth day:
Jousts
Melee (free-for-all)

You may one of the 8 events to spend Glory.

Bobthewizard

2023-06-16, 05:41 AM

Tauron archery: [roll0]

animorte

2023-06-16, 12:43 PM

I'll go ahead and roll the first day.

Percival!
Archery: [roll0]
Falconry: [roll1]

And currently debating between Skirmish, Duel, and Free-For-All to place that Glory. More than likely the final event.

Stone-Ears

2023-06-16, 04:03 PM

Here goes nothing, I hope for a good roll

[roll0]

Edit: Am I CURSED!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? !??!?!?!~??!?!?!?!?!??!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Stone-Ears

2023-06-16, 04:07 PM

Eff it, I'm a use the Glory for the Archery event. It's literally Aubin's entire thing and SURELY. SURELY. SURELY I'm not rolling another fricking Nat 1

[roll0]

EDIT: Now THAT's more like it.

Now for the Archery Event, does Glory apply to each of the shots or just the first one?

dangelo

2023-06-16, 04:39 PM

@animorte
Falconsward will gladly lend you a hawk so you can compete - but flying a bird you don't know plus not having experience in Falconry means the DC will be a little higher than normal.

@Stone-Ears
Very nice. Don't worry, this check covers your whole Archery performance. Aubin got the highest result of the competition :smallsmile:

animorte

2023-06-16, 04:40 PM

Eff it, I'm a use the Glory for the Archery event. It's literally Aubin's entire thing and SURELY. SURELY. SURELY I'm not rolling another fricking Nat 1
I think this was an excellent decision! Well done :smallbiggrin:

And Percival's not too worried about how well the rolls are in anything except melee combat, especially if he can just fail with flair.

dangelo

2023-06-17, 04:26 PM

You can either withdraw to your solar or hang around the arena (if you wanna interact with any of the competitors)

Let me know so we can proceed (:

dangelo

2023-06-25, 01:56 PM

I'm compiling a list of scenes we "have to have" and scenes we can just glance over. Would like everyone's input in this as we go forward!

Story progression:

- Arrival at Falconsward (full scene)
- Meeting Lord Harron (summarized)
- Tournament, first day (full scene)
- After the tournament, first day
--- Aubin talks to Esther (full scene)
--- Tauron talks to Harron's siblings (summarized? full scene?)

@Bobthewizard and @animorte, is there anything you particularly wanna do before we skip to the next scenes?

- Sailboat race (full scene)
- Rowboat race (summarized)
- Duels (full scene)
- After the tournament, second day (summarized)
- Jousts (full scene?)
- After the tournament, third day (summarized?)
- Melee (full scene? summarized?)
- Feast at the end of the tourney

When we summarize a scene, you can just tell me what your character will be doing or prioritizing in that scene.

The feast will conclude the first arc of the story. From then on, I'll let go of your hand and the campaign will become more open-ended: You will have full autonomy on "What to do next?" and NPCs will follow their own agendas. By then you will most likely have a better idea of the inner workings of Falconsward and will be able to come up with a list of suspects. From there, we just play the game of thrones. :smallamused:

Bobthewizard

2023-06-26, 07:15 PM

@animorte, are you still here? If so, I'd like to ask if we can slow things down so they can catch up. While I understand not wanting to lose momentum, I'd prefer to let them post before we move forward. I like games where everyone posts, then the DM, then everyone again, with occasional small DM posts if needed.

dangelo

2023-06-26, 08:17 PM

I'm okay with waiting, though I'd like to express that I don't personally believe anyone is falling behind, and I apologize if I made anyone feel that way - Since we've been waiting for the whole group to manifest before moving past the first day of the Tourney, and the PCs split up into solo scenes, I just thought there would be no harm to optimize our time. I do believe it's a matter of time until we have more split scenes.

Hoping to hear from animorte soon!

animorte

2023-06-30, 09:07 PM

Oh, yes. My apologies! Got a bit caught up in the homebrew contests and UA.

Percival would have struck up some general conversation with anyone who made particularly "out-of-the-box" attempts during tournament. He's all about the performance, not the results (within reason). Nothing too in-depth though, especially not for the first day. Neither of the two are even remotely near his areas of expertise.

dangelo

2023-07-01, 01:39 AM

No worries, and thanks for the heads up! I believe we should move on to the second day.

I've been struggling to find the right balance between slow-and-steady and efficiency-efficiency-efficiency, and I appreciate Bob pointing out the DM/Players pacing. Please let me out if there are scenes you'd like to extend a bit, or scenes we should skip, or anything like that.

I believe we should start the next scene during the final preparations for the sailboat race. The rest of the day is probably not worthy of entire dedicated scenes, unless you guys wanna focus more on that. Also let me know if there are any specific NPCs you'd like to interact with at this moment.

Bobthewizard

2023-07-01, 05:42 AM

Stone-Ears

2023-07-07, 09:24 AM

Since I've had my full scene with Esther and I've already got my character in his bedchambers just reviewing notes of the day for himself, I am ready to move to Day 2 when everyone else is.

It should be interesting!

Now that the Holidays is over until Halloween (barring any religious holidays one may observe), we might have a bit better luck finding the groove for our story, pacing, and posting

dangelo

2023-07-07, 10:10 AM

I have the feeling we exhausted Tauron's dialogue with Alysanne, but I'll wait for Bob's input

Now I kinda wish I hadn't started with the tournament right away :smallbiggrin: but since we're already here lets roll with it

dangelo

2023-07-10, 11:06 AM

I believe this silence means we can move forward. Will find some time to post is today. @Bob let me know if you still wanna fish for clues with Alysanne.

Bobthewizard

2023-07-10, 02:15 PM

I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to have to drop out. RL has hit me in the head.

Stone-Ears

2023-07-12, 12:37 PM

I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to have to drop out. RL has hit me in the head.

Dang, sorry to hear that.

I hope everything ends up in your favor

dangelo

2023-07-14, 08:17 PM

Sorry about the delay. This was a full week.

@Bob I'm sorry to hear that, and I hope all goes well on your side.
Additionally, if things come around and you find yourself willing to come back to the game, we'll have a spot for you.

@everyone I have one friend who wants to join the game, and/or we could recruit one more from the thread to keep the 3 players format. However, I wouldn't mind to keep this going with two players.

Everyone on board with moving forward with a revival post to the recruiting thread?

animorte

2023-07-14, 08:24 PM

Everyone on board with moving forward with a revival post to the recruiting thread?
Sounds good!

dangelo

2023-07-17, 08:38 AM

So I'm still figuring out how to introduce a new character... I think I might have to ask you guys to be lenient and handwave some of the inconsistencies.

We have two options:

1. The new PC arrives late. Because of reasons, not all emissaries of the mad king arrived took the same ship to Falconsward Island, and so the other PC will only get there on day 2 or day 3.

2. The new PC was there all along, and we just pretend they were always there.

My personal opinion is that number 1 is best, but I wanna listen your thoughts on the matter
@animorte @Stone-Ears

Also -- let's keep the IC thread moving so we won't suffer even further with this dropout! If you don't know what to do, just make casual conversation and roleplay a bit, or ask me and I'll clarify if there's something confusing about the scene!

animorte

2023-07-17, 11:25 AM

Agreed with option 1

Stone-Ears

2023-07-18, 09:06 AM

dangelo

2023-07-18, 12:11 PM

Okay, let's do this.

Everyone, let's welcome @Infernally Clay and @Eldariel into The Secret Heir! They both put a lot of effort in being a part of the game, so I think they're gonna fit in just fine. When I started this campaign, I was looking for players who had this passionate and creative vibe, and I'm glad I was able to approve a total of 5 players into the campaign. Let's write awesome stories together (:

Branda and Uthred are gonna need some time-space distortion to make a smooth transition into the story; Here's what is being retconned:

- Branda and Uthred were always part of the operation. That means they were present in the meeting with the steward of the king, when the mission was secretly assigned to your fellowship.

- Aubin, Percival, Branda and Uthred (and Tauron) either spend a good deal of time in King's Landing or live there; They know each other and have worked together in the past, and possibly fought together under Tywin Lannister and Ser Barristan the Bold during the Defiance of Duskendale, just six months ago. This is an intrigue campaign, but for practical reasons we need the party to have a sense of trust among themselves.

- Branda and Uthred were always supposed to arrive late. They left King's Landing the day after the meeting and sailed to Storm's End, where they met the Lord Steward under Steffon Baratheon. He gave them the outdated accounts of Falconsward Island, to be compared with the new ones; Those include grain, livestock, ships, mills, acres of crops, mines, horses, siege weapons, trained soldiers, military gear and potion materials. They had to linger in Storm's End for a few days because of a storm that made it impossible to sail from there to Falconsward. Conveniently, this storm did not affect the route King's Landing x Falconsward and the first group arrived on time

From now on, Tauron Greyjoy will assume a secondary role in the story. As a favor to House Gryffen, he will take some of Harron's men and sail the waters surroundings Falconsward, teaching them how to be good seamen. I wouldn't feel comfortable playing Bob's character as an NPC, and I can't really get rid of him in any sensible manner,
so casting him to the background sounds like the best idea.

Aubin and Uthred certainly know each other, as both have attended numerous tournaments around the Reach every year. And more: both are master archers, specialized in that weapon and with similar levels of expertise, although very different styles. Percival is also a tourney man, and since the Riverlands are just next to the Reach, there's a high chance the three have ran into one another several times in that context.

Branda I'm assuming you brought your wolf in a cage, like the one we see Robb Stark keeping Grey Wind in during his campaigns? Once inside the castle, he could be accomodated in some empty tower (if chained) or in your own quarters, if he's docile enough. No one's gonna empty his chamberpot tho :smallbiggrin:

I think that's all! Working on the IC intro now.

Infernally Clay

2023-07-18, 12:34 PM

Hi guys, I'll be playing Branda Stark. She's a woman of few words but decisive action. Her direwolf companion, Dorren, goes with her everywhere and if anything happens to him she'll kill herself and then everyone else (you get a cookie if you get the reference).

Branda I'm assuming you brought your wolf in a cage, like the one we see Robb Stark keeping Grey Wind in during his campaigns? Once inside the castle, he could be accomodated in some empty tower (if chained) or in your own quarters, if he's docile enough. No one's gonna empty his chamberpot tho :smallbiggrin:

I think that's all! Working on the IC intro now.

If you tried putting Dorren in a cage, it ain't the wolf that'll growl at you. :amused:

If you want to have Dorren put in a cage I'm sure I can work around that but it's something that I don't think would happen very often. If a giant wolf wandering freely with his master is making people uncomfortable and on edge, then it's working as expected.

dangelo

2023-07-18, 01:04 PM

I was more worried about sea travel - animals get very agitated and scared if they're put in a ship, and there's no other way to get to Falconsward. Even a well-trained dog might disbobey its master if its stressed, angry, scared, agitated, etc. Since a full-grown direwolf can easily kill a man in a single bite, even if he's trained to always stay by Branda's heel, it's not 100% guaranteed he will always be docile, at least not while its trapped inside a ship.

Once at Falconsward, do keep in mind it would be unpractical to leave Darren free to roam the castle; Those who live there will not feel safe, and the lord of the castle would immediately ask you to keep it either in your quarters or chained somewhere, or straight up outside the castle in the woods, if you wanna leave him free. Refusing such request would be not only impolite but also disrespectful, because everyone will think you are putting the lives of others in danger, even if you aren't -- I don't think Darren would attack anyone if it's not streesed/angry/afraid etc, but we can't expect southernerns to understand the bond between a Stark and a Direwolf!

So it doesn't have to be a cage :smallbiggrin: But Branda is the guest here, so I believe some adaptation might be necessary

-------------

Btw! There's something else that's important but I forgot!

@Infernally Clay and @Eldariel, it would be nice if both of you picked up Arbor Vineyard Sign Language proficiency. AVSL is a sign language that was elaborated by Maesters and scholars after Aubin married into House Redwyne, and thought it's only spoken by a handful of people, your characters could have picked it up over the years they worked alongside Aubin in King's Landing. It's also useful for silent communication. Aubin can read lips fluently and vocalize and speak well (@Stone-Ears correct me if I'm wrong!) but AVSL makes for more natural communication.

Infernally Clay

2023-07-18, 02:01 PM

Oh sure I can work with that. I'd imagine she might have spent a lot of time below deck while they sailed to Falconsward. I thought you meant in the general sense of caging Dorren and that's not something either Dorren nor Branda would enjoy.

I do however like the idea that Dorren is roaming freely in the woods nearby, catching his own food and hanging around outside the castle. You can maybe slip in some details about how the guards watching the woods always notice there's something watching them and that's how they know Branda is nearby, almost as if her direwolf would leap the wall and rush to Branda's side if she called. Perhaps the lord of the castle, despite not necessarily understanding the bond between Stark and direwolf, has ordered that no harm is to come to Dorren while he takes up residence in the woods?

I'll make a note of the sign language as well.

dangelo

2023-07-18, 02:14 PM

Infernally Clay

2023-07-18, 02:50 PM

Sure! Thanks for leaning into it :smallsmile: However there's something I must rectify: I mentioned earlier that House Gryffen is famous for the strong bonds they form with their animals, particularly hawks, horses and hounds. I was initally drawing inspiration from all the issues the Stark kids went through because they wanted to keep their direwolves around but everyone was afraid of them, but I think the Gryffens might be more open-minded on that matter. It might be okay for Darren to tag along Branda within the castle yard (maybe not in the dining room :smallbiggrin:) and it might actually evoke a sense of respect from the locals. Sorry I was too quick to rule it out.

Perhaps we can simply establish boundaries outside of the buildings themselves. No giant dogs inside the castle please, unless summoned on official business (because then it looks impressive). Dorren can often keep to the woods and forests, hunting for food or simply relaxing under a tree, but is never seen too far from his master and she is never too far from him either.

Eldariel

2023-07-20, 04:52 AM

Hey there! I'm really happy to be on board: this looks like a really interesting campaign and I'm quite enthusiastic to see where this goes. I'm still working out some minutiae with character history but I'm pretty close to done (turns out Maester proficiencies are ridiculously broad so I'm having some trouble playing around with the skills and other proficiencies). Then I'll just read up on the operation thus far and I'm good to go! And AVSL proficiency is in: Uthred is from Hightower anyways so it's not at all unlikely for him to have learnt it around the place and during the party interaction.

So I'm playing Uthred Hightower, a cousin to Ser Gerold Hightower of Kingsguard, son to Jostein Highgarde and his Lysene wife, Lady Lysana Highgarden; he's a skilled archer and a former Citadel acolyte, broadly informed on topics ranging from esoteric to mundane. A bit of a restless soul, he's had many, many pursuits over the years, never settling for a single thing aside from archery, which has been carried over with the years. One of his greatest strengths is his oratory abilities and ability to inspire others to exceed themselves though. He's definitely familiar with Aubin from way back; they're of almost the same age and have a common interest in archery and both have toured tourneys in the area.

Here is what I have on the sheet thus far (https://www.myth-weavers.com/sheet.html#id=2814683) - story is on a separate file since I'm still ironing out some kinks, but hoping to get it sorted out today!

dangelo

2023-07-21, 08:16 AM

Welcome to the game, Eldariel! Uthred is looking good so far. I'm eager to see him in action.

A little about my DMing style: I avoid prompting players to minimize railroading; However, that also means the campaign is player-based, so the story depends 100% on your actions. There will be no clear hooks, no right choice and no right way to approach a situation.

Just saying this cause the IC thread is looking a bit dead, and sometimes players don't post because they dont know what to say, or don't have anything particularly important to add - please make an effort to post either way. Show a little of your character's mannerisms, make jokes, mention things from your past... PbP is all about flavor.

Hoping to hear from you all (:

Eldariel

2023-07-22, 01:09 AM

Sorry to keep you waiting all waiting! I had some things I wanted to iron out in the description and the story, but I seem to be about done (the character sheet has been updated). I didn't write in Aubin and the others, since I figure we should probably communally figure out, where and how these characters have interacted, but I think it's safe to say we've known for a long while and we are on at least warm terms with one another.

I had to read through the game thus far. So we're basically in the middle of the tournament arc and arriving late. I think I'm good to go; I'll read up on the IC thread once more, and see if I could get a post up myself :) Just to be clear, I assume we arrive with our personal retinue and servants, as befits our status?

I also would like to learn what Uthred already knows based on his extensive studies of history (using Tactical Assessment to add 1d8 to the History-roll if applicable), and know what he can learn during the boat trip; matching the report he received from the Lord Stewart at Storm's End, of course. What should I roll and where? I didn't see a die roll thread yet.

Either way, he's especially interested in any deeper information on the persons of note [special attention to Maester Bertrand], notable past actions of the house and whose sides they have taken in the recent history, etc.

dangelo

2023-07-22, 04:55 PM

It's really rewarding to bring something to the players and see them taking it in consideration! Loving to see the new energy in the IC thread. I'm excited to see where this story will take us!

@Elariel
Don't worry about the timing - we're all making adjustments.

Yes, you arriving in Falconsward with a modest entourage: two dozen guards and a personal squire, plus maybe a groom, herald or singer if your House is particularly healthy and wants to show off. I mentioned before how managing your household guards will become vital in the second part of the story (I'll include the details in the main post)

At the beginning of the campaign, I asked everyone to roll one History check for each of he noble families present in Falconsward, to determine what you already know about them. You and @Infernally Clay can certainly do that!

Infernally Clay

2023-07-22, 07:45 PM

Then... A history check it is!

[roll0]

Can I also roll an insight check to see what sort of read Branda gets on the people she has met so far? Do they seem earnest or does Branda feel like she should be on guard here?

[roll1]

When I said Branda was good at reading people I didn't mean THAT good but... I'll take it.

Eldariel

2023-07-22, 08:13 PM

Alright! I found the die roll thread by Stone-Ears, but that's been abandoned for a while, so I'll just roll here pending a die roll thread for the game.

The 1d8 afterwards is "Tactical Assessment"-maneuver; Uthred gets 4 of it per short rest, so I used it on houses from Stormlands, since they are adjacent to the Reach.

1. Errol [roll0]
2. Darry [roll1]
3. Blackwood [roll2]
4. Tarth [roll3] + [roll4]
5. Swann [roll5] + [roll6]
6. Staedmon [roll7] + [roll8]
7. Buckler [roll9] + [roll10]
8. Mallister [roll11]

Infernally Clay

2023-07-22, 08:26 PM

Oh you want rolls for each House individually? I’ll copy the list above for simplicity.

1. Errol [roll0]
2. Darry [roll1]
3. Blackwood [roll2]
4. Tarth [roll3]
5. Swann [roll4]
6. Staedmon [roll5]
7. Buckler [roll6]
8. Mallister [roll7]

Eldariel

2023-07-25, 03:57 AM

dangelo

2023-07-25, 05:21 AM

Eldariel

1. Errol
Their province is rich with fertile soil and hedge knights, like a little piece of the Reach inside the Stormlands. Their feud with House Gryffen dates back to Aegon's Conquest, when Ser Harris was awarded the Griffin Rock, later renamed to Falconsward.

2. Darry
3. Blackwood
Both are major Houses in the Riverlands, and it's somewhat curious that two river lords occupy positions of privilege in some storm province.

4. Tarth
Big time naval power in the Narrow Sea.

5. Swann
It was a surprise that the daughter of Giulian Swann wasn't betrothed to Jareth Gryffen, but to his younger brother instead. He and Lord Harron are very close.

6. Staedmon
Lesser House in the Stormlands, really just a village and a holdfast. Lord Staedmon was so proud when Lord Harron made Ser Garris the marshal of Falconsward, that he disowned his first-born and made Garris heir to Staedmon Tower.

7. Buckler
Lesser House in the Stormlands. They mediated the feud between Gryffen and Errol, and in exchange for their efforts, one of their maidens is betrothed to the boy Aerys Gryffen.

8. Mallister
Many of the Storm Lords wanted to wed their daughters to the heir of Falconsward; When Harron's father was to choose him a wife, instead of picking a small province to strengthen the bonds with neighbors, he went to a tournament in Seagard and won the favour of Lord Mallister, and asked to marry his daughter and his son. Later, He visited Seagard with Harron and Alysanne many times again.

Branda

1. Errol
One of the major Houses of the Stormlands, second to Baratheon. Powerful military, and though not fond of the Gryffens, they still need their horses.

2. Darry
3. Blackwood
Both are major Houses in the Riverlands, and it's somewhat curious that two river lords occupy positions of privilege in some storm province. Blackwood and Darry are known rivals since they fought each other in the Dance of Dragons.

4. Tarth
Big time naval power in the Narrow Sea. The old Lord Edric married one of Lord Harron's sisters and moved to Falconsward, instead of having Lady Sasha move to Tarth herself. His son is commonly referred to as the young Lord Edric, and he's a close friend to Jareth.

5. Swann
It was a surprise that the daughter of Giulian Swann wasn't betrothed to Jareth Gryffen, but to his younger brother instead. He and Lord Harron are very close.

6. Staedmon
Lesser House in the Stormlands, really just a small village and a holdfast.

7. Buckler
They mediated the feud between Gryffen and Errol, and in exchange for their efforts, one of their maidens is betrothed to the boy Aerys Gryffen.

8. Mallister
Another major player in the Riverlands, lords of Seagard.

dangelo

2023-07-25, 05:32 AM

So did we have to team up for Duels? I think we could easily form two teams...though we would have to fight one another if we make it through. Given how we arrived, I think it would make sense for Branna and Uthred to make one team with Aubin and Percival making another; though I think Uthred and Aubin would not mind teaming up either. Either way, Uthred would certainly be down for duels and melee, and probably sailboats. Jousting would be a disaster with his lack of Lance proficiency and Strength; rowing likewise.

Each event will require several checks:

Rowboat race:
1. Strength (Athletism)
2. Saving Throw: Constitution

Sailboat race:
1. Dexterity (Sailing proficiency)
2. Wisdom (Perception)
3. Saving Throw: Dexterity

Duels (for each duel):
1. Attack
2. Wisdom (Perception)
3. Saving Throw: Constitution

Jousts (for each joust):
1. Saving Throw: Dexterity
2. Strength (Atletism) or Dexterity (Acrobatics)
3. Saving Throw: Constitution

Keeping in mind each of you have one point of Glory to spend in this tournament, which grants you Advantage in one event. For Duels and Jousts, you roll all three checks with advantage, but it only works for that specific duel.

dangelo

2023-07-26, 06:19 AM

Okay, so here's what we're gonna do: everyone please make your rolls for both races, Rowboat and Sailboat (assuming you're participating) -and- your rolls for the first duel. I'll compile everything in one big post and we'll move forward from there.

First round of duels:1.
Jareth Gryffen and Esther Gryffen vs.
Jaremy Barler and Dorian Pyke

2.
Cedric Gryffen and Corwyn Darry vs.
Garris Staedmon and Romily Storm

3.
Aubin Oldflower and Percival Frey vs.
Alistair Glen and Elowen Sylver

4.
Edric Tarth and Reynard Blackwood vs.
Branda Stark and Uthred Hightower

animorte

2023-07-26, 06:51 AM

What modifiers are we using for each respectively?

dangelo

2023-07-26, 06:53 AM

What modifiers are we using for each respectively?

Included the details in the previous post - let me know if anything is missing

Rowboat race:
1. Strength (Athletism)
2. Saving Throw: Constitution

Sailboat race:
1. Dexterity (Sailing proficiency)
2. Wisdom (Perception)
3. Saving Throw: Dexterity

Duels (for each duel):
1. Attack
2. Wisdom (Perception)
3. Saving Throw: Constitution

Jousts (for each joust):
1. Saving Throw: Dexterity
2. Strength (Atletism) or Dexterity (Acrobatics)
3. Saving Throw: Constitution

Keeping in mind each of you have one point of Glory to spend in this tournament, which grants you Advantage in one event. For Duels and Jousts, you roll all three checks with advantage, but it only works for that specific duel.

Infernally Clay

2023-07-26, 07:00 AM

Okay, so I'll roll for the duel... I'll assume it's melee weapons only so for the sake of flavour she's using a rapier in this fight.

Attack: [roll0]
Wisdom (Perception): [roll1]
Saving Throw: Constitution: [roll2]

Stone-Ears

2023-07-26, 11:44 AM

Each event will require several checks:

Rowboat race:
1. Strength (Athletism)
2. Saving Throw: Constitution

Sailboat race:
1. Dexterity (Sailing proficiency)
2. Wisdom (Perception)
3. Saving Throw: Dexterity

Duels (for each duel):
1. Attack
2. Wisdom (Perception)
3. Saving Throw: Constitution

Jousts (for each joust):
1. Saving Throw: Dexterity
2. Strength (Atletism) or Dexterity (Acrobatics)
3. Saving Throw: Constitution

Keeping in mind each of you have one point of Glory to spend in this tournament, which grants you Advantage in one event. For Duels and Jousts, you roll all three checks with advantage, but it only works for that specific duel.

Here goes nothing!

Rowboat Race Rolls:
Strength Roll - [roll0]
Constitution Roll - [roll1]

EDIT for Suggested Flavor: Since I did pretty abysmally on these rolls, I'd say that trying to do a rowboat competition with inexperienced competitors was a folly. Aubin and his Voiceless teammates attempted to work together but were often out of sync, causing the rowboat to row slowly and erratically until FINALLY they cross the finish line with Aubin being slightly tired because of the effort expended on the Rowboat races and the inefficient usage of his strength to try and be competitive.

Sailboat Rolls
1. Dexterity (Sailing proficiency) - [roll2]
2. Wisdom (Perception) - [roll3]
3. Saving Throw: Dexterity - [roll4]

EDIT for Suggested Flavor: I'd say this is the definition of Beginner's luck. He manages to do well with the sailing itself. I'd credit that to Tauron helping to teach his companions a bit about sailing and the lessons stuck with Aubin. If there is an event that requires a Wisdom throw and I only did meh on it, but saved pretty well, I'd bet something went slightly wrong with the Sailboat during the course of the race and Aubin barely fixed it or got it under control in time. This event likely costs Aubin some valuable racing time though and his competitors gained on him while he saved himself.

Duels (for each duel):
1. Attack - [roll5]
2. Wisdom (Perception) - [roll6]
3. Saving Throw: Constitution - [roll7]

EDIT for Suggested Flavor: Since this one is a team event, these rolls could be either really good or really bad. Really good in that maybe my high perception roll helped my teammate secure victory or really bad in that I could see our defeat coming but was helpless to do much about it due to the skills and courage of our opponents.

Jousts (Rolling with advantage since I am a mounted combatant(feat)for the saving throws since I think that is how it is supposed to be applied due to having advantage against being dismounted. I will have 2 rolls, I will go with the first one if I do not have advantage, no matter the result)
1. Saving Throw: Dexterity - Roll 1: [roll8]
Roll 2:[roll9]

2. Strength (Atletism) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) - [roll10]

3. Saving Throw: Constitution - [roll11]
[roll12]

EDIT for Suggested Flavor: Depending on my opponents rolls, if they rolled higher on the 2nd roll, they'd win off of technical points unless I managed to unseat them due to low saving rolls. Being experienced in the event, it is EXTREMELY hard to unseat me or to win that way. Only a few folks have managed a complete and successful unseating of Aubin in tournaments in years. This tournament would likely not see that change (it could still happen with an extremely high roll on the 2nd one from my opponent.

Loss Scenarios:
If beat by unseating - His Opponent got in the most flawless strike. Not only did the lance shatter against Aubin on the second pass with the first blow nearly unseating him and leaving Aubin barely able to recollect himself before the 2nd pass. On the 2nd pass, Aubin was barely able to lift his lance high enough to get in a legal strike (almost disgracing himself by hitting the horse instead, a sin Aubin would never forgive himself for) whilst his opponent got in the 2nd Clean, perfect strike that was so by the book perfect that it lifted Aubin out of his seat, the 2nd lance shattered upon impact and sent Aubin into the air. Aubin seemed to float in the air for several seconds as shocked onlookers stared at Aubin's body, prone in the Air with his back to the ground. It was looking like it would be a bad landing but Aubin's instincts and years of training taught him to lean into the fall and he managed to flip back onto his feet with the absolute wind knocked out of him, black spots filling his vision, and the ringing in his ears were significantly louder than normal(tinnitus)

If beat by a large margin but not high enough to unseat - his opponents were skilled with the Lance and managed to land blows that would unseat most average knights blow after blow after blow, several times squarely in the chest (ouch), knocking the wind out of Aubin each time, making it difficult to recollect himself before the next pass. His opponent even managed to almost unseat him with shattering his lance against Aubin's chest on the final pass. The blow almost lifts Aubin off his seat and sends him flying

If beat by a small margin - Aubin and his opponents exchanged hard blows but his opponent won when he shattered his lance against Aubin on the final pass.

dangelo

2023-07-26, 02:20 PM

Stone-Ears

2023-07-26, 02:38 PM

Also I seem to remember Aubin actually owns his own ship in the Redwyne fleet, IIRC!

I'll put those Jousts rolls on hold - we'll get to them once we've cleared all duels - but still, thanks for rolling in advance. I guess I should have been more creative on how to run a tournament arc via PbP, so appreciate everyone's steadfastness

That would be correct but owning a boat and having general knowledge and knowing the intimate details of how to operate one are two entirely different things especially as a Noble.

Sounds good on the Joust rolls.

To be fair, PbP has its own unique challenges including how to seamlessly do some popular D&D things like tournaments of power and skill as PbP lends itself more to the role-playing aspect of D&D. As we go on with the story, we'll all have a better idea of the flow and how we want the stories to unfold.

dangelo

2023-07-26, 02:50 PM

That makes sense. At this point, I wonder if it's better to just reduce the rolls instead of going through each stage. Might as well go down that path.

dangelo

2023-07-29, 05:37 AM

I have decided to reduce the number of rolls. I'll keep this 3-checks dynamic, but instead of rolling once for every duel/joust, the 3 checks will summarize your whole performance on that modality.

Either way, still waiting for Animorte and Eldariel to roll.

dangelo

2023-07-30, 01:07 PM

animorte

2023-07-30, 04:19 PM

Rowboat race:
1. Strength (Athletism) - [roll0]
2. Saving Throw: Constitution - [roll1]

Sailboat race:
1. Dexterity (Sailing proficiency, n/a) - [roll2]
2. Wisdom (Perception) - [roll3]
3. Saving Throw: Dexterity - [roll4]

Duels (for each duel):
1. Attack - [roll5]
2. Wisdom (Perception) - [roll6]
3. Saving Throw: Constitution - [roll7]

Jousts (for each joust):
1. Saving Throw: Dexterity - [roll8]
2. Dexterity (Acrobatics) - [roll9]
3. Saving Throw: Constitution - [roll10]

I was deeply considering using Glory for the Duel, since that's Percival's thing, but it's only one duel and he doesn't really mind a loss. He's all about the fun of it anyway, which is exactly why he's participating in things he has little to no proficiency with anyway. Learning experience!

But I will roll several performance checks throughout, since he likes to do it with flair, whatever it happens to be (if that's ok).

Apologies for the slower activity, all of my games have been suffering, including IRL. But we've got some more things situated with the children and it's looking better for the near future. I got called out! :smalleek:

animorte

2023-07-30, 04:28 PM

One for each in order (as you see fit to apply, of course). Especially for all those ridiculous Duel rolls! :smalltongue: (Speaking of which, I think I will save the Glory for later combat things, unless that one roll applies to all duels? IDK)

Rowboat performance: [roll0]
Sailboat performance: [roll1]
Duel performance: [roll2]
Joust performance: [roll3]

dangelo

2023-07-30, 09:26 PM

Awesome! I'm crunching everything for the next post.

Animorte, should I assume you'll be spending your Glory on Jousts instead? I think I'll reduce the whole Jousts event to one set of rolls, which you already provided, so if you wanna roll advantage on one of those, feel free!

Infernally Clay, is Branda a person of Jousts?

animorte

2023-07-30, 10:07 PM

Animorte, should I assume you'll be spending your Glory on Jousts instead?
No, I was going to save the Glory for the individual combat encounter, solo. Unless this is the only dueling event? If this is the only dueling event, I will use it here. Just wanting to double-check first.

dangelo

2023-07-30, 10:29 PM

Yep - I was gonna have two Duel categories at first but figured it would be too much :smallbiggrin:
Only Jousts will be 1v1

animorte

2023-07-30, 10:56 PM

Well, in that case... For Glory!!!

Duels (for each duel):
1. Attack - [roll0]
2. Wisdom (Perception) - [roll1]
3. Saving Throw: Constitution - [roll2]
4. Performance - [roll3]

Eldariel

2023-07-31, 12:16 AM

Seeing how Eldariel has been away from the forum for the last week and animorte has been active and posting, I suppose I shouldn't hold my breath.

I don't know, guys. This game is way too slow for my pbp standards. That kind of rhythm usually means the game is about to die. So even though I'm keeping in mind what Bob said about waiting for everyone before posting, I think I'm gonna go back on that for practical reasons. As a DM, I need a responsive group in order not to lose interest in the campaign altogether - meaning I'd rather not run a game at all if I have to wait 5 days for a reply. I understand people get busy (I do too) but this has been happening consistently.

I'll move the game forward later today, and from now on, I'll just roll your dice istead of asking for a check. You can still roll if you bring it up yourself - for example, if you ask for a Perception roll, or if you attack someone, by all means go ahead and roll it. Worst case scenario you might waste a good result if the roll is not applicable, but most of the time I'm willing to make it work.

I'm terribly sorry! Last week I was waiting for others to post as Percival had yet to react to us arriving in the first place, and then I was out on a convention for the last three days - a once-per-year thing. I forgot to mention it since it's so infrequent. But I'm back now and would like to continue pursue this, if we still have the chance. With that in mind, here are my rolls:

Rowboat race:
[roll0]
[roll1]

Sailboat race
[roll2]
[roll3]
[roll4]

Duels
[roll5] (+[roll6] +2 Archery if ranged weapons are allowed)
[roll7]
[roll8]

Jousts
[roll9]
[roll10]
[roll11]

Eldariel

2023-07-31, 12:25 AM

Wow, it does seem like it's not Uthred's day. Hmm, let's try Glory on the Joust-rolls (I'm assuming it's fine to roll them now?):

Glory for Jousts:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

dangelo

2023-07-31, 02:54 AM

Oh thanks Eldariel! Yes feel free to roll these in advance :smallsmile:
I'll include it in my next post!

Eldariel

2023-08-01, 11:30 AM

Before duels and jousts, Uthred tries to use the time (especially the dinner) to dig some information and remember what he knows of the other participants' fighting styles and other pertinent information for trying to prepare for the fights with an opportune strategy:
[roll0] + [roll1]
[roll2] + [roll3]
[roll4]

EDIT: Okay, so he has a lot of information on the opponents beforehand and does a decent job of finding more, but is not especially subtle about the fact that he's prying information for the purposes of the duels.

dangelo

2023-08-01, 12:07 PM

None of the competitors are particularly well-known for their dueling skills, except maybe Lady Esther, her brother Jareth, and the man who taught them both how to fight, Ser Garris. Ser Corwyn is also a strong competitor, although he's not the best horseman.

The details of the results will depend on how you roleplay this Persuasion check - maybe now is the best moment to get to that, since in the current scene, the competitors are on a lunch break and using the opportunity to talk.

Eldariel

2023-08-01, 01:08 PM

I have made a general post about both, his attempt to chat up the competition during the lunch break and the discussion with Romily Storm and ser Garris specifically. I figured it's more efficient if I post both of his lines simultaneously since we aren't going slavishly chronologically so I figure things can be input to different stages of the events at once.

Oh, and for the duels, Uthred would also like to inspire his team (using Inspiring Leader) and give his allies Bardic Inspiration dice. Team matches and combat tactics/leadership are literally his thing, so I think he'd like to use his skills there (could've done it on sailing and rowing too, but let's just say he didn't care about those events really, preferring to use them more to draw information on the opposition and instead saving his best for the fighting events). So if his allies (I gather they all fight together?), Aubin, Percival & Sandra would like, he's providing the following Inspiration to them all for one of their rolls:
[roll0]
[roll1]
[roll2]

dangelo

2023-08-01, 02:49 PM

Very nice post, pretty much included all the rolls seamlessly. I'll reply after work today.

@Stone-Ears Loving to see Aubin so salty :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:

animorte

2023-08-03, 07:30 AM

@Stone-Ears Loving to see Aubin so salty :smallbiggrin::smallbiggrin:
Same here! I thought I'd add in a little spice myself and stir up the pot. :smallwink:

Eldariel

2023-08-07, 03:33 AM

@Stone_ears and Animorte: If you don't feel it too much work, could (one of) you do a post with either Aubin or Percival delivering a short synopsis of what Percival and Aubin have learnt and done before the arrival of Branda and Uthred in-character? I've read the thread and know it as a person but it would be nice to have it conveyed in-character on-screen (we did off-screen report earlier but it would be nice to have specific lines and points of information for Branda and Uthred to react to, as opposed to assuming and not assuming specific things being conveyed in a specific fashion).

dangelo

2023-08-07, 04:07 PM

You guys are welcome to do that (tho this is just the second day) but do keep in mind there's an NPC waiting for your answer IC right now lol

animorte

2023-08-07, 04:13 PM

You guys are welcome to do that (tho this is just the second day) but do keep in mind there's an NPC waiting for your answer IC right now lol
Certainly, should be able to get it after work. (I work very late).

Eldariel

2023-08-08, 12:14 AM

You guys are welcome to do that (tho this is just the second day) but do keep in mind there's an NPC waiting for your answer IC right now lol

Heh, that's actually the reason I made the request. I figure the information was swapped off-screen already when they were left alone by Jareth, but since it is pertinent to the discussion taking place, I would like to see it on-screen before making big decisions.

animorte

2023-08-08, 02:38 AM

I don't really think I captured the synopsis you were hoping for, but maybe it still provides a reasonable starting point for the discussion at hand?

dangelo

2023-08-08, 07:09 AM

You may still ask something to Jareth before he leaves - otherwise I'll be moving us forward to the end of the tourney!

animorte

2023-08-09, 01:40 AM

"Where exactly is her place again?"

Percival was actually requesting the location, where she is going back to as a guard, that sort. I didn't convey that particularly well. Either way, the answer Jareth gave was quite amusing.

Eldariel

2023-08-09, 08:27 AM

Rolls for Uthred on his speech with ser Jareth is not exactly truthful (he cares little for honour or their loss; this whole speech is all a bit of misdirection, meant to dig more information and try to establish a prospective alliance with ser Jareth):
[roll0]
[roll1] + [roll2] = 20

EDIT: Seriously, Uthred's rolls have been horrible! Trying to roll over 10 on like 15 dice seems hard :smalltongue: It almost feels like I'm accidentally rolling d10s if not for that one attack roll, history, and save.

dangelo

2023-08-09, 09:42 AM

Percival was actually requesting the location, where she is going back to as a guard, that sort. I didn't convey that particularly well. Either way, the answer Jareth gave was quite amusing.

I meant more like "put her in her place" as an expression for cutting her wings, stopping her dreams to grow beyond captain. Or did you mean something else?

Rolls for Uthred on his speech with ser Jareth is not exactly truthful (he cares little for honour or their loss; this whole speech is all a bit of misdirection, meant to dig more information and try to establish a prospective alliance with ser Jareth):
[roll0]
[roll1] + [roll2] = 20

EDIT: Seriously, Uthred's rolls have been horrible! Trying to roll over 10 on like 15 dice seems hard :smalltongue: It almost feels like I'm accidentally rolling d10s if not for that one attack roll, history, and save.

I used a fixed DC for this check (11 + his insight modifiers) and considered these rolls a success, specially persuasion. Hopefully my last post conveyed the kind of information you were going for!

Eldariel

2023-08-09, 12:07 PM

I used a fixed DC for this check (11 + his insight modifiers) and considered these rolls a success, specially persuasion. Hopefully my last post conveyed the kind of information you were going for!

Yeah, this was great and exactly what I was going for! I'm half-tempted to write an immediate follow-up post continuing the discussion, but I'd like to give the other players an opportunity to provide input too.

Eldariel

2023-08-13, 02:45 AM

Well, if nobody has anything to add at this juncture, I'll continue. It would be interesting to have an OOC/IC discussion with just the party on our approach and what we've learnt thus far though.

Given his extensive knowledge of obscure etiquette and history, can Uthred think of anything that would relate to Romily Storm's conduct during the tournament; whether there is some actual tradition in place by which it is illegal, and any possible sanctions for such behaviour at some point during the history of the Kingdoms?

[roll0] + [roll1] = 23 (using the last of my maneuvers)

dangelo

2023-08-14, 05:54 AM

I encourage these kinds of discussion. I have had groups that preferred to have a discord server to chat oocly and leave the server for formal posting, if that's something you guys feel like having?

[History check: 23]
While there most certainly are rules to be followed, this ultimately depends on the lord of the castle. As the host of the tourney, Lord Harron has final word on whether Romily broke the rules or not. Keep in mind that if a lord allows the rules to be broken in his tournaments and protects his subjects who cheat, their reputation might be affected and the tourney might lose favor. Having that said, there's a third factor to consider: the tourney of Falconsward is already known to be all about showmanship, so this could backfire on Jareth. It's a delicate situation and the resolution will depend on who's supporting Jareth and how well they can convince the court of their point of view. Precedence is a big factor too: if, in the past, someone has been allowed to break the rules in favor of showmanship, bringing that up will make it look bad for Jareth. Simultaneously, if the opposite has ever happened, it will put more pressure on Harron to treat Romily as a cheat.

dangelo

2023-08-18, 08:05 AM

[Poke]
I realize you guys are probably busy these days. Just the regular couple-of-days ping.

animorte

2023-08-19, 04:59 PM

Was trying to wait for another person to respond, see if we had any more perspective on the matter. As far as Percival is concerned, he wants to offer support. I mean, her hawking skills should best be left to the actual hawking competition after all.

Also, out-of-character me is looking for the opportunity to stir something up.

dangelo

2023-08-19, 09:51 PM

Consider this a crossroads moments: Both Jareth and Romily/Ser Garris are strong allies, and since Jareth is pushing it, you can't remain neutral. How do you wanna be seen in Falconsward? Who do you wanna please, and who do you wanna make angry? Who do you wanna get closer to? How about morals? What will be the consequences? There's plenty to elaborate here.

Eldariel

2023-08-20, 06:21 AM

Uthred is likely to offer Jareth support, but only to maintain appearances - he actually has little interest in honoring an agreement like this that looks unlikely to work. But yeah, I'd definitely like input from the rest of the players here as this is a major crossroads.

dangelo

2023-08-20, 07:55 AM

I have PM'd Stone-Ears and Infernally Clay to let them know we're waiting for their input :smallsmile:

Percival: leaning towards supporting Jareth
Uthred: leaning towards supporting Jareth

dangelo

2023-08-21, 01:13 PM

Any updates?

Eldariel

2023-08-23, 12:35 AM

I'd enjoy continuing the game for sure. Just two players feels a bit light though... I'm not sure, how we should proceed here. There was one more player in the recruitment thread; perhaps they'd be interested? Though revolving doors don't really work for a game like this, granted.

animorte

2023-08-23, 01:06 AM

I'm still up for it as well. I've enjoyed our roleplay and it's still intriguing, as is the goal! Admittedly I'm probably not that good at the "mystery bit," but Percival is my favorite Barbarian I've ever played. :smallsmile:

dangelo

2023-08-23, 07:18 PM

Bringing more emissaries was already a bit cheesy. I think we might benefit more from doing a two-weeks timeskip before someone new arrives, and by then we'll be free from this tournament arc and actually investigating the conspirators.

I hoped the tournament would be a dynamic way to get to know the NPCs but I suppose I should have anticipated this pacing issue. I'll bring more structure to the second part of the story.

I'll phoenix-down the recruitment thread and see who comes around. For now, let's resume the story and finish the tournament arc with whoever is still around, this way giving Stone-Ears and Infernally Clay another chance to catch up.

animorte and Eldariel, are you on discord? Would an ooc server work for you guys?

animorte

2023-08-23, 07:24 PM

animorte and Eldariel, are you on discord? Would an ooc server work for you guys?
I do indeed (animorte#0698) or just animorte, big surprise :smalltongue:

Eldariel

2023-08-25, 12:56 AM

Alright, let's do this. I'm on Discord, by the new system there I go by "gilalar".

dangelo

2023-08-25, 10:39 AM

BIG post incoming! Feel free to investigate the room, ask the guards any guestions, exchange theories... It's up to you how you're gonna deal with that.

This concludes the first arc of the campaign - Now we officially step into unknown territory. Once you guys are done with the immediate investigation of the crime scene, the next scene should take place several days in the future. By then you should tell me who your suspects are, and what you're gonna do to find them, plus any other endeavors you wil might wanna pursue in Falconsward. Training? Watching? Spending time with someone? Publicly or privately?

And of course, you have to count thing. For that, we'll have specific scenes - Esther will show you the horses, Ser Garris will show you the siege weapons, the riverlords the ships, etc.