Old Ways OOC III

[Nevaera]

Well, I'd rather not have to go to the spider tomb, but if an ancient evil is or will be awaken, I suppose it's got to be us to deal with the consequences of that blasted wizard's actions.

If no one is too worried about that though, we could try to keep the roads clear for the travelers and work on protecting the keep for Lord Bost.

I think most people would likely now vote it necessary to go to the spider tomb though.

Spider tomb: 1 vote.
Roads and Keep: 1 vote.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Hmm. I still don't know that we'd feel the Spider Temple is more than a possible threat so far. I'd vote for monster bashing in the local area until more solid evidence of new activity is thrown in our faces.

If that happens, we have our extra priestesses and NPC mage for additional firepower and turning. We go in hard and fast.

Enjoy the weekend Roland, hope the weather cooperates.

[Nevaera]

I agree.
It's nice to be reactive sometimes rather than looking for danger. It justifies a person's actions a whole lot more than that of one who sought out the danger in the first place.

Roads and Keep: 2 hearty votes.

[Kish]

Not having been with the party at the discovery of any of the information that would point to any of these options, I'm abstaining.

Aditi is not afraid of spiders, necromancers, or Basic D&D tutorial villains. (In fact, how not-afraid she is might disturb any more experienced adventurers who discuss the matter with her enough to divine it.)

[Frivolous]

I vote for spider temple.

Bran would prefer to leave it for later, but if the necromancer is going there Bran wants to get there, too, in hopes of getting there first or at least catching up.

[Matthew]

Not really bothered. The Spider Tomb seems like a more interesting adventure, but whatever you guys want to do is fine with me.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Alright then, that's two to two. Come on, MMM - you're the tie breaker! What's it going to be?

[Battlemage]

Hello Ladies and Gentlemen,

I've spoken to Roland about hopefully joining your valiant band of adventurers. I don't have much experience with the rules of this edition, so bear with me if I make mistakes.

Character generation rolls (please, gods of the dice, give me a decent Int score):

Str: (3d6)[12]
Int: (3d6)[7]
Wis: (3d6)[7]
Dex: (3d6)[10]
Con: (3d6)[12]
Cha: (3d6)[13]

Family Social Status: (1d100)[87]
Starting Gold: (3d6)[9]

Let's see!

[Battlemage]

Well, so much for any kind of caster build... :(
Gonna have to think about what to do with this.

[Roland St. Jude]

Well, so much for any kind of caster build... :(
Gonna have to think about what to do with this.

As with others who have come in to fill a particular role, you can swap your highest score into the prime req. The party could use a PC magic user right now.

[Battlemage]

As with others who have come in to fill a particular role, you can swap your highest score into the prime req. The party could use a PC magic user right now.

That is good news! As such, Int and Cha would be swapped, leading to the following stats:

Str: 12 - 2 adjustment = 10 (+0 bonus)
Int: 13 +1 adjustment = 14 (+1 bonus)
Wis: 7 (-1 penalty)
Dex: 10 (+0 bonus)
Con: 12 (+0 bonus)
Cha: 7 (-1 penalty)

A socially inept person with no common sense and the power of changing reality at his fingertips. I can't see how that could possibly go wrong.

[Battlemage]

I'm working on creating all the stats for the character, should have them finished today. For the background and characteristics I'm waiting with the details until I've read the material about the game world.

I do have 2 questions that came up while doing my stats:
1) What does a family social status of 87 mean?
2) The rules say that magic-users can use some weapons depending on GM approval. Is it ok to use a sling?

Oh and my starting hit points roll: (1d4)[3]

[Battlemage]

Dural Arkenvir
Male Tythian/Karamekian Magic-User
Alignment: Neutral
6'2", 175 lbs, 16 years old
Level 3: 5000 XP
Speech Color: Dark Red

Appearance:

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Tall and lanky, the youth gives the slightly awkward appearance of someone who underwent a recent growth spurt and has not adapted to the change yet. He has dark, bluish-black hair that he wears in unruly medium length curls. The first thing an observer notices is the long thin scar which crosses Dural's face diagonally, starting at the left side of his forehead and ending near the right corner of his mouth. Together with his heterochromatic eyes, one icy blue, the other a dark green, he strikes a truly odd figure. Despite high cheekbones and a well defined jaw, the lines of his face are just a bit too sharp to be called handsome.
He is dressed in well-made clothes in muted colors, with a long hooded cloak hiding most of it under its dark red folds.

Personality:

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Dural is a friendly and curious person. He loves new experiences and, after a very sheltered upbringing, yearns for adventure. He is idealistic and a touch naive, but can, when provoked, display a touch of petty vengefulness.
He is slightly uncomfortable in social situations, especially when interacting with the opposite gender. Not having much experience with relationships of any kind, he finds the laws of magic easier to understand than those that govern human interaction. He has confidence in his magical abilities, but is otherwise insecure, though he often tries to hide that behind fake bravado.
Though highly intelligent, his ideas and plans have a tendency to neglect the aspect of practicality, and noone has ever accused him of possessing too much common sense.

Hit Points: 6
Armor Class: 9 (No armor)
Base Thac0: 19
Movement: 120/40/120 (with backpack), 120/40/120 (without backpack)
Encumbrance: 340 (with backpack), 85 (without backpack)

Attributes:
Str: 10 (+0)
Int: 14 (+1)
Wis: 7 (-1)
Dex: 10 (+0)
Con: 12 (+0)
Cha: 7 (-1)

Saving Throws:
Death Ray/Poison: 14
Magic Wands: 15
Paralysis/Turn to Stone: 14
Breath Attack: 17
Rod/Staff/Spell: 16

Spell Book:
1st: Read Magic, Sleep, Magic Missile
2nd: Invisibility

Spells per Day:
1st: 2
2nd: 1

Memorized Spells:
1st: Sleep, Magic Missile (expended)
2nd: Invisibility

Weapons:
Sling: Damage 1d6; Range 40/80/160, attack +2, stun at medium and short range, -1 AC vs the first 2 attacks each round
Dagger: Damage 1d4; Range 10/20/30

Weapon Choices:
Sling (Skilled), Dagger (Basic)

Skill Choices:
Alchemy 14
Alertness 10
Art (Drawing) 14
Knowledge (Arcana) 14
Riding (Horse) 10

Languages
Common (Tythian)
Traldaran
Draconic

Magic Items:
Potion of Polymorph Self
Lampf of Long Burning
Wand of Paralyzation (4 charges)

Equipment:
Wearing (85cn):
- Plain clothes, long cloak with hood, belt, boots
- 2 daggers (one on belt, one in boot) (20cn)
- Sling (20cn)
- Belt pouch (2cn) with 90 lead pellets (18cn)
- Belt pouch (2cn) with Notebook (12cn), quills (5cn) and a vial of ink (1cn)
- Belt pouch (2cn) with Potion of Polymorph Self (3 cn)

Backpack (20cn) / (255cn):
- Spell Book (25cn)
- Spare set of plain clothes (20cn)
- Court clothes (extravagant) (30 cn)
- Waterskin (full) (30cn)
- Lampf of Long Burning with two flasks of oil (50cn)
- Hand-sized steel mirror (5cn)
- Tinder Box (5cn)
- Iron rations for one week (70cn)

Riding Horse
- Saddle
- Saddlebags

Current Gold: 276 gp

Background Story:

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Dural was born as the third son of a lesser Karamekian noble house. Since it was clear from birth that, barring disastrous circumstance, he would not inherit anything of note, his parents paid him less attention than his brothers.

Dural grew up with with books as his closest companion. Always a dreamer, he had difficulty finding friends and found solace in the imaginary adventures that those dusty tomes offered him. He knew he wanted to be a hero like the characters in his books and begged his older brothers to teach him the art of swordfighting, even though the weapon master said he was too young yet. They reluctantly agreed, and tried to teach him some basic attacks and blocks. But when he saw his brother's blade close in on him, something strange happened. An uncontrollable surge of energy sprang up from his reflexively raised hands and burned his brother's arm. Startled, the young man lost control of his weapon and slashed a deep gash across Dural's face.

From that day on, Dural was forbidden from touching any blade larger than a dagger. But he did not care, since he had found something better than steel. His parents paid a wizard they knew to take him in as an apprentice, glad to have found a spot for a son they did not know what to do with.

After learning the basics of magic from his teacher, Dural felt he could improve faster through more hands-on experience. He'd finally had enough of books, and now wanted to live what until now he had only read about. His moment came when, at a courtly function, he got to know a Tyathian noble, a magic-user like himself, though more experienced and part of a group of adventurers. He couldn't believe his luck when his new aquaintance, Talsarios, mentioned that he had been recalled to Tythia, and that he felt guilty leaving his comrades without magical support. He suggested that Dural take over his place in his absence, offering to write the youth a letter of recommendation. Realizing that the opportunity of a lifetime had just presented itself to him, Dural agreed immediately. Convincing his family was easy, since they had despaired on what to do with their son, who showed neither courtly skill nor enough common sense for their taste, for years. He would carve out his own destiny in this young and promising land, far from court intrigues and politics.

It was time to be a hero.

[Roland St. Jude]

1) It means Wealthy/Titled. Your family holds a minor/moderate title in Thytia or Karamekios (we can discuss which), and they had no trouble affording your starting gear and travelling money to get you to Threshold.

2) Sling is fine.

[Nevaera]

Welcome to the mix, Battlemage! ^_^

[Battlemage]

Phew, I think I'm all done with my character. If you notice anything I either missed or got wrong (and there probably is a thing or two), please let me know.

Welcome to the mix, Battlemage! ^_^

Thanks, glad to be here! =)

[Frivolous]

Oh, another male magic-user with a name starting with the letter A.

Bran will be pessimistic.

Note for Battlemage: Two male magic-users named Alastor and Algernon, and a male elf named Artanis. All 3 of them were prone to reckless charges.

Maybe it'll different when the A-name is the surname instead of the given name, haha.

[Koren n'Rhys]

Hey Battlemage - welcome to the group! Hope you enjoy the game. I'm sure you'll get into the feel of the rules quickly enough.

[Battlemage]

I'll try to keep the reckless charging to a minimum. Doesn't seem like a great idea with 3 hit points and no armor.
The rules learning is going along well, they don't seem too drastically different from 2nd edition rules so far, which I know decently enough from the Baldur's Gate series.

I realized that I need prices for some items that aren't in the rulebook to finish Dural's equipment, more specifially quills, ink, a notebook and a bedroll.

[Roland St. Jude]

I'll try to keep the reckless charging to a minimum. Doesn't seem like a great idea with 3 hit points and no armor.
The rules learning is going along well, they don't seem too drastically different from 2nd edition rules so far, which I know decently enough from the Baldur's Gate series.

I realized that I need prices for some items that aren't in the rulebook to finish Dural's equipment, more specifially quills, ink, a notebook and a bedroll.

Quills are 1 cp/ea, Ink is 8 gp/vial, a notebook of 25 sheets/50 pages of decent quality paper is 50 gp, a bedroll is 5 sp.

[Battlemage]

Hit point rolls for level 2 and 3:
(1d4)[1]
(1d4)[2]

In regards to spells known I'm assuming three lvl 1s and one lvl 2, since I've seen that number for another magic-user earlier in the thread. If not, please correct me.

[Roland St. Jude]

Hit point rolls for level 2 and 3:
[roll0]
[roll1]

In regards to spells known I'm assuming three lvl 1s and one lvl 2, since I've seen that number for another magic-user earlier in the thread. If not, please correct me.

Correct. One of those three level one spells needs to be read magic.

[Roland St. Jude]

New player in play!

Are we still waiting on the tie-breaker vote to decide what to do next? Let's get that done and then get on to adventure!

[Nevaera]

I think we wait upon M.M.M.'s vote cause she's the only one of our earlier group that hasn't voted.
From one of her posts before, though, I think she'll want to head to the spider temple.

There's been a lot of research that way already and the other priestesses are excited to contribute on an adventure.
I think this will be an exceptional challenge cause of the unforeseen encounters we'll likely have on the road on the way plus the possibility of dealing with magic users and demi-gods or what have you.

Our new recruits will get the chance to get the hang of things with plenty of time to spare.

---

Battlemage, what part of the day did you come to Lord Bost's? I could write out an IC to better suit your arrival if I know where I'll be hailed from to greet you. :) I'm sure you could choose whatever part of the day you're picturing in your head.

[Battlemage]

I'd say midday to early afternoon if it's all the same, since our travelling party probably spent the night somewhere and then needed a couple hours to actually arrive at Threshold.

[Koren n'Rhys]

OK, I think we can move on as everyone posts final intentions.

Neavara, you don't need to follow up on my last bit of IC stuff at the house, we can move forward from that too. For the record, I have a feeling that deep down, Ash does like being seen as a woman too, not just a warrior, if not to any great girlie-girl degree. I imagine the "one of the guys" comment might not be received as the compliment Mycah meant it to be.

[Nevaera]

Sounds good. I'm a bit overtired right now - late night - but I'll try to get my IC post settled soon.

At that time IC, I imagine she'll be about Lord Bost's rather than at The Nut.

---

Hit the nail on the head. Except where you thought that she might be offended. He said it more endearingly rather than at all pejoratively, demeaning, or derogatorily. And it was just after she'd told a bunch of boyish stories of herself rather than just after watching Mycah kiss the "girly-girl" right in front of her.

---

Edit: Oh, and Matthew/Nathros, I got this feeling you still haven't added your share of the 600g from the hobgoblin camp adventure.
Ash gave it to Nathros in character, so I don't have it in the group possessions anymore.

[Frivolous]

I have an IC post saved to a notepad file.

Awaiting a time that every PC is in the same room, so Bran can relate his findings.

Edit: Oh, and I've altered Bran's character sheet to reflect his purchases.

He is not bringing the tapestry along, of course. That probably remains in the Bor manor. His family can enjoy it while he is off adventuring.

[Roland St. Jude]

The merchant knew little more than described in the IC. He told Bran that more could be learned from the Nicos family, old-timers at Fort Nicos and the region around it, an expert in Thytian history, and so on.

This is a good example of the many possible plothooks woven into the game. Whether and when you pursue each thing is up to you guys. I've tried to make them varied in terms of locality, difficulty, exoticness, etc.

[Frivolous]

Yes. I'm aware, Roland.

The nice thing about the information we have is we don't have to actually go to the Fort to learn more; we can theoretically ask Lord Bost to send a letter or something, asking the questions we need answers to.

It's not as reliable, but if necessary we can resort to correspondence rather than going ourselves.