Work Release OOC

[jakarta]

Original recruitment:
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...-D-amp-D-party

First attempt at game: Trusted & Denied [Pathfinder, 9th Level, Looking for Players]
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...ng-for-Players

EDIT:
IC Thread: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...ork-Release-IC

Edit:
re-recruitment
https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...mission-PF-3-5

This is a "rescue" game to give 4-6 player who have completed characters (and the OP of the inrest tread) to run the characters they created (or in the OP case, soon create by Saturday).

Expected posting frequency IC is 2-3 per week, though the GM will probably post more often.
GM is a teacher on summer break in Indonesia. The Time zone is the exact opposite of US EST.

Setting will be a bit more generic than the first attempt at this game.

Once 4 players commit, the IC tread will be opened. The introduction will be a "prison establishing shot" and mission briefing. Additional players may join up to the start of the actual mission. ("This is Katana. She is coming along.")

I'm a 3.5 era gm, so if I say "spot check" just "Roll with it" for your perception or whatever. If I ask for a weird-seeming role, I'm probably converting a 2e or 4e scenario on the fly. I'm basing the adventure on scenes from old modules, though your team (or individual) objectives may be different.

Characters were created using PF1. If you want to use 3.5 material when you level up (or make a replacement character after the death of you starting character) you may, within reason (subject to GM approval, terms and conditions may apply, boyhood prohibited). Arcana Unearthed/Evolved may also be used with approval.

Players wishing to commit, please link your sheet and give a short description of your character.
I'd like to launch by Saturday.

[Esprit15]

Mentha Peprit is an orphan turned alchemist turned necromancer after finding herself plagued with strange visions from a heretofore unheard of entity that referred to itself as the Sea of Bones.

[Palanan]

Twopenny Tess—the leading scrounge of the wandering airship fleet, with a network of orphan filchers who fed her information, and who was sold into captivity when she tried to use that information to do something right.

Spoiler: Full Background

Show

It was said, long after Moonfall, that the only ones who survived the cataclysm were those who were already in the air.

Of the countless airships, cloudskimmers and highgalleons that had been aloft that day, many perished in the death throes of Alteria and the aftermath of Moonfall, or tried to descend in vain hopes of finding safe harbor below. As the remaining aeronauts struggled to understand what had happened, and to learn the ways of this new afterworld, some threw themselves overboard, or hanged themselves in their own rigging out of utter despair.

But many others survived; and in the confusion and chaos that followed, scattered vessels banded together into pairs and groups, to better withstand the predators already roaming the winds above the deadly Mists far below. Those small groups became clumps, then strings of vessels, and finally many dozens of surviving ships came together into a ragtag fleet, believing themselves to be the last survivors of the old world, following the promise of a new home somewhere over the horizon.

But the strange new skyborne lands were swiftly occupied, fortified, fiercely defended against reavers and scavengers alike; and by the time the fleet came upon them, there was no welcome, no sanctuary, no home to be had for the caravan of refugees wandering aloft.

Yet the clouds held resources that the sky-sailors of the previous age had scarcely touched; and as desperate years became decades, the hardscrabble survivors in the wandering fleet learned to subsist on whatever they could—and to harvest and prey upon high-altitude ecosystems that not even sages of the lost world had ever imagined. The fleet roamed endlessly upon the immense sky-rivers flowing above the shrouded and ruined world—sifting and filtering, netting and spearing, using what magic and ingenuity they possessed; and in time the fleet became a windfaring nation of its own.

But even as they survived and wandered and almost prospered, the fleet developed its own parasites and scavengers, its own netherworld of the marginal and unwanted. Life in the fleet had no guarantees; folk worked bitterly hard, day upon day, and sometimes died without warning—a moment’s inattention, an instant’s mistake enough to send them wailing into oblivion far below; and sometimes they were helped along, petty rivalries waiting for the slightest opportunity.

Infants and children were often left behind, orphaned or abandoned to survive as they might. They were the rats and mice of the fleet—sometimes set to what tasks they could manage, sometimes allowed a few scraps and leavings; but more often they nicked and filched whatever they could, retreating to hidden dark spaces where larger folk could not follow, barely tolerated as long as they knew their lowermost station.

Alyssum was born on the edge of that netherworld, named for a forgotten flower and marked by her copper-hued eyes; they reminded older folk of the humblest of coins from the old world, and she grew up as Twopenny, survived with the others when parents were lost and none would take her. But she was less willing to scamper and hide, always ready to stand and spit defiance like a fierce little rat—and even to defend smaller mice, unheard of in the chill-shadowed confines of deep cubbies and half-decks.

Those copper eyes saw more than they should in the dark, and she had strange knacks which often unnerved those who witnessed them; but always she sheltered and defended the motherless, and in time she had a spider’s-web of mice devoted to her, who shared morsels of food and tidbits of knowledge, which she gingerly bartered when it might do them some good.

The more they listened, the more she learned; and in time Twopenny Tess she was called, leading scrounge of the fleet’s netherworld, a lean rakish figure with a wicked knife and a healing touch, able to source any small item or snippet of gossip. Some captains hated her, fearing what she knew; others dealt with her at a discreet remove. And in the midst of it all, somehow an infant of her own—happened; and was cared for by her mice when she was away.

Then a rash of wailings over the side, too many for mischance or even small hatreds; someone among the many thousands of folk in the fleet was pursuing an agenda, or a vendetta, orchestrating murder and thieving to an extent the fleet had not known in many a year. But Twopenny Tess saw an opportunity; she set her mice to listening, she slipped through deepest dark to follow every lead; and soon enough she knew a conspiracy was at work, and soon after that she had their names and ships from throughout the fleet.

And so she came to the leading captains with a bold proposal: she would trade the identities of the criminal leaders for a secure home for all her mice, decent berths and honest work in the fleet, forsaking the shadows and filching for proper lives in the clear light of the upper decks.

The captains laughed, clapped her in irons, and declared they had captured the notorious thief and murderess who had plagued the fleet for so long. There followed a fleetwide hunt for her mice, and those they captured were flung high into the air and allowed to fall into the Mists below.

Some of her mice escaped the purge—those with skills and knacks of their own—and by means of subtle messages they let her know that her daughter had survived; but that was all they could do. Slipping out of snares, hiding deep in cable-tiers and forgotten compartments was one thing; but they were only small creatures, and they had no way to free her—much less when the captains sold her to Gravesend, there to rot as an example to thieves, liars and malcontents throughout the fleet and beyond.

But Tess endured the daily hell of Gravesend with more grit than anyone had expected; years later she endures it still. And always there is one thought burning in her mind: she will survive any torment, any abuse while she waits for the right moment to seize her chance—and then she will open as many arteries as necessary to escape this place, find her daughter, and burn the fleet to drifting ash.

[jakarta]

Well, it looks like stealth is covered.

[Paddywagon Man]

I'll happily bring Cannibal Jeffy for a spin!

An obese, psychotic, drug-fuelled, alchemically-enhanced fleshy mass of cannibal goblin mayhem. Way too agile and flexible for a creature of his enormous bulk to ever be, he bounces and weaves through attacks while splitting his foes apart with an enormous butchering axe of Oni craftsmanship.

[Xav]

All right. For previous game I've build two character (wizard and magus), but posted only one, cause there were obviously enough melee combatants, but few fullcasters. For now I've added another version of magus (legendary one). It's a sort of rebuild, that gets rid of spellstrike, instead focusing on other aspects. So:

Aen Ral - dark elf wizard, shadow magic specialist, that worships sort of a dark goddess.

Lewis Blackheart - tiefling legendary magus. Ex-pirate, specializing on close combat, warping in-and-out it, and utilizing some Storm veils from akasha. Still WiP, but mostly finished. Backstory comes soon.

Lewis Blackheart - and here's the usual magus. Stealth, striking and some debuffing. Simpler than the previous one, but still capable. And presumably better in direct damage.

[jakarta]

Ok, Killa Crock/shark guy in da house.

Do you have a write-up on Zerk? I'm thinking it is something like meth, bath salts, or woad.

Xav: choose a version of Lewis, please. For storyline purposes drow/dark elf might not work well.

I'll have an IC thread up in a few hours.

I'm not closing recruiting. I just prefer to get games rolling before things stagnate.

[Xav]

Xav: choose a version of Lewis, please. For storyline purposes drow/dark elf might not work well.

If legendary version is ok for you, I'd go with it.
So, Lewis Blackheart - this one.

[jakarta]

If legendary version is ok for you, I'd go with it.
So, Lewis Blackheart - this one.

So, if I'm reading this correctly, he is just "odd looking human" instead of "obvious fiendish ancestry guy with horns or hooves" right?

Can you tell me about the sword? Motives and personality for influence and roleplay purposes?

[jakarta]

So the character with the lowest stealth so far is the goblin....

[Xav]

So, if I'm reading this correctly, he is just "odd looking human" instead of "obvious fiendish ancestry guy with horns or hooves" right?

Yep, exactly. Partially grey hair is part of a heritage.

Can you tell me about the sword? Motives and personality for influence and roleplay purposes?

"Netherblade" is a sentient heirloom artifact, that accumulates the experience of the gifted members of the family. After death (or, possibly, in some other circumstances that are yet to be revealed) it disappears, in order to appear later in the possession of next gifted one. It's also obviously connected with the fiendish family heritage. Lewis doesn't know the whole story, - something is told to him by the sword itself, something is known from fragmentary accounts, but in general, it boils down to the fact that their family is connected to a demonic lord, who once created an artifact (and shared blood with the family) to control and form a close bond with members of the mortal aristocracy... but the goals voiced may differ from the real ones - thus, the sword claims that the lord died long ago, and now the Blackheart family is relatively free in their decisions, and the sword views itself as kind of family guardian spirit.

[jakarta]

I rarely use sentient items so I'm not up on the rules.

Does it get its own spot check, or
Give you a bonus?

Does it count as a familiar?
What happens if someone else holds or wields it?

[Xav]

Black blade is described here: Bladebound

In general, it's aware of its surroundings, but to simplify things, I'd say, it's not necessary to roll twice, it's just expressed by bonus Alertness feat.

A black blade normally refuses to use any of its abilities when wielded by anyone other than its legendary magus, and acts as a masterwork weapon of its type.

It prohibits having a familiar by any means.

[jakarta]

IC Thread: https://forums.giantitp.com/showthre...ork-Release-IC

Please post your initial mental reactions to the scene. Please refrain from describing the other characters as we don't know how many players we have yet.

Note that Netherblade is not present and you are all currently unequipped.

..

Could someone make a Character table, please?

[Xav]

Here's the table.

Player	Character	Race	Class
Esprit15	Mentha Peprit	Gnome	Oracle
Palanan	Twopenny Tess	Aasimar	Rogue/Oracle
Paddywagon Man	Cannibal Jeffy	Goblin	Vigilante
Xav	Lewis Blackheart	Tiefling	Legendary Magus

[Palanan]

Saw the IC, will try to post for Tess tomorrow.

[jakarta]

Thank you for the chart and update.

If anyone has a moment, please has a "senses" column to note low light or dark vision or anything nonstandard such as "detect undead constant".

Some notes on how I prefer rolling and thread use:

Short questions about the situation should be asked in the IC thread in parentheses. (Is the wounded on on the left?)

Most rolls should be made in the IC thread. Include a note for the purpose/intent of the roll. If you aren't sure, go ahead and roll.

[Palanan]

Player	Character	Race	Class	Senses
Esprit15	Mentha Peprit	Gnome	Oracle	Low-Light Vision
Palanan	Twopenny Tess	Aasimar	Rogue/Oracle	Darkvision 60’
Paddywagon Man	Cannibal Jeffy	Goblin	Vigilante	Darkvision 60’
Xav	Lewis Blackheart	Tiefling	Legendary Magus	Darkvision 60’

[Xav]

Lewis Blackheart Tiefling Legendary Magus AC: 16 (16 T/10 FF) DR: - HP: 57/57 Perception: +14 Initiative: +6 Conditions: without equipment

"Speech" - actions, description, - "Speech"

Lewis' color will be Navy.

[jakarta]

I'm traveling internationally today/tomorrow and may be offline the next day to rest.

I may be offline, making short posts on my phone, or typing out a novel in my laptop, depending on how things go. The KL airport didn't have good wifi or outlets that fit my laptop last time

[jakarta]

I might make "international travel" a high level skill challenge/monster.

I arrived 5 hours early, just in case ..

So far, the charging stations at the KFC are all broken, and they were out of Original Recipe.

Now the airline check-in computer is broken. "Regret ..process slightly longer than normal..." They've been trying to process the same girl for half an hour .

[Esprit15]

That’s just nightmarish. Sorry you gotta go through that.

[jakarta]

,Well, that part didn't take too long...

And not knowing that the rules for cabin carry on vs "personal item" he as changed was really my fault ...

Not taking the Windows laptop cords out if the suitcase before I taxied it to a friend to hold was also my error.... So now I'm lugging a laptop I can't use ...

The hour flight delay, at this point, should almost be expected...I haven't even boarded because my plane isn't here.

But these are the burdens of an international teacher in SEA.

At least there isn't a restrictive pandemic at the moment.

I'll update the IC when I get to KL, if I can get a wifi connection.

I

[Xav]

Good luck and less trouble for you!

[jakarta]

Boarded. Awaiting push-back.

[Palanan]

Hope your flight goes well. I've had similar experiences in other equatorial regions.

Even so, I envy you the trip. Hope you have a window seat and an uneventful flight. Wouldn't mind seeing a couple photos of the landscape if that's in any way feasible. If not, hope all goes well.

[jakarta]

You forget the time difference. Not much to see from the air on a cloudy night.

As for the airport, one Macdonald's looks pretty much like another. Just in SEA there is No bacon or milkshakes.

At least I got the terminal with the MacD this time, and the covid restrictions are gone so more things are open. Last time it was an 8 hour layover and the only thing open was a day-old sandwich shop. I'm in KL now.

There was an hour delay leaving Yangon (Rangoon), but that just means I have a 7 hour lay over instead of 8.

[Palanan]

Ah yes, those are fun. Nothing like going 36 hours without sleep. Gives you a new perspective on how the brain organizes memories.

And I was indeed forgetting the day/night difference. But I always enjoyed watching the southern constellations rotate position as I flew north.

[jakarta]

This trip is a couple of 2 hour flights. There isn't a direct route between Jakarta and Rangoon due to politics.
I can usually sleep on longer flights.

I could get a capsule transit room, but I sleep so poorly in hotels that it isn't worth it. Now that I've had my MacD, I'll just sit in this cafe. (there aren't any MacD's in Rangoon due to politics.)

I'm going to see how well I can compose in Word, and then see if I need coffee or sleep before editing it into something worth posting IC.

[jakarta]

My flight is boarding.