Elysium Squad OOC

*insert evil grin here* just read yer homebrew races and i'm squirming in my seat take 1 part Aetos, 1 part rouge, add 5 paladin to flavor and voala you have the beautiful makings of a lovely shadowbain inquisiter at yer hands..... oooh can i please please please have him!! he's soooooo cute

Eluvan: Would you be interested in an optional character staring level where you could start as a lower level character for the issue of RP purposes? If I am the DM I would be willing to grant your character the wealth of the rest of the players but start your character lower. Of course, this would mean your character would eventually narrow the gap in XP anyway. If this is interesting to you, feel free to talk more about this.

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Mmmm... it is interesting to me, and I've done it in games before. But in this case, I don't think it would particularly suit either of my character concepts so if we're starting at level 4, I'll just go with that.

I take it the standard PHB races also have a place in your homebrew?

Ok, assuming VoP is acceptable, I'm debating between a Goliath, Half-orc, Human, or Boes Monk. Need to bat things around a bit. Got a good background going for him too.

A note on Cloistered Cleric: I don't remember cloistered cleric in the sources I listed. It is also morning and I am still sleepy, so I could be screwed up. But if not, I am going to nix the cloistered cleric route. Sorry.

A note on Vow of Peace: I will not nix this idea, JohnnyFive, but I think your other idea about the Church Inquisition PrC fits better with the party and my thoughts on the upcoming game as a DM. I listed that one below, but I will not nix the Vow of Peace. It just will be difficult for you if you choose it.

Note to doghead: I did not include you on the list because it seemed like you were more interested in a wilderness game. If that is an error, please accept my apologies and let me know.

Okay, so - list of potential characters:

Eonthar - Unknown/unknown but interest expressed

Ferrix - Female unknown/Cleric of Pelor

Engrishonly - Unknown/"Zealot-type"

Eluvan - Unknown/Cleric OR Unknown/Ranger-Ranger (PHB Races all accepted as printed in PHB)

Johnnyfive - Aetos/Paladin-Rogue (Headed for Shadowbane Inquisitor)

Bront - Bous/Monk (VoP approved - especially given the race it makes sense)

Fenris - Unknown/Unknown

Okay, that gives 7, so I am going to oficially close the openings. Noting a lack of someone desiring to DM, I'll take it so we move forward. We'll go with the homebrew world. I'll post much more info later in about 5-6 hours when I get back from work. For now, though, we have work to do regarding race/class of the characters.

First question first - we need to settle on a god. I haven't heard any objections to Pelor, but now is the time to speak.

[Sblock] [/Sblock]

Assuming it worked, above is a list of deities if the party would prefer to go with another besides Pelor. I will state that for the purpose of this game, we should all settle on one. [Oh, list is combined from PHB, CD, XPH, and BoED - Only LG and NG deities presented] Barring no objections, Pelor it is. If there are objections, as I said before now is the time to speak.

Second question is on character starting level/wealth. I've heard no objections to 4, so let's go with that. As I said with Eluvan, anyone desiring to start lower can retain their level 4 starting wealth status but take a cut in XP. If we have a significant party size that might not be as big of a deal as with a small party.

Third question is on party size. This is where I leave it up to the players hands. I know people go on vacations and have lives on the weekends. So do I, actually! Having said that let me also say I don't mind taking out a party of 7 players as long as everyone posts when they can. Online, I've found that big parties imply that everyone take up the banner of RP and conversation because there is simply too many people for the DM to have NPCs initiate alot of the RP. So here's my third question - By continuing in this thread you are agreeing to post whenever possible (once a day required). If you can't do that on a regular basis, please say so. There is no shame in saying so at all.

Fourth question is really not a big deal, but I'll get it out there anyway. With a large party we should all settle in on a color for indicating speech. [Please see the games in my sig above for examples of how conversation/thoughts/actions are posted. It is pretty normal, but ...] I lay stake to the following colors: Sienna is used when the party splits up. Medium Turquoise is used when I have an Sblock for certain characters only. Lime is general NPC speech. Olive is special NPC speech. I tried to leave most of the other favorites (red, yellow, gray, orange, blue) open. However, if you would, please lay stake to a color.

I think that will do it for now. If possible, respond to each of the above four questions and settle in on a race/class.

Oh, racial tensions in my homebrow are extremely eased. There is no inherant hatred between elves and dwarves, for example. Humans (and therefore Drakontai and even a few Elans) dominate the population by far, but most towns are very well mixed racial. Dwarves still tend to live underground, so they can be a bit segregated (although they live with gnomes, too). But for the most part, racial tension will not play a large part of this game (except in the case of a ranger's favored enemy, of course.)

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*Note to Wilderness players: If I am DMing the religious game, I won't have time to DM the wilderness game. However, if someone else wants to DM please take it up. It looks like there are enough players to make it work. I'll play if there is a spot open - I just can't DM both.

Alright - you can assume Human Male Rogue 2/Ranger 2 for my character.

As far as deities go, I'm perfectly happy to go with Pelor.

As a Neutral Good deity, Pelor is a good choice so you can have some in-party variance on alignment on the ethos axis. You could have the lawful good proselytizer, the neutral good healer and the chaotic good avenger, all following Pelor as they are within one step of his alignment. Which would add some tension and character dynamic.

I'll stat up my female cleric then.

Nonlethal Force said:

[Bront - Bous/Monk (VoP approved - especially given the race it makes sense)

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I'm debating between that and the other races listed, but still VoP monk. Half-Orc is the other leaning, but a Bous might be interesting.

BTW, I claim White

Nonlethal Force said:

Engrishonly: I am intrigued by the "guiding voices" concept. Would these voices be DM controlled or player controlled? Would you be open to the idea of them being deathless guides (think minimalized Sacred Watcher from BoED) who are purely etherial? Or perhaps archons or guardinals who speak telepathically or while invisible? Other thoughts?

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DM controlled or player controlled? I think a little of both... because as she was tried for heresy, I think there was that part to St.Joan - that when it comes to voices, those who don't have unwavering faith AND trust in the visionary who hears voices, then one cannot ever be entirely sure if it's a fantasy or reality.

So if there are DM controlled voices that cause this character to wander off in a field and start talking to invisible angels, then we would definitely know... but if there are also character moments when she wanders off, then we wouldn't know for sure (especially the other characters) if her "talks with God" are actually real in that moment or if they are false.

(EDIT2: I think that's part of the beauty of faith... to believe, and to have the belief in your heart, despite the lack of empirical understanding of what you believe in. Knowing in your heart that you believe, but not knowing in your head if it's for real. It's in that questioning, like when St. Joan was being burned at the stake and asking God for help (and she burns to death... although as a Catholic, I believe firmly that she sits with God in Heaven), that's when the beautiful moments happen. Pure zealotry would be far more boring)

I don't know the Sacred Watcher class since I don't have the BoED... I would definitely want the voices to be voices only, and not anything that would interfere (no invisible creatures that would come down to save "St. Joan" from the flames). Sometimes, it would be voices with clear messages... sometimes, just feelings or reactions (I'm imagining something like Dr. Gaius Baltar in the new Battlestar Galactica, something like "The Hand of God" episode).

As for class... I originally imagined a Paladin, but just as an ideal. In some ways, I think she works BETTER as a Warrior who aspires to be a Paladin, but didn't quite fit in to what the Paladin order was looking for.

Anyway, I'll think about this some more...

EDIT: Pelor sounds good... the Sun God is always cool to follow.

Bront said:

I'm debating between that and the other races listed, but still VoP monk. Half-Orc is the other leaning, but a Bous might be interesting.

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Bront: I should say that for VoP based characters I am a stickler for both sides of the coin. Obviously nothing more than mundane weapons/items/etc - that goes without saying. But I am also a stickler that the characters demand an equal share of the loot be given away to charities. If everyone agrees, usually the easiest way to handle this is that the VoP monk claim things/money/etc and either make someone else carry them or even carry them themselves but NEVER use them. I have often found it odd that the book states that they can't have any wealth but yet they must tithe. I've also found it odd that the book clearly indicates that the VoP character must get their fair share of the loot to keep party wealth balanced - but yet they can't carry anything valuable. We'll need to address this to everyone's satisfaction before beginning. I have solved it several ways ... One way is if another party member is willing to tote the stuff around and make the contribution when requested - that works. But, that characters must never use any of the monk's stuff. Another way is to given the monk a rather bag of holding that stores stuff to be donated away and if it is ever used for any other purpose (or stuff is drawn out for any reason other than to donate the item to a worthy cause) it automatically violates the Vow and the monk loses the benefit of the feat. Of course, I am open to other suggestions - but with VoP I want to make sure we are clear going in as to how the character's wealth will be managed until it is donated away.

If you are curious about the Bous in game-play, feel free to stop by the Clutches of Evil thread and ask Daz or Jkason how they've found it. Granted, the game only started a few months ago - but they might have an opinion (either good or bad).

For all players: As far as the races, any of the PHB or the four custom races are acceptable. Large characters are not to be preferred, because there are a number of crypts in the party's future - crypts that large creatures might find ... uncomfortable. I state that beforehand to be fair. However, any race/class from the books listed are fair game.

Just to be clear, all characters will start with 5,400 gp character wealth as per table 5-1 in the 3.5 DMG p. 135. Any gold not spent will be allowed to remain with the character. Please drop silver pieces and copper pieces - I tend to not really worry about them beyond level 1 anyway. Any unspent money can be converted to gems using the table in the following post.

I will create a RG thread for those players who are definately in. Please post character sheets there and all OOC conversation here. That will make sure we don't miss posts or anything. EDIT: Here is the link: Elysium Squad

Eluvan: go ahead and stat up the character, let me know if you have any issues or questions. It should be pretty straightforward. Don't forget to claim a color.

Ferrix: you are good to go, what race are you going for? Also, don't forget to claim a color.

Monetary Equivilancies

For the record, my homebrew world uses a a standardized table for gemstone conversions. ICly speaking, this is because trade and economics have advanced enough that standardizations make business easier on the merchants - and more profitable. All gemstones on the following table are cut to a standard size/clarity. Obviously, gems with less clarity will be larger while gems with greater clarity will be smaller - thus the monetary value remains constant.

GEMS

OOCly speaking, I realize this negates the need for Appraise(Gemstones) for the most part. However, PbP games are long, and quibbling over gem prices only lengthens the game. Plus, things like appraise checks often have alot of body language involved between DM and player - which cannot happen on PbP games. So, I use the standardized table simply for convenience. Given the character ideas, I don't think this will hinder anyone's character concept. I think it will make all our lives easier.

Edit: I have linked to this post to the original post in the OOC thread for your future convenience.