The Game of Kings OOC

Yeah, I'm looking at utility and interaction types of spells with a couple basic offensive/defensive ones.

I'm editing in a few changes to my character sheet, mostly changes due to the switch to Cloistered Cleric at level 1.

Since we've been looking at a lot of party balance issues recently, I thought a list of submitted characters and concepts, and their roles (in order of priority), might be useful.

Bront: Carver, Warforged Artificer (support casting and melee combat)
Deuce: Doral, Half-Elf Beguiler (illusion/enchantment caster and stealth)
stonegod: Vhir, Kobold Warlock (support casting, negotiator) AND Jhen, Changeling Rogue/Swashbuckler (melee combat, disguise)
MadMaxim: Partash, Kalashtar Cleric (divine casting, melee combat?)
Isida: Morika, Shifter Druid (melee combat, divine casting)
Random Encounter: Telepath (negotation, manifesting) - no biography submitted yet
Wikka: Faer, Gnome Fighter (melee combat)
Bobitron: Glasia, Human Cleric/Wizard (utility spellcasting)
James Heard: Dragen, Human Cleric (divine casting, ranged combat)

Comments and feedback will be posted later tonight.

I'm having trouble narrowing down feats, especially with the expanded options available. Any suggestions would be helpful.

Edit: I could very easily whip up a paladin with a similar backstory if we need it. Similar stuff would work okay. I could go pure cleric if needed, too. Found that drawing, as well.

Well, since my initial concept for my character was as an arcane spellcaster I could certainly shift everything over fairly easily to cover the "Boom" in the group. I was under the impression that we were being told "no more arcane spellcasters" though...

And I could still keep the whole "ranged combat" schtick going pretty easily too I think, though I'd be missing out on a few points of bonuses to hit I guess when I flip the stats which would make the Zen Archery feat go bye-bye.

Pem the Changeling monk

Pem looked at the letter wondering how in the name of the hosts' anyone was able to track him/her down. Pem had been run out of five towns in the last two weeks and hadn't been able to settle down long enough for anyone to find him/her let alone to have a letter waiting at the first friendly tavern s/he'd arrived at in the last fortnight. Pem pondered the letter over a spiced wine, could it be a trap? Pem knew that s/he'd made some enemies in the past -mercenaries seemed to do that quite frequently, changeling mercernaries moreso than others- but the prospect of hard coin and maybe being able to find a changeling community of other Reality Seekers eased some of Pem's fears. Besides, after spending the last two weeks getting chased out of every town s/he'd entered it felt nice to actually be invited somewhere. "Perhaps I may look into this" Pem thought, downing his/her wine after noticing several of the tavern goers eyeing him/her quite intently. "Either way, I think my welcome here has certainly run out" Pem said to him/herself as s/he hastily gathered his/her cloak and walked back into the rain.
The Brelish weather was begining to wear on Pem, and not for the first time s/he thought back to the beauty of Metrol before the Mourning turned it into the twisted mockery of life it is now. However, after what seemed to be a lifetime of one tragedy after the last Pem refused to be brought down by despair; so s/he flipped his/her hood over his/her bald pate, began wistling a jaunty tune, nodded a hello to the stunned patrons entering the roadside tavern, and struck off for the Tantamar ferry to find out what this Elinvath Sargessean had to offer a displaced changeling.

mcnathan80 said:

"Perhaps I may look into this"

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Noooooo! Not (dark) blue! Blue on black make men go blind! (Actually, men have less cones in the low blue spectrum, making it difficult for them [as they get older] to distinguish saturated blue on black. And now you know! And yes, I study this for a living.)

Seriously, I think a different color would be easier to read. I've been known to use RoyalBlue.

Dark_Jackalope said:

B]Bront:[/B] While I enjoyed reading both your original character concepts, I definitely agree with Ringmereth that Carver is a sound choice. In regards to trap-springing vs. your other options as an artificer, I think you should steer clear of the more rogue-traits, and focus on crafting. (I think it goes better with Carver's character anyhow.)

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Sweet! Carver has a fan club!

Yeah, will do. He'll have some disable and search just because, well, he's curious, and disable is good for a few other things, but he'll mostly be a crafter using the 'Forged subsitution levels.

Shayuri: sorry to see you bowing out--I liked the idea of Trey and Carver working together. Good luck with your other games here, and see you around.

Bob: No need to roll a paladin. In fact, fitting a paladin into this game would be quite difficult, even though it would fit the character of Glasia well. See the comments on party balance below.

MadMaxim: I like what you've come up with so far, but your description and goals for Partash seem a little bit vague and general. You might also like to work on identifying how his role differs from Dragen's.

Isida: you're filling some useful roles here, and they fit the concept of Morika quite well.

James: I'm hoping this game doesn't turn quite as depressing as 'All Quiet', but that feel comes through in Dragen's biography. The healer/archer role is a good one, and I think the arcane casting situation can be resolved without altering Dragen radically.

stonegod: thanks for the role clarification. See my comments on party balance below.

Bront: being able to fight effectively adds a good boost to the party's melee presence. Thanks for pointing that out.

mcnathan80: A monk is about the one thing we don't have. I like where you're going with this changeling, but I agree with stonegod's assessment of that font.

My take on our party balance situation:

On the whole, our submissions could make a pretty well-rounded group. We have melee combat covered, divine casting covered, and stealth covered. Our most muddled area is that of the party's arcane casters, and what roles they fill. My suggestions: Vhen should focus on covering the role of the group's negotiator and frontman. This works better with his background, and frankly, the offensive powers of the warlock leave something to be desired.

Meanwhile, I think Glasia's concept could be maintained while switching her level of cleric for one of wizard. From what you state in her history, being actual cleric was never a significant part of her life, while studying wizardry was, and her background with the Silver Flame could be reflected in her skills and feats (maxing out Knowledge (religion) and taking Arcane Disciple, True Believer, or Consecrate Spell from Complete Divine, or Ecclesiarch from ECS). Note that I'm not pushing for a nuker hellbent on revenge; staying focused on utility spells with some basic offense and defense magic and serving as a generalist mage will work just fine.

As for Carver and Doral, their roles as supporting casters with other capabilities should serve just fine as currently written.

Ringmereth said:

On the whole, our submissions could make a pretty well-rounded group. We have melee combat covered, divine casting covered, and stealth covered. Our most muddled area is that of the party's arcane casters, and what roles they fill. My suggestions: Vhen should focus on covering the role of the group's negotiator and frontman. This works better with his background, and frankly, the offensive powers of the warlock leave something to be desired.

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True, true.

Question: Are the inquisitive side (the Gather Info/Urban Tracking) going to be useful, or should I just focus on Bluff/Intimidate/Diplomacy (as G.I. isn't a class skill, it isn't ideal a combo as if he took something else)?

Ringmereth said:

Meanwhile, I think Glasia's concept could be maintained while switching her level of cleric for one of wizard. From what you state in her history, being actual cleric was never a significant part of her life, while studying wizardry was, and her background with the Silver Flame could be reflected in her skills and feats (maxing out Knowledge (religion) and taking Arcane Disciple, True Believer, or Consecrate Spell from Complete Divine, or Ecclesiarch from ECS). Note that I'm not pushing for a nuker hellbent on revenge; staying focused on utility spells with some basic offense and defense magic and serving as a generalist mage will work just fine.

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There is a great PrC from Five Nations that combines Wizard and cleric levels, but since I don't think we're getting to 7th level any time soon (the soonest it could be taken) and since that book is not on the list, I think we can skip it. If curious, you can see a build fror that class here.

I'd go with fire based spells (burning hands, scorching ray) as they best fit w/ the Flame, but that's me.

Font color

No probalo guys consider my color changed. So here's Pem's reception of the letter with a new color:

Pem looked at the letter wondering how in the name of the hosts' anyone was able to track him/her down. Pem had been run out of five towns in the last two weeks and hadn't been able to settle down long enough for anyone to find him/her let alone to have a letter waiting at the first friendly tavern s/he'd arrived at in the last fortnight. Pem pondered the letter over a spiced wine, could it be a trap? Pem knew that s/he'd made some enemies in the past -mercenaries seemed to do that quite frequently, changeling mercernaries moreso than others- but the prospect of hard coin and maybe being able to find a changeling community of other Reality Seekers eased some of Pem's fears. Besides, after spending the last two weeks getting chased out of every town s/he'd entered it felt nice to actually be invited somewhere. "Perhaps I may look into this" Pem thought, downing his/her wine after noticing several of the tavern goers eyeing him/her quite intently. "Either way, I think my welcome here has certainly run out" Pem said to him/herself as s/he hastily gathered his/her cloak and walked back into the rain.
The Brelish weather was begining to wear on Pem, and not for the first time s/he thought back to the beauty of Metrol before the Mourning turned it into the twisted mockery of life it is now. However, after what seemed to be a lifetime of one tragedy after the last Pem refused to be brought down by despair; so s/he flipped his/her hood over his/her bald pate, began wistling a jaunty tune, nodded a hello to the stunned patrons entering the roadside tavern, and struck off for the Tantamar ferry to find out what this Elinvath Sargessean had to offer a displaced changeling.

Click to expand...

How's that?