[ooc] - Dogville - a bloody 3.5 game [5/5]

I'm bored and I have some time on my hands. So I am going to run a game. Its going to short and bloody. Short because things are up in the air at the moment and I don't know how long I will have to do this. Bloody because, well, I'm bored. So don't expect too much in the way of plot. Expect lots of monsters.

I'm going to use the Pathfinder town of Sandpoint as the setting. I'm probably just going to crib generally from the Pathfinder setting material. If I knew that had the time, I would probably be running their adventure path. Pathfinder material can be found at the piazo website. "Pathfinder RPG Alpha Edition" and the "Rise of the Runelords Players Guide" is available as a free .pdf download from piazo. You aren't required to be familiar with them.
But they are pretty good.

I'm thinking 4-5 slots.

- Character Creation -

2nd level. Generate stats however you wish. Most NPC's will be in the 20-24 point range. Any race/class from any material. I am familiar with the core races and classes. Anything else, it will be your responsibility to keep me informed. Maximum HP at first, half rounded up at subsequent levels. 800 gold starting wealth. Spend it on whatever you wish.

The game will be loosely E8'ish. In other words, 8th level is about as far as people can advance, and anyone reaching this level would be somewhat legendary in stature. 6th level characters would be notable heroes. 4rd level characters would have started to make a name for themselves. 2nd level characters would be considered competent.

I'm going to insist on one thing. The PC's must form a small team. A band of mercenaries, gypsy entertainers, hippogriff hunters, whatever. Its up to you to decide. The PC's don't all have to like each other, they just need to have reason to work together.

- Game Style -

The goal here is to shovel in as much fun as time allows. If you are not having fun, post up and say something.

I'm not ghosting PC's, and I'm not hanging around waiting for people to post.

I'm not going to spend a lot of time rooting around in rule books and calculating modifiers. Most of the time I'm going to just eyeball it and fly by the seat of my pants.

Any questions?

Anyone interested?

doghead
aka thotd
officially old and grumpy

Pencil me in for a human fighter/rogue. I'll have more detail later.

I'm interested in playing as a wizard of some kind. Not sure what school I will specilize in, though.

Gyojin said:

I'm interested in playing as a wizard of some kind. Not sure what school I will specilize in, though.

Click to expand...

Based on the description of the adventuring style I vote evocation.

ooc - Brutal

Welcome Redclaw, Gyojin. Fighter rogue is a nice combo. Can't help much with the wizard school choice. I rarely play wizards and I have never specialised. I think. Unless I did and didn't know it.

doghead
aka thotd

recruiting - s&b

Here is a thumbnail outline of the Pathfinder setting from the Rise of the Runelords players guide. I'm only loosely using it as a off the shelf background. You are not required to be intimately familiar with it. But I though it would be useful to give you some idea as to the mental picture that I have in mind.

--- VARISIA ---

-- RACES --

- HUMANS -

Three distinct human societies dwell in Varisia: the expansionist colonists of Cheliax, the tempestuous tribes of the Shoanti barbarians, and the enigmatic Varisians.

- Cheliax -

The Cheliaxans were originally colonists from a mighty empire to the south, now much reduced. The most powerful of Cheliax’s city-states, monument-haunted Magnimar and imperial-minded Korvosa, vie for control of the empire's abandoned Varisian holdings. Cheliaxians possess dark hair and eyes and a taste for the fine things in life.

- Shoanti -

The original inhabitants of Varisia, the Shoanti have been largely driven from the fertile lower plains of the south. Today the Shoanti tribes are limited the Storval Plateau, the Cinderlands, the Curchainian Hills, and the Velashu Uplands. They are nomadic, although territorial, and tough. ians, and the enigmatic Varisians. The Shoanti are a hale and powerfully built people. Typically of ruddy complexion, most men stand well over 6 feet tall, with women only slightly shorter. Most shave their heads.

- Varisian -

Insular and adhering to an ancient, nomadic way of life, extended families of Varisians form wandering communities, traveling wherever fate directs them. Varisians don’t believe in claiming land and thus see no hardship in their nomadism. The typical Varisian possesses deep olive skin and hair that ranges from black to auburn, often worn long by both men and women. Customary tattooing leads most to exhibit complex patterns and symbols.

- DWARVES -

The majority of the dwarves of Varisia live in the iron-walled town of Janderhoff in the south east. Despite Janderhoff’s fortress-like exterior, its people welcome any visitors who seek to do honest business and who don’t cause trouble.

- ELVES -

Few elves make their home in Varisia, with the exception of the residents of the Mierani Forest. From the giant pines, white barks, and towering coastal redwoods, the Mierani elves have sculpted several villages, most notably cliff-side Arsmeril on the coast and the trading town of Crying Leaf on the edge of the Velashu Uplands. Their true home, though, the tree-city of Celwynvian, is a city abandoned.

- HALF ORCS -

Members of this rare, bastard race most commonly come to Varisia alongside marauders from the Hold of Belkzen, which frequently raid Shoanti tribes and pillage the sparse resources of the Cinderlands. While some make their homes in the same depraved dens their bloodthirsty kin frequent, others live on the fringes of Varisia’s southern lands. In seeking acceptance, these outcasts lead lives of incredible daring and personal discipline, ever hoping to prove their worth by actions and escape the shadows of their birth. In any case, Wise half-orcs rightly avoid Varisia’s native Shoanti, who see them as the foulest abominations, more hated than even the Chelaxians of the south.

-- THE LAND --

The most dramatic natural wonder of Varisia is the Storval Rise, a continuous line of cliffs that runs hundreds of miles and in some places rises as high as 3,000 feet. Adding to this wonder, nearly the entire face of these cliffs bears eroded sculptures, ruined cliff-castles, and grimly carved passages into depths below.

Above the rise stretches the Storval Plateau, a barren, hilly land of sparse vegetation and deadly giants. This is the primary home of the Shoanti. A nomadic people, the barbarians range from the Stony Mountains in the west to the Cinderlands—a badland of ragged tors in the east.

Below the Storval Rise, rolling hills, dense forests, and rocky plains make up Varisia’s more hospitable reaches. Many of these lands are marked by ancient monoliths, eroded statues, and cairns of unnatural size. To the north west, hills covered in high grass and windy flatlands form valleys between mountains and the sea. In the south, fertile lands pocked by rocky limestone pavements and mist-shrouded moors border the massive rot of the Mushfens.

- AREAS OF INTEREST -

Bloodsworn Vale: A fey-haunted pass to southern lands.
Brinewall: A mysteriously ruined sea-fortress.
Celwynvian: The doomed capitol of the Mierani elves, abandoned by its people.
The Sunken Queen: A great, timeless pyramid rising from the Mushfen’s murk.
Hook Mountain: A peak of dark repute and ancestral home to several tribes of murderous ogres.
Kaer Maga: A city built within ancient ruins, renowned for its anarchic population of squatters and outlaws.
The Mobhad Leigh: A vast and deep pit, which the Shoanti say has no bottom.
Riddleport: A depraved pirate city whose ancient harbor bears a massive, rune-carved arch.
The Lady’s Light: An ancient, towering lighthouse rumored to be haunted by the ghosts of witches.
The Storval Stairs: Titanic steps cut into the face of the Storval Rise.
Urglin: An ancient ruin overrun by brutal savages, orcs, half-breeds, and worse.
Viperwall: The Citadel of Snakes. Its walls of carved serpents endlessly leak a venomous gas.

misc

... so this would be post 5,000. Yeah. Do I win anything?

doghead
aka thotd

All right, I'm picturing a Varisian mercenary. A warrior who likes to use speed, and a few underhanded tricks, to outwit his stronger adversaries. I'm waiting on specifics until I've seen some detail from my fellow players (ie. more fighter than rogue, or more rogue than fighter).
However, the stat-generation has me a bit puzzled. I don't want to be wholly underpowered compared to the others, so can we narrow choices down a bit. I'm tempted to go 28 point buy, so that he's a little bit better than most but not superhuman. Does that make sense?

recruiting - s&b

Redclaw - 28 works. Working with the other players to fine tune characters also make sense.

Assuming that we get some. Other players that is. Starting a recruiting thread during Easter probably wasn't the best timing. Holidays and weekends tend to be a bit slower.

doghead
aka thotd

I'm already in a Rise of the Runelords game, so I don't really want to join in if you're considering running that. If you're not going to be running that, I might have some interest.