[D&D4E] Path of Enlightenment [OOC]

Hello and welcome to Path of Enlightenment recruiting thread, a game themed like a fantastic and ancient China.


This is my first time DMing in PbP, and my first attempt with D&D 4E DMing. I can only hope to not make too many mistakes. First of all, English is not my first language, so please correct my spelling or the verbal times ( does it even exist? ) I use.

IC thread
RG thread

[sblock=Maps]
[sblock= Dragon's Palm] [/sblock]
[sblock=Singing Spring Island] [/sblock]
[sblock=Master Jiem’s School][/sblock]
[sblock=Battle at the town wall]
[/sblock]
[sblock=Smiling Spring Town][/sblock]
[sblock=Troubles in the night]
[/sblock]
[sblock=Blood at the Captain's Cabin]


[/sblock]
[sblock=Wei Dan's house]

[/sblock]
[sblock=Moving sands]
[/sblock]
[sblock=Salty problems]
[/sblock]
[/sblock]

[sblock= home brew Creatures]
[sblock=Lizard Demon] Level 4 Brute
Large beast (demon) XP 250
Initiative +3 Senses Perception +4
HP 70; Bloodied 35
AC 17; Fortitude 18, Reflex 15, Will 12
Vulnerable 5 Radiant
Resist 5 fire
Speed 6
(melee basic) Claws (standard; at-will)
+7 vs. AC; 1d8 + 4 damage.
(melee) Tail sweep (standard; at-will)
+6 vs. AC; 1d6 damage. Hit: target falls prone
(close burst) Tail bash (standard; encounter)
+6 vs. Ref; 1d6 damage. Hit: push targets 2 squares away.
(melee) Devour (standar, encounter)
+8 vs AC; 1d8+4 ongoing damage.
If the Lizard demon hits, the target is grabbed. The Lizard demon will consume it’s prey, dealing 1d8+4 points of damage each round (until escape). If the target dies while grabbed, the lizard demon will attempt to devour it, which would take 3 full rounds. The lizard demon will not try to devour a prey, if there are enemies alive.
Alignment Chaotic evil Languages Abyssal
Str 18 (+4) Dex 14 (+4) Wis 7 (-2)
Con 16 (+3) Int 12 (+1) Cha 7 (-2)
[/sblock][/sblock]

Cast:

Covaithe as Lucky Leng the warrior
Onlythestrong as Shen Rui the strategist
Nightbreeze as Kaoru Airhead the gifted
Atanotatos as Koryo the deserted blackveil assassin
Scotley as Ban Lu the monk master
Helfdan as Wang Chi the imperial officer
Walking Dad as Zieng Yu the great alchemist

Introduction:

The known world, Known as Dragon's Palm, is a great square-like, piece of earth, with sea in its south and east borders, where many islands with small towns spread. There are many mountain chains, valleys, forests and plains. The setting itself is Oriental themed, more precisely, with an ancient China theme. There is a short (not too short) background information about the history anyone in this world would know.

I will be dealing with 5 players tops. But the game will start with two players, later on, as the story follows it course, the third will be added, and so on, until the fifth player is found.
The game will be quite heavy on role playing, and will be most plot line-like. There are many liberties, but not as much as in other games. There are certain Key plot events that will be unavoidable. It might not be the fairest way to DM a game, but it’s a way I found simple and entertained for me, and for the players that like this kind of games (Rather obvious and redundant sentence.)
I will reopen the recruiting to “harvest” the needed playing characters when the time comes. Anyway, interested people can leave a concept for me to look.
The time that passes between the incorporation of the next player will depend on the speed of the game. Four posts a week will suffice, I think.


Character creation:

Some restrictions, there are always restrictions:
All characters must be humans.
First two characters must be ethier fighters, rangers or warlords.
The third can be ethier warlock or mage.
The fourth, ethier rouge or ranger
Finally the fifth can be ethier cleric or paladin.
If I see fit, I could incorporate further characters.

There will be something that I happen to call trainings.
Trainings are special teachings that are impaired to you since young age, or that you learn from a master, given certain amount of time. Here are some of the trainings some of the PC already received. Most of the trainings will be useful with unarmed attacks.
To perform special feats with a given training, and combining the trainings (yours and the ones of your peers) in such way you get a nice combat tactic, require time and patience, they are not a “pay and use” thing, you need time to train the technique and get familiar with it before you can use it. Training itself won’t require nothing from you, but at the end of each training phase, you’ll be tested and will be required to succeed in your test in order to get the technique and be able to use your training.
[sblock= Trainings]
"Innate Martial Arts" a feat that allows the player to make an unarmed basic melee attack against a target with +3 proficiency, dealing 1d4+Str points of damage. Additionally you gain a +1 in your attempts to grab an opponent while unarmed.
This applies to all character, even npcs.

"Channeling Chi" Any person related with martial arts learns to channel their chi, through meditation and training. Controlling this energy will allow the characters to make some feats out of ordinary. Channeling Chi will allow you to harm ghosts and spirits with your unarmed attack. If you attack living beings, you get a +1 force damage to your damage rolls. Channel Chi is an encounter power that you can use if you are not bloodied, since it requires great amount of concentration. It last a number or rounds equal to your wisdom score, or until you get bloodied. All martially trained PC get this free. Other characters added later could gain once trained in a martial style.


"Martial Art Training" This feat allows you to use your hands as weapons. This allows you to use the class powers wile unarmed. This feat is gained by those who have received training in a martial style. 1st 2nd and 4th characters have this feat free. Other characters added later could gain once trained in a martial style.

There will be additional trainings available, but it has no sense that I start to post them now. [/Sblock]


Character creation will be with 25 points, and we will have level 2 characters. Be sure to incorporate theme based descriptions of your characters.

Necessary background notes:
First two characters: [sblock= 1st and 2nd]All your life, you lived in the remote island of Singing Spring. You were abandoned as a child, left to the care of Master Jiem, the island martial art school master of the town. He raised you like the father you never knew, with love but with discipline. You two were like brothers, although you belong to different biological fathers. You know the third character since you were children.[/sblock]

The third: [sblock=3th]Your origin is a mystery too. You came as a baby, from the empire capital city, brought by a dangerous assassin, who murdered your family. The criminal flee to Smiling Spring, bringing you as an alibi. He established in the village for some months, but soon enough, an imperial report arrived to the island. The townsfolk give notice to Master Jiem, who tried to capture the man. Unfortunately, Jiem could not avoid killing him, when the situation was critical. Feeling responsible, he took care of you, and rise you like his child, as he did with the other two orphans. Master Jiem foreseen a peculiar destiny for you, that makes him keep you away from martial training. You are now a grown man/woman, and the students have built a little house for you, at the exit of the school. [/sblock]


The forth [sblock= Only for 4th character applicants. Others, don't read!]
After the return of the emperor, His Majesty had to replace Mastermind Tien (who had fallen in battle) with another equally gifted strategist.
Mastermind Tien had his own service of assassins and spies, working under his command, to ensure everything went smoothly. If a noble started to complain and "unbalance" the empire, he probaly have died the next morning, of "natural causes". This was the order of the Black Veil. This was your order. You enoied your job, spying, and mantaining the orther of things around the imperial city. But Mastermind Tien's replacement changed everything. Soon, you all were known as the Black Veil Assassins.
You new superior, "Mask", was a mysterious and cruel man, with no mercy, no heart, no honor. Things started to get really bad, really soon, so you decided to left the order. But that was no easy done thing. You and a friend of yours decided to flee to the islands at the east. You travel to Tiger Rest, a rather big island, and your friend, to Singing Spring. He carried his dauther with him, since his wife was murder by the Black Veil Assassins. Many years passed since that. You decided to visit Singing Spring, to see how your friend was doing. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found.

This is some plot needed backstory. You can add and modify it at your will. The key events are: you been a former Black Veil assassin/spy, your friend and you fleeing from the capital to de islands, your return to Singing Springs in search of your friend.[/sblock]

I understand that the first three PC are quite narrow in backstory matters. But there is much to tell besides what I have already included. You have all the characters life in Singing Spring to speak about, his time training, and his time not training. Plenty of stuff, take the liberty of creating students, teachers and townfolks. Remember its a rather poor village.


Some notes about equipment:

The first three players will start with equipment given by your master, so equip whatever you see fit for a student of martial arts. Mainly, you will have a staff, a leather armor and clothing

Metal armors are rare, only available in the main cities of the empire. Shields are not of common use ethier, but a wooden shield can be found anywhere.

We will define the other players equipment further on. Probably they will have an amount of gold to use in equipment.

Although they exist, its not common to see anyone fighting with maces or hammers (or any blunt and heavy weapon).


Some Notes about classes:

There are no class name for your PC. You are all warriors, specialized in different combat tactics and skills. I want the classes to represent fighting stiles, rather than different paths. Of course, warlocks and wizards are seen as sorcerers, whose powers are not understood, or warriors with mystical powers, but rangers fighters and warlords are to be taken as warriors, along with paladin and rouges. Obviously each class represent a feature of the ideal warrior: Warlords are the tactical warriors, fighters are the strong resistant and cunning warriors, rangers are the precise and nimble warriors, with grace, rather than strength. Rouges could fill the role of assassins.
I need comments about this topic, and nothing of the things said above are carved in stone.


Finally, the introductory Story:

[sblock= Story]
The history of the empire is quite recent. About 100 years ago, First Emperor Lu Ian Su unified the four nations into the first Great Empire.
Since history is written with ink, there were four nations, which fought each other, for the control of the huge land they shared. Countless skirmishes, countless battles, but no obvious winner.
Peace was nowhere to be found, until a hero rouse among the common people. His name was unknown at first, just another guard of one of the nation’s army, but soon his talent and skills were noted. His use of the sword, and his straight and clever mind, his focus in battle and his honorable behavior lead him to the throne of his nation.

Lu Ian Su was a wise ruler, a great strategist and also, a great warrior. Through politics, he convinced 3 of the nations to join and create the Great Empire. But the forth nation, the people of the north, brave and proud, didn’t hear reasons; most of them were hunters and nomads, lead by a ferocious ruler. Lu Ian Su was forced to bring war to the north tribesman. The war extended more than he had thought, because, even in technological disadvantage, and outnumbered, the north people fought for their culture and independence.
But after 10 years of conflict, with their leader fallen in battle, the north people surrendered, and there was peace for the first time.
The rule of Tenacious Su lasted many years, full of prosperity and peace. Only the heavens could break the harmony of the new empire.
And so was it, a great drought struck the land. The crops started to wither, the cattle to starve. Eventually, the people starve to death. All that Tenacious Su had built started to crumble and fall apart. The peasants corpses started to pile outside the cities, the land devastated by the drought, converted into an endless wasteland, where no crop could live.
Consternated by the situation of his empire, the old Tenacious Su died of a mysterious illness, and his elder son ascended to the throne. Lu Ian Su had four children. Lu Ian Li, Sagacious Li, the actual emperor, who had the political strength of his father; Lu Ian Tien, Mastermind Tien, the general of the imperial forces, who had the strategist mind of his father; Lu Ian Sin, Sin Dancing Swords, commander of the elite guard of the emperor, who heir the physical strength and martial arts of his father; and Lu Ian To, Glorious To, High priest of the monastic Order of the Yellow Veil. Emperor Li had one great deal of troubles when he took the crown from his dying father. The empire was at the edge of chaos and anarchy, and worst of all, there was no enemy to blame for it, only the merciless will of some forgotten god.
No one knows exactly how, but after a strange military campaign to the northern wastes, the old homeland of the nomads, the drought was over. The sages predicted 4 more years of drought, but Sagacious Li ended it in just 6 months.
Some vague tales of this campaign were, eventually, told. Bards sing about the great deeds of the Emperor and his three brothers, who ventured into the wild north, and fought monsters and evil creatures, opening they way to the temple of the Unnamed god. This terrible entity, summoned dire creatures, which killed most of the emperor forces. Mastermind Tien, and Glorious To were murdered in the battlefield, fighting to save their Emperor.
Sagacious Li prevailed after the Epic Battle, and destroyed the temple for good. It is told that once the temple was destroyed, the waters came back, the rivers ran and the rain fell. In few months, prosperity and balance were restored, bringing the empire to a new golden age.
That was 17 years ago, and nothing has changed since.
[/Sblock]

Fluffed weapons:
Bastard Sword= Mio Dao http://www.learn-chinese-martial-art...-dao-sword.gif
Long sword= Jian Jian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Scimitar= Dao Dao (sword) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Spear and long spear= Qiang http://dana.ucc.nau.edu/~msb46/qiang.gif
Staff= Gun http://beifan.com/shaolin-monk/059album03/sxd-2eg22.jpg
Dagger= Baat Jaam Do http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...fly_Swords.gif

I forgot to say, that the needed background information for the fourth and fifth characters will be in sblocks for the ones requesting it. We don't want to spoil the surprise, right?

This sounds like fun to me. Are you looking for fully statted characters now, or just concepts.

Here's a concept:

[sblock=Lucky Leng]Feng Xiao Leng is the son of a poor silkworm farmer. He had a large frame and a healthy appetite, so his family, though they loved him well enough, was happy to see him go when a captain of the emperor's army came through recruiting volunteers. Leng was just 14 years old at the time.

Leng did well in the army, quickly adapting to the active life and particularly to the ready supply of good food. He distinguished himself more for his courage in combat than his skill, and after surviving a particularly ill-considered charge into a cluster of bandits, he earned the nickname "Lucky Leng". After that incident, Leng realized that he had indeed been lucky to survive. He knew that when the excitement of combat came over him again, he'd probably forget himself and react in the same way again, but if he wanted to keep surviving, he'd better not rely on luck. He began to seek out the army's instructors for extra training, particularly with shields, which he had never bothered with before.

With his drive and a modicum of natural talent, Leng quickly grew to be a respected soldier. Despite his healthy appetites, he managed to store away a respectable amount of money, and he began to think of his family. Requesting leave, he made ready to travel for a while, visit his family, and see some of the world before returning and devoting the rest of his life to the army.
[/sblock]

Well, if the slot is still open, I'd love to shamelessly indulge in some eastern roguish ninja/shinobi/assassin gaming!! (i.e. going for the 'fourth')

[sblock][/sblock]

Covaithe

I like luck Leng. But I don't know which Pc slot (First two? fifth?) you wish to fill. I'll qoute some parts of the first thread ( I know is terribly long =P ) that will help you decide.

Character creation:

Some restrictions, there are always restrictions:
All characters must be humans.
First two characters must be ethier fighters, rangers or warlords.
The third can be ethier warlock or mage.
The fourth, ethier rouge or ranger
Finally the fifth can be ethier cleric or paladin.
If I see fit, I could incorporate further characters.

Necessary background notes:
First two characters: All your life, you lived in the remote island of Singing Spring. You were abandoned as a child, left to the care of Master Jiem, the island martial art school master of the town. He raised you like the father you never knew, with love but with discipline. You two were like brothers, although you belong to different biological fathers. You know the third character since you were children.

The third: Your origin is a mystery too. You came as a baby, from the empire capital city, brought by a dangerous assassin, who murdered your family. The criminal flee to Smiling Spring, bringing you as an alibi. He established in the village for some months, but soon enough, an imperial report arrived to the island. The townsfolk give notice to

Click to expand...

I understand that the first three PC are quite narrow in backstory matters. But there is much to tell besides what I have already included. You have all the characters life in Singing Spring to speak about, his time training, and his time not training. Plenty of stuff, take the liberty of creating students, teachers and townfolks. Remember its a rather poor village.

Zweischneid

That would be nice! Let me give you some details about the 4th character
[sblock= Only for 4th character interested players]

After the return of the emperor, His Majesty had to replace Mastermind Tien (who had fallen in battle) with another equally gifted strategist.
Mastermind Tien had his own service of assassins and spies, working under his command, to ensure everything went smothly. If a noble started to complain and "unbalance" the empire, he probaly have died the next morning, of "natural causes". This was the order of the Black Veil. This was your order. You enoied your job, spying, and mantaining the orther of things around the imperial city. But Mastermind Tien's replacement changed everything. Soon, you all were known as the Black Veil Assassins.
You new superior, "Mask", was a mysterious and cruel man, with no mercy, no heart, no honor. Things started to get really bad, really soon, so you decided to left the order. But that was no easy done thing. You and a friend of yours decided to flee to the islands at the east. You travel to Tiger Rest, a rather big island, and your friend, to Singing Spring. He carried his dauther with him, since his wife was murder by the Black Veil Assassins. Many years passed since that. You decided to visit Singing Spring, to see how your friend was doing. Unfortunately, he was nowhere to be found.

This is some plot needed backstory. You can add and modify it at your will. The key events are: you been a former Black Veil assassin/spy, your friend and you fleeing from the capital to de islands, your return to Singing Springs in search of your friend.
[/sblock]

Nice to see you again Voda! I'd be interested in testing out 4e if you don't mind. I am away from my book currently, but will look up stuff as soon as I get home and post a concept.

Doh! I was looking at creating one of the first two character slots, but my eyes totally skipped over that bit. Let's try this again:

[sblock=Lucky Leng, take two, completely different!]Leng was not an athletic child. Tall and clumsy, he could never seem to control where his limbs went, and often slipped in puddles, tripped over stairs, crashed into doors, or simply found himself prone for no reason at all. But for some reason, he never seemed to hurt himself badly in his misadventures, and he always got up with a smile. Master Jiem was always patient with his clumsiness, treating it as a passing annoyance rather than a crippling disability for a warrior. It was he who first called the boy Lucky Leng, since he never seemed to hurt himself.

Leng in turn idolized Master Jiem, who not only treated him as a young warrior rather than an incompetent, but also let him eat as much food as he wanted. Which was quite a lot; Leng never could seem to eat enough to fill himself properly. Even when he stuffed himself, he would be hungry again a short while later.

Leng continued to practice the old man's lessons slowly and carefully, which was the only way he could perform the exercises without toppling over or tangling himself up in the training weapons. Other children mocked his slowness, his clumsiness and his near-insatiable appetite, and occasionally beat him when neither Jiem nor (insert other character's name here) were around, but his body was toughened by his frequent accidents, and he never saw any reason to complain of the small scrapes and bruises from the beatings.

Not everyone in town was unkind to Leng, though. Mei Fu, the baker's daughter, always had a smile for the tall boy, and often left out a bag of scraps for him to find. Jiang Wu, the wise old woman who served as the town's apothecary, often tried to get him to wear bandages and poultices for his minor injuries, though he usually lost them the first time he went swimming in the island's lagoon. And, of course, there was (insert other character here). He was like a brother to Leng, always watching out for the younger boy and defending him from the meaner children. Most thought it was because they were both orphans, abandoned as babies on Master Jiem's doorstep, but Leng sometimes fancied that somehow, they would turn out to be brothers in truth, abandoned by the same mother. He never mentioned this, since the two boys looked nothing alike, and he did not want his secret hopes to be mocked. (Obviously, all of this is subject to the approval of the other player.)

Master Jiem's foresight and Leng's patience were rewarded when, as Leng neared manhood, his body's strength finally caught up with his height. Suddenly, all of the exercises that he had laboriously practiced for all those years took root. His movements became quick and strong, and because of all his slow, careful practice, his body naturally knew what to do even in the thick of a fight. Almost overnight, or so it seemed to him, he went from being a slow, awkward boy to a powerful man and one of Master Jiem's best students.

Leng has not quite adjusted yet to his newfound competence. He still thinks of himself as a clumsy boy, and hasn't really noticed that no one seems to want to try him in a fight any more. He has no real thoughts of the future, except to the extent that he has started spending more time with Mei Fu, much to the amusement of (other character).
[/sblock]

I'd like to play a ranger. An archer actually. He could fit in with the first group, or I could change character concepts if it doesn't seem to fit. I've always had a thing for archers. If you okay an archer for the first group, then I will write up a background.

Covaithe: My sincere congratulations on that splendid story of Lucky Leng, consider him approved. I really enjoyed reading. You can go on and stat him up. Be sure to check for the first post update.


Only: Good to see you around Onlythestrong, long time. It will be a pleasure to have you in the first group. Although I hate to be so annoying, I must say that Master Jiem's school is a martial arts school. I don't see an archer in there, at least not a full archer, may be a combined type?. May be you could convince me otherwise? It's just me, but I can't picture a "only one weapon" person in this kind of setting.
Imagine a humble place, with 10 students tops and two other teachers. The place has a small arena, Jiem's house, a small shrine, and a place where students can sleep. I'll have a map of the island soon enough

First post update: check for new stuff

I sorta thought the same Voda Had to try though. I believe I will try the Warlord class then.

[sblock]

Shen Rui was an imposing man. He stood slightly over 6ft tall and carried a large, muscular frame. He had developed quickly and had grown little since he was 14 years old. The only real things that changed were his attitude and he had become more muscular.

Having never known his father, Shen placed Master Jiem in the vacant slot. He stayed close to the man in his early years, watching and listening to everything he said. Several times, Master Jiem had to actually carry him to bed, as he stubbornly refused to leave his master's side.

Lucky Leng shared his almost fanatic view of Master Jiem, and so they grew as brothers. Shen tried his best to watch after the ever clumsy Leng, which was a full time job. Shen couldn't help but notice that the young warrior was coming into his own. Bullies were becoming reluctant to engage the rapidly-becoming warrior.

Shen prefered to spend his hours (when not doing weapons training) studying tactics and reading the ways that ancient leaders inspired their warriors. He would pull the scroll and read them by the shrine, for some reason he always felt it was easier to see the past near the shrine. He could see the scroll come alive and replay the past events. He watched wars unfold, battles won and lost, warriors slay and die.

He never was sure if his readings in front of the shrine were visions, or just an active imagination. He began to understand where ancient leaders had made errors in tactics, and noticed that overconfidence seemed to always play a major role in a defeat. As of late, Master Jiem and Shen would play certain wargames, very similar to chess. Master Jiem would set up a foe, relate the needed information, and Shen would try to come up with the best way to attack the situation. He was rapidly learning that analyzing was easy, but coming up with the strategy was difficult.

Shen held little interest for things not combat related. He would spend his night studying tactics, while he knew his "brother" was chasing after Mei Fu. The thought of that made him smile, Leng had been after the baker's daughter for years. He couldn't help but hope that one day Leng would catch his prey. Shen was often tempted to simpy approach Mei Fu and tell her how Leng felt about her, but he kept talking himself out of it. It simply didn't make sense as the best strategic plan.

[/sblock]