Discussion of Scotley's upcoming 4e Swashbuckler Game

[Walking Dad]

Hooray, Scotley does 4e swashbuckling!

Absolutely! I have Heroes of the Fallen Lands, so any of that stuff is fair game.

I have the Rules Compendium as well and plan to rely on it as the definative source since a lot of my books are first printings and I don't always remember to check all the errata.

I dont' have the other stuff Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdom or whatever. I do have some 3rd party stuff and I'll address it on a case by case basis if anyone is interested.

Would be an Esssential Assassin be fine (focusing on the martial over the shadow part)? I can you PM the rules, if needed.

Looks like a striker-heavy group to be formed.

 

[Scotley]

Ok, I'm in. I'm fine with firearms. Ali will have a dualist's mentality that looks down on firearm use by those who aren't his friends.

If the setting is "France", then Alejandro (Ali) Arroyo is a human defending swordmage from "Spain". He is a convert to the worship of Erathis due to being saved from certain death (a childhood fire that left him an orphan) by a missionary cleric of Erathis.

Scotley, I'll need some help putting Ali together.

[That's not too circus freakish is it? Or not circus freakish enough?]

Are we using rolls or preset values for abilities?

Not too freakish at all. I like it. It may present some roleplay challenges however as the Hounds are none to poplar with the Archmandress of Erathis. Think of her in the role of the Cardinal in 3 Musketeers.

25 point buy. I updated the first post to reflect this.

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

I've been thinking about my bard idea, and Ryan's question about reflavoring gave me an idea.

I'd like to keep the Kalashtar race mechanically - the dual mind, the occasional bouts of madness, etc. but rather than have an entire race of them (unless someone else wants to play one as well) have her be a human touched by a god (Joan of Arc, anyone?). Her visions have led her to believe that she has a divine calling to protect the King and further his interests.

Just to be clear, she'd have all the qualities mechanically of a Kalashtar, and none of a human. The human part would be flavor only.

Does that make sense, and sound like a good start?

EDIT: I'm picturing her being from a different country, BTW, rather than from 'France.' Likely her God has told her that the fate of her country is tied to the fortunes of the King over here. In my mind, the divine inspiration and charisma for the Joan of Arc type play well with both the Bard class and the Prescient build for it.

 

[renau1g]

Great idea Mowgli! I love it...

 

[Insight]

What about a dwarf swashbuckler? ...from Scotland, of course!

LOL j/k

 

[Lou]

EDIT: I'm picturing her being from a different country, BTW, rather than from 'France.' Likely her God has told her that the fate of her country is tied to the fortunes of the King over here. In my mind, the divine inspiration and charisma for the Joan of Arc type play well with both the Bard class and the Prescient build for it.

Mowgli, you could have her be from "Spain" or the lands beyond. Ali could have followed her from "Spain" to the kingdom of ________ to join in her quest.

 

[sappire07]

still have room?

 

[Maidhc O Casain]

Mowgli, you could have her be from "Spain" or the lands beyond. Ali could have followed her from "Spain" to the kingdom of ________ to join in her quest.

Could be cool, Lou! I've got some ideas for 'Spain' (or whatever country Aislinn is from) bouncing around in my head, but they're very vaguely formed.

I'd like to incorporate this worlds version of Eberron's Dragonmarks into the country as well, changing the fluff to something that fits here.

 

[renau1g]

So....are we planning to go with an alternative Earth? I'd personally love that. Real-ish places and quasi-historical events, but with a healthy dose of D&D into the world.

Anyone ever play Lionheart: Legacy of the Crusader?

Here's a quick breakdown of the events and I've attached the details in a PDF. The game was kinda meh, very diablo like, but I loved the alternative history.

[sblock=TImeline]
A Historical Chronology
Date Event
1095–1101 First Crusade
1119 Formation of the Knights Templar
1145–1147 Second Crusade, led by King Louis VII
1189–1192 Third Crusade, Led by King Richard the Lionhearted
1192–1220 The Disjunction: Ramifications in the kingdoms of England
and France
1194–1244 Fourth Crusade, against the Storm Dragons
1204 The last known tremor settles. Ireland and Brittany are gone and England has
broken into 15 separate islands.
1215 English nobles force King John to sign the Magna Carta.
1231 The Inquisition is formed.
1241 The Great Khan Ogedei cheats death and binds with the Fell Spirit Weichi, allowing
Batu Kahn to continue his Eastern European campaign.
1243 After completing the Fourth Crusade, western forces engage the Mongols.
1249 The Mongols reach Italy, forcing the Holy See to move to Spain.
1250 A coalition of eastern and western forces finally forces the Mongols to retreat.
1251 Assassination of the Great Khan Ogedei. Batu Kahn is recalled from
his European campaign.
1269–1275 Reconquista against rogue Wielders.
1316 Famine strikes Europe.
1347 The Black Death takes root in Italy and, by 1351, spreads throughout Europe.
1336–1389 Fifth Crusade, against the Necromancers.
1429 Emergence of Jehanne D'Arc (Joan of Arc). She reunites France.
1433 Jehanne D'Arc is killed in southern France.
1449 Lord Amonsil, the last of the Necromancers, is destroyed in Cairo, putting a definitive
end to the Fifth Crusade.
1461–1464 Sixth Crusade, against the Fell Spirits.
1492–1493 Columbus's first expedition to the New World is followed by his second, which is
utterly destroyed.
1521 Cortés is defeated at Tenochtitlan, ending the age of the conquistador.
1555 Nostradamus completes his "Centuries" and is branded a heretic.
1586 Assassination of King Phillip II.
1587 Galileo is imprisoned by the Inquisition for his heretical use of magic.
1588 The Spanish Armada prepares to invade England[/sblock]

 

[Leif]

Wow, Scotley, you're getting interest from all corners of ENWorld for this game! Do you still have room for me?

For a character, I was thinking of a "Barbarian Indian" type named Manous Artouche who was born in the recently discovered "America," but was brought back to "France" as a very small boy (about 12/13?) by a sea captain as an oddity to be widely displayed and poked and prodded by various folks. Then said waif was seen by a Duchess and her heart went out to the poor lad, so she adopted him and had him trained/schooled by the best Masters in the land, and given very much religious instruction in the 'accepted' faith. Ultimately, young Manous became a Paladin, but he still looks very unusual, having been copiously tattooed by his people and subjected to the body modifications of his tribe. I'm thinking Manous's entire body is tattooed with geometric patterns and star charts, his earlobes have been greatly pierced with objects of ever-increasing size during his early childhood, so he has great flapping "rings" of flesh hanging from his ears. Manous Artouche also has a row of "earrings" around his navel (navel rings?) (but he keeps that covered most of the time), and he also has a "bone in his nose." (Not a real bone, but a ring of brass much like a bull.)

So Manous looks like a total freak, but he is unswervingly loyal to his benefactor the Duchess, and he is as faithful to his new religion as anyone in "France." Now, the Duchess is on the outs with the mainstream of nobility in "France" because she resisted the amorous intentions of the Prince, and he ruined her socially once he got over the rejection. She may have even been exiled to "Scotland" or wherever, but Manous Artouche was undergoing his tutelage at that time and had to stay behind in "France" with the Duchess's cousin, Grand Duke Siegfried von Koln, who was (as it happens) the boy's Paladin Instructor. Now Siegfried, once Manous was fully trained and set out on the proper path of Paladinhood, fell victim to temptations of the flesh possibly brought about by arcane mind control, and he wound up as an Anti-Paladin. [Built-in future BBEG!] His fall from Paladinhood finished off the Duchess's family's fall from grace and they are all wanted/hunted/shot on sight, and their vast holdings have mostly been confiscated by the throne. My Paladin-to-be-named-later does, arguably, still have a valid, legal claim to at least a portion of the Duchess's family holdings, since he was legally adopted by the Duchess before her downfall.

That's all I got for now. Sound acceptable?