Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (Recruiting a Trapfinder)

[wolfattack]

kinem,i just saw you character sheet now. do really needed to take a sorcerer? i mean, i already had choosen a wizard and we are in need of a rogue or cleric.not trying to be a bad ass,but just looking forward to have a group with real chances of finishing this adventure.

 

[airwalkrr]

[MENTION=24234]kinem[/MENTION], go ahead and take the following:
-a warpony with exceptional statistics (Str 17, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 11, Cha 4) worth 150 gp
-a military saddle
-saddlebags (to carry feed)
(I realize your character is not trained in riding, but a 4 Str gnome hoofing it across the Domain of Dread strains the imagination, plus it adds mobility in the wilderness)
-dust of tracelessness
-salve of slipperiness
-potion of cure moderate wounds
-wand of ray of enfeeblement (CL 2nd; 5 charges)

It is a little more than 1700 gp, but given that you let your DM pick it I think it is fair.

 

[airwalkrr]

kinem,i just saw you character sheet now. do really needed to take a sorcerer? i mean, i already had choosen a wizard and we are in need of a rogue or cleric.not trying to be a bad ass,but just looking forward to have a group with real chances of finishing this adventure.

I am not going to force anyone to play something they do not want to play. Kinem made his sorcerer quite a while ago and I accepted his character into the group. If you guys REALLY want a trapfinder, I present the following NPC, available as a hireling (or cohort if anyone wants to swap a feat for Leadership):

[sblock=SKINFLINT UNDERBURROW]
Male halfling rogue 4
N Small humanoid (halfling)
Init +4; Senses Listen +9, Spot +0
Languages Common, Halfling, Goblin, Orc
AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 19; Uncanny Dodge
(+1 size, +4 Dex, +4 armor)
hp 20 (4 HD)
Resist evasion
Fort +3, Ref +9, Will +2; +2 vs. fear
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Melee mwk rapier +5 (1d4/18-20)
Ranged mwk shortbow +9 (1d4/x3)
Base Atk +3; Grp –1
Atk Options sneak attack +2d6
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds, potion of cure moderate wounds
Abilities Str 11, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8
SQ trapfinding, trap sense +1
Feats Nimble Fingers, Skill Focus (Search)
Skills Balance +6, Climb +9, Disable Device +13, Escape Artist +11, Hide +15, Jump +5, Listen +9, Move Silently +13, Open Lock +15, Search +17, Tumble +13
Possessions combat gear plus mithral shirt, masterwork rapier, masterwork shortbow, 20 arrows, goggles of minute seeing, masterwork thieves’ tools, climber’s kit, 50 ft. of silk rope with a grappling hook

Skinflint has ruddy skin, dark hair, and full sideburns. He can often be seen reclining in the back of taverns smoking his pipe softly while listening in on all the nearby conversations. He is more than willing to tell his story. A wanderer from way back when, he came to Barovia not by choice, but by force. The mists carried him away, he says, plopped him right here for only the Dark Lords know what purpose. He has made a living thus far as an expert burglar for hire. There is no lock in Barovia he cannot pick, he claims, given the time of course. Nor is there a trap he cannot find, a chasm he cannot cross, a wall he cannot scale, or a passage he cannot squeeze through. And it just so happens he is looking for work, preferably dirty work. He does not care to keep his clothes clean, you see. But he is no assassin. Killing is not his business. He can hold his own in a fight, but he would prefer not to. Still, he has picked up a few tricks. Burgling is a dangerous business after all. He even claims to have once sneaked past a dragon without waking it, if that can be believed.
[/sblock]

 

[airwalkrr]

It has begun!

 

[airwalkrr]

Time to address any special rules that apply to your characters. If any of these rules seem limiting or underpowering, that is because they are meant to be. This is a horror campaign. The odds are stacked against you. Evil is easy, and good is immeasurably more challenging.

Powers Checks: At the beginning of the campaign, your characters are all assumed to have clean souls. However, any time you perform an evil act, I will make a powers check, which is a % roll with a chance of failure commensurate to the level of evil. A failed powers check brings you down the path of corruption, as the Dark Powers tempt you with greater power, but at a price. It is possible to redeem yourself by facing similar temptations to those that caused the failed powers check and making the righteous choice, but redemption is more difficult than corruption. I am not inclined to warn you that an act is evil before your character commits to it except in obvious cases such as casting evil or certain necromantic spells. You must use your own judgment.

Floch: Barbarians enjoy an additional +4 bonus to Fear, Horror, and Madness checks while enraged. Caliban have a base Outcast Rating (OR) of 5, meaning Floch suffers a -5 penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Perform checks, but enjoys a +5 bonus to Intimidate checks.

Barty: Spellcasters native to Ravenloft have learned most of the limitations of magic through generations of research. Some specific effects regarding your character are noted below.

Necromancy spells disrupt the natural cycles of life and death. The only necromantic spells that do not require powers checks are those that are purely defensive, do not create or enhance undead creatures, and do not require the manipulation of your life force or that of another subject. (Example: the deathwatch spell.)

Note: In Ravenloft, it is often easier to create undead creatures but harder to control them.

Necromantic spells that require powers checks often feature enhanced effects. The few that do not require powers checks often carry risks not found when cast in other worlds.

Summoning spells are significantly warped by the severe restrictions on planar travel in Ravenloft. Rather than summoning outsiders for assistance, you conjure creatures taken from the surrounding region. Thus, only creatures found in the domain in which this spell is cast can be summoned.

Summoned creatures in Ravenloft do not use the outsider or extraplanar template. Thus, summon monster I would summon a dire rat, not a fiendish dire rat. Attempts to summon an outsider like a succubus or kyton automatically fail unless such a creature happens to be in the domain. Attempts to summon elementals automatically produce dread elementals (evil).

Should you choose to summon a familiar, it falls to the Dark Powers to heed this call. Their response is a dread companion. Dread companions share their master's ethical alignment, but their moral alignment is always evil. Do not be mistaken; they are not mindlessly malicious, nor are they dedicated to their master's destruction. Indeed, they are utterly loyal to their masters - to a fault.

Protection from evil affects only those subjects known to be evil - it cannot be used to "sniff out" evil that hasn't been previously been substantiated. Creatures with the evil subtype and those with the alignment entry "always evil" are known to be evil. Otherwise, you will need some means of verifying the evilness of a subject.

Branth: Elves have a base OR of 3. Branth suffers a -3 penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Perform checks, but enjoys a +3 bonus to Intimidate checks.

Animal companions may fall under the influence of powerful domain lords. A druid's animal companion does not forget their friendship, however, and will not attack the druid or her companions even if a darklord directly commands them to do so. Animal companions in this situations often flee to resolve their conflicting loyalties. These animals often shadow their druidic masters from a distance, fearfully spying on them. Druid companions are not dread companions.

Branth is aware of the same limitations for summoning as is Barty.

If you force a compelled creature (such as a charmed or dominated animal) to commit an act requiring a powers check, it is you who must make the powers check, not your unwilling minion.

Some darklords have the ability to control certain creatures within their domains. If you attempt to control (either through charm or compulsion) the mind of a creature under the influence of a darklord, or try to free a creature from a darklord's influence, that creature stacks the lord's Charisma bonus with its own Will save bonus. No creature under the influence of a darklord can be directed to attack that darklord; if ordered to do so, the pitiful creature may resolve its confusion by fleeing the scene.

Although light from a daylight spell is as bright as sunlight, it is not considered to be true sunlight. Therefore, creatures affected by true sunlight (such as vampires) suffer no ill effects from daylight beyond those in the spell description.

Don: Gnomes have a base OR of 2. Don suffers a -2 penalty to Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Perform checks, but enjoys a +2 bonus to Intimidate checks.

Don is aware of the same limitations on protection from evil that Barty is.

Don is aware of the same limitations regarding familiars that Barty is.

 

[Strahd_Von_Zarovich]

Fixed the above comments.

 

[wolfattack]

I am not going to force anyone to play something they do not want to play. Kinem made his sorcerer quite a while ago and I accepted his character into the group. If you guys REALLY want a trapfinder, I present the following NPC, available as a hireling (or cohort if anyone wants to swap a feat for Leadership):

Sorry,but i must had missed something. where did you saw i saying you was forcing anyone here play anything?

 

[airwalkrr]

I just did not see it appropriate for you to question another player's choice of character type when I had already told the player it was okay. It seemed to me that you were claiming "first dibs" on the arcane caster, but I never made that a requirement. It would be nice for a player to pick a trapfinder, but it is not necessary.

 

[kinem]

airwalkrr, I agree with that assessment.

BTW, at the time I chose a sorcerer, it looked like we had a cleric.

wolfattack, since you are the one who thinks we may need a different class mix, then you are the one who is welcome to volunteer to throw out all of your work and your concept and start over with a new character.

 

[wolfattack]

I made my choice first then you kinem.and airwalkrr,its not about claiming anything,its just that from my POV,it useless and not funny to have two characters who do almost the same thing in the same adventure.if kinem had chosen a sorcerer or wizard first,i would have picked another class that was not similar.you and kinem have the right to don't agree with me,and i have the same right about you two.since you guys think i'm the ''wrong one'' of this matter,there is no mood for me and you two to play this game.I'm really sorry for this,but its to late for me to make another character,the game has already begun.Good game to everyone,nevertheless.