Metropolis - The World in Waiting (Full)

[Phoenix]

Hi there,

This sounds like fun. Class wise I'm thinking bard and as to race elf. Hound is a journalist and investigator. He rails against the establishment and strives for a better place for the down trodden. More often than not he finds his investigations leave him waist deep in the paranormal. He works for a local rag, a self financed operation run by an idealogical hard arsed half orc called Burke. Occasionally, to supplement his income, he hires his investigative skills out but, the case has to pique his interest though - a cheater stalker his is not.

Hound has been investigating a story involving biomagical engineering on indentured workers on some of the sewer farms. He believes that these biofarms are a front for duplcitious 'God' dealings. The farms he has been investigating abut a religious sanctuary dedicated to the mysterious deity known as Hess Ne-el Il'ithuk . The followers of this somewhat questionable deity have a penchant for violence and experimentation. They refer to Hess Ne-el Il'ithuk as 'God' and anyone daring to invoke another deity or call 'God' by his actual name on their patch is dealt with quickly, brutally and without mercy.

He was born in The Apartments, 7 tall stone spires with hundreds of floors and a maze of rooms, corridors and staircases. All interconnected by bridges, tunnels and magical portals. All of the races of Metropolis have legends regarding the creation of The Apartments and no two of those legends is the same. The only thing that is common in the legends is the fact that somewhere in the vertical labyrinth something is hidden. Whether that something is benevolent or malign is unknown but every race has representatives searching for whatver it is. The Apartments are a constant skirmish, a war of atrittion. Sure, a race may hold a particular series of rooms or even a floor or two for anywhere from weeks to months. In fact the Killi-kelli-hek, a barbaric, flesh eating breed of dwarf, have inhabited the same three floors in one of the towers for the last 73 years. Recently the Killi-kelli-hek have become agitated and expansionist. Where as before they would hunt in small groups for meats and goods they are now moving through The Apartments in greater numbers. Hound believs that someone is using the Killi-kelli-hek to further their own ends, there is no other logical reason why they would all of a sudden become mroe agressive - is there?

\M/o0o\M/

I'm shattered, got another early start tomorrow and need some z's. I'll edit this and add some more tomorrow. This was just what immediately came to mind (while I saw there may have still been an open spot) I'll more fully develop the idea soon.

Cheers

Daz

I like the idea, The Apartments seem more of a Dungeon than a habitation though. I look forward to seing the development though.

 

[Phoenix]

Ok Gentlemen, I've been going over the characters and I need some info:

What do the following do:
Efficent Quiver
Lawful Aura

Also, Taran and Natan's hit points need to be adjusted.


Now one you've posted your backgrounds to the Rogues Gallery, we'll only need one more player and we can start this baby up.

 

[Captain NeMo]

If you're still looking, I'd quite like to try a cleric emphasizing on the magic/knowledge domains. Probably lawful neutral...possibly gnome.

 

[Cathoi]

HP re-edited. Background will be up soon sometime tonight.

 

[Ranger Rick]

Ok Gentlemen, I've been going over the characters and I need some info:

What do the following do:
Efficent Quiver
Lawful Aura

Also, Taran and Natan's hit points need to be adjusted.

Now one you've posted your backgrounds to the Rogues Gallery, we'll only need one more player and we can start this baby up.

So do I qualify or not?

Efficient Quiver: This appears to be a typical arrow container capable of holding about twenty arrows. It has three distinct portions, each with a nondimensional space allowing it to store far more than would normally be possible. The first and smallest one can contain up to sixty objects of the same general size and shape as an arrow. The second slightly longer compartment holds up to eighteen objects of the same general size and shape as a javelin. The third and longest portion of the case contains as many as six objects of the same general size and shape as a bow (spears, staffs, or the like). Once the owner has filled it, the quiver can produce any item she wishes, as if from a regular quiver or scabbard. The efficient quiver weighs the same no matter what’s placed inside it.
Moderate conjuration; CL 9th; Craft Wondrous Item, secret chest; Price 1,800 gp;Weight 2 lb.

 

[Phoenix]

So do I qualify or not?

I had a look at your re-write and it still has the same qualities I mentioned above.

 

[RobotRobotI]

Ok Gentlemen, I've been going over the characters and I need some info:

What do the following do:
Lawful Aura

From the SRD :

Aura (Ex): A cleric of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the deity’s alignment (see the detect evil spell for details). Clerics who don’t worship a specific deity but choose the Chaotic, Evil, Good, or Lawful domain have a similarly powerful aura of the corresponding alignment.

 

[Bront]

Rick has the efficient quiver noted.

I took one liberty with it, in that I assumed short spears were about the size of javalins (they weigh about the same, do about the same damage, one's more reinforced). So all the short spears are in the javalin side, and the regular spear is in the spear side. If you don't like that, I'll simply get rid of some spears.

FYI, you can download the SRD here. The Efficient quiver has a name infront of it, it's been denamed in the SRD (which is where I pulled if from).

 

[Phoenix]

From the SRD :

Aura (Ex): A cleric of a chaotic, evil, good, or lawful deity has a particularly powerful aura corresponding to the deity’s alignment (see the detect evil spell for details). Clerics who don’t worship a specific deity but choose the Chaotic, Evil, Good, or Lawful domain have a similarly powerful aura of the corresponding alignment.

I was 99% sure that's what you were getting at, seeing it in the Feats section though threw me for a second. Ok, I'm good now.

 

[D20Dazza]

G'day,

My idea of The Apartments is sort of dungeon like, although the adversaries would be various street gangs. Do you know the movie The Warriors? That movie could happen in The Apartments. There are hundreds of gangs/factions/cults/cabals etc operating in there plus a bevvy of treasure hunters. These organisations are based along racial, political, cultural, religious, fun, and plain old survival lines. The Apartments are very fluid with old gangs dieing off and new ones forming constantly. The gangs are always fighting.

Not all the gangs are looking for the 'holy grail' and not all inhabitants of The Apartments are gang members. The Wayfinders are nomadic, they live a life running from the gangs and treasure hunters. They are not an organisation but are the refuse of the spires who are forced to flee or die. They are called the Wayfinders as they always seem to find a new, unexplored section of The Apartments. It's as though the buildings are making new tunnels, staircases, rooms, arches, bridges etc to assist the flight of the Wayfinders.

There are several neutral areas in the spires where entrepeuners have set up operations, everything from flea markets to the black market. Almost anything (except that damn artifact) can be found somewhere in The Apartments. The trick is finding where it is being sold.

Hound belonged to one of these groups, albeit an unusual one. I haven't fully worked out the details of the group but here is a basic overview. I can expand on the group or keep it as a sketch (as per the below) for you to colour - let me know what way you want to jump here (if any way).

Hound lost his parents, both Wayfinders, at an early age. Fortuitiously for him the first 'people' to wander past the weeping child who sat beside the bodies of his parents were not frenetic nor were they ritualistic, in fact they weren't even hungry. They were a posse of 3 ghouls. The small child, knowing no better, stood and waited. The ghouls, Grym, Gryme, and Grynn, were amazed that the boy had not run screaming from them, he was too young to realise the predicament he was in (and being elven he was immune to their paralytic touch). The ghouls, being not foolish and quite intelligent, decided that they could use the small child. They named him Hound because of the way he trailed after them. The ghouls were careful to ensure that they sheltered their 'child' from the more base, violent, reprehensbile side of their nature. The ghouls tutored the boy, taught him how to survive and introduced him to some of the more questionable talents that he uses in his investigations today. Eventually though the gig was up. Hound discovered their true nature and only just made it away from them alive. In fact if not for the actions of Gryme, who had spent the most time teaching Hound, he would surely have been killed.

Hound supposes that the reason so many of his cases end up being paranormal is becaue of his unusual upbringing, maybe somehow his sould resonates to the pulse of the supernatural

I'm hoping that, because of his background, you would allow him to take the feat Requiem from Libirs Mortis when he qualifies. This feat basically allows his bardic abilities to work against undead (normally immune to mind affecting fx). I also might take Sacred Vitality if that's cool, another feat from Libris Mortis that fits his story, it gives a +2 bonus on saves vs undead attacks.

Cheers

Daz