Savage Tide! (Recruiting Closed, Players Selected!)

[stonegod]

"Mad" Col Tobinson

They say Col Tobinson was once a fine ship's mate, aye, able to navigate on maps incomplete and uncharted. Many a ship would hire him, and he was decently well off for his efforts. That was his life for many a year, travellin' upon the Blue Mistress called the sea. Even when he got the white hairs, his eye was keen and his mind sharp.

That'd all change with his last trip on the sea. It was a tall, black ship, the Midnight Fury was, and they paid a pretty penny for Col Tobinson. But something happened on that trip. No one knows for sure, and, well, Col doesn't speak of it much. All thats really known is that he was found, floating upon floatsam, clutching to gnawed remains of ithe Fury's late Captain, and babbling about "THEM" and "IT CANNOT BE" and similar nightmares.

"Mad" Col was what he was called from that day. He gave up the sea, and instead began lookin'. Lookin' for answers to his problems. He dove into the books upon books, and learnt things that most people wouldn't. They say he can channel some fey power now, and knows more about the dark secrets of the depths than most, but... he's a mad one, "Mad" Col Tobinson is.

~~~

Thinking Human Archivist (Heroes of Horror and online), probably middle-aged at least. Not primary healer role, but divine magic and obscure knowledge/party buffing role.

 

[stonegod]

The concept will also work as a bard, though I like the Archivist flavoring better; so, keep that in mind for the choosing.

 

[Tonks]

While I will work on a more complete history for both chars, is there one that you think might be a better initial fit for the type of campaign you have in mind? Because I may think it is great to have Aquaman or Grape-Ape as chars, they may not be your cup of tea.

Definitely not trying to lock you into anything, but just wanting to have things in the style of campaign you see it being.

 

[Malvoisin]

While I will work on a more complete history for both chars, is there one that you think might be a better initial fit for the type of campaign you have in mind? Because I may think it is great to have Aquaman or Grape-Ape as chars, they may not be your cup of tea.

Definitely not trying to lock you into anything, but just wanting to have things in the style of campaign you see it being.

I think either of those characters could fit in very well in this campaign. I'm certainly not averse to either concept. Keep in mind that I'm not only evaluating each character individually, I'm considering how that character might fit into the cohesive whole of an adventuring party. A lot of my decision making boils down to that consideration. Basically, my advice for you is work on the character you'd most enjoy playing. If it's a toss-up, I'll certainly look at both concepts. You're not limited to only one submission.

I do have one question for you, though. I don't have a copy of Stormwrack handy, so is there a LA for either of those races?

 

[rowport]

Malvoisin-

Hey, there! This sounds like a fantastic idea to me. My home group is running through Age of Worms right now, and having a great time with the campaign. I am sure that Savage Tide will be of similar high-quality.

FWIW, I have only had a few PBEM/PBP games. They had all flamed out fairly quickly, unfortunately! But, I am certainly interested in playing and post reliably.

My character concept is for Vakra Quinn, the Half-Elf Warlock. I have always liked the *idea* of half-elves, but never really bought into the PHB idea of their happy, get-along-with-everybody charismatic selves. Why, I thought, would a half-breed race get along with those that likely ridicule and alienate them? I mean, half-orcs are never played that way!

Then I read the flavor text of the Scar Enforcer PrC in Races of Destiny, and found the answer! Instead of playing an Appeaser PHB half-elf, I could be a Defender of the Race! "Call me half-breed, will you? <ZAP!>"

Vakra will be a sneak, from surviving on the outskirts of society, likely in a Port City. His social skills will fall more on the side of Bluff and Intimidate than Diplomacy, but he will still emphasize the social nature of half-elves as called out in the PHB. His Warlock abilities would derive from his elven heritage (i.e. more like a sorcerer than a typically fiendish Warlock background), and like most elves, he uses a longsword in melee as well as his innate magical abilities. (This might be expressed mechanically with Swashbuckler, Rogue, or maybe the Half-Elf Fighter Substitution levels- I would have to think about the details.) The ultimate expression of his desire to demonstrate the competance and independence of the Half-Elf Race will be via the Scar Enforcer PrC levels, through which he will develop both his martial abilities and his magical abilities, striking a blow for the Half-Elves against the haughty Elves and the judgemental Humans.

Of course, Vakra will work best in a mixed-race party (i.e. not all Humans, where he would feel alienated). But looking at some of the other submissions, there is a good chance the party will have several 'mis-fits', which would work perfectly. A bunch of rowdy skalywag privateers strike a Blow for Freedom, and Vakra the Half-Elf is there!

 

[Tonks]

I think either of those characters could fit in very well in this campaign. I'm certainly not averse to either concept. Keep in mind that I'm not only evaluating each character individually, I'm considering how that character might fit into the cohesive whole of an adventuring party. A lot of my decision making boils down to that consideration. Basically, my advice for you is work on the character you'd most enjoy playing. If it's a toss-up, I'll certainly look at both concepts. You're not limited to only one submission.

I do have one question for you, though. I don't have a copy of Stormwrack handy, so is there a LA for either of those races?

There isn't an LA to either of the races, but the write-up is as follows:

Avent: Medium size. Aquatic and human subtype. Can breathe air and water equally. Base land speed 30', base water speed 30', +8 racial to swim checks and may take a +10 even when normally not allowed to do so. Water spell power: spells with the water description are treated as being CL +1. Human blood when it comes to being able to use certain magic items. Bonus Languages: Aquan, Elven, and Sahuagin.

Hadozee (Humanoid Primate): +2 Dex, -2 Chr. Medium size. Gliding: Using their arm flaps, they can negate the damage of a fall from any height and allows them to travel 20 ft' horizontal for every 5' of descent. They glide at a speed of 40'. +4 Racial bonus to Balance and CLimb Checks. A hadozee does not lose Dex Bonus to AC when climbing and can climb unimpeded while holding an object in one hand. Bonus Languages: Aquan, Elven and Halfling.

Hope this helps some and I think for the moment I will concentrate on the Aventi and leave plenty of blanks for what his family honor/item might be.

 

[Ringmereth]

This sounds pretty good to me, and I'd like to toss in a melee character--it seems like you need one.

The first concept I'm thinking is a human barbarian who was previously enslaved by pirates before escaping and surviving the jungles. Having recently found civilization again, he's out for an opportunity to persue revenge. Assuming this fits your setting, I'll flesh it out quite a bit.

Out of curiousity, is this a generic D&D setting, a specific published one, or a fleshed-out homebrew?

 

[stonegod]

Out of curiousity, is this a generic D&D setting, a specific published one, or a fleshed-out homebrew?

Like all Paizo's APs, its generic. Well, actually its Greyhawk, but they pretend its generic.

Mal said is far enough away from Greyhawk mainland that all it really has in common is the deities. And planes. And such.

 

[Tonks]

Aventernus might have saved his followers when the people who would become the Aventi sank their island nations, but it is within Ishtishia’s depths that they now live. Those that pray to the elemental god are often tolerated due to the customs of their people, but none of the Aventi has forgotten that when their need was the greatest, Ishtishia did nothing to save them from their fate.

Damash Eriskan’s first memories are of learning to read from the holy texts of Ishtishia and being told by family that when he came of age; he would take the mantle of High Priest from his grandfather and keep the cycle of tradition unbroken. Damash’s thoughts on this matter were irrelevant as Aventi tradition bound him to this fate from the moment he drew his first breath. Taking the vows of an acolyte when he was just ten years of age, Damash mastered the simple orisons quickly, but as his training began to focus on the routine aspects of the faith, he began to chafe under his grandfather’s guidance. He could not understand why his people continued to withdraw more and more to themselves when they had been given the reign of the depths by not just one divine force, but two. He yearned to explore the vast ocean and pay true homage to his aloof god by seeing for himself the beauty of his home.

Damash’s family were not blind to the desires of their kin and sought to harness Damash’s wanderlust and make it something beneficial to their home and kin. Boral Eriskan, Damash’s grandfather, mentioned a relic of the faith that was lost when the original temple was destroyed in the sinking of the islands. Although Boral knew that his grandson was still too young and inexperienced to accomplish a task of this magnitude, he knew the young man would not rest until he had left the enclave at least once. For the next three years, Damash studied the recovered history books of the church until he was able to gather enough information to have a guess at where to begin his search. Gathering his courage and taking armor and weapons from the church, Damash fled one morning heading to the village of “x”, a small fishing town that he felt he could gather some coins and book passage on a fishing boat to a larger city.

It was when he arrived in “x” that he truly learned to harness Ishtishia’s strength. Hiding the fins on his wrists and ankles with cloth wraps, Damash of “x” was born and Damash Eriskan was suppressed. The fishing village was large enough that strangers did sometimes arrive from time to time, but small enough that gossip about those strangers raced like wildfire and soon the bets on what Damash’s “truth” was filled the dock bars he frequented. So far, none of them has gathered the courage to ask him directly.

Damash has been in “x” for almost six months now and he feels the restless spirit growing in him once again. The ocean beacons and while he knows Ishtishia rarely sends obvious omens, Damash prays that riding upon one of the tides Ishtishia will send him the sign he awaits.

Domains: Ocean and Travel.

I changed his selected deity to ease the process of why he would be willing to travel with the others so readily. I apologize for the roughness of the draft, but I will work on cleaning it more if you think this might fit.

 

[Land Outcast]

Nicolai was murdered... or so... well, actually he wasn't, and better Cptn. Segrob and his pirates be certain that Nicolai be cold dead.

At the age of ten Nicolai entered under the service of a travelling merchant as cabin boy. He had always been apt for magic, it just wan't useful for him, at all; given that perspective, Nicolai trained to serve as an aide and scribe than other thing, he was kept around because he was just taken a liking of...

Yet he was unsatisfied. He wasn't born ambitious, sons of fishermen rarely are... But being a cabin boy for a succesful merciless merchant taught him ambition, taught him delicious power, about seizing every opportunity...

The storm, wonderful house of lightning, all those who dare happen upon you have to bow humbly, be them merchants, princes, or pirates.
The rain, thousands of bolts coming down to caress the ladies of the sea.
I will live the storm

Enchanted and enthralled he always took upon watch during storms.
Opportunities: so he handed in the planned journey to Cptn. Segrob and so he joined his crew
Ambition: he had realized that where he was he wouldn't rise, so he moved to adquire power...
Power: As Cptn. Segrob had power over him when he tried to move the crew of The Serpent onto mutiny.

After being marooned and returning through misterious means to the ports, after meeting once again the crew of The Serpent, after they thought to have left him dead, floating in the docks on that stormy night...
Nicolai moved under the guise of an old one-eyed beggar until he reached an inland town where he discarded the disguise... the tatoos on his forearms hidden by helpful leather bracers.

He no more knew what he though of pirates and pirate hunters, he no more knew what tho think about naval fleets and merchants. The question was: did he ever knew?

Now it was the time, inland he wouldn't have opportunity to sell his skills as sailor, but as warrior and mage... as a mage who breathed ozone from lighting strikes...

After getting the power I -Nicolai- need, The Serpent will no more be caressed by storms; the lighting, blinding, burning rejection will see to them to be under the waves!

And only then shall I rise over the waves... but I must learn patience... untill then...



Basically he is still a young man who doesn't know what to belive, by the time being what drives him is vengance, but aside from that he is empty, he's never had anyone on his side... he's still got much land and sea to see...