Hi all; this will be my first DMing session on here but feel free to check out my PC stuff here [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/362.229932-Seraji-chronicals-Ep-1-the-Xirash-Taint-closed].
This adventure's going to be short and sweet and a little bit silly. It's a diceless D&D4E session for 4-5 players with a generic "points of light" setting, but rather than a big sombre save-the-world-from-cosmic-evil saga the party will actually be stuck in a strange city trying to raise some capital for their next expedition (the last one ended badly and very, very, expensively).
I'm a pretty generous DM so if you've got a good reason for Elthazar's Incredible Spell Of Awesome you're welcome to PM me with it and try your luck, but I'd generally expect magic-using PCs to be hedge wizards around lvl.1-5.
There are opportunities for combat but it's not necessarily core here; the feel I'm going for is soap opera.
So, yeah. Feel free to embellish your backstory with a bit of melodrama/history with other PCs; be warned that if you're looking for MONKEYNINJAZOMBIECHEESE humour or Mighty Deeds Of Yore this probably isn't the game for you.
Any questions, comments or suggestions, post away!
The Party So Far:
NOW CLOSED!
This adventure's going to be short and sweet and a little bit silly. It's a diceless D&D4E session for 4-5 players with a generic "points of light" setting, but rather than a big sombre save-the-world-from-cosmic-evil saga the party will actually be stuck in a strange city trying to raise some capital for their next expedition (the last one ended badly and very, very, expensively).
I'm a pretty generous DM so if you've got a good reason for Elthazar's Incredible Spell Of Awesome you're welcome to PM me with it and try your luck, but I'd generally expect magic-using PCs to be hedge wizards around lvl.1-5.
There are opportunities for combat but it's not necessarily core here; the feel I'm going for is soap opera.
So, yeah. Feel free to embellish your backstory with a bit of melodrama/history with other PCs; be warned that if you're looking for MONKEYNINJAZOMBIECHEESE humour or Mighty Deeds Of Yore this probably isn't the game for you.
We meet our heroes in the bustling port of Saltspit; a thriving trading hub on the fringes of the Arkane Empire. Home to a thousand smugglers, artisans and the occasional honest merchant, Saltspit is largely unmolested by imperial interference thanks to regular and sizeable gifts to the empire's most influential families and a booming black market of luxury goods.
Saltspit attracts all sorts: movers and shakers with 'unique' business interests, upper-crust holidaymakers in search of souvenirs and ambitious young entrpreneurs out to seek their fortune. But every city needs its underclass, and the gears of commerce in Saltspit are greased with an unending caravan of migrant workers who for one reason or another prefer to put some distance between themselves and civilizaton. Such are our heroes, presently holed up in a rat-infested tavern down by the docks.
They are longtime friends and comrades, but their present hardship may well put that friendship to the test: some of them might still be upset about a certain brilliant idea during their last job which got all their assets frozen and the entire party quietly exiled from the capital on pain of death. Others in the party might feel that it was worth it for a shot at glory and even if he was the Vizier's nephew, the little creep had it coming, and hindsight's a fine thing but we weren't exactly rolling in money to begin with and you could've said no, couldn't you?
Saltspit attracts all sorts: movers and shakers with 'unique' business interests, upper-crust holidaymakers in search of souvenirs and ambitious young entrpreneurs out to seek their fortune. But every city needs its underclass, and the gears of commerce in Saltspit are greased with an unending caravan of migrant workers who for one reason or another prefer to put some distance between themselves and civilizaton. Such are our heroes, presently holed up in a rat-infested tavern down by the docks.
They are longtime friends and comrades, but their present hardship may well put that friendship to the test: some of them might still be upset about a certain brilliant idea during their last job which got all their assets frozen and the entire party quietly exiled from the capital on pain of death. Others in the party might feel that it was worth it for a shot at glory and even if he was the Vizier's nephew, the little creep had it coming, and hindsight's a fine thing but we weren't exactly rolling in money to begin with and you could've said no, couldn't you?
This is a typical D&D setting where magic has several forms: it can be drawn from the magical dimensions of the Feywild or Shadowfell, from the animistic elemental power of the natural world, from divine favour or from studying the patterns of arcane energy that course through the fabric of reality. Magic is well-known, if not common, and magic users are highly employable, but their world has yet to discover methods of mass production and so day-to-day existence in our campaign probably has more in common with sixteenth-century Antwerp than it does your standard steampunk/Eberron setting. Magic here requires individual concentration, so it's largely a pre-industrial world where enchanted items are handcrafted and usually simple in their effects: no magical self-tilling fields, but a farmer might save up to buy a magically self-sharpening axe. The general populace aren't exactly scared of magic but they are wary of flashy stuff in the same way we're careful about electricity: a magic user would certainly think twice about casting even something simple like a floating disk or mage hand in the middle of a crowded marketplace. Basically people don't like to see magic even if they know it's there.
Name:
Race:
Class:
Abilities: (STR/CON/DEX/INT/WIS/CHA, pick two)
Skills: (pick four from the list [http://www.r4bid.net/LoreWeaver/Dnd4edSkills])
Physical Description/Inventory:
Personality:
Backstory:
Race:
Class:
Abilities: (STR/CON/DEX/INT/WIS/CHA, pick two)
Skills: (pick four from the list [http://www.r4bid.net/LoreWeaver/Dnd4edSkills])
Physical Description/Inventory:
Personality:
Backstory:
Any questions, comments or suggestions, post away!
The Party So Far:
Name: Phillip Blood Beard
Race: Dwarf
Class: Mage (mage rouge if you can multi class)
Abilities DEX/INT
Skills: Arcana Stealth History Thievery
Physical Description/Inventory: Phillip is the most human looking dwarf there is while still short he is clean shaven and has little muscle. He wears a mages robe which is no way near the right size.
He has a satchel bag he carries everywhere which holds all his books and a note pad and pencil on which he rights everything that interests him. (He has currently 20 volumes of these note books He also has some sandwiches and a my first alchemy set he has had since he was 12)
Personality: Phillip is not fighter he is an intellectual and a tee-total. He has no interest in or knowledge of war fare (accept for when it involves big siege machinery). He is kind by nature but also naive and absent minded.
Backstory: Phillip is the son of the legendary Bob Blood Beard a famous dwarven barbarian/ However his father died of alcohol poisoning while trying to raid a monastery when Phillip was less than a year old. Why he brought Phillip with him to the monastery no one knows but when the monks (all of whom were human oddly enough) found the dead dwarf they took his only son Phillip in and raised him as one of their own. Until recently Phillip has been under the impression he was just short for his age and has had no knowledge of his heritage.
Upon finding out he wasn?t human he left the monastery in an attempt to find himself and decided what race he wants to be?
Race: Dwarf
Class: Mage (mage rouge if you can multi class)
Abilities DEX/INT
Skills: Arcana Stealth History Thievery
Physical Description/Inventory: Phillip is the most human looking dwarf there is while still short he is clean shaven and has little muscle. He wears a mages robe which is no way near the right size.
He has a satchel bag he carries everywhere which holds all his books and a note pad and pencil on which he rights everything that interests him. (He has currently 20 volumes of these note books He also has some sandwiches and a my first alchemy set he has had since he was 12)
Personality: Phillip is not fighter he is an intellectual and a tee-total. He has no interest in or knowledge of war fare (accept for when it involves big siege machinery). He is kind by nature but also naive and absent minded.
Backstory: Phillip is the son of the legendary Bob Blood Beard a famous dwarven barbarian/ However his father died of alcohol poisoning while trying to raid a monastery when Phillip was less than a year old. Why he brought Phillip with him to the monastery no one knows but when the monks (all of whom were human oddly enough) found the dead dwarf they took his only son Phillip in and raised him as one of their own. Until recently Phillip has been under the impression he was just short for his age and has had no knowledge of his heritage.
Upon finding out he wasn?t human he left the monastery in an attempt to find himself and decided what race he wants to be?
Name: Jelani
Race: Gnoll
Class: Monk
Abilities: STR/DEX
Skills: Endurance, Athletics, Acrobatics, Perception
Physical Description/Inventory: Like all Gnolls, Jelani is very tall - standing an intimidating 7'2" tall, and despite his great strength has a very lean physique - compact and dense muscle covering his body, the definition of it hidden by his thick tawny fur. Dark spots dot his fur, and the tawny brown darkens to a near-black around his muzzle, ears, hands, forearms, and paws, and the tip of his tail. His eyes are a vibrant green and he dresses in hooded cloth robes, typically in dark colors - blacks, grays, browns, with the occasional bloody red. He keeps a few small packs on his belt for storing supplies as well as a leather harness hidden under his robes where he stores things he needs to have on hand at a moment's notice - mostly notes, potions, and a collection of knives and dagger, some of which are weighted for throwing.
Personality: Jelani is best described as 'intense.' Though his training has instilled him with a strong sense of self-discipline and restraint, Jelani retained his driven nature. He isn't one to leave something half-finished, holds strong opinions and holds equally fierce grudges and alliances. He is loyal to a fault, and dedicated to both improving himself - becoming stronger and stronger - and improving the reputation of Gnolls throughout the world.
Backstory: Jelani comes from a secluded but slowly growing community, founded by a Gnoll Psion named Kagiso and her small group of followers on the premise of seeking a lifestyle of something more than mindless violence and robbery. Over time they grew, various members finding a more civilized trade and forming a functional and thriving community. Given their naturally impulsive and feral tendancies, many served part time in the community's militia, venting their aggression peaceful. A small group, composed mainly of the descendants of Kagiso formed a sort of monastery and school where those wishing to learn the more esoteric arts - or those gifted with magic gifts, could learn.
Jelani was one such student, a direct descendant of Kagiso and bearing the same gift of psionic magic. Where others sought to refine that gift to influence others, Jelani used the power of his mind to augment his body, becoming focused on becoming the strongest, fastest, and maybe even hardiest thing to ever live. In pursuit of that goal he took to a life of adventure, with a secondary goal of proving commonly held stereotypes about his people to be wrong.
Race: Gnoll
Class: Monk
Abilities: STR/DEX
Skills: Endurance, Athletics, Acrobatics, Perception
Physical Description/Inventory: Like all Gnolls, Jelani is very tall - standing an intimidating 7'2" tall, and despite his great strength has a very lean physique - compact and dense muscle covering his body, the definition of it hidden by his thick tawny fur. Dark spots dot his fur, and the tawny brown darkens to a near-black around his muzzle, ears, hands, forearms, and paws, and the tip of his tail. His eyes are a vibrant green and he dresses in hooded cloth robes, typically in dark colors - blacks, grays, browns, with the occasional bloody red. He keeps a few small packs on his belt for storing supplies as well as a leather harness hidden under his robes where he stores things he needs to have on hand at a moment's notice - mostly notes, potions, and a collection of knives and dagger, some of which are weighted for throwing.
Personality: Jelani is best described as 'intense.' Though his training has instilled him with a strong sense of self-discipline and restraint, Jelani retained his driven nature. He isn't one to leave something half-finished, holds strong opinions and holds equally fierce grudges and alliances. He is loyal to a fault, and dedicated to both improving himself - becoming stronger and stronger - and improving the reputation of Gnolls throughout the world.
Backstory: Jelani comes from a secluded but slowly growing community, founded by a Gnoll Psion named Kagiso and her small group of followers on the premise of seeking a lifestyle of something more than mindless violence and robbery. Over time they grew, various members finding a more civilized trade and forming a functional and thriving community. Given their naturally impulsive and feral tendancies, many served part time in the community's militia, venting their aggression peaceful. A small group, composed mainly of the descendants of Kagiso formed a sort of monastery and school where those wishing to learn the more esoteric arts - or those gifted with magic gifts, could learn.
Jelani was one such student, a direct descendant of Kagiso and bearing the same gift of psionic magic. Where others sought to refine that gift to influence others, Jelani used the power of his mind to augment his body, becoming focused on becoming the strongest, fastest, and maybe even hardiest thing to ever live. In pursuit of that goal he took to a life of adventure, with a secondary goal of proving commonly held stereotypes about his people to be wrong.
Name: You can't write his real name without paper made of skin and an inkwell of your own blood. He calls himself Wednesday
Race: Demon
Abilities: STR/DEX
Skills: Arcana, Intimidate, Endurance, Heal
Physical Description/Inventory: Wednesday takes the form of a tall, swarthy man of middle years, his hair dark and his manner confident in his own strength. His face is weathered but handsome, and his eyes are deep and piercing. He wears dark clothes, the shape of which cannot quite be seen, but which when he does remove them fold to almost nothing. Almost casually, he wields a sword longer than he is tall in one hand, and it has been seen to bite straight through armour and weapons.
Personality: Wednesday is full of contradictions; he is confident and friendly, and has incredible persuasive powers, but will not talk to anyone out of the group, unless he is told to by one of his companions. The same goes for entering buildings; he needs an invitation to enter, though this can even be an ally stepping in then telling him to enter
Unfortunately, Wednesday longs to die. If his physical form is destroyed, he will be released, but he has also been commanded to try to keep himself alive, and so searches for times when the commands of his team-mates will allow him to commit suicide. He also seeks another method of freedom, be it by killing his former master or gaining enough power that he can break his summoning and escape this plane.
Regarding magic, Wednesday is an extremely powerful mage, but rarely seeks to cast magic. Being a demon he sees it almost as below him, and he does not specifically want to aid the group, only doing magic when he has to or when they tell him to
Backstory: A magician patron of the group sent with them on their last mission a demon, to aid them in their attempts. The plan still failed, but the punishment was such that the magician cut all ties with the group, even tot the point of not dismissing the demon he summoned.
Thus, Wednesday is left with the commands he was set with in the mission. Do as they command. Keep them from harm. Aid them in all they do. Wednesday is not happy with the time he has spent on this world, but he bears the party no ill will. He only desires an escape from the body in which he resides
Race: Demon
Abilities: STR/DEX
Skills: Arcana, Intimidate, Endurance, Heal
Physical Description/Inventory: Wednesday takes the form of a tall, swarthy man of middle years, his hair dark and his manner confident in his own strength. His face is weathered but handsome, and his eyes are deep and piercing. He wears dark clothes, the shape of which cannot quite be seen, but which when he does remove them fold to almost nothing. Almost casually, he wields a sword longer than he is tall in one hand, and it has been seen to bite straight through armour and weapons.
Personality: Wednesday is full of contradictions; he is confident and friendly, and has incredible persuasive powers, but will not talk to anyone out of the group, unless he is told to by one of his companions. The same goes for entering buildings; he needs an invitation to enter, though this can even be an ally stepping in then telling him to enter
Unfortunately, Wednesday longs to die. If his physical form is destroyed, he will be released, but he has also been commanded to try to keep himself alive, and so searches for times when the commands of his team-mates will allow him to commit suicide. He also seeks another method of freedom, be it by killing his former master or gaining enough power that he can break his summoning and escape this plane.
Regarding magic, Wednesday is an extremely powerful mage, but rarely seeks to cast magic. Being a demon he sees it almost as below him, and he does not specifically want to aid the group, only doing magic when he has to or when they tell him to
Backstory: A magician patron of the group sent with them on their last mission a demon, to aid them in their attempts. The plan still failed, but the punishment was such that the magician cut all ties with the group, even tot the point of not dismissing the demon he summoned.
Thus, Wednesday is left with the commands he was set with in the mission. Do as they command. Keep them from harm. Aid them in all they do. Wednesday is not happy with the time he has spent on this world, but he bears the party no ill will. He only desires an escape from the body in which he resides
Name: Kalem Arbosa
Race: Tiefling
Class: Rogue
Abilities: CHA and WIS
Skills: Bluff, Streetwise, Insight and Perception
Physical Description/Inventory: Kalem is a relatively short Tiefling, about 5 foot tall. He has foot long, thick horns on his head. He has long purple hair and eyes of white which contrast with his muddy red-brown skin. He wears a black suit (with white shirt and a black tie) he once stole from a store, and is beginning to show it's age, especially considering that he doesn't seem to ever remove it.
Personality: Kalem's not in the roguing business for the money, he's in it for the roguing. He likes to trick people and see how far he can get them to go along with his schemes. You'd describe him as chaotic neutral; money doesn't both him, nor does patriotism. He doesn't have hatred towards specific races (but he is wary of Dragonborn just as they are of him) and doesn't want to live among his own people. He feels at home on the road, doing missions. He just likes to mess with people, really.
Backstory: No-one's really sure. If you ask him, he could give you various stories, probably just to see what your response would be. What's known, though, is that he stole the suit he's wearing, his father is still alive (and is not his favourite person on Earth) and he did once live among Tiefling's before settling as a slumdog in Saltspit. Now that his group is back in town, he's back where he has a knowledge of the area. He's also back, though, where not everyone may not be his biggest fans.
Race: Tiefling
Class: Rogue
Abilities: CHA and WIS
Skills: Bluff, Streetwise, Insight and Perception
Physical Description/Inventory: Kalem is a relatively short Tiefling, about 5 foot tall. He has foot long, thick horns on his head. He has long purple hair and eyes of white which contrast with his muddy red-brown skin. He wears a black suit (with white shirt and a black tie) he once stole from a store, and is beginning to show it's age, especially considering that he doesn't seem to ever remove it.
Personality: Kalem's not in the roguing business for the money, he's in it for the roguing. He likes to trick people and see how far he can get them to go along with his schemes. You'd describe him as chaotic neutral; money doesn't both him, nor does patriotism. He doesn't have hatred towards specific races (but he is wary of Dragonborn just as they are of him) and doesn't want to live among his own people. He feels at home on the road, doing missions. He just likes to mess with people, really.
Backstory: No-one's really sure. If you ask him, he could give you various stories, probably just to see what your response would be. What's known, though, is that he stole the suit he's wearing, his father is still alive (and is not his favourite person on Earth) and he did once live among Tiefling's before settling as a slumdog in Saltspit. Now that his group is back in town, he's back where he has a knowledge of the area. He's also back, though, where not everyone may not be his biggest fans.
NOW CLOSED!
