I've joined a game as a player recently, and though getting enough players started out a little shakey, it looks like we are going strong now.
In the first session, there were only two players, so we each played 2 characters each, a primary and a backup. We've dropped our backup with the arrival of new players.
My primary character is Ranier, a male human magus, who tries to portray himself as just a ranger. When his powers first manifested, he accidentally shocked his sibling to death. With this deep hurt heavy on his heart, he goes out into the world seeking redemption for what he feels is an unforgivable sin. Under the weight of this legacy, he still isn't pulled completely into fighting for good and law. Instead he is looking for things worthy to atone and in between follows a path of balance. When a man has done something so bad, why should little bad or good things even matter. More will come about Ranier.
My backup character was a dwarven fighter named Grievley. His family's honor was tarnished by the actions of his youngest son and Grievely left and went out into the world, convinced that if he slayed a large enough monster and returned with its head, he could win back his honor. Grievley complains a lot, probably most owed to his lack of funds. Out in the world he tries to make way until he can find his big kill.
Dante the Paladin, aka "shiny armor", and Baiku, a tengu skills bard, joined my two characters for the first session.
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WARNING: Spoilers ahead.
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So the party starts in Sandpoint at the Swallowtail festival. There are festivities. Ranier, as a student of the ancients (a fact he uses to cover his nightly studies of magic), pokes around asking about ruins, the church, and such. Grievely tries to drink the hagfish water with his last gold coin and comes up just a bit short, vomiting all of it out again. Being broke leaves him really sour.
Goblins attack and the party goes to work. Ranier has a guard dog, and a couple of bad strikes from the goblins leave him down. Ranier gets in a couple of assaults before he has to drop back to his bow. The dwarf, unable to get his tower shield and battleaxe out quickly, grabs his halberd instead and just goes nuts. Arrows are flying and goblins are getting clobbered. Between the four PCs, all of the goblins get killed and then some.
We get dragged off to another section where a man is about to be attacked by a goblin rider. The paladin rushes in to attack while the dwarf defends the man. More arrows fly and the goblin rider and dog are down. 3 goblins try to get away through an open gate. One escapes, but one finds himself struck by the falling porticullis. A little clean up and the threat is over.
The heroes enjoy free room and board and much spectacle. Back at the inn, Ranier takes care of his dog, Sol. The dwarf grumbles a lot about not getting paid. There is food and ale and a good night's sleep.
Eventually to get paid, they agree to help the sheriff check out an opened tomb. Inside they find two skeletons that the melee attacks quickly extinguish. There is a used magical robe and a set of remains missing. Oh, and a dead goblin. (There are other clues being pieces together, but I'm not going to go into that.)
The paladin has meanwhile picked up a fanboy from the goblin rider attack, a Mr. Foxglove.
I'm sure I've left some things out.
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Session two, we end up back at the sheriff's place. Ranier and Dante hire on as unofficial protectors of the town. Baiku and Grievley decline and fall out of the story. There is then a hunt with Alderan Foxglove, the paladin's number one fan. Joining them is a cleric (pregen char for one of the new players) and Axle, a half-elf rogue, who both won a contest at the festival to be part of the boar hunt.
The hunt is on foot with spears and just a moment in, the guide is down and getting clobbered. The paladin and cleric engage the boar head on, while Ranier stays back. Axle is sneaking around trying to get in a good strike.
The boar is just really fast in the high grass and appears and disappears. Ranier keeps trying to get his bow on target but can't seem to hit anything. The melee attackes get in some hits. Foxglove runs away, grabs a horse, and takes off. Ranier tries to maintain cover for himself, but under the guise of helping the paladin, follows the paladin after Foxglove and then returns when he does. Not liking the spread of the group, Ranier eventually drops his bow, grabs up his scimitar, and readies an action. The boar hits the rogue first, then comes at Ranier, who finally downs the creature and it collapses on his feet.
The party, wounded and beat up, but victorious, heads back to the village with the largest boar hunted down in years. At the stables they meet an elven Cleric (new PC) who takes charge of the kill and delivers it to the rusty dragon for roasting.
With new gold in hand, the party hits the general store just before closing. Ranier haggles down the price for a traveler's anytool that can be used as a number of tools in a pinch. The derpy cleric (the pregen so called because of his apparent lack of wisdom or intelligence or something) ends up breaking an item and getting in big trouble with the shopkeep. The store closes and they are off to the inn.
The elven cleric is there, enjoying the feast, as is the rest of the party (two clerics now, paladin, rogue, and Ranier). Ranier is trying to hit on local women, boasting ever more of his great deeds with help from the local bard Sedric, but finds the only one available is already taken. He sends the derpy cleric on the same course, only to have him find out the woman is the daughter of a now even more enraged general store owner.
There is a brief violent, disurbing interlude between Amico, the inn owner, and her father. Ranier keeps his cool, opting to try to intimidate the man, but he is too irate. Shiny armor jumps in and tries to calm things, helping her get free of the old curmudgeon that is her father. The bard spills the story of the girls and her father, which I won't repeat here.
The group is eventually approached by a woman who's house has been invaded by something. The party goes in cautiously, finding the dog and husband dead at the hands of a goblin. The party attacks it, and in another lucky shot, Ranier gets in a hit with a charged true strike. Still no one thinks he has magic and he gets in a second kill shot for the day.
The party gets the local guards to clean up the mess, while the paladin breaks the bad news to the widow. The party gets some sleep (and a level) and starts out the new day. It turns out Amico is missing and it looks like an interesting letter points the way of her disappearance.
---
Having two players and the GM in the first session mad role-playing somewhat forced at best, with a high likelihood of having players talk to themselves. With five players, the second session was a lot better, and I'm starting to get a feel for Ranier. With an 18 intelligence and a true neutral attitude, playing with people is how he has fun, especially after a couple of ales. He is quick to gain confidence from a good day. The need for redemption means he doesn't turn down a fight for the right reasons, even though it is for purely selfish reasons.
The paladin is a nice foil for Ranier. Played as not the usual goody two shoes, Dante has a genuine concern for people, that Ranier can understand but just doesn't have. For Ranier, the paladin is a convenient way for him to dodge the burdens of dealing with people when his performs one of his acts of redemption.
For Ranier, hiding his secret magic is a tactical challenge. For now, he isn't doing anything flashy. Sooner or later someone is going to see something, and he is going to have to find an explanation.
In the future, I'll probably write posts from Ranier's perspective.
In the first session, there were only two players, so we each played 2 characters each, a primary and a backup. We've dropped our backup with the arrival of new players.
My primary character is Ranier, a male human magus, who tries to portray himself as just a ranger. When his powers first manifested, he accidentally shocked his sibling to death. With this deep hurt heavy on his heart, he goes out into the world seeking redemption for what he feels is an unforgivable sin. Under the weight of this legacy, he still isn't pulled completely into fighting for good and law. Instead he is looking for things worthy to atone and in between follows a path of balance. When a man has done something so bad, why should little bad or good things even matter. More will come about Ranier.
My backup character was a dwarven fighter named Grievley. His family's honor was tarnished by the actions of his youngest son and Grievely left and went out into the world, convinced that if he slayed a large enough monster and returned with its head, he could win back his honor. Grievley complains a lot, probably most owed to his lack of funds. Out in the world he tries to make way until he can find his big kill.
Dante the Paladin, aka "shiny armor", and Baiku, a tengu skills bard, joined my two characters for the first session.
---
WARNING: Spoilers ahead.
---
So the party starts in Sandpoint at the Swallowtail festival. There are festivities. Ranier, as a student of the ancients (a fact he uses to cover his nightly studies of magic), pokes around asking about ruins, the church, and such. Grievely tries to drink the hagfish water with his last gold coin and comes up just a bit short, vomiting all of it out again. Being broke leaves him really sour.
Goblins attack and the party goes to work. Ranier has a guard dog, and a couple of bad strikes from the goblins leave him down. Ranier gets in a couple of assaults before he has to drop back to his bow. The dwarf, unable to get his tower shield and battleaxe out quickly, grabs his halberd instead and just goes nuts. Arrows are flying and goblins are getting clobbered. Between the four PCs, all of the goblins get killed and then some.
We get dragged off to another section where a man is about to be attacked by a goblin rider. The paladin rushes in to attack while the dwarf defends the man. More arrows fly and the goblin rider and dog are down. 3 goblins try to get away through an open gate. One escapes, but one finds himself struck by the falling porticullis. A little clean up and the threat is over.
The heroes enjoy free room and board and much spectacle. Back at the inn, Ranier takes care of his dog, Sol. The dwarf grumbles a lot about not getting paid. There is food and ale and a good night's sleep.
Eventually to get paid, they agree to help the sheriff check out an opened tomb. Inside they find two skeletons that the melee attacks quickly extinguish. There is a used magical robe and a set of remains missing. Oh, and a dead goblin. (There are other clues being pieces together, but I'm not going to go into that.)
The paladin has meanwhile picked up a fanboy from the goblin rider attack, a Mr. Foxglove.
I'm sure I've left some things out.
---
Session two, we end up back at the sheriff's place. Ranier and Dante hire on as unofficial protectors of the town. Baiku and Grievley decline and fall out of the story. There is then a hunt with Alderan Foxglove, the paladin's number one fan. Joining them is a cleric (pregen char for one of the new players) and Axle, a half-elf rogue, who both won a contest at the festival to be part of the boar hunt.
The hunt is on foot with spears and just a moment in, the guide is down and getting clobbered. The paladin and cleric engage the boar head on, while Ranier stays back. Axle is sneaking around trying to get in a good strike.
The boar is just really fast in the high grass and appears and disappears. Ranier keeps trying to get his bow on target but can't seem to hit anything. The melee attackes get in some hits. Foxglove runs away, grabs a horse, and takes off. Ranier tries to maintain cover for himself, but under the guise of helping the paladin, follows the paladin after Foxglove and then returns when he does. Not liking the spread of the group, Ranier eventually drops his bow, grabs up his scimitar, and readies an action. The boar hits the rogue first, then comes at Ranier, who finally downs the creature and it collapses on his feet.
The party, wounded and beat up, but victorious, heads back to the village with the largest boar hunted down in years. At the stables they meet an elven Cleric (new PC) who takes charge of the kill and delivers it to the rusty dragon for roasting.
With new gold in hand, the party hits the general store just before closing. Ranier haggles down the price for a traveler's anytool that can be used as a number of tools in a pinch. The derpy cleric (the pregen so called because of his apparent lack of wisdom or intelligence or something) ends up breaking an item and getting in big trouble with the shopkeep. The store closes and they are off to the inn.
The elven cleric is there, enjoying the feast, as is the rest of the party (two clerics now, paladin, rogue, and Ranier). Ranier is trying to hit on local women, boasting ever more of his great deeds with help from the local bard Sedric, but finds the only one available is already taken. He sends the derpy cleric on the same course, only to have him find out the woman is the daughter of a now even more enraged general store owner.
There is a brief violent, disurbing interlude between Amico, the inn owner, and her father. Ranier keeps his cool, opting to try to intimidate the man, but he is too irate. Shiny armor jumps in and tries to calm things, helping her get free of the old curmudgeon that is her father. The bard spills the story of the girls and her father, which I won't repeat here.
The group is eventually approached by a woman who's house has been invaded by something. The party goes in cautiously, finding the dog and husband dead at the hands of a goblin. The party attacks it, and in another lucky shot, Ranier gets in a hit with a charged true strike. Still no one thinks he has magic and he gets in a second kill shot for the day.
The party gets the local guards to clean up the mess, while the paladin breaks the bad news to the widow. The party gets some sleep (and a level) and starts out the new day. It turns out Amico is missing and it looks like an interesting letter points the way of her disappearance.
---
Having two players and the GM in the first session mad role-playing somewhat forced at best, with a high likelihood of having players talk to themselves. With five players, the second session was a lot better, and I'm starting to get a feel for Ranier. With an 18 intelligence and a true neutral attitude, playing with people is how he has fun, especially after a couple of ales. He is quick to gain confidence from a good day. The need for redemption means he doesn't turn down a fight for the right reasons, even though it is for purely selfish reasons.
The paladin is a nice foil for Ranier. Played as not the usual goody two shoes, Dante has a genuine concern for people, that Ranier can understand but just doesn't have. For Ranier, the paladin is a convenient way for him to dodge the burdens of dealing with people when his performs one of his acts of redemption.
For Ranier, hiding his secret magic is a tactical challenge. For now, he isn't doing anything flashy. Sooner or later someone is going to see something, and he is going to have to find an explanation.
In the future, I'll probably write posts from Ranier's perspective.
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