I wasn't always a DM/GM....every gamer has to start somewhere.
I was a little late to the party, I didn't start my roleplaying career until my junior year of high school.
Back in the day, the game was Shadowrun.....3rd Edition.
I was joining up with a group who was going on one last run before starting over with new characters.
They were letting me join up because they had lost their spellcaster, and this was my trial run before starting the new campaign. You know, they were letting the new guy get a feel for the system with a group of elite runners before throwing him to the wolves with a fresh group.
Well the party needed a spellcaster, so I "rolled up" a Wolf Shaman.
I have always had an affinity for wolves as you will see as they show up in various postings.
Anyway, the run was gonna be a tough one, and I was utterly depending on the group to keep me from getting geeked inside of the first 10 minutes. The job sounded easy enough, break into secret warehouse, protect the decker's meat while he grabs the paydata, and then hustle hoop out the back door. Little did we know, the GM was preparing to hose the party something fierce knowing that this was gonna be the last session anyway.
It was too easy, and a few of the players knew it. They were double checking everything, hell, they were triple checking corners. But nothing had gone wrong yet, and my invisibility spell had got us past the first and second groups of guards with no alarms going off or anything.
Now I should point out that the group was thrilled having a spellcaster that didn't JUST know combat spells, they had never had that utility before. The GM wasn't ready for it either as we were supposed to set off at least one alarm on the way in. Point #1 for me.
So we get the decker into the main lab where he needs to jack in to find the paydata. It was quiet, too quiet and we all knew it. Dropping into a lotus position, as long as the gun bunnies were all hopped up and paying attention, I quickly summoned a low level air spirit to patrol the halls and report if anything appeared to be out of the ordinary. Once again, the party wasn't used to the utility, and that meant another Point for me. Point #2 to be exact.
Well everything was going swell until our decker tripped up on some IC, pronounced "ice" in the lingo of the streets, on his way out of the system. All of a sudden it was nothing but sirens and lights. My spirit was back to me in an astral flash informing me that guards were everywhere, and that at least one security mage was also present. Well, we didn't need to be told twice, as we all booked it for the back door. Well wouldn't you know, the back door was a garage door in the maintenance bay of the warehouse we were in, and did I mention the catwalk that run above said bay. It was a shooting gallery, and we were the targets. Our leader called for a general "run the @#$% away" and all of a sudden it was every meta for themselves. The decker had downloaded the file to everyone, so as long as one of us got out we could still get paid. So with no need of anyone else, everyone split. I didn't realize that I was gonna be left behind, and I was a second late on the uptake, that second saved my life. Sprinting from cover in all directions, the entire team ended up in the open. They all took hits, but the team decker, not being as tough as the gun bunnies, went down, hard. Now I should point out that no one in the party, none of the players as it were, role played much. They were in it for the running and the shooting. So the GM had to ride herd on them alot to get any amount of role playing out of them. Let me tell you, he was just waiting for me to run, because he was gonna stop me. You see, the downfall of being a Wolf Shaman, is that you actually have to make a the equivalent of a Will Save to leave a pack member "teammate" behind, and he was just waiting to remind of this when I declared my actions for the round. let me just say that I did not share the other players pension for poor role playing, as my shaman never thought for a minute about leaving the decker behind. Exerting himself almost to physical pain I cast a ball of pure physical energy "powerball" toward the catwalk, knocking it from the beams supporting it and causing it to crash to the ground as I ran forward to grab the decker and throw him over my shoulder. With the momentary lapse in gunfire the team regrouped at the backdoor, where one of the gun bunnies slapped a heal patch on the decker which woke him up right quick "Adrenaline slap patch". He was moving to jack in and open the door when the security mage walked in on the far side of the room, a fire spirit trailing after him. I yelled for the team to "Geek the Mage" as I turned and fainted to the floor. Ordering my air elemental to harass the WageMage, I passed my spirit onto the astral plane, and went straight for the fire spirit. My character didn't have the skill for banishing, but I did have an astral dagger, and I used it to strike at the fire spirit that waited near the Mage. Not expecting this kind of attack it took the spirit a moment to fully bring his conscientiousness to his astral form, and that was all of the chance I needed. With the extra initiative pass, I closed to grapple range and plunged my dagger deep into the spirits essence. It was not without defenses though, and the team saw my body spasm as I was struck by the spirit. I attacked like my namesake patron, without fear, and with no hesitation, and my second strike caused the fire spirit to be unmade, and sent back to the meta plane of fire. As my astral spirit made its way back to my body, I felt my air spirit wink out of existence, as it was banished from this plane, but as I opened my meat bodies eyes, I saw that the Secuirty Mages physical barrier had fallen, and he was being turned into a piece of cheese of the swiss variety by my gun bunny teammates. With the threat down, everything would have been fine except when the decker finally got the door open, we were looking at a 100 yard run from the door to the helipad where our ride was supposed to land, and it was covered by two elevated towers. It also didn't help that two security vans were bearing down on us from the main gate. As we began to sprint across the field I heard the team leader yelling into his commlink telling our ride to land. From the tone of the conversation, our ride wanted no part of the towers. It seemed that we were between a tower and a hard place, and we were getting ready for our last stand, when I grabbed the comm and told the pilot to start his approach, by the time he got here, the towers would no longer be a problem. With that, I tossed the comm back to the team leader and began casting the most powerful spell I could muster. Another powerball, but this one enormous in comparison with the first. As I let the spell go, blood spurted from my nose and my hearing rang, as the drain from the spell hit me, hard. I was casting at such high levels that my body just couldn't handle it, but as I watched our heavy weapon specialist pull a rocket launcher out of his bag, i knew he could take out the other tower. Even as I had the thought my spell struck the first tower. It was wonderful, Wolf would have been proud, in fact I know he was, it took the top of the tower, including its anti-aircraft assets out of the picture. As the first tower exploded I heard the gush of the single-use rocket launcher being fired. We all watched as the rocket set out after its target, and all of our hearts fell when he missed wide to the right. With no other option the team was going to try to make it but inside the maintenance bay to make a final stand, but we knew that additional security had to already be on its way, and we knew we would run out of ammo eventually. As the team leader started giving the final order I made a decision. I formed the spell one final time, putting everything I had left into it, and as he was speaking the words to retreat, I let it go. Blackness took me, but only for a moment, as I felt hands lifting me. I was being carried, and as I came back to the land of the living I saw the smoldering wreckage that was the second tower, and our ride, a Hughes Stallion Helo just getting ready to touch down on the pad. Then in that instant I was back on the ground, I felt the impact before I realized I was falling. The teammate who was carrying me had been hit, and he had glitched on the resistance roll. His cyber-arm, the only thing giving him the strength to carry me had me hit, and it was malfunctioning. He tried to drag me, but it wasn't going to work, and the rest of the team I knew would not have hesitated to leave the both of us behind. Gathering my voice and all of the strength I could muster, I growled, and howled at him to leave me. The fearsome visage he was facing, and his own sense of survival was enough to have him running as fast as he could for the chopper. It began taking off even as he was jumping aboard. To their credit I saw them laying down cover fire toward the security team bearing down on me, but I could barely feel my legs underneath me, and I wasn't going anywhere. I reached down inside of me for the spark that fueled my magic...but it wasn't there. I knew it was the end. But Wolf did not teach his followers to go quietly into the dark night. As the vans bore down on me, I reached into my vest...and pulled a pristine and very new looking Ares Predator. I had never had reason to use it...it had never even been fired. Well that was about to change. The adrenaline patch that they had slapped on me might have been stopping me from reaching my spark, but it gave my reactions just the boost I needed, and as I felt the bullets ripping into me I just kept pulling the trigger....as I hit the ground I heard the click of a dry fire right before the darkness took me...and me last thought was...
For my character that was where it ended. The newbie, the rookie, the greenhorn, had proved exactly what the party needed to escape from what we later found out was a suicide run. The GM was impressed. So impressed that in all of his games from that day on, whenever the runners were looking for gossip in a bar, they always heard that story. The story of Lobo. The Wolf Shaman who refused to let his pack lose. A true alpha if there ever was one.
Alas, that summer before the new campaign started, the GM moved away. I never did get to run with those guys again, and it was four years before my next brush with role playing. But I still talk with the GM from time to time, and he always tells me that his current group doesn't believe a word of the story. We always share a laugh.
As for the rest of my Role Playing history, well I guess that has to be another story...
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Arrival at South Portsmith
Lets see if I can finish the 1st session in this its 3rd post.
Arriving in the colony of South Portsmith the party immediately sets out to ignore another city as they decide that they are going to camp outside of town. Waking in the morning, and deciding that before tracking across the desert they should at least find some basic supplies they head into town. Namsuri, in addition to pickpocketing people, here's a rumor about a haunted mansion north of the city. Raistlin also hears about the mansion, although as he hears it, it is the residence of the recently deceased ship's mage, Master Thomas, the white robed mage who died aboard ship during the pirate attack. Having the mages key, which he thought was simply the key to the mages chest aboard the ship, Raistlin now thinks he might be able to get into the mages former residence and perhaps discover something that will help him with his growing magical talent.
Never just give one party member a plot hook, give it to as many as you can. The more players who have the information, the more players you have to convince the party that the plot hook is a good idea, even if it takes them out of the way of the main quest.
[DM Hint #5]
So although Raistlin kept the secret of the mansion to himself, Namsuri told the entire party, and after a brief debate on the speed for which they should probably complete the main quest, they decided on the plot hook anyway. On the road north of the town they were ambushed by a party of Halfling rouges. They successfully drove the majority of them off, but in doing so allowed their horses to be stolen. With provisions only purchased in sufficient quantity for a wagon trip across the desert, and now horseless the "party" had to return to South Portsmith to "gear up" before continuing onward.
An ambush doesn't always have to be about killing the players. Remember that NPC's can have agenda's of their own. The Halflings knew that they had no chance at beating the party, but with a well placed distraction easily made off with the horses. To a group of bandits, a team of horses is one HUGE payoff. Why throw your life away attacking people when stealing is so much easier and doesn't threatening your own well being as much. Also, note that it was a great way to get the "party" to go back into town, and get them to interact with people. This is especially important if they skipped talking to any of your NPC's who you really like, and gave backstories too. It also is a great way to keep them in theme, as the horses they lost had to be replaced with Camels. Once again giving them another subtle reminder of where they are in the world.
[DM Hint #6]
Having resupplied, and now with a team of camels pulling their wagon the "party" once again headed out toward the mansion. Having no problems on this leg of the journey, everyone now expressly on the lookout for an ambush, they make it to the mage's mansion. A squat two story circular tower with but a single window, and a single door, the party goes about trying to find a way in. Namsuri shocks himself trying to pick the lock as The Machageer viewed the entire place with a "Detect Magic" seeing that the entire place was indeed magically.
It was at this point that I asked Raistlin why he didn't just use the key. Seeing that it was 1am, and that we had been gaming for going on five hours. He admitted to, resting his eyes, and forgetting he had the key on him. Alert enough now to remember he placed the key in the lock and turned. As the door opened on well greased hinges, he party had to wait until next week to see what was inside....
Always leave your players wanting more, even something as simple as not being able to see inside a door. About 5 minutes before the end of the session the players decided that they wanted to call it a night. But I strung them along long enough to get them to get the door open, and then ended it right as it did. Although it was the players who all wanted to call it for the night, as soon as they realized that I wasn't going to tell them what was inside the door they all immediately said that they wanted to keep going. Leave them on a cliffhanger and you give them something to look forward too, something they can think about until next session. It keeps them engaged even away from the table, and when they come back for the next session they will be all excited to see what they were unable to the week before.
[DM Hint #7]
Well that will do it for the 1st Session. Despite the make-up of the party, or maybe because of it, I have high hopes for this campaign.
If you have any questions about my world, which I will document here eventually, no worries, or about DM'ing, or about life in general, leave me a comment and I will try to answer it in my next post.
-Eraser
Arriving in the colony of South Portsmith the party immediately sets out to ignore another city as they decide that they are going to camp outside of town. Waking in the morning, and deciding that before tracking across the desert they should at least find some basic supplies they head into town. Namsuri, in addition to pickpocketing people, here's a rumor about a haunted mansion north of the city. Raistlin also hears about the mansion, although as he hears it, it is the residence of the recently deceased ship's mage, Master Thomas, the white robed mage who died aboard ship during the pirate attack. Having the mages key, which he thought was simply the key to the mages chest aboard the ship, Raistlin now thinks he might be able to get into the mages former residence and perhaps discover something that will help him with his growing magical talent.
Never just give one party member a plot hook, give it to as many as you can. The more players who have the information, the more players you have to convince the party that the plot hook is a good idea, even if it takes them out of the way of the main quest.
[DM Hint #5]
So although Raistlin kept the secret of the mansion to himself, Namsuri told the entire party, and after a brief debate on the speed for which they should probably complete the main quest, they decided on the plot hook anyway. On the road north of the town they were ambushed by a party of Halfling rouges. They successfully drove the majority of them off, but in doing so allowed their horses to be stolen. With provisions only purchased in sufficient quantity for a wagon trip across the desert, and now horseless the "party" had to return to South Portsmith to "gear up" before continuing onward.
An ambush doesn't always have to be about killing the players. Remember that NPC's can have agenda's of their own. The Halflings knew that they had no chance at beating the party, but with a well placed distraction easily made off with the horses. To a group of bandits, a team of horses is one HUGE payoff. Why throw your life away attacking people when stealing is so much easier and doesn't threatening your own well being as much. Also, note that it was a great way to get the "party" to go back into town, and get them to interact with people. This is especially important if they skipped talking to any of your NPC's who you really like, and gave backstories too. It also is a great way to keep them in theme, as the horses they lost had to be replaced with Camels. Once again giving them another subtle reminder of where they are in the world.
[DM Hint #6]
Having resupplied, and now with a team of camels pulling their wagon the "party" once again headed out toward the mansion. Having no problems on this leg of the journey, everyone now expressly on the lookout for an ambush, they make it to the mage's mansion. A squat two story circular tower with but a single window, and a single door, the party goes about trying to find a way in. Namsuri shocks himself trying to pick the lock as The Machageer viewed the entire place with a "Detect Magic" seeing that the entire place was indeed magically.
It was at this point that I asked Raistlin why he didn't just use the key. Seeing that it was 1am, and that we had been gaming for going on five hours. He admitted to, resting his eyes, and forgetting he had the key on him. Alert enough now to remember he placed the key in the lock and turned. As the door opened on well greased hinges, he party had to wait until next week to see what was inside....
Always leave your players wanting more, even something as simple as not being able to see inside a door. About 5 minutes before the end of the session the players decided that they wanted to call it a night. But I strung them along long enough to get them to get the door open, and then ended it right as it did. Although it was the players who all wanted to call it for the night, as soon as they realized that I wasn't going to tell them what was inside the door they all immediately said that they wanted to keep going. Leave them on a cliffhanger and you give them something to look forward too, something they can think about until next session. It keeps them engaged even away from the table, and when they come back for the next session they will be all excited to see what they were unable to the week before.
[DM Hint #7]
Well that will do it for the 1st Session. Despite the make-up of the party, or maybe because of it, I have high hopes for this campaign.
If you have any questions about my world, which I will document here eventually, no worries, or about DM'ing, or about life in general, leave me a comment and I will try to answer it in my next post.
-Eraser
Sailing Across the Inner Sea
As promised here is the immediately 2nd post of the First Session.
As the "party" arrives in Puotii, they completely ignore the town and go straight to the docks.
As a DM this is both frustrating and awesome. I have given them their quest, and they are on a straight line to its accomplishment. Everyone is on the rails, and the story is progressing. But at the same time they are completely ignoring the world around them, which took me over a year to create. Well you can't have it all.
So they go straight to the docks, meet their Captain, whose name they didn't care to take the time to learn, and they boarded the ship, The Midnight Run, that would take them across the Inner Sea.
The ship itself was quite awesome, pure white sails, and a wooden exterior painted as dark as the sea at night. I was excited when someone actually asked me to describe it as it has a backstory, but after the brief description the "party" immediately moved on to other things.
Halfway through the trip there was a massive storm. A good first chance for the party to get some teamwork bonding going. Of course the The Machageer had to refuse the Captain's request of help during the storm, and thus went below decks to his state room. The rest of the party however helped out the Captain and the crew of The Midnight Run. Tariel and Namsuri helping on deck, as the Raistlin assisted the ship's mage prepare spell components. During the storm Tariel was swept overboard, and Namsuri saved him by throwing him a rope. (Good reflex saves all around) Unfortunately as the crew was helping pull Tariel back aboard they all failed the perception checks, and the entire crew and the "party" were ambushed by pirates.
Of course at this point The Machageer was below decks, and such had to wait one round before he could make a perception check to hear the combat over the storm. Then had to take his entire second round on getting up onto the main deck before he could join the combat.
It really in my opinion is a great first combat for a new party. Plenty of allies to give flanking, plenty of targets for them to test all of their offensive capabilities. Not rolling for any of the pirates or crew that are not in the immidiate area of the party allows me to juggle the difficulty of the encounter on the fly, if the party begins to lose the crew does better, if they are rolling over the pirates, the crew doesn't fair as well and they have to deal with the bulk of the attackers.
[There it was folks, DM Eraser's first DM Hint, stay tuned for more]
The keynote of the fight is the Captain of The Midnight Run, a Male Half-Orc with an amazing backstory the party never bothered to learn, fighting against the Minotaur Fighter who is the captain of the pirate vessel.
This is strictly a fluff background to the battle as the true fighting rages on the main deck, the PC's catch glimpses of the epic battle between captains happening right next to the wheel on the quarterdeck. I am a big fan of adding background to fight scenes, it keeps it from becoming the players talking out of character to each other and sitting around waiting for their turn to beat something. It gives them something to focus on, something to tie them to what is going on and an attempt to draw them into the illusion of the story you are trying to produce.
[There it is folks DM Hint #2, two in one post, am I awesome, ....yes...yes I am!]
During the fighting Raistlin had started the encounter inside the mages study. He was interrupted in his spell component preperations as the mage stumbled in, white robes stained with blood as the wound to his chest bleed profusely. Handing over a key to Raistlin he then dies in his arms. At this point, looking through the open door, Raistlin spots a pirate and skewers him with a magic missile which knocks him overboard into the torrent of storm swept waters.
Always remember, just because there is a battle going on is not a reason to stop throwing out plot hooks. In fact it might be the perfect time. You know you have everyone's attention for one, and anything that happens during combat that is non-combat related always looks that much more epic just because the fighting is going on in the background.
[DM Hint #3]
Also, just because a NPC runs out of hit points doesn't have to mean he drops to the ground right where he stood. In a situation such as the storm, and the rolling deck of the ship, use a NPC death as a chance to once again reinforce where the players are, and the situation they are in, this WILL increase your players enjoyment of the game, even if they never realize it.
[DM Hint #4, Four hints in one post, Godly? You decide]
Finally finishing off the pirates, and as the last pirate drops the Half-Orc Captain finishing his opponent as well, the crew cleans the mess from the deck and the "party" gets there first taste of loot.
I really didn't think describing this session would take this long. In my effort to keep these on the shorter side I will leave it here.....and immediately start on post #3
-Eraser
As the "party" arrives in Puotii, they completely ignore the town and go straight to the docks.
As a DM this is both frustrating and awesome. I have given them their quest, and they are on a straight line to its accomplishment. Everyone is on the rails, and the story is progressing. But at the same time they are completely ignoring the world around them, which took me over a year to create. Well you can't have it all.
So they go straight to the docks, meet their Captain, whose name they didn't care to take the time to learn, and they boarded the ship, The Midnight Run, that would take them across the Inner Sea.
The ship itself was quite awesome, pure white sails, and a wooden exterior painted as dark as the sea at night. I was excited when someone actually asked me to describe it as it has a backstory, but after the brief description the "party" immediately moved on to other things.
Halfway through the trip there was a massive storm. A good first chance for the party to get some teamwork bonding going. Of course the The Machageer had to refuse the Captain's request of help during the storm, and thus went below decks to his state room. The rest of the party however helped out the Captain and the crew of The Midnight Run. Tariel and Namsuri helping on deck, as the Raistlin assisted the ship's mage prepare spell components. During the storm Tariel was swept overboard, and Namsuri saved him by throwing him a rope. (Good reflex saves all around) Unfortunately as the crew was helping pull Tariel back aboard they all failed the perception checks, and the entire crew and the "party" were ambushed by pirates.
Of course at this point The Machageer was below decks, and such had to wait one round before he could make a perception check to hear the combat over the storm. Then had to take his entire second round on getting up onto the main deck before he could join the combat.
It really in my opinion is a great first combat for a new party. Plenty of allies to give flanking, plenty of targets for them to test all of their offensive capabilities. Not rolling for any of the pirates or crew that are not in the immidiate area of the party allows me to juggle the difficulty of the encounter on the fly, if the party begins to lose the crew does better, if they are rolling over the pirates, the crew doesn't fair as well and they have to deal with the bulk of the attackers.
[There it was folks, DM Eraser's first DM Hint, stay tuned for more]
The keynote of the fight is the Captain of The Midnight Run, a Male Half-Orc with an amazing backstory the party never bothered to learn, fighting against the Minotaur Fighter who is the captain of the pirate vessel.
This is strictly a fluff background to the battle as the true fighting rages on the main deck, the PC's catch glimpses of the epic battle between captains happening right next to the wheel on the quarterdeck. I am a big fan of adding background to fight scenes, it keeps it from becoming the players talking out of character to each other and sitting around waiting for their turn to beat something. It gives them something to focus on, something to tie them to what is going on and an attempt to draw them into the illusion of the story you are trying to produce.
[There it is folks DM Hint #2, two in one post, am I awesome, ....yes...yes I am!]
During the fighting Raistlin had started the encounter inside the mages study. He was interrupted in his spell component preperations as the mage stumbled in, white robes stained with blood as the wound to his chest bleed profusely. Handing over a key to Raistlin he then dies in his arms. At this point, looking through the open door, Raistlin spots a pirate and skewers him with a magic missile which knocks him overboard into the torrent of storm swept waters.
Always remember, just because there is a battle going on is not a reason to stop throwing out plot hooks. In fact it might be the perfect time. You know you have everyone's attention for one, and anything that happens during combat that is non-combat related always looks that much more epic just because the fighting is going on in the background.
[DM Hint #3]
Also, just because a NPC runs out of hit points doesn't have to mean he drops to the ground right where he stood. In a situation such as the storm, and the rolling deck of the ship, use a NPC death as a chance to once again reinforce where the players are, and the situation they are in, this WILL increase your players enjoyment of the game, even if they never realize it.
[DM Hint #4, Four hints in one post, Godly? You decide]
Finally finishing off the pirates, and as the last pirate drops the Half-Orc Captain finishing his opponent as well, the crew cleans the mess from the deck and the "party" gets there first taste of loot.
I really didn't think describing this session would take this long. In my effort to keep these on the shorter side I will leave it here.....and immediately start on post #3
-Eraser
Quastalia 2.0 Begins!
Hello,
I guess I should probably introduce myself.
You can call me DM, or GM, or Eraser.
For those who don't know DM stands for Dungeon Master, and GM stands for Game Master.
(But if you didn't know that you probably won't get a lot out of this blog, unless you are hear to learn)
As for Eraser, well it has been my handle for years, so I know I will answer to it if the time comes.
I wanted to start this blog, like so many others before me, to talk about gaming.
Not XBOX, or Playstation or any of that, but Pen and Paper Role Playing.
Now I know I just lost half of you right there, but for those who stayed, I will try to make this both an informative and fun blog about the hazards of DM'ing, as well as the perils of playing a litany of RPG's.
Also this will be the forum where I talk about the current game running in my custom world of Quastalia, which runs using the Standard Pathfinder rules set.
(With a few tweaks here and there of course, [wink] )
So lets start there, in a large metropolis known as Chrysanthus.
As the players gathered to meet the King and apply for the adventure he advirtised they all meet for the first time. As the players did not know each other yet it was hilarious to watch them politely ignore each other, even when put into a position where there could have helped each other accomplish minor goals. In the end, they of course were the 4 chosen to take on the King's quest. Now being a "party" they all introduced themselves to one another. For the Record it is not the craziest "party" of all time, but it is definately in the Top 15.
First we have the "Cleric" Lawful Evil [The Machageer]
Playing a Human Undead Lord Variant Cleric, and Worshiping the Head of the Evil Pantheon, he is hard pressed to not get attacked my every Paladin and Guard within a 10 mile radius due to his evil aura, even more so when he has one of his undead minions around.
Second we have a "Rouge" Chaotic Neutral [Namsuri]
Playing the Kitsune Trickster Racial Variant Rouge he is possible the most annoying character in the party after the "Evil Cleric". As no matter where the "party" goes he is picking pockets the entire way. One of these times he is gonna get caught, and I am gonna laugh as he goes to jail....or worse.
Third we have a "Magus" Chaotic Good [Tariel]
Playing a Elf Myrmidarch Variant Magus he wields a Composite Longbow and is actually the simpliest character concept in the group, with the exception of the fact that the Magus is a needlessly complicated class.
Fourth we have a "Wizard" Lawful Neutral [Raistlin]
Playing a Human Wizard Universalist he would seem on the outset to be the simpliest character, with the the HUGE exception that he has based all of his stats and personality off of the Dragonlance character of Raistlin Majere. Yes, that Raistlin Majere.
So after introductions were made they started on the path of the King's quest.
"King's Quest"
The King of Chrysanthus is aging, and he has no heirs. He has hired the "party to go across the Inner Sea to the Greenstone Monastary to retrieve his brother who was exiled there 25 years ago. Assuming that the brother willingly comes with them, and that the King deems him to be rehilbilatated the brother will be named the King's Successor, and the heir to one of the largest nations in the world...what could possibly go wrong.
The King granted them horses and a wagon to take them to the moderately-sized port of Puotii, just to the west of his lands. There the "party" was to take passage on a boat that would take them across the Inner Sea.
As soon as they left the gates of the city the The Machageer kills the horse he was given, strips it of its meat and then raises it as a skelaton companion which he rides the rest of the way to Puotii, getting weird looks, and scaring off everyone, and every plot hook they saw.
Let me leave you there for the moment. My attempt is to try to keep these posts as short as possible, so I will continue the story of their first session in the next post. I am still trying to decide how I want to structure this, if I want to alternate story posts and advice/question posts. If any has any questions about DM'ing, my wourld of Quastalia, other RPG's or life in general I will try to answer them. just leave them in the comments section, although at some point I might try to get an email account going for this blog if I get enough questions. Until next time folks.....which will actually be right now as I go work on the 2nd Post.
-Eraser
I guess I should probably introduce myself.
You can call me DM, or GM, or Eraser.
For those who don't know DM stands for Dungeon Master, and GM stands for Game Master.
(But if you didn't know that you probably won't get a lot out of this blog, unless you are hear to learn)
As for Eraser, well it has been my handle for years, so I know I will answer to it if the time comes.
I wanted to start this blog, like so many others before me, to talk about gaming.
Not XBOX, or Playstation or any of that, but Pen and Paper Role Playing.
Now I know I just lost half of you right there, but for those who stayed, I will try to make this both an informative and fun blog about the hazards of DM'ing, as well as the perils of playing a litany of RPG's.
Also this will be the forum where I talk about the current game running in my custom world of Quastalia, which runs using the Standard Pathfinder rules set.
(With a few tweaks here and there of course, [wink] )
So lets start there, in a large metropolis known as Chrysanthus.
As the players gathered to meet the King and apply for the adventure he advirtised they all meet for the first time. As the players did not know each other yet it was hilarious to watch them politely ignore each other, even when put into a position where there could have helped each other accomplish minor goals. In the end, they of course were the 4 chosen to take on the King's quest. Now being a "party" they all introduced themselves to one another. For the Record it is not the craziest "party" of all time, but it is definately in the Top 15.
First we have the "Cleric" Lawful Evil [The Machageer]
Playing a Human Undead Lord Variant Cleric, and Worshiping the Head of the Evil Pantheon, he is hard pressed to not get attacked my every Paladin and Guard within a 10 mile radius due to his evil aura, even more so when he has one of his undead minions around.
Second we have a "Rouge" Chaotic Neutral [Namsuri]
Playing the Kitsune Trickster Racial Variant Rouge he is possible the most annoying character in the party after the "Evil Cleric". As no matter where the "party" goes he is picking pockets the entire way. One of these times he is gonna get caught, and I am gonna laugh as he goes to jail....or worse.
Third we have a "Magus" Chaotic Good [Tariel]
Playing a Elf Myrmidarch Variant Magus he wields a Composite Longbow and is actually the simpliest character concept in the group, with the exception of the fact that the Magus is a needlessly complicated class.
Fourth we have a "Wizard" Lawful Neutral [Raistlin]
Playing a Human Wizard Universalist he would seem on the outset to be the simpliest character, with the the HUGE exception that he has based all of his stats and personality off of the Dragonlance character of Raistlin Majere. Yes, that Raistlin Majere.
So after introductions were made they started on the path of the King's quest.
"King's Quest"
The King of Chrysanthus is aging, and he has no heirs. He has hired the "party to go across the Inner Sea to the Greenstone Monastary to retrieve his brother who was exiled there 25 years ago. Assuming that the brother willingly comes with them, and that the King deems him to be rehilbilatated the brother will be named the King's Successor, and the heir to one of the largest nations in the world...what could possibly go wrong.
The King granted them horses and a wagon to take them to the moderately-sized port of Puotii, just to the west of his lands. There the "party" was to take passage on a boat that would take them across the Inner Sea.
As soon as they left the gates of the city the The Machageer kills the horse he was given, strips it of its meat and then raises it as a skelaton companion which he rides the rest of the way to Puotii, getting weird looks, and scaring off everyone, and every plot hook they saw.
Let me leave you there for the moment. My attempt is to try to keep these posts as short as possible, so I will continue the story of their first session in the next post. I am still trying to decide how I want to structure this, if I want to alternate story posts and advice/question posts. If any has any questions about DM'ing, my wourld of Quastalia, other RPG's or life in general I will try to answer them. just leave them in the comments section, although at some point I might try to get an email account going for this blog if I get enough questions. Until next time folks.....which will actually be right now as I go work on the 2nd Post.
-Eraser
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)